Basketball
Unless USC wins the SEC tournament to earn the league’s automatic NCAA tournament bid, the Gamecocks are headed to the NIT, right?
Not so fast.
At 14-14 (and 4-11 in the SEC), USC isn’t guaranteed anything just yet, even if the Gamecocks are the two-time defending NIT champions.
First, USC isn’t going anywhere if it doesn’t finish with a winning record. The Gamecocks close out the regular season on the road against LSU.
Then comes the SEC tournament, where USC likely will take on the No. 3 seed out of the weak Western Division. Win that and the Gamecocks could face the second seed out of the East - likely Vanderbilt.
So where does that leave USC?
Coach Dave Odom says the Gamecocks likely need to win at least two more games as possibly as many as four to feel comfortable about their NIT chances. What, you might ask, has the college basketball world come to when a team with a winning record from a so-called power conference that has a winning isn’t assured of a trip to the NIT?
With the NCAA buying the NIT, the rules have changed. Last year the NIT began guaranteeing a spot to any regular-season conference champion that wasn’t selected to the NCAA tournament.
Seven teams, including Georgia Southern, fit that criteria a year ago, when the NIT field was 40 teams.
Now it’s 32. You do the math.
With the SEC getting four to six teams in the NCAA tournament, the remaining eight to six teams certainly won’t all be bound for the NIT.
In the past, Odom said he’d bet 80 to 85 percent of the teams from power conferences with winning records made the NIT field. Clearly that won’t be the case this year. no comments
Not so fast.
At 14-14 (and 4-11 in the SEC), USC isn’t guaranteed anything just yet, even if the Gamecocks are the two-time defending NIT champions.
First, USC isn’t going anywhere if it doesn’t finish with a winning record. The Gamecocks close out the regular season on the road against LSU.
Then comes the SEC tournament, where USC likely will take on the No. 3 seed out of the weak Western Division. Win that and the Gamecocks could face the second seed out of the East - likely Vanderbilt.
So where does that leave USC?
Coach Dave Odom says the Gamecocks likely need to win at least two more games as possibly as many as four to feel comfortable about their NIT chances. What, you might ask, has the college basketball world come to when a team with a winning record from a so-called power conference that has a winning isn’t assured of a trip to the NIT?
With the NCAA buying the NIT, the rules have changed. Last year the NIT began guaranteeing a spot to any regular-season conference champion that wasn’t selected to the NCAA tournament.
Seven teams, including Georgia Southern, fit that criteria a year ago, when the NIT field was 40 teams.
Now it’s 32. You do the math.
With the SEC getting four to six teams in the NCAA tournament, the remaining eight to six teams certainly won’t all be bound for the NIT.
In the past, Odom said he’d bet 80 to 85 percent of the teams from power conferences with winning records made the NIT field. Clearly that won’t be the case this year. no comments
Univ. of South Carolina today put together a great 'W' with their play over Tennessee. Score was 81-64 and was a great win for the team. UT came in on a 3 game winning streak but played poorly and the gamecocks came to the Colonial Center fired up. They shot lights out from behind the arc and most importantly did not turn the ball over. It seems they went away from their '3 passes' before you shoot the ball game plan and today simply shot the ball....as one of my church league coaches said you have to shoot to score and today they played like a SEC team should play.
Thoughts???
no comments
This was reported in The Greenville News.
Article states ---University of South Carolina reserve center Ousmane Konate has left the basketball team for personal reasons and is unlikely to play again, coach Dave Odom says.
"He will not be in uniform (Wednesday night against Auburn),'' Odom told reporters before practice Tuesday. "He's not likely to return to the team. The reason being is he's got some personal issues that he needs to attend to.''
Konate, a 6-foot-10, 270-pound junior from Senegal, has played in 25 games in his career -- 11 this year -- with no starts. This season Konate averaged 1.6 points and 2.0 rebounds a game.
I don't think this will hurt us and actually it was kinda assumed that he was done. Plus Odom had to create one scholarship for next year's class of recurits and transfers.
Any comments or anyone sad to see the Konate go? no comments
Article states ---University of South Carolina reserve center Ousmane Konate has left the basketball team for personal reasons and is unlikely to play again, coach Dave Odom says.
"He will not be in uniform (Wednesday night against Auburn),'' Odom told reporters before practice Tuesday. "He's not likely to return to the team. The reason being is he's got some personal issues that he needs to attend to.''
Konate, a 6-foot-10, 270-pound junior from Senegal, has played in 25 games in his career -- 11 this year -- with no starts. This season Konate averaged 1.6 points and 2.0 rebounds a game.
I don't think this will hurt us and actually it was kinda assumed that he was done. Plus Odom had to create one scholarship for next year's class of recurits and transfers.
Any comments or anyone sad to see the Konate go? no comments
What has gotten into these kids? Two wins in a row? A recent win over MSU at "The Hump" and earlier in the week a win over Ar-Kansas. The Gamecocks snapped a five-game losing streak and now are on a two game winning streak. This is the same team that lost consecutive games by....well let's just say a lot. South Carolina (12-7, 2-4 SEC) has a chance to get its season back on track.
Next up - USC hosts Auburn on Wednesday and is at Alabama on Saturday. Each team has a losing conference record and USC is 2-0 against the SEC West.
Are they trying to 'play' into getting a NIT bid again? Is a 3-peat on their minds? OR is this just a fluke and the team will return to lop-sided losses soon enough?
I am holding out hope that a "light switch" was turned ON with this team....what do you guys think?
no comments| Date | Opp. | Actual | Announced |
| Nov. 10 | S.C. State | 6,214 | 6,307 |
| Nov. 19 | Lipscomb | 3,377 | 12,626 |
| Dec. 2 | Clemson | 10,050 | 14,540 |
| Dec. 7 | Charleston | 6,240 | 14,760 |
| Dec. 20 | Princeton | 6,458 | 12,271 |
| Dec. 28 | UNC Asheville | 5,243 | 13,776 |
| Dec. 29 | Jacksonville | 2,508 | 12,955 |
| Jan. 3 | W. Carolina | 4,476 | 13,084 |
| Jan. 7 | Kansas | 10,493 | 14,713 |
| Jan. 13 | Florida | 8,420 | 13,828 |
| Jan. 17 | Kentucky | 7,313 | 13,809 |
| Jan. 24 | Arkansas | 5,272 |
11,776
These are the attendance reports listed by the state newspapter this morning. |
Renaldo Balkman {#32} for the New York Knicks is having "not so much" success his first year or for what many expect from a first round draft pick. We promised a "Balkman Watch" and some asked about Kinsey so LOHD thought it would be a good time for a update.Let's look at his number so far this season:
He has played in 40 games, averaging 13:24 mins a game with 3.4 points per game and 3.4 rebounds per game with .7 assists a game, .6 steals a game and .8 blocks a game. Not exactly "stellar" numbers.
Tarance Kinsey {#7} for the Memphis Grizzlies is just now getting some "PT" but is still not a factor on the team in his first year. He did not play in any games for the entire month of November and played here and there in December. But lately he has earned some "PT." He was undrafted out of college and signed as a free agent.
Look at his numbers this year:
Kinsey has played in 15 games, averaging 9 mins a game with 2.4 points per game with a rebound, assist, steal and block here and there. no comments
I know this season is not over but I have already started to think about next year for the SC men's basketball team. Call me crazy but I don't see the 'cocks turning this boat around anytime soon. The SEC is too strong this year and we just don't have the weapons to upset teams down the road. Only hope of a NCAA berth is to win the SEC Tourney, which well is not likely and the chance of a 3 peat of NIT Champs is fading away fast. But hey we got Odom to re-sign his contract...The Gamecocks could probably use any of their heralded transfers on the court right now. The Gamecocks (10-7, 0-4 Southeastern Conference) have lost five in a row, the first four by a total of 112 points before last Saturday's 64-61 defeat at Tennessee.
Nice article on si.com discussing the recent transfer of Mike Jones from 'Cuse to USC. Last year's "Mr. Basketball" for the Palmetto State became the latest highly regarded player from the state to start his career elsewhere and then return home. The 6-foot-8 Jones attended classes Tuesday, officially joining former Cincinnati standout Devan Downey from Chester High and ex-Georgia Tech guard Zam "Buck" Fredrick of Calhoun County High on the Gamecocks talented waiting list. Both Downey and Fredrick were also honored with "Mr. Basketball" during their prep careers.
Downey and Fredrick are eligible next season while Jones, must wait until after the fall semester ends to suit up for South Carolina.
no commentsDowney and Fredrick are eligible next season while Jones, must wait until after the fall semester ends to suit up for South Carolina.
The Gamecocks (10-6, 0-3 SEC) have now lost three straight games by a combined 96 points, and four in a row by 112.
We should have gave Dave a 5 year extention, come on Hyman. Maybe we should double the prices for season basketball tickets.
Time for a new coach and a new AD.
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Love him or hate him....he is here to stay a "wee" bit longer. The University of South Carolina men's basketball coach Dave Odom, who had one year left on his contract after this season, received a two-year contract extension today. Along with the extension, the terms of the buyout were changed in the final year of the contract. Under Odom's old contract, both sides have to pay the other $250,000 for each year remaining on the contract. That remains the same except for the final year, when USC would be liable for only $50,000 if it fired Odom and Odom would have to pay school the same amount if he left for another job. Odom, 64, would not have to pay USC anything if he retired before the contract runs out.
There were no changes to Odom's compensation package. Odom has a base salary of $170,242 along with guarantees for television and radio shows and an apparel stipend totaling $525,000. It includes incentives that make the contract potentially worth more than $900,000.
Odom is 110-72 in six years at USC, although the Gamecocks have made the NCAA tournament only once. Also, USC's best showing in the SEC was an 8-8 finish in 2003-04 when the program made its only trip to the NCAAs under Odom.
Thoughts? Good move for USC?
no comments
If the season ended today, South Carolina would just miss the NCAA tournament. At least according to ESPN's Joe Lunardi, a respected prognosticator of the field. Lunardi's first projected bracket since the start of the season appeared Wednesday on espn.com and can still be viewed on the site.
South Carolina was listed as the last of the "Next Four Out," meaning the Gamecocks are essentially the eighth team to miss out. Six SEC teams are in the projected field: Florida (a No. 1 seed), Alabama (No. 2), Tennessee (No. 4), Kentucky and LSU (No. 6 seeds) and Arkansas (No. 11).
As you know things will change a lot before March Madness gets here now that Conference plays begins for everyone. I am still hoping for USC to make it to the "dance" but only time will tell.
Next up No. 9 Kansas....should be a doozy... no comments
South Carolina was listed as the last of the "Next Four Out," meaning the Gamecocks are essentially the eighth team to miss out. Six SEC teams are in the projected field: Florida (a No. 1 seed), Alabama (No. 2), Tennessee (No. 4), Kentucky and LSU (No. 6 seeds) and Arkansas (No. 11).
As you know things will change a lot before March Madness gets here now that Conference plays begins for everyone. I am still hoping for USC to make it to the "dance" but only time will tell.
Next up No. 9 Kansas....should be a doozy... no comments
