Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] On this episode of Cox Talking Gamecocks, I am your host, Tim Cox, where I will keep every episode from 18 one to 2001. And the good times roll. Just keep that song on loop. The good times are rolling. I mean, you just can't say it enough. This is such a fun time right now that we have going on. And to have this consistent level of action between you get your men's basketball early in the week, your women's basketball late in the week, then you got the weekend games right around the corner, single digits away is baseball, opening day.
[00:01:43] So much other excitement among the other sports. It is so much fun. The good times are rolling. I hope you all are geared up for yet another fun weekend. Whatever you all have tuned up, queued up for the weekend, I hope you all are ready to relax, kick back, watch some sports, watch our gamecocks across the board. But, yeah, man, it's a fun time. Really just can't say it enough. I mean, this doesn't always happen. And it's just I find myself still with a little in the back of my mind of, like, you know, like, wow. Like, is this. Is this, like, is the other shoe gonna drop at some point? Like, what's going like? We have been teased and tormented as Gamecock fans.
[00:02:33] We just are conditioned to think that. But right now, for the last few weeks, the good times have rolled here, but got a fun episode for y'all here. Really gonna dive into the action from men's basketball this week, but let's do a little week in review here. Got some news, got some scores to go over with you all, starting with news from men's basketball. It was the big news that broke earlier this week as the men were finally given that validation for the season they are having. And we're finally ranked in the AP poll, debuting at number 15. We got a top 15 team in Colombia, y'all. Let's not look at it any other way. Top 15. And I know that there are many people out there who feel that it probably could have been higher. And first off, the fact that it took so long to get ranked is a different conversation, but also valid. I think it's about a week too late, personally. And yes, I think you could certainly make an argument to be a little bit higher, right? I was personally thinking the team would debut around 16 with a ceiling of twelve. So to see 15, I was happy with that. But the fact is, this team was unranked. So to go from unranked to 15 is about as big of a jump as you'll ever see. You're not going to go much higher than that and you keep winning, the ranking will take care of itself. And as I've said before, the ranking is nice, but what matters is selection Sunday. So just keep winning, keep doing your thing and the rest will fall into place. But nonetheless, that was a fun bit of news. I think the guys deserve it all, I'm sure Lamont Paris said, hey, enjoy this for an hour or two. Not everyone gets to experience this, but we got a job to do and we got to keep going.
[00:04:29] Other news going around here transfer players this was from the football team here. Transfer players met with media members on Thursday. Sort of a casual meet and greet, if you will. Rocket Sanders, probably the biggest storyline, the know prize, if you will, from this transfer portal class was talking, catching up with some of the guys in the media. Said that he is right now focusing on rehabbing from a shoulder surgery he had. He tore his labrum in the second to last game of last season, so he's probably going to be limited in spring practice. But talked about how this offseason he wanted to get leaner, trying to cut down some weight a little bit, get back to a weight where he felt he was more effective. But he also acknowledged that he's coming in to be the number one guy in that running back room. Said that he wants to be a reason why we see more success rushing the ball this year compared to last. So really exciting to see. There's a lot of new faces, a lot of new names to get accustomed to, but it's really cool to see that these guys are already bought in and understand that they have a job to do and they're here for a reason, right?
[00:05:41] But then looking at scores here Tuesday you had the women's golf team in action, really dodging some crazy weather out in California. These storms are bananas. And I think the actual storm system is the Pineapple Express.
[00:05:59] Learning that that is a real thing and not just the movie is actually wild. But it's true. It's true. You're seeing rain in the desert out there. It's bananas.
[00:06:08] That's your weather. 30 seconds from this podcast, but nonetheless here. So yeah, the ladies, they were dodging some crazy weather out in California. They got out of there, but not before bringing back some hardware as our number 6th ranked gamecocks won the Terese Hessen regional team challenge number one. They won the challenge. They beat Texas in a tiebreaker. I think that was a little kerfuffled because of the weather and things like that. But nonetheless, that is a big win for the ladies. And shout out to yet another team that is ranked for South Carolina. I mean, South Carolina athletics. Right now, y'all, we are having a moment. Just check this out. Number one, ranked women's basketball, number four, men's tennis, number four, equestrian, number six, women's golf, number 15, men's basketball, number 17, softball, number 17, women's indoor track, number 21, women's swim and dive, number 21, men's indoor track. And none of that includes these several top 20 or top 15 rankings that the baseball has this preseason.
[00:07:34] So this is a testament to the athletic department at USC. And I understand that that department, and Ray Tanner specifically, are the target of some frustration. And there are certainly times where I think, rightfully so.
[00:07:54] But if nothing else, it has been a priority of this department, and really a successful one, that they have put student athletes from all sports at South Carolina in a position to win. They have brought in the resources for those sports facilities, the academics, the coaching, whatever it may be. And the proof is in the pudding here. And I think it's important to call that out because it's easy to get caught up in the major sports and to judge how a school is doing based off of that.
[00:08:32] And we are just lucky enough at South Carolina, where we have so much going for us right now. And even without some of the major sports being ranked, it's really exciting to see having some of these other sports have successful seasons.
[00:08:50] And it might not make headlines all the time, but men's tennis, having a really successful early part of the season, women's golf, winning this, right? And it just raises the status of everybody, right. It just makes everyone want to work that much harder. And if one wins, we all win. Right? A rising tide lifts all boats. So it's really cool to see.
[00:09:15] And it's exciting that us, as fans of this university, we don't have to sit around for the next, what is it, six months or so, and wait till football season? Like there are fans of other universities or they don't have anything else going on but one sport, right? Whether that's football or basketball, we are lucky enough to have football to look forward to.
[00:09:41] We've had our women's basketball machine powerhouse for several years now. We always look forward to that. We really get up for baseball now. We got the men's basketball cooking, but you look left and you look right and you got other sports that are kicking ass, too. So really cool to see and shout out to our student athletes from any sport, but moving on to one of those major sports in men's basketball as all eyes were on the Qzips and colonial life arena Tuesday night as the guys took the court for the first time since being ranked. And it's funny because this matchup against Ole Miss, this would have been a tough matchup regardless, you know what I mean?
[00:10:26] But there was certainly a little extra pressure, a little juice, whatever you want to call it, from us fans as to how this team would handle that. And it's not fair to hold Lamont Paris in his second year to things that we've seen in the past from other coaches and things like that.
[00:10:48] But whether it's this sport or other sports, it's just like, how many times have you seen a South Carolina team get a little momentum? You got that big win or you got that ranking, and then you just trip up the next week and you're just like, what the heck? And just in college sports, you see that happen where a team will just get hot, they get the ranking and then they fall flat on their face.
[00:11:13] And going into this game against Ole Miss, we were favored, and you look at the records and you look at the stats and everything feels like, yeah, we should handle business, their home environment, wideout, sellout. I was still nervous. I mean, I'm nervous all the time watching these games because I'm so excited for this team. They are a fun team to watch. I don't want them to lose. But I was like for please, God, after all the fuss that was made about being ranked and more so not being ranked sooner, you had to live up to that, you know what I mean? And I don't think the guys really let that get to them because right away, all of the excitement, nerves build up that was answered. I mean, the Gamecocks came out of the gates absolutely on fire, draining everything, hitting the deep ball, finding the open man, getting the extra pass, playing smothering defense, that was really exciting to see. A three point shot will make the arena go crazy regardless. A dunk will make the arena go crazy regardless. To hear, especially the cockpit.
[00:12:28] To hear the cockpit get excited for the defensive plays, creating turnovers, shot clock violations, things of that nature, that is the culture that Lamont Paris is bringing where it's we're going to do the little things and we're going to do them right. And to see the excitement of creating a turnover and everything, it was just so cool to see. It's palpable. It is. And Cla was absolutely rocking in that first half that was arguably the best half of basketball we've seen this team play. They simply could not miss. They shot 62% from the floor in the first half. I think it was 50% from three. Just couldn't miss. Absolutely on fire.
[00:13:15] You go into halftime up double digits, feeling pretty good. You're like, hell yeah. 15th ranked team.
[00:13:23] But there are two halves to basketball. In the second half was a different story. Ole Miss, they just kept chipping away and they kept hitting the contested shots. This mid range, contested shot that they hit what felt like every time, was just remarkable.
[00:13:40] And then they turned up their defensive intensity. They mixed up their lineups, went small, and it resulted in a long run where a once 17 point lead for Carolina diminished to one possession.
[00:13:54] And then late in the game, it really became a battle of wills. Carolina had to wake up quickly and play smart basketball and play hard defense and ultimately hold on to win the game. But the play that might have sealed that or signaled it, rather, that Carolina would not go quietly into the night was the block heard around the state from Colin Murray Boyles. I mean, if you haven't seen this, you must be living under a rock. But basically, late in the game, up five, about a minute and a half to go. Let's say Ole Miss gets it to the post. Their seven footer goes what seemingly is going to be an open dunk. And then Murray Boyles, who's giving up several inches on him, vertical jump straight, all ball blocked, gets his own loose ball and has the wherewithal to pass it to his guard behind him. The place absolutely erupted. He absolutely had no business winning that play, but he did.
[00:14:59] And again, it just signaled that the Gamecocks would not go quietly into the night and they were still here to play.
[00:15:07] Lamont Paris said, it's one for the archives. And this game truly was the CMB game. I mean, despite the three ball being on fire in that first half, it really was his steady play on both sides of the floor. That was the most consistent aspect of this game.
[00:15:25] I mean, his ability to play off the rim is incredibly impressive, and even more so when you remember he's a true freshman.
[00:15:34] He sticks with the play, gets rebounds, his moves are crisp, he makes it a challenge for the defense because he gets back his man up. He's got various moves, all that.
[00:15:45] What's more, and what's even crazier to think of, is that he's getting stronger and stronger. He's only going to get better and more comfortable. And you just think of, like, where he was a month ago to where he is now.
[00:15:59] It's remarkable because he was still getting over his illness and you'd like to think he's only going to continue to progress.
[00:16:09] The hometown kid, true freshman, he went for 16 points, nine rebounds and two blocks. It was the CMB game. And I mean, the past couple of games he has been a big reason why the team has won. And when you look at what he brings to the table, he really is that great. Compliment to BJ and Josh Gray, guys who are more under the rim offense, right. And not to look too far ahead here, but if and when, if, when, I'll say the Gamecocks are in the postseason, he'll have that full season under his belt.
[00:16:51] You hear a lot in college basketball that if you make your freshmen are not freshmen anymore, they've played a full year.
[00:16:59] So you'd like to think that that sentiment would really ring true for him and he should only feel more confident. But I mean, going back to this game here, Lamont Paris talked about how it's certainly not ideal to have that 17 point lead disappear, right? Obviously.
[00:17:18] But he did say that the team can learn some things from this and that first half more, so showed you what this team can do. So the guys have to continue to buy into putting in the work to learn and get better. And hopefully the guys can be at or near their ceiling as the end of the regular season rolls around.
[00:17:42] So some player highlights here. CMB, as previously stated, had a monster game. Talon Cooper and Miles studie both had twelve points. Michi Johnson just six points, but eight rebounds again, still finding a way to really help the team despite maybe not having the best night shooting. And with that win, South Carolina is eight and two in SEC play, which is crazy. We got eight games.
[00:18:08] Know, I think when you listen back, I should have looked it up before here, but I think in the summer I said I'd like to have this team win seven SEC games, which was a moderate improvement from last year. I think they had four wins.
[00:18:31] Then as we entered SEC play, I raised it to eight because we saw the start that the team was on and this was a much improved team than we all thought. Now you're at eight with eight to play and it's just remarkable because there's no real reason to think like things are just going to go totally sideways, right? But let's just even say you play 500 ball down the stretch, you're still going to have a very incredible record when it's all said and done, 24 wins, 25 wins. So it's just a very cool point for a team that was picked unanimously to finish last in the SEC.
[00:19:15] To be sitting before the Super bowl at eight wins in the league play is just remarkable. And now on top of it all, our Gamecocks are tied for a first place in the SEC, which really sets up a big, big game next week. But we'll get there next episode because up next for the Gamecocks is a game at home Saturday afternoon against Vanderbilt. Vandy is having a rough year, sitting at six and 16 overall. Just one and eight in conference. Can't relate crow to the game. Here is keep the field goal percentage consistent.
[00:19:54] You cannot have the disparity like we saw against Ole Miss where you're shooting what I say 68% from the floor in the first half and I think in the second half it was like half that really not good. You can't have that because that's how you let teams creep up on you and that's what happened. Vandy's having a tough year, but you don't want to give him an inch.
[00:20:14] Which brings me to women's basketball. Now, the big news for the ladies this week is that the team will be without their top player in Camilla Cardozo for two games. Camilla is playing for team Brazil ahead of the Olympics. This is not unusual for dawn to let her players to do. We saw this last year, I believe with Letitia Amy here. You can't really blame her either. And you can't really blame the players for taking that opportunity. How many times are you going to be able to play for your country? That is the ultimate pride. So two games without Camilla and she'll be back the rest of the way. But this is a good test and a good teaching moment for some of our other bigs and I think we can handle our own fagan watkin Kitts and so on. I think they can step up and handle the job. But the first game in that two game stretch is happening right now as I am recording against Mizzou, so we'll see how that goes. Mizzou is struggling in their own right this year, so hopefully our ladies can handle it. But the big game is Sunday afternoon against Yukon. Get a little women's college basketball in before the Super Bowl. Yukon is ranked 11th and they're still a program that is seemingly synonymous with women's college basketball and still a team that you want to assert dominance against despite being ranked 11th. So this is a big game.
[00:21:39] Micro to the game here is spread the floor. Without Cardozo. This game needs to be led by our guards like Pow Pow Hall Phil Wiley. They need to take the burden off our post players who will be playing more minutes than they are used to. So it should be a good game. Perfect appetizer for the Super bowl. Get your sports fix in, get the juices flowing, then roll that right into beer, chicken wings and football. Should be a fun weekend for y'all here. Should be a fun weekend for Gamecock Nation. That wraps up this episode. Please follow me on social media, Twitter or X is Cox Gamecocks? Instagram is just the name of the show. Cox talking gamecocks. And please like subscribe and review the podcast. I appreciate all y'all. Go Cox.
