Win Over Kentucky Serves As Proof Of Concept For Lamont Paris' Vision
When the South Carolina Gamecocks hired Lamont Paris in the Spring of 2022, he conveyed that he wanted his team's identity to be defensive-oriented. On Tuesday night, the Gamecocks held the Kentucky Wildcats to a season-low 62 points. For context, John Calipari's squad had only scored less than 80 points once leading into tonight.
Tonight's defensive performance, however, shouldn't be viewed in a vacuum. It should be viewed as a climax point in a culmination of several months of practices and games, some filled with ups and some filled with downs. Tuesday night was everything Lamont Paris wanted this program to be when he took over 20 months ago.
"That's exactly what I want it to look like. I think we did things that were reproducible; that was the biggest thing. I think we did stuff that was reproducible; it was within our control, a lot of it. [Kentucky] took and made some tough shots, but someone asked me a question before about the pace of the game, and I said, 'The biggest difference that you'll notice in the pace of the game, if it's really going the way that I want it to, is that they'll have to spend more time searching for a shot that they like,' and I think that's what happened for the most part."
The biggest challenge when a new coach comes is simple: getting much-needed buy-in from those in and outside the program. It starts with the players, and after coming just short on several occasions in year one, Paris brought back a group of guys who knew how he wanted things to look, along with some key experienced transfers from the portal.
Gamecock forward BJ Mack celebrating with South Carolina fans storming the court after upset win over No. 6 Kentucky (23rd Jan., 2024)
Jeff Blake | USA Today Network
After knocking off Kentucky, Lamont wanted to hammer home how much his team's belief has served as the catalyst for what's quickly becoming a memorable season in Columbia.
"I think the belief started with our own guys - I think it starts internally with their confidence as players and then their confidence within one another and then their confidence in our plan," "[It] starts with their confidence, but then to win some games and to put a product out there that the students have gotten behind and the city has gotten behind and the state has gotten behind. These guys are worthy of the support - It's fun to watch them reap the benefits of all the work that they've put in."
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