It,s not the ending we all expected two weeks ago, but still a good season. A gamecock team that played 2 men short all year played with their hearts and it showed up in the win column. I really believe down the stretch we simply, ran out of gas. Downey and Fredrick were wore slap out, physically and mentally. The grind of the SEC regular season was just too much. The fact the conference didn't have a knockout team doesn't diminish the league as a whole. There are at least 9 quality teams, 4 were a little better than the others any of them could take any top 25 team to the wire. The high paced trapping defence turned their legs to jello and that kills your shooting. They were a team that needed everyone healthy all year and that didn't happened. Konrad and Ross both missed a lot of games. This forced Carolina guards into big minutes basically every night. After the high of the Kentucky game we disappeared. I say they were tired The grind of the season didn't doom the gamecocks post season hopes alone but is a definite factor.
The refs were also terrible all year. Our big men got beat worse than Rhianna after an awards show. I don't know how many times Holmes would get fouled, and the call would go on him. It was ridiculous and anyone who watched the games knows I'm telling the truth. But, it is, what, it is and some things won't change. With the combination of these and other factors its truly amazing we were able to last as long as we did.
Another problem was we would have long scoreless stretches. In these moments we needed to let the offence flow through our Bigs. Too many times we would force bad shots. This is an area that will improve next year with another year for Horn to work with the team.
I saw this team play a lot on T.V. and 4 times in person and it was fun to watch. This is what Gamecock fans have been waiting for. Its high speed in your face basketball. Downey is truly worth the price of admission. The big men defend the rim with reckless abandon and can finish with authority. I'm proud of this team, every player on this team left it on the court and when you do that you can keep your head up.
