Gamecocks Will Hang Their Hat On Defense
When a new coach comes into a program, there are multiple roadblocks that they must overcome in the early stages of their tenure. One challenge is getting the locker room to buy into your process and what it is you're trying to accomplish.
Another difficulty is balancing utilizing your players' best abilities and integrating the system you want to run long-term. Coach Paris clearly understands that overloading his players' minds won't serve the long-term purpose of what he's trying to install systematically.
"I mean from a personnel standpoint we’re not completely suited to do everything I wanna do. So it would be hard-headed of me to try to force some things on the personnel that we have, but at the same time there are some things that are gonna be in our DNA as a team as we move forward. Fortunately those have less to do with ability, and more to do with a willingness to try those things. There’s a lot of flexibility in what you do but there are some things, certain things that will be a part of our DNA."
One of the areas where Paris wants to see the total effort is defense, something that teams under his predecessor, Frank Martin, prided themselves on no matter the opponent they faced. Paris' defensive philosophy, discipline, physicality, and an edge built on confidence are trademarks he wants to see in his teams.
"We talk about some positional stuff defensively, the discipline to not go for a shot fake so that if he does not shoot the shot, you don’t bite on and give him an easier shot… so discipline on that, physicality of chesting up and doing things in a way where you’re least likely to get a foul called on you. As free as I have these guys play offensively, we’re the opposite defensively," Lamont said. "There aren’t lot of decisions to be made defensively, I find that works well. Defensively we’re gonna be hard to score on, you’re [not gonna] enjoy playing us defensively."
According to the 2022 Kem Pomroy ratings, a rating system that uses analytical metrics to determine how good a team is based on their schedule, Chattanooga finished 76th out of the 361 division one college basketball teams and first in the Southern Conference in adjusted defensive efficiency. Lamont will hope to carry that success over to Columbia, the success that led to an NCAA tournament appearance last season with the Mocs.
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