Gamecocks 'not worried' about Lawson's quiet night

There are plenty of things to work on after the Gamecocks’ 22-point win against North Alabama, but Frank Martin wasn’t too worried about one of the more notable ones.

AJ Lawson didn’t have necessarily the most eye-popping stat line in the first game of what could be an All-SEC year for him, but it’s not cause for concern just yet.

“He’s an unbelievable kid, he’s unbelievably talented. I’m not worried about AJ, but he needs to learn from this today,” Martin said. “He just didn’t play with the aggression he needs to play with. You guys remember (Vincenzo) Pazienza? If you’re going to fight that dude and you walk in ready to jab and dance around? Shoot, you’re going to take 900 shots to the head. You have to fight. That’s what we played against today. We played against the Paz Man and we wanted to jab. He just destroyed us. We have to get out of that mindset.”

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Lawson finished the game with just eight points, hitting on just one of his four shots from the field, and two rebounds. He’d turn the ball over three times with one steal in 25 minutes.

There were some positives as well with the projected first-round pick leading the team with four assists and getting to the line seven times and making six of those free throws.

He’d miss on his only three-pointer in the game and didn’t take over like he did to start the second half of the Gamecocks’ exhibition last week.

“He’s too laid back. I don’t know about you guys but I’ve been in some uncomfortable places in my life,” Martin said. “If you walk in and the guy you’re getting ready to dance with is a buzz saw and you’re laid back, you’re going to get thrown around. He didn’t come in with the mindset he needed to have today to deal with the aggression the north Alabama guys played with.”

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If there is a positive to take out of Lawson’s quiet night it’s that the Gamecocks were still able to win and do it by a comfortable margin.

They’d still shoot 49.1 percent from the field, led by Justin Minaya and guards Jair Bolden and Jermaine Couisnard.

For the latter two, this was their Gamecock debut and they didn’t disappoint.

Bolden finished two rebounds shy of a double-double, putting up 14 points on 5-for-9 shooting against the Lions. He’d commit just one foul and didn’t turn the ball over in 23 minutes.

“Jair needs to be more aggressive,” Martin said. “I’m not talking about shooting the ball, but I’m talking about his demeanor defensively and his demeanor with the ball in the open court. He has to be more aggressive. He’s got a bad habit that he wants to play at his own pace. That’s part of his learning process. He’s got to play at our pace.”

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Couisnard couldn’t have scripted a better first minute to start his career, checking in with just shy of 16 minutes left to play in the first half and in 78 seconds already had four points, including two on a nice reverse lay-up, and a block. He’d finish with nine points on 50 percent shooting with four rebounds and five turnovers.

He still has a lot to improve on as the Gamecocks get ready for game number two of the season Sunday against Wyoming, and it starts with translating defensive prowess in practice to the games.

“Jermaine, I don’t think he missed a shot (in practice),” Martin said. “He was ridiculously good offensively. He’s our best perimeter defender and might have been our worst perimeter defender today. It’s the first game out, and I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt. If he does this the next three days in practice I won’t be saying that Sunday after the Wyoming game. He’s a really good player. He’s the toughest and most consistent guard on our team. He’s got to play that way.”