Scouting Report: South Carolina Gamecocks

The South Carolina Gamecocks (13-9, 4-6) are an admittedly tough team to evaluate. Coach Frank Martin overhauled the backcourt in the off-season, but it hasn’t necessarily led to a ton of success. Four-star freshman Devin Carter operates as the Gamecocks’ point guard and has kept them playing at a very fast pace. On the wings, graduate transfer James Reese V (North Texas) and transfer Erik Stevenson (Washington) provide some veteran shot-making. Add in versatile forward KeyShawn Bryant and five-man Wildens Leveque and you have an older roster that on paper has some interesting talent.

In the SEC, South Carolina has yet to find their groove. After experiencing both a three-game losing streak and a three-game winning streak in the month of January, the Gamecocks have lost two straight once again to begin February. Their inconsistent shooting ability has varied along with the quality of opponent. Coach Martin’s squad ranks 269th in three-point percentage (31.7%), 282nd in two-point percentage (46.9%), and 341st in free throw percentage (65.0%). That is a tough formula for winning basketball games.

Kentucky simply needs to take care of business in Columbia this evening. They will be the significantly more talented team and need to prove it from the tip. As always, we’ve got a full scouting report prepared for you to get you ready for tonight’s game. We will go over the personnel, break down their offensive and defensive schemes, and outline the keys to the game. Let’s dive on in and get to know more about the South Carolina Gamecocks.

South Carolina Gamecocks Personnel

Starters

#23 Devin Carter: 6’3″ 188 lbs, Freshman Point Guard

8.5 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.4 apg

Point Guard. Aggressive driver. Much better as a right hand driver than a shooter. No right hand drives!!! You can closeout short to him on the perimeter and be in help off of him. Go under the ballscreens and handoffs. You can pick your spots to get up and really pressure (Wheeler, Washington) him because he is prone to turning it over. 29 assists to 48 turnovers. Pressure him without getting smoked to his right hand. Just throw a hand up to contest if he shoots the 3. Stay between him and the basket. Make him score contested 2’s over you. Crashes the offensive glass from the perimeter. Box out! Absolutely no layups for him. No right hand drives!

#0 James Reese V: 6’4″ 170 lbs, Graduate Student Guard

10.7 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.9 apg

SHOOTER!!! NO 3’s!!! 107 of 186 shots have been 3’s. Need to be tight to him at all times to take away the catch-and-shoot 3’s. Shooting 37.4% from 3. Tighten up as the ball comes towards you. Get over the ballscreens and handoffs. Chase off downscreens and flares. Switch if you need to. We want to keep a guy on a guy at all times and take him away from 3. Likes to use the shot fake on the perimeter to set up his right hand drive as well. No right hand drives. If you have good closeouts you shouldn’t need to bite on the fakes. Find him in transition. No 3’s!

#10 Erik Stevenson: 6’4″ 209 lbs, Senior Guard

11.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 2.5 apg

SHOOTER!!! NO 3’s!!! 130 of 231 shots have been 3’s. Need to be tight to him at all times to take away the catch-and-shoot 3’s. Percentage isn’t great at 31.5%, but he really wants to catch-and-shoot. Tighten up as the ball comes towards you. Get over the ballscreens and handoffs. Chase off downscreens and flares. Switch if you need to. We want to keep a guy on a guy at all times and take him away from 3. Absolutely no help off of him. Will put it on floor and drive it right. No right hand drives! Get out and pressure him on the perimeter as much as possible without getting smoked to his right hand. Don’t over help when he drives. Good passer. Just make him finish contested 2’s with you between him and the basket. Will crash the offensive glass. Box out! No 3’s!

#24 Keyshawn Bryant: 6’6″ 187 lbs, Senior Forward

7.2 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.8 apg

Lefty. Athletic, undersized 4-man. Non-shooter. Just 5-23 from 3 on the season. Really wants to drive it left. NO LEFT HAND DRIVES!!! Closeout short to him on the perimeter to guard the left hand drives. Really loves to spin back to his left hand around the basket to finish. Anytime he is going right he is thinking about spinning back left. Keep him going to his right. Bring help on the spin move and see if you can steal it from him. Help off of him when he doesn’t have it and then closeout short. Loves to cut along the baseline when the ball is being driven. Do not get back cut! Left hand, right shoulder around the basket. Just put a hand up to contest if he shoots a jump shot. Good offensive rebounder. Box out!

#15 Wildens Leveque: 6’10” 255 lbs, Junior Center

7.6 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 0.6 apg

Big, physical 5-man. Ballscreens and rolls to the basket hard. Not really looking for it on the roll, but rolls to the post and will get it there. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. Take away the initial drop step and then be physical on his left shoulder. Get him off of the block. His percentages will go down the further off of the block you make him catch it. You can stunt at him, but should be able to guard one-on-one in the post. Make him score with you between him and the basket. Excellent offensive rebounder. Averaging over 2 offensive rebounds per game. Be physical when the shot goes up. BOX OUT!!!

Bench

#5 Jermaine Couisnard: 6’4″ 211 lbs, Redshirt Junior Guard

9.6 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 2.4 apg

Aggressive scoring guard. Good shooter. No 3’s! Need to be tight enough to him to hard contest all 3’s. Good from the catch and off the dribble. Break his rhythm on the perimeter so he can’t dribble into a 3. Likes the left to right cross over to set it up. No catch-and-shoot 3’s. Tighten up as the ball comes towards you. Get over the ballscreens and handoffs. Chase off downscreens and flares. Switch if you need to. Keep a guy on a guy. Will take some crazy shots off the dribble. Move your feet to stay between him and the basket and contest everything. Will drive it to the rim going right and will look for the pull-up more going left. No right hand drives! You can bring some help when he drives it and try to steal the ball. 41 assists to 48 turnovers. No 3’s!

#2 Chico Carter Jr.: 6’3″ 189 lbs, Junior Guard

4.8 ppg, 0.6 rpg, 0.6 apg

Capable shooter. 11-28 from 3 this season. Need to be there to take away the catch-and-shoot 3’s. No catch-and-shoot 3’s! Tighten up to him as the ball comes towards you. Get over ballscreens and handoffs. Chase off downscreens and flares.

#1 Jacobi Wright: 6’2″ 180 lbs, Freshman Guard

4.6 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 2.4 apg

Backup point guard. Willing shooter, but more dangerous as a right hand driver. No right hand drives! You can go underneath of the ballscreens and handoffs to start the game. Just be ready to throw a hand up to contest if he shoots behind the ballscreens. We are going underneath to stay between him and the basket. Do not over help when he drives. He is driving to pass the deeper that he takes it. Make him finish with you between him and the basket at the end of his drives. No layups for him!

#12 AJ Wilson: 6’7″ 234 lbs, Graduate Student Forward

4.1 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 0.6 apg

Physical backup 4-man. Non-shooter. Just 1-7 from 3. Much more dangerous as a driver and around the basket. No right hand drives! Closeout short and be ready for him to drive it at you. Will seek out contact on his way to the basket. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. Be physical on his left shoulder. Get him off of the block. Make him score over you around the basket. Excellent offensive rebounder. Don’t let him play harder than you. Box out!

#33 Josh Gray: 7’0″ 255 lbs, Sophomore Center

3.2 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 0.4 apg

Big, strong backup 5-man. Looking for deep post position. Wants to catch the ball with two feet in the paint. Will duck you in hard inside. Ballscreens and rolls to the basket. Right hand, left shoulder inside. Be physical on his left shoulder and get him off of the block. HIs percentages will go down the further off the block you make him catch it. Make him score with you between him and the basketball. Be physical and box out!!!

#14 Brandon Martin: 6’5″ 232 lbs, Senior Forward

2.5 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 0.8 apg

Backup wing/forward. Strong, physical driver. No right hand drives! He only wants to drive it right. Will initiate contact on his way to the basket. Non-shooter. 1-8 from 3 in 22 games. Closeout short to stay between him and the basket. Help off of him and then closeout short. Will crash the offensive glass. Box out!

South Carolina Gamecocks Offense

Despite being thought of as more of a defensive-minded coach, Frank Martin and the South Carolina Gamecocks will play as fast as anyone in the country offensively. This season, the Gamecocks are 48th nationally in average offensive possession length according to KenPom. However, the volume approach to scoring simply hasn’t worked out too well in Columbia this season. South Carolina ranks 269th in three-point percentage (31.7%), 282nd in two-point percentage (46.9%), and 341st in free throw percentage (65.0%). Along with their poor shooting, they also rank near the very bottom of Division I in turnovers. Kentucky could really feast on fast break opportunities tonight.

In terms of scheme, a lot of what South Carolina does is predicated on transition. They are going to come at you fast and look for early shot attempts. When they do play in the half court it will primarily be a 4-around-1 Motion. They like to screen for their shooters #0 Reese V and #10 Stevenson. We have to chase both of those guys off of downscreens and get over any flare screens. #24 Bryant will operate from the wings and elbows a lot as well. When #5 Cousinard comes in off the bench you have to be ready because he is thinking about scoring at all times. In a lot of respects South Carolina’s offense is like Vanderbilt’s. The individual pieces still aren’t that great, but playing fast and taking over 21 3’s per game always gives you a chance in a given game.

4-around-1 Motion

The South Carolina Gamecocks do a pretty good job of moving the ball in the half court. They share the ball well, change sides of the floor, and have a big man willing to kick the ball out of the post. One thing to focus on in this clip is the “split” action they run when the ball goes in the post. #24 Bryant slips to the basket while #10 Stevenson moves to the wing. We have to stay attached to #10 Stevenson and not let #24 Bryant cut your face.

Here is another look at the Gamecocks half court Motion. With back cutting the initial downscreen they are into a handoff two-man game which is a really good action for #5 Couisnard. We generally want to switch any downhill ballscreens like this, but we also don’t need to stay so long when he is coming off driving it left. Just recover and take away the roll. Their big guys are all right hand, left shoulder.

It is plays like this that concern me when it comes to South Carolina. This is just their traditional Motion, but there are two points here to make note of. First of all, they are very physical drivers. You have to be ready for them to make contact and push off on your drives. Be strong and take a charge. #14 Martin just pushes his guy over here. Secondly, we have to defensive rebound. They crash the glass hard and aren’t afraid to push you in the back or pull you to the ground on the glass. The offensive rebound leads to a kick-out 3.

South Carolina Gamecocks Defense

The South Carolina Gamecocks have pieced together a pretty solid defense this season. Coach Frank Martin is nothing if not a motivator and always gets effort out of his players. Nothing really jumps out at your when breaking them down on film, but the Gamecocks are #33 in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency for a reason.

South Carolina has forced turnovers at a very high rate this season and has gotten elite rim protection. The turnovers help to offset some of their offensive woes while the rim protection has forced teams to do their scoring from outside of the paint. Be prepared for man-to-man defense with them out in the passing lanes quite a bit. You will probably be seeing the back of off-ball defenders at times which means you need to drive the basketball to the paint. Take advantage of them playing one-on-one defense. When there, play off of two feet. We cannot let them block and alter shots all night long because we are forced into running, off-balance shots at the rim.

Keys to the Game

• Take care of the ball. If we don’t turn it over the Gamecocks won’t be able to score enough to win. The goal is 12 or fewer turnovers tonight.
• No 3’s for #10 Stevenson, #0 Reese V, and #5 Couisnard. These are their three leading scorers and also their three best shooters. No more than 4 made 3’s between them combined.
• Dominate the glass. South Carolina is very good on the offensive glass, but equally as bad on the defensive glass. We need to neutralize their strength on the offensive end will punishing their defensive rebounding with a lot of second chances.
• Attack, attack, attack. They play a lot of one-on-one defense which forces them to foul a lot. Be strong with the ball and make them put their hands on you. Got to shoot in your free throws. 75% or better at the line tonight.