Lamont Paris On The Team's Current Motivation: 'They're Not Satisfied'
South Carolina's men's basketball has set a new bar this season, but they aren't ready for the ride to be over as they get set to begin postseason play.
On Wednesday afternoon, South Carolina men's basketball coach Lamont Paris met with the media after the Gamecocks practiced at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN. With much of the season now behind his team, Paris was asked at one point how this team is staying motivated with conference tournament play set to begin. The second-year headman indicated that the players' intrinsic motivation outweighs the desire to admire what they've done.
"At this point, motivation is not even a thing," Lamont expressed. "You know, some coaches are great motivators, but I think at this point during the season [the players] have so many things that they're motivated by, and there [were] times where I had to push buttons early in the season in order to get guys to do this or not do that, but at this point, they're so locked in and focused and motivated," Paris lamented. "I think they recognize that what they've done is pretty special. You know, it's the most regular season wins in school history, and I think they know that they've done some special things, but they're not satisfied with that. They want to continue to make this ride last as long as they possibly can. So there's a lot of motivation to continue to move forward and play well and play together and just get as many games together with this particular group as we possibly can."
Having won four out of their last five regular season games, and defeated teams like Tennessee, Kentucky, and Florida, Carolina is coming into the SEC Tournament a confident bunch, knowing that their accomplishments are a credit to how tough of an out they'll be for any team they go up against.
"They're a confident group, and certainly, there's a different feel to it when you come in and have had the season that we've had. I just don't for one-second think that the guys don't believe they can beat any team that we've played. And, you know, obviously, there are a lot of teams that feel that way. But they look back on what they've done this season and there's a lot of evidence that would suggest that they may be right."
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