Dawn Staley Dishes On How Kamilla Cardoso's Absence Will Impact The Gamecocks
Later tonight against the Missouri Tigers and this coming Sunday against the No. 11 UConn Huskies, Dawn Staley, and the South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team will take the floor without the most important player on their team: Kamilla Cardoso. While Carolina might be the only team in America that can lose a player of that caliber and see little drop-off, there's no denying that the team will have to approach things differently in their next two matchups.
After a practice session yesterday afternoon, the local media caught up with Dawn and asked her about how she plans to try and fill the void left by Kamilla, whether one player can do so or if it'll have to be by committee. Staley believes it'll be important for her players not to overcompensate and instead focus on what they do.
"Everybody just has to do what they do best, like do what you've been doing. We don't have anybody that's 6-7. You know, that's almost averaging a double-double. We don't, we don't have anybody. We have different [players] though and being different and being versatile, we have to lean in on that and not try to reproduce what what we're missing."
It's a smart strategy for a roster that's still stacked with former five-stars and McDonald's All-Americans littered at every position. Adapting to what you have available is one of the best traits a coach can have, and Dawn believes that the team can find other ways to impact the game, even if the loss of Cardoso negatively impacts other aspects.
"We can make up for scoring. We really can make up for scoring. We can't make up for the defensive presence that Kamilla brings just from her stature. We can however play, you know the the other side of it, the rotations and we could switch probably a little bit more than we normally do."
The Gamecocks will play Missouri tonight at 7 PM ET on the SEC Network.
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