South Carolina basketball: Is Frank Martin to blame for the team’s struggles?
By Jacob Elsey
The case for Martin
Some of the recruiting and transfer criticism is warranted, though all of the blame shouldn’t be laid at the feet of the head coach. Basketball is known to be a dirty sport, and much of the world has learned of Duke’s recruitment of Zion Williamson. South Carolina finished among his top two choices, but the blue blood won out.
The Gamecocks did make a late run at Ja Morant, but the guard opted to stay with his first and only offer, Murray State.
Following a Final Four run, the Gamecocks were set to bring back a talented group that included Jamal Gregory, Rahkym Felder, Chris Silva, Maik Kotsar, and more. Unfortunately, half of that team was kicked off the team due to a bee bee gun incident in the offseason, leaving Martin with another rebuild just a year removed from the NCAA tournament.
And while folks do get frustrated with the instate recruiting, Martin has been able to pull in some great international talent in AJ Lawson, Michael Carrera, Silva, and Kotsar, while also developing some lesser known players into SEC caliber contributors.
HIs current 2021 class could be his best since 2015, as it ranks in the top 40 nationally, and contains two highly rated guards that could’ve gone a number of different places.
So the future is still bright for South Carolina on that front.
The biggest challenge that this year has presented is the COVID pandemic. And it’s hit the Gamecocks as hard as anyone in the country. South Carolina has missed a total of seven games thus far, and missed essentially the entire month of December.
The Gamecocks haven’t fielded a full squad in over a month, meaning they’ve played shorthanded throughout its entire SEC slate. The lack of depth has been evident, as the Gamecocks faded down the stretch to LSU, after leading for the first 35 minutes of the game. Tired legs led to South Carolina making just one basket over its final six minutes of action. Frank Martin and two other assistants weren’t able to make that trip due to COVID tracing.
The next game saw big men Alanzo Frink and Jalyn McCreary forced to sit out versus Missouri. Tigers’ center Jeremiah Tilmon would go on to record a team-high 19 points on his way to a double double. Frank Martin had to use 6-foot-6 forwards (Minaya, Trey Anderson) to defend the 6-foot-10 Tilmon down low, and it showed.
Game action isn’t the only thing affected by the pandemic. The Gamecocks haven’t been able to practice for a majority of the year, leading to deficits in conditioning and team chemistry. It’s hard to expect a team that’s unable to practice to come in and play strong for 40 minutes versus top notch competition.
Martin has been forced to play his top starters for 35 minutes or more in each game, and the fatigue is starting to catch up over this three-game skid. Tired legs are taking their toll on shooting and defense.
The team took another hit this week with Alanzo Frink being ruled out for the year due to medical issues. He was one of just two experience post players on the roster, leaving a deal of youth to take over his starting role.