When someone is riding in a car and a bad song comes blaring through the radio or on a playlist, the station is usually changed or the song skipped over.

Right now, the Gamecocks are like the radio or playlist in pursuit of finding a good song and are willing to tune the dial or hit shuffle until it finds the right groove.

“In basketball, good offense is like good music. There’s a rhythm to it,” Frank Martin said. “That’s our challenge right now. We have to find rhythm, timing, consistency, knowing the cuts, knowing the passes.”

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Entering SEC play, which the Gamecocks do Wednesday against Texas A&M, South Carolina would normally have double-digit games under its belt and had not only plenty of games but also practice time to find that offensive identity.

But this isn’t a typical year.

The Gamecocks have only played four games and have been incredibly limited in practice time because of a nearly month-long COVID pause, which has impacted the ability for an offensive identity to take shape.

“I mean it’s pretty hard. But we’re not the only people in the country having to deal with it. It’s just the way it is right now. Our identity is we’re going to play hard and take it day by day,” Justin Minaya said. “Something we realized is in one day your whole world could change. Just take it day by day, play hard and don’t miss out on any opportunity you get. You never know when the next one is going to come.”

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Right now the offensive numbers are solid, but it is a very limited sample size. The Gamecocks are 86th nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency averaging 106.3 points per 100 possessions.

They’re a very good offensive rebounding team, the 41st-best in the country, with effective field goal and turnover numbers needing to improve (both below 200 nationally).

Against Florida A&M the Gamecocks scored 78 points in a win and had an offensive efficiency of 101, their highest mark this season. Martin is hopeful as more games get played the offense will find its rhythm.

“We haven’t had a chance to get repetitions. We have to be patient. We spent a lot of time in the preseason teaching new things we’ve never taught here on how to play offensively,” Martin said. “All the sudden you get shut down for a month. Just when we made some progress, whoop. We have to be patient in building it back up.”

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Heading into the Florida A&M game the Gamecocks spent a lot of what practice time they did get refreshing offensive principles. Now, it’s just about playing more games and getting more practice time to see what the offense can turn into.

The Gamecocks get a good test for their offense Wednesday night against one of the best defenses nationally in Texas A&M, which is allowing just 93.9 points per 100 possessions.

“You don’t fix that in a game. You fix that in practice with repetition, repetition and repetition. What you learn through games is playing different styles and learns to adjust to different styles,” Martin said.

“That’s why in the season you get better or worse. You don’t stay the same. It’s one or the other. If you’re willing to get better through reps in practice and style in playing games.”