Experienced backcourt should lead the way for Gamecocks
Compared to the freshman-dominated frontline, South Carolina’s guard corps consists of a pack of grizzled veterans.
Actually, they are.
The quartet of Sindarius Thornwell (13.4 ppg), Duane Notice (10.8), P.J. Dozier (6.7) and Justin McKie (1.5) have combined for 305 career games, giving the Gamecocks one of the most experienced backcourts in the SEC, if not the country.
Because college basketball is a guard-driven game, will all that familiarity and know-how propel the Gamecocks to greater heights in 2016-17, a season after winning 25 games and barely missing the NCAA Tournament?
“Those guys are rocks,” head coach Frank Martin said Wednesday on the SEC Network. “Those guys are unbelievable. Sindarius had options to go to big-time basketball and he signed up to come help us build our program. Duane did too. Those guys have never flinched. They have helped P.J.”
Besides scoring most of the points, especially in the early going until the young forwards find traction, the aforementioned foursome must grab the reins of leadership from Michael Carrera and last year’s seniors.
“Everybody always tries to figure out how you replace points,” Martin said. “For coaches, that’s the easy part. How do you replace the people that hold your guys together when the chips are down? That’s the beauty of having consistency. Duane and Sindarius, and Justin to a degree, know it’s their time now. They fight every single day to make sure they have prepared our team.
“I have all the trust in the world in Duane and Sindarius. I heard Sindarius say, ‘We’ve actually been leading for a while. That’s the truth. Sindarius has been trying to figure out how to become a leader just like Michael Carrera and all those guys did before.”
If anybody on the Gamecocks could accurately be described as the straw that stirs the drink, Thornwell is the guy. He is not only USC’s top returning scorer from last season, but rebounder (4.8 per game), assists (130; 3.82 per game) and steals (50; 1.47 per game) as well.
Notice, a Toronto, Ont. native, came off the bench last season in 26 of 34 games and won SEC’s Sixth Man of the Year Award, committing just one turnover every 26.7 minutes and connecting on almost 40 percent of his 3-point attempts.
“Duane has tremendous pride. He wants to be the best,” Martin said. “He is driven to get better every single day. That stubbornness sometimes gets him into trouble as a player because he tried to do more than he should be. But through experience Duane has learned to be a real good player doesn’t mean you have to do more. You just have to be very good at what you’re good at. That is where he has grown the most, his understanding of how we play and what he is real good at. He has peace of mind.”
Dozier, younger brother of former Gamecocks women’s team standout Asia Dozier, started 14 of 18 SEC games last season, hitting the proverbial wall as seen by his 34.7 percent shooting (42-121) overall and team-high 56 turnovers in 332 minutes against SEC foes.
With a year of experience under his belt and a greater understanding of what SEC basketball is all about, Dozier should raise his level of play against conference opponents this season.
“He started at point guard for the third-best team in our conference,” Martin said. “He couldn’t have played very bad because if your point guard is not any good, your team is not going to be any good. He played well and helped us win a lot of games. Did he have unbelievable stats? No.
“Now he is at a place where he understands better. He is in a much better place. He is so much more prepared for what the season brings and has a better understanding of what I want. Physically, he is much stronger. He is more comfortable with his body. Most importantly, the coach understands him better as a person because we have lived it with him for a whole year. So, I am doing a much better job of helping him prepare for the season. I think he is going to have a very good year. He is an unbelievable human being.”
McKie has scored just 130 points and shot 32.8 percent (43-131) in his career, but his status as a senior renders him a team leader.
“Justin is mentally as grounded and comfortable in his own skin as he has been at any time since he has been here,” Martin said. “He has bene tremendous in helping our young guys.”
Even with such an experienced backcourt, the inexperienced frontcourt requires the Gamecocks to be patient, especially with a challenging non-conference schedule.
“Patience is the most important word because the young guys have to grow and learn,” Martin said. “But our older guys like Sindarius, who thought it was going to be easy when he was a freshman, understand it’s harder than they think. Our team, as we navigate through the year, can’t overreact to a loss or a win, good day or bad day, and allow it to impact the next day.”
