South Carolina will try to put together a winning streak when it visits Vanderbilt Saturday night.
1. Bryant’s emergence
Keyshawn Bryant has always made the Gamecocks worth watching because of his spectacular dunks. He’s still got the dunks, but over the last four games Bryant has been worth watching as he excels at, well, everything. He’s scoring: at least 19 points in every game, including a career-high 26 at LSU. He’s rebounding: at least five a game and 10 against Georgia. He’s defending: eight blocks and six steals.
It hasn’t come completely out of nowhere. Bryant recorded three straight double-doubles near the end of last season, and was averaging 15.6 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 1.2 steals over the last two weeks, before the SEC Tournament was canceled. That was the cap on an injury-plagued season for Bryant. He suffered a knee injury in the private scrimmage against Illinois and then a head injury against Texas A&M. Frank Martin said Bryant was the best player on the floor in that scrimmage, including Illinois’ Ayo Dosunmu, a projected first-round NBA draft pick.
This season, Bryant’s year was upended by the pandemic, but he is finally playing like the player Martin has seen flashes of. Just as importantly, Bryant has become a vocal leader.
“Give him credit,” Martin said. “His voice and his positivity, that created some good stuff in practice.”
2. Crazy stats
If you want another way of looking at how good Bryant has been, guess who the SEC’s leading scorer in conference games is? That’s right, Bryant’s 22.0 points lead the way. AJ Lawson is fourth in the league at 18.4 points. Bryant is third in field goal percentage, ninth in rebounds, and sixth in blocks. Justin Minaya leads the SEC in rebounds at 8.6 per game, and Wildens Leveque is 11th. Lawson is third in three point percentage, and Jermaine Couisnard is fifth in assists.
I realize none of these are particularly meaningful, but put it all together and it’s just another reminder of what a strange season this has been. It’s also, I think, a reminder that Martin has assembled a roster with talent, but the Gamecocks just haven’t been able to put everything together. It’s just one more frustration in a season full of them
3. McCreary’s return
Jalyn McCreary played 17 minutes against Georgia and contributed six points, five rebounds, and four blocks. It was probably more than anyone could have hoped for in his first game in three weeks. It was also the sort of stat line that fills up a box score, something Martin had said the Gamecocks have been missing.
To be that productive despite being out of shape and out of practice also served as a reminder of how important McCreary is, especially now that Alanzo Frink is officially done for the season. He’s the sort of player that you don’t necessarily notice much during the game, and then you realize he did a little bit of everything and filled up the box score, a bigger version of Minaya or Bryant.
“Jalyn can do a lot of the same things Keyshawn does,” Martin said. “He’s not at the level of a basketball player that Keyshawn’s at right now, but he does a lot of those Swiss army knife kind of things.”
McCreary is another player that seems cursed with bad luck. Every time he starts playing well, something bad happens.
4. Defensive adjustments
Much was made, and rightfully so, of the defensive adjustments Martin made against Georgia. Long known for applying pressure on the perimeter and trying to deny passing lanes, Martin instead had South Carolina sit back, even sprinkling in some zone. He also eliminated all the decision-making and communication, playing every possession the same way. It worked once, but will it work again?
“Today we took a step in the right direction,” Martin said after the Georgia game. “Now can we sustain this? We haven’t had enough time to figure all this out. Tomorrow it’s back to practice, boom, travel on Friday, here we go, another game. Can we sustain the positivity whether we’re playing good or not. That’s the next challenge.”
Simple is good for eliminating mistakes, but it’s also easier for the opponent to figure out. Vanderbilt is different from Georgia. The Commodores are more perimeter-oriented, and shoot more threes. Vanderbilt doesn’t have quite the bombs-away attitude that Alabama has, but is third in the SEC in three point percentage. Will Vanderbilt be able to make enough baskets to pull off a win?
5. Scouting the Commodores
Scotty Pippen, Jr. is having a good season for Vanderbilt, but he is an isolated bright spot. Pippen is averaging 21.6 points, 5.3 assists, and 3.0 rebounds per game this season.But he is very nearly a one-man band. Pippen accounts for 30% of Vanderbilt’s scoring output. Forward Dylan Disu is averaging 13.7 points, and together he and Pippen make a nice inside-outside duo, but they get little help.
Vanderbilt’s defense is pretty brutal. Overall ,the Commodores are allowing the third most points per game, behind Georgia and South Carolina. However, they are averaging nearly ten more points in SEC games, 83.8 points, and the scoring margin is the worst in the league.
It is, dare I say, a game South Carolina should win.
The Ws
Who: South Carolina (4-5, 2-3) at Vanderbilt (4-8, 0-6)
When: Saturday, January 30, 8:30 pm
Where: Memorial Gymnasium, Nashville, TN
Watch: SEC Network
