SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS BASKETBALL
Heading into last week, Jermaine Couisnard didn’t know if or when he was going to play again.
Battling a bad back, Couisnard was forced to miss the team’s SEC opener against Florida and didn’t feel able to play until this Thursday, just two days before the Gamecocks took on Tennessee.
Couisnard did, and it could mean more point guard minutes in Wednesday’s game against Kentucky.
“Playing him at the point is very similar to playing Sin there as a freshman,” Frank Martin said. “He’s a guy that when he’s played point it’s to go get a shot, not to run a team. He probably has the best understanding of what I want and the loudest voice and the most aggressive game of all our guards. That option’s on the table right now.”
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Couisnard came back in a big way in a one-point loss to Tennessee, finishing second on the team with 15 points—one point shy of tying a career high—on 6-for-17 shooting and hit the Gamecocks’ only two threes of the game.
He’d haul in two rebounds have to assists to two turnovers and picked up three steals as well in maybe his best all-around game of the year.
“Coach was telling me the person that was guarding me didn’t want to foul me because he had four fouls,” Couisnard said. “Just keep attacking and whatever. I saw the lane was open so I kept driving.”
Couisnard hasn’t played much point guard in practice outside of hauling in a rebound and pushing the ball in transition.
It’s similar to what Martin did to Sindarius Thornwell over the course of his career with Thornwell logging plenty of minutes at point due to injuries or the overall team makeup.
Martin mentioned it might handicap a team because he’s not a natural point guard but the biggest personality is calling the shots.
“The guy with the most personality on the team had the ball in his hand,” Martin said. “Because of that moving forward we became a better team as time went on. Jermaine is kind of along those lines.”
Martin’s voiced his displeasure with the team’s point guard play this year, saying he’s having a hard time getting the two guards he’s trotted out there in Jair Bolden and AJ Lawson to play with fire and personality.
That’s not a problem with Couisnard.
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“Jermaine is not running away from a single challenge. Not one,” Martin said. “Jermaine don’t care. Jermaine is like, ‘Where we going? There? Let’s go.’ Whatever’s coming is coming and he’s ready to deal with it. Even though his shooting numbers haven’t been great, that’s where his loss against Florida really hurt us because of the personality he brings to the table.”
This year Couisnard has been the team’s sixth man, but the way Martin’s talking it wouldn’t be far fetched to see him in a starting lineup with Kentucky bringing in arguably the best guard in the SEC to Colonial Life Arena in Ashton Hagan.
So far this year Couisnard is averaging nine points a game on 37.4 percent shooting. He’s leading the team averaging 2.6 assists per game and is 250th nationally with a 23.9 assist rate.
“I don’t know what better word to use other than connected. He’s the most connected guard to me on our team,” Martin said. “He has the best understanding and plays with the best aggression on our team. He’s a real good player. I’m excited about coaching Jermaine. I go out there every day and know he’s going to fight for me. I get excited about coaching guys like him.”
