To perform or to play: Lamont Paris explains difference for South Carolina after difficult stretch

South Carolina has lost its first three games against high-major opponents. The average point differential in those games against Butler, Northwestern, and Virginia Tech is just four points.

The Gamecocks have played well in those games, according to head coach Lamont Paris. However, there’s a difference in playing well and performing well for the fourth-year head coach.

The Insiders Forum: Discuss South Carolina basketball!

Paris described the difference as making the most out of your opportunities. You can play well by getting good looks and executing the game plan. However, if you miss the open looks, you’re not performing well.

“I’m standing there in the corner, I get a wide open shot. I make it. That’s performing well. I miss it. That’s not performing well, right? And so I don’t think we performed particularly well, but we played well enough offensively,” Paris said.

On the season, South Carolina attempts shy of 30 threes per game. Additionally, nearly half of the team’s shots this season have come from the three-point line (49.2 percent). Stats like these would be just fine; however, South Carolina has shot 31.4 percent from deep this season.

South Carolina’s recent struggles at the three-point line have been a key reason for the Gamecocks’ recent losses. South Carolina, despite being labelled by Paris and co as a three-point shooting team, has shot under 35 percent from the perimeter in each of its last five games.

Against Virginia Tech, the Gamecocks shot just under 27 percent from three, making only eight of their 30 attempts. The problem became an issue down the stretch against the Hokies. It also makes the games closer than they should be, according to Paris.

“If we make any of those shots,” Paris said. “We got a shot for Elijah [Strong] two times down the stretch for a three wide open. We got a situation for Meechie [Johnson].”

Additionally, the team struggles to execute on the glass. Through eight games, South Carolina has only won three times in the rebounding margin. In those games, the Gamecocks are 2-1 with wins over North Carolina A&T and a loss to Northwestern.

“We have to get that figured out, because if you don’t rebound, it’s just hard,” Paris said. “You put so much pressure on your offense. 82 [points] is not enough. You’ve got to have 93, right?”

South Carolina averages 81 points per game early in the 2025-26 season. If the Gamecocks were averaging above 90 points, Paris said he’d let some things slide. For now, he’s still waiting on guys who can rebound consistently.

Other than the 7-point loss to Butler, Paris believes South Carolina’s recent losses haven’t been as close as they were. The Gamecocks have not lived up to the potential that Paris sees. He believes a lot of that comes from decision-making.

“If we can get better at making some decisions that lead up to that, forget the play. I think it’s these decisions,” Paris said. “I think we have to learn how to win a basketball game and what that means, and we have to learn that still.”

South Carolina knows it will have tough games all season, being in one of the nation’s premier conferences. If it wants to win those, it needs to get better.

Forward Elijah Strong said it’s nothing they didn’t expect. While they’d rather learn from a win, learning from a loss is what they have to do.

“I feel like we executed enough to win that game. It just did not turn out that way,” Strong said.

The Insiders Forum: Discuss South Carolina basketball!