Another Tough Lesson For The Gamecocks
posted by Scott Hood on Thursday, January 24, 2008
That’s because they have.
The Gamecocks held an eight-point lead with 8:22 remaining against the defending national champions, albeit a totally different team.
The first 32 minutes of the game had gone pretty much according to the game plan drawn up by Dave Odom and his assistant coaches. USC played hard, with energy and enthusiasm, and the crowd was making its presence felt.
But it all fell apart in the final eight minutes.
USC was outscored 20-10 down the stretch by the extremely young but extremely talented Gators. Freshman Nick Calathes is a superstar in the making.
If the Florida players stick together, they could be a national championship contender next season.
The Gators won this game because they played smarter and with more poise in the closing minutes. USC committed four turnovers in the final 8:10. That’s about one every two minutes, which any coach will tell you is way too many.
USC certainly played hard for most of the 40 minutes. Unlike some previous home games this season, effort was not the culprit. They just didn’t play intelligently, especially when the game was on the line.
As Odom spoke after the game, I thought he had turned into Steve Spurrier, who has often said the same thing after some of USC’s football games the past three years.
In the hyper-competitive SEC, you have to play smart, play hard and play with poise. If you don't, even for a few minutes, you lose.
Chalk it up as another tough lesson for the Gamecocks about daily life in the SEC.
Odom said it best afterwards: “For whatever reason we didn’t finish the game. We have some work to do. Florida plays with a very high basketball IQ. In the clutch, I’m not sure we do. We’ve got to play more cerebral basketball in the clutch. It’s almost like we take plays off. You can’t do that at this level. Maybe we’re tired, I don’t know.”
Following the 80-73 road loss at Vanderbilt two weeks ago in the SEC conference opener, Odom remarked he wasn’t sure the Gamecocks could have played any better than they did at that point in time.
The same thing could be said about Wednesday night’s game.
USC shot nearly 53 percent (28-53) from the field, including 50 percent (10-20) from 3-point range. They battled Florida on nearly even terms on the boards (33-31) and had 13 turnovers, a little high but not unreasonable.
Yet, they lost, proving again how difficult it is to win in the SEC.
The difference? Free throws. Florida made 9-of-12 from the charity stripe, while USC was 5 of 11, including just 1 of 5 in the second half.
So, while there are no such things as moral victories, USC’s performance offered encouragement for the remaining 12 games in the regular season.
It’s a start, hopefully, to a better future, at least for this season.
But USC must now try to beat Kentucky on Saturday afternoon in jam-packed Rupp Arena. After that, they host an improving Georgia team and travel to Oxford to face Ole Miss before Super Bowl Sunday.
As he sometimes prone to do, Odom put USC’s upcoming preparations for the Wildcats in colorful terms:
“(Thursday) we’ll crack the ship, we’ll spank the behinds, whatever we’ve got to do, we’ll going to get it done. I don’t know how long it will take, but we’re going to get their attention, you can bet on that. When we get on that plane Friday we’ll be ready to play. The game is there for the taking. We have to go get it.”
I know Florida hasn’t played the toughest of schedules but Wednesday’s game showed again, quite frankly, what a remarkable coach Billy Donovan is.
It’s amazing a team comprised of mostly freshmen and sophomores can keep their composure intact when they’re trailing by nine points in the second half on the road. Most teams would have folded their tents in that situation
But the Gators didn’t.
Honestly, if USC had played the way the Gators did on Wednesday in several previous games, the number in the ‘W’ column would be a lot higher right now for the Gamecocks and Odom might not be talking about his retirement.
Donovan is a prime example of what can happen when you’re willing to take a chance on a talented young coach. Jeremy Foley, or whoever was the Florida AD back then, took a lot of heat from the Gator fans for hiring the hotshot from Marshall.
Obviously, with two national championship banners hanging from the rafters, it’s worked.
Does USC take the if-you-can’t-beat-‘em-join-‘em approach and go hard after VCU’s Anthony Grant, who was an assistant coach at Florida for a decade under Donovan? He’s certainly high on USC’s list.
If Grant is capable of recruiting the same type of basketball savvy players I saw wearing the blue and orange uniforms of Florida on Wednesday, then I say pay the man what he wants and let’s go.
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As the final eight minutes of Wednesday’s 73-71 loss to Florida unfolded on the Colonial Center floor, South Carolina fans would have been excused had they said they’ve seen this movie before.
That’s because they have.
The Gamecocks held an eight-point lead with 8:22 remaining against the defending national champions, albeit a totally different team.
The first 32 minutes of the game had gone pretty much according to the game plan drawn up by Dave Odom and his assistant coaches. USC played hard, with energy and enthusiasm, and the crowd was making its presence felt.
But it all fell apart in the final eight minutes.
USC was outscored 20-10 down the stretch by the extremely young but extremely talented Gators. Freshman Nick Calathes is a superstar in the making.
If the Florida players stick together, they could be a national championship contender next season.
The Gators won this game because they played smarter and with more poise in the closing minutes. USC committed four turnovers in the final 8:10. That’s about one every two minutes, which any coach will tell you is way too many.
USC certainly played hard for most of the 40 minutes. Unlike some previous home games this season, effort was not the culprit. They just didn’t play intelligently, especially when the game was on the line.
As Odom spoke after the game, I thought he had turned into Steve Spurrier, who has often said the same thing after some of USC’s football games the past three years.
In the hyper-competitive SEC, you have to play smart, play hard and play with poise. If you don't, even for a few minutes, you lose.
Chalk it up as another tough lesson for the Gamecocks about daily life in the SEC.
Odom said it best afterwards: “For whatever reason we didn’t finish the game. We have some work to do. Florida plays with a very high basketball IQ. In the clutch, I’m not sure we do. We’ve got to play more cerebral basketball in the clutch. It’s almost like we take plays off. You can’t do that at this level. Maybe we’re tired, I don’t know.”
Following the 80-73 road loss at Vanderbilt two weeks ago in the SEC conference opener, Odom remarked he wasn’t sure the Gamecocks could have played any better than they did at that point in time.
The same thing could be said about Wednesday night’s game.
USC shot nearly 53 percent (28-53) from the field, including 50 percent (10-20) from 3-point range. They battled Florida on nearly even terms on the boards (33-31) and had 13 turnovers, a little high but not unreasonable.
Yet, they lost, proving again how difficult it is to win in the SEC.
The difference? Free throws. Florida made 9-of-12 from the charity stripe, while USC was 5 of 11, including just 1 of 5 in the second half.
So, while there are no such things as moral victories, USC’s performance offered encouragement for the remaining 12 games in the regular season.
It’s a start, hopefully, to a better future, at least for this season.
But USC must now try to beat Kentucky on Saturday afternoon in jam-packed Rupp Arena. After that, they host an improving Georgia team and travel to Oxford to face Ole Miss before Super Bowl Sunday.
As he sometimes prone to do, Odom put USC’s upcoming preparations for the Wildcats in colorful terms:
“(Thursday) we’ll crack the ship, we’ll spank the behinds, whatever we’ve got to do, we’ll going to get it done. I don’t know how long it will take, but we’re going to get their attention, you can bet on that. When we get on that plane Friday we’ll be ready to play. The game is there for the taking. We have to go get it.”
I know Florida hasn’t played the toughest of schedules but Wednesday’s game showed again, quite frankly, what a remarkable coach Billy Donovan is.
It’s amazing a team comprised of mostly freshmen and sophomores can keep their composure intact when they’re trailing by nine points in the second half on the road. Most teams would have folded their tents in that situation
But the Gators didn’t.
Honestly, if USC had played the way the Gators did on Wednesday in several previous games, the number in the ‘W’ column would be a lot higher right now for the Gamecocks and Odom might not be talking about his retirement.
Donovan is a prime example of what can happen when you’re willing to take a chance on a talented young coach. Jeremy Foley, or whoever was the Florida AD back then, took a lot of heat from the Gator fans for hiring the hotshot from Marshall.
Obviously, with two national championship banners hanging from the rafters, it’s worked.
Does USC take the if-you-can’t-beat-‘em-join-‘em approach and go hard after VCU’s Anthony Grant, who was an assistant coach at Florida for a decade under Donovan? He’s certainly high on USC’s list.
If Grant is capable of recruiting the same type of basketball savvy players I saw wearing the blue and orange uniforms of Florida on Wednesday, then I say pay the man what he wants and let’s go.
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Scott Hood. Since February of 2005, Scott has covered the South Carolina football, men's basketball and baseball programs for GamecockCentral. He may be reached by email at scottblog(at)gamecockcentral.com. Replace (at) with @.