‘Our parts have not connected.’ Kentucky’s next opponent knows frustration, too.
Though muddling through a season filled with coaching dilemmas, injuries, departures from the norm due to COVID-19 and losing on a historic scale, Kentucky probably shouldn’t expect an abundance of sympathy from Saturday’s opponent.
South Carolina’s season reads like a work of fiction. The team has paused activities three times because of the coronavirus. Coach Frank Martin tested positive twice, the first time during preparation for knee replacement surgery. With that first positive in May, he began losing hair on his head and eyebrows. Rather than having patches of hair on his head, he decided to shave his scalp.
During one seven-week span, practices were severely limited. The Gamecocks did not play a game from Dec. 6 to Jan. 2 and did not win a game from Feb. 4 until Feb. 27. Injuries sidelined players.
And the school announced a self-imposed penalty (two-year probation and a $5,000 fine) due to former assistant coach Lamont Evans’ connection to the FBI probe of recruiting. The NCAA charged the program with a Level One violation.
Martin, 54, has called the 2020-21 season “more about our journey as a team through this crazy time and lessons learned about dealing with adversity rather than focusing on winning and losing.”
As with Kentucky, South Carolina had its preseason and early-season routines disrupted by COVID-19.
The Gamecocks’ second COVID pause came after a 77-67 loss at Houston on Dec. 5. Upon returning to Columbia, the team learned that Houston had had positive tests. Subsequently, so did South Carolina, which resulted in the next five games canceled or postponed.
The Gamecocks’ next game came on Jan. 2: a 78-71 victory over Florida A&M.
“It felt like the first game of the year,” Martin said. “And the nervous part has nothing to do with winning or losing. It’s with the unknowns.”
This resulted in the usual early-season dress rehearsals, experimentation and team adjustments of November and December being pushed into Southeastern Conference play.
“We never got the opportunity to go through that journey that we all usually go through early in the year,” Martin said. “And we’ve been trying to figure that out in league play. And it’s made it really difficult for us.”
A school policy mandated that people in quarantine stay at home. The penalty for violating this rule is suspension for a semester. So, during the pauses South Carolina players could not go to a gym and practice shooting.
Shooting — which was expected to be a strength for a South Carolina team blessed with veteran guards like A.J. Lawson, Jermaine Cousinard, Seventh Woods and Trae Hannibal — has been a problem. Going into this week, the Gamecocks in league play ranked 12th among SEC schools in field-goal percentage (41.7 percent) and three-point accuracy (31.6 percent), plus last in free-throw percentage (66.7 percent).
Martin’s teams have been known for coordinated and physical defense. In league play, South Carolina ranks 13th in scoring defense (80.7 ppg), 11th in field-goal defense (46.3 percent) and 13th in three-point defense (37 percent).
“People might not like how my teams play,” Martin said. “But two things have never been part of any team that I have ever been associated with: that’s selfish offense and getting out of the way defensively. We do that this year at times, and it is really frustrating.”
Auburn’s 109-86 victory on Jan. 23 marked the most points a Martin-coached South Carolina team had ever given up.
“Play hard and play together, that’s the only thing I’ve ever controlled,” Martin said after the game. “I’ve controlled that through practice and personal relationships. Right now, we’re void of those two things.”
South Carolina snapped a six-game losing streak Saturday by beating Georgia 91-70.
“It’s been, obviously, a hard month of February and a hard year,” Martin said after the game. “I felt a spirit in practice yesterday. We’ve established a mindset of winning.
“Our spirits have been good. But winning a game made us all feel a little bit better. Because it kind of felt normal again rather than what we’ve been feeling for the last 10 months.”
Three nights later, South Carolina lost to Arkansas 101-73. It was the first time Arkansas had scored 100 or more points in a game since 2015.
“It’s just one of those years,” Martin said. “We have good parts, and when the parts play well together, we represent our team the right way.
“But, obviously, more times than not, our parts have not connected. We have a lot of guys playing for ‘me,’ and not for ‘we.’”
Next game
South Carolina at Kentucky
When: Noon Saturday
TV: ESPN
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Records: South Carolina 6-13 (4-11 SEC), Kentucky 8-15 (7-9)
Series: Kentucky leads 52-13.
Last meeting: South Carolina won 81-78 on Jan. 15, 2020, in Columbia, S.C.
