What Lamont Paris said after South Carolina's exhibition win over Wooster

Following an 86-60 win over Wooster on Wednesday, South Carolina head coach Lamont Paris spoke to the media about the game and what it was like to play his alma mater. Here’s what he had to say.

— What a productive game for the team. You get a chance to see what some unknown commodities look like when they get out there, some of them under the lights for the first time. Wanted to schedule a good team for this game, hence why he went with Wooster.

— It was exciting to see the young players go out there and perform well. This exhibition game provided everything they could’ve hoped for.

— Did want to play some of the young guys and get them out there. But Jamarii Thomas didn’t play great. Same with some of the other players. He probably played a few less minutes than he usually would have. It has less to do with whether you shoot the ball and it goes in. Thought his energy was good defensively early on in the game. But as he didn’t play great, Paris felt like it impacted the other side of the ball for him.

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— Thought they were lethargic and careless in a lot of ways to open the second half. They had some careless turnovers, the shot selection wasn’t great. That made them really ineffective offensively. In the timeout, they talked about energy and subbed in some guys, which seemed to help and make a difference. You have to be inserted into the game with great energy.

— Guys are going to make shots here and there. But he felt like South Carolina contributed to why Wooster was able to make a lot of shots in this game. A lot of it was not being ready to defend. Maybe some of it was feeling like they could by being physical.

— There’s no target number on how many three-pointers they will take. He likes threes, though. With the organic flow of the game, Wooster was really packing it in. When a team is doing that, you’re going to get more threes.

— Arden Conyers is ready offensively. He’s got some work to do. That would not be fair to him to say this is what every single day will look like. But his offensive package is diverse. He’s athletic, he’s very versatile. He’s ready offensively. Has no doubts about that. Needs to continue to clean up some things defensively.

— It’s exciting for him to see the young guys like Conyers and Scott go out there and perform the way they did. It’s extremely encouraging and exciting.

— Hoping the early signs are they will have guys step up and come off the bench and play well this year. To have the guys who can come off the bench and make plays was important.

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— Winning some of the battles on defense was going to be a challenge. The same deal with creating rebounds and opportunities. Some of the best opportunities come off offensive rebounds. Thought they did a good job of making a consistent effort to get to the offensive glass.

— He’s excited about the newcomers. Happy about the acquisitions that they made to the roster. Very hopeful they will achieve at the level he believes they can get to. Jordan Butler is going to be a good player for them. He has so much skill ability and potential. He’s doing a lot of learning but his ceiling is really high. Likes all of the new guys they have. Overall, they did a good job. Plenty of room for growth.

— It’s a surprise that uniforms are so small, joking about the jersey he received from Wooster. It was a really great moment today. It was a tremendous gesture and honor. Believes Wooster has the makings of a great team. Proud to have gone to that school.

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