Watching the SEC...

[toadfoot]

is liking watching video of a horrible auto accident. You don't really want to watch, but you just can't look away. SC beats a horrible Auburn scoring 57 points! Ugh!

 

[Nuyoika]

is liking watching video of a horrible auto accident. You don't really want to watch, but you just can't look away. SC beats a horrible Auburn scoring 57 points! Ugh!

I have watched a lot of SEC games this year and ya know... you have to just take it for what it is and know what to expect going in. It is not everyone's cup of tea but there are some talented individual players in the SEC. As far as the offense goes well... I don't know that there is really anything to say about that which already hasn't been said. I think we all have eyeballs and some of us choose to believe it is the "great defense" while others just call it Rugby. I can honestly say that you truly never know what is going to happen in an SEC game.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I don't know that Auburn is terrible, but this is why South Carolina won't challenge for the national championship--scoring inability. I don't see them winning next year either. Sorry, Gamecock friends. But being a fixture in the top 5 is a nice accomplishment.

 

[toadfoot]

I don't know that Auburn is terrible, but this is why South Carolina won't challenge for the national championship--scoring inability. I don't see them winning next year either. Sorry, Gamecock friends. But being a fixture in the top 5 is a nice accomplishment.

I'll be surprised if SC makes the FF. Defense wins championships because even good offensive teams have off nights and good defense can bail them out, but poor offensive teams, even when they play stellar defense, will eventually come up against a team that just has a great night shooting the ball.
The teams that still scare me the most are ND and Maryland because both can score and if UConn has an off night...

 

[ME Husky Fan]

Shooting percentages horrible. You have a starting guard who didn't attempt an outside shot? Can't see them getting to final four. Sometimes these weekday day games bring out the worst in teams?

 

[SCGamecock]

I agree, SC's offense can be downright ugly at time and our guards are suspect... but it never ceases to amaze me how fast word of our less than stellar offensive outings makes it to the Boneyard.

Our "good" games never make it to the BY for discussion..

 

[MilfordHusky]

I'll be surprised if SC makes the FF. Defense wins championships because even good offensive teams have off nights and good defense can bail them out, but poor offensive teams, even when they play stellar defense, will eventually come up against a team that just has a great night shooting the ball.
The teams that still scare me the most are ND and Maryland because both can score and if UConn has an off night...

I agree about ND and Maryland.

 

[Nuyoika]

They shot much worse than they normally do (I think they are usually around 47% or so avg on the year) but they did hit their free throws which is good since they get a ton. I just wonder if they will get as many in the NCAA tourney. Dawn initially said way back @ the start of the 2013-2014 season that they were going to be moving to a more up tempo style offense but it never panned out. She said it again over this past summer about the 2015-2016 season but I think it has been a longer process than anticipated. I remember a few years ago when they got a #1 seed and I was like "Who the hell is South Carolina?" lol. So in reality they have come a long way and while their offense may not get them a ton of points they know how to do enough to beat who they have to beat.

 

[Nuyoika]

I agree, SC's offense can be downright ugly at time and our guards are suspect... but it never ceases to amaze me how fast word of our less than stellar offensive outings makes it to the Boneyard.

Our "good" games never make it to the BY for discussion..

What do you think this teams best game of the season has been so far? Just curious. I've watched a bunch of games but not all, maybe about half.

 

[EricLA]

Have to give Kentucky credit for not only putting a smackdown on Florida, but scoring 92 points in the process. 16 assists on 34 made baskets is not a sensational number, so there was probably a fair amount of 1 on 1 play, fast breaks, or o-boards for putbacks, but 92 is a lot of points...

 

[UcMiami]

I agree, SC's offense can be downright ugly at time and our guards are suspect... but it never ceases to amaze me how fast word of our less than stellar offensive outings makes it to the Boneyard.

Our "good" games never make it to the BY for discussion..

Well, it has been almost a month since the last offensive explosion against a good team (Florida Feb 11) doing an end of season run that has not been against strong teams - I discount LSU just because that is a 'walking wounded' team that you should trounce. That Florida game might be the most impressive win of the 2016

 

[SCGamecock]

If I judged our team by MOV then it would be easy for me to say that we've only had 1 or 2 "good" games this season... and that's simply not true.

Because of our preferred style of play, we just don't blow teams out. We're a team that likes to shut you down (or slow down if it's an elite team) offensively and try to beat you with 60-75 points with like 40 of these being inside points. Our inability to consistently score 70+ points will probably be our Achilles heel against some top 10 teams, I agree. We don't knock down threes like Notre Dame or Maryland... but on the occasion where we do, that's where you see the larger MOV.

With that being said, that doesn't take away from the fact that we played horribly today. I mean, it was really bad. But because of the fact that we normally play teams close even in good games and we had a bad close game today... it makes ALL of our games look bad.

So, because all of our games are typically close., I never judge SC on margin of victory.. I look at other things, like how well they're moving the ball, finding the posts, how well they respond to getting punched in the mouth (which is every game) etc.. Judging by how I felt while watching the games and what I saw, Florida/Mizzou/MSU were our most impressive games.. all for different reasons.

 

[Mitselplick]

I can only speak for myself, but let me float another possibility.
SC is a good team with talented players and an excellent coach, so I expect them to win any game not against UConn or Notre Dame.

When they do well, I tend to gloss over it because it's what I expect. When they underperform, however, it attracts attention.....

 

[msf22b]

Surprised that no one mentioned that UTenn advanced over A&M
Diamond with another decent game.
Watch out, they could be trouble.

 

[Monte]

Surprised that no one mentioned that UTenn advanced over A&M
Diamond with another decent game.
Watch out, they could be trouble.

I'm not surprised. Many "experts" say that Tenn would lose to every team, but 2, in the AAC. Now, they beat the 15th rank team. Wouldn't that make the AAC the best league in the country?

 

[ctfjr]

Surprised that no one mentioned that UTenn advanced over A&M
Diamond with another decent game.
Watch out, they could be trouble.

Let them get in our region. I'm also hoping their seed is such that we play them in Storrs

 

[Blueballer]

Surprised that no one mentioned that UTenn advanced over A&M
Diamond with another decent game.
Watch out, they could be trouble.

It's going to take a lot more than what they've done so far to make me think they could be trouble. I wouldn't even give them a thought until they beat SC because the rest of the League is mediocre.

 

[Plebe]

I don't know that Auburn is terrible, but this is why South Carolina won't challenge for the national championship--scoring inability. I don't see them winning next year either. Sorry, Gamecock friends. But being a fixture in the top 5 is a nice accomplishment.

Last year, going into the national semis, I didn't think South Carolina would be able to stay with Notre Dame. And yet they lost by just a point in the final seconds.

 

[j66kicker]

I agree, SC's offense can be downright ugly at time and our guards are suspect... but it never ceases to amaze me how fast word of our less than stellar offensive outings makes it to the Boneyard.

Our "good" games never make it to the BY for discussion..

You're #2 in the country. "Good" games are not news - merely the expectation. When you have good games in the Elite 8 and FF they will be against good teams and will get plenty of discussion.

 

[Bonpland]

I agree, SC's offense can be downright ugly at time and our guards are suspect... but it never ceases to amaze me how fast word of our less than stellar offensive outings makes it to the Boneyard.

Our "good" games never make it to the BY for discussion..

Well I think that given that this is a UCONN board SC gets treated pretty well here. Everybody seems to love Dawn and Mitchell, Coates and Wilson are (deservedly) regularly praised, but you have to admit that even when SEC teams win, they win ugly.

I myself don't care about that because I think that it's a coach's job to work with what they have, and if what you have only allows you to win by grinding it out then you try to win by grinding it out.

You might have reminded us that the reputation of the old Big East was that their games more closely resembled scrums than BB contests and because of that middle of the pack teams of that conference regularly surprised more heavily favored opponents in the Tournament. You could explain to us that the slugfests we had with Rutgers, Villanova and Boston College in those days helped prepare us to win those first eight championships.

If being tough is what it takes for your team to win some of their games, then being tough is not a bad attribute to carry with you into The Dance. Like most good teams SC can easily outscore much weaker opponents, but you have to dig much deeper against the top tier (and sometimes even against Auburn).

I think the prediction that you'll have trouble finding enough points to win it all is probably right , but your style of play has marched you though a long season with only one loss so I don't think that you have to apologize to anyone for how few points you score in some of your wins.

Good teams can score a lot of points in a game and still lose in overtime to an inferior opponent. Better to win scoring 57 than to lose scoring 86.

 

[Alydar]

Surprised that no one mentioned that UTenn advanced over A&M
Diamond with another decent game.
Watch out, they could be trouble.

Their win over TAMU had a lot more to do with how bad TAMU played than how good Tenn played. TAMU was o-7 from 3 and shot horribly. Once you get past the top 12 or so teams the rest are inconsistent at best.

Tenn has a good shot at getting to the final because MSST has trouble scoring 50 points. I expect that they will win that game and the committee, with an eye toward attendence, gives them a 4 seed so they can fill TBA. I only hope that 4 seed is in the east regional.