Gamecocks are playing faster than ever

SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS BASKETBALL

There’s a personality that each Frank Martin-coached team takes. Those teams are predicated on relentless defending and offensive rebounding.

He’s won a lot of games at South Carolina with that style but this year the Gamecocks are off to an undefeated start in conference play with a completely different style of basketball: playing fast and pushing the tempo.

“It’s the way I like to coach. I like tempo, I like playing fast; I like playing aggressive," Martin said. "I can’t ask our guys to play defensively, to disrupt and create open court opportunities the way we try to play defensively and then say, ‘Don’t run; let’s walk it up.’ Turn Keyshawn (Bryant) loose; turn AJ (Lawson) loose. Hassani (Gravett)? Turn him loose. We’re getting better point guard play so it’s allowing guys to get out and run a little bit.”

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South Carolina is currently 22nd in adjusted tempo, which measures the average number of possessions per 40 minutes against a team playing at the average D-I pace, at 73.8. Through three games, they’re sixth in SEC alone averaging 71.9 possessions per 40.

It’s currently the fastest pace in the SEC over the entire season and, if it holds, would be the fastest pace a Frank Martin team has played with over the course of his career spanning 12 seasons and dating back to Kansas State.

The fastest team he had at South Carolina finished 84th nationally (fifth in the SEC) in a year that saw them win 25 games and at Kansas State he got up to 69.4 possessions (36th in the country and third in the Big 12) and the Wildcats finished that year in the Elite Eight.

It’s a personality Martin tries to instill annually but sometimes with personnel he can’t. That changed this year, Chris Silva said, with the addition of long, athletic guards like Lawson and Bryant that like to get out and play in space.

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“Last year I think Frank wanted to play the way he’s playing now but because of the injured point guards out, that can change how you play the game. The way Chris plays; it helps when you have a big guy that runs the floor aggressive post guy,” Missouri head coach Cuonzo Martin said. “It opens things up so now you’re more assertive. And it also depends on your guards and I think their guards are doing a good job with Gravett playing more as a two. Lawson can push the ball, Campbell as well. When you recruit, you recruit what you like and it’s beneficial to them having those guys on the floor.”

Playing with pace and pushing the tempo is something Martin has preached to his team since the addition of guys like Lawson and Bryant and getting Gravett back playing at his natural position as the off-ball guard.

This team’s personality has really rounded into form since losing to Wyoming, a game Martin has pointed to as a low point for the team offensively.

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“That was my most frustrating thing is we allowed them to control the tempo. We never attacked them, we allowed their zone to set every time. We were complacent to dribble it up every time and let their zone set and trying to attack their zone. That’s not who we work to be.”

Since then the Gamecocks (8-7, 3-0 SEC) are 4-3 and averaging 70.6 possessions per game. The only time they were held to under 70 possessions was in a loss to Virginia, a team that is currently the second-best team in the country in defensive efficiency.