Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] On this episode of Cox Talking Gamecocks, reaction to the men's basketball team losing to Clemson. Women's basketball continues on, and Gamecock football loses a legend. Okay, here we go.
[00:00:56] Okay.
[00:00:57] Welcome to episode 364 of Cox Talking Gamecocks. I am your host, Tim Cox, where I will keep every episode from 1801 to 2001. Hope y' all had a great week. Gamecock Nation this week. I don't know about you. All this week has dragged for your boy. I think it's just one of those deals where you're peeking around the corner and you know you got a short week, no matter how you slice it. Coming up next week, if you're lucky enough to get, you know, a big break between Christmas and New Year's, you got that coming up. But even without that, you should have a day or two or maybe three off next weekend.
[00:01:37] My mind is just not trying to be locked into meetings and emails and things like that. So, yeah, it's been a struggle of a week, but, hey, made it to the weekend. Gonna kick back. Got the College Football Playoff starting this weekend. Gonna touch on that a little bit later, so there's a lot to look forward here, too. So, yeah, let's jump right into things here. Gonna touch a little bit on the football program here, but do have to start on a serious note here.
[00:02:05] Gamecock Nation recently lost a legend. Former quarterback and icon Steve Tannehill unfortunately passed away after a long illness. And, you know, they say your legacy is defined by the people you touch and who remember you when you're gone. And my goodness, I don't think there's words for Steve's legacy. I mean, the stories, the. That you've seen, he was sort of that original swaggy quarterback, someone who made South Carolina football cool at, you know, a time when maybe it wasn't. And, you know, everything he did in and around Columbia, well, after his playing days, his impact is far reaching. He was before my time and before, you know, my family was fans of Gamecocks, but quickly learned when I became a fan and was at school, like, just the legend that he had and the impact that he had in the sport and for the program. So really, really tough praying for him and his family during this time. But, yes, rest in peace to an absolute legend in Steve Tannehill.
[00:03:12] But sticking with the football program here, a quick bit of news here. Talking roster here. Tron Bow Tro is into the transfer portal. He intend it stating his intentions right. Like the. It's funny, you're seeing all these announcements and things like that around college football. The portal isn't open until, like, January 3rd. I think it is. Could be wrong there, but.
[00:03:34] So you're not even in the portal yet, and you're getting these guys saying they're announcing their intention to enter the portal. And I think basically that's telling coaches, like, hey, if you're trying to tamper and contact guys under the table, like, you can start reaching out to me. But this was a tough one. You know, TRO came on, and his freshman year really played well right out of the gate, I think had some more ups and downs this year compared to last, but kind of like the offense, too. And you. You don't like to see a guy like that go, someone who was highly recruited, flashed right away you had high hopes for. You feel like the potential is there, and maybe with some proper coaching and development, he can really live up to it. But I think while I am upset to see him go because of the caliber of player I think he is, on the other hand, I honestly do think that with that position group, the offensive line, just given how poorly they have played over the last couple of seasons and with getting a new coach who's coming along with the new offensive coordinator in an entirely new scheme, I really do think that it's just a case of there's a lot of guys in that group who can benefit from a change of scenery. And I honestly think, as well, South Carolina football could just benefit from some new blood. And so there's. It's not a situation where I'm glad to see any of these guys go because I want them to develop and be all they can be as Gamecocks. But at the same time, I understand if they feel the need to try their hand somewhere else. And I'm fine with now Coach Clem and Briles having a little bit more leeway in their roster management, if that makes sense.
[00:05:27] So wishing all the best to TRO and we'll update y' all with any intentions to enter the portal. And of course, once that is open, we will, of course, go over all of the comings and goings for South Carolina football.
[00:05:41] But all right, talking about games that have been played in scores that matter here, talking men's basketball, they had a big one Tuesday night up in the Upstate, taking on Clemson. And unfortunately, the streak of losing to power competition continued as the Q Zips have lost 68 to 61 in this one.
[00:06:05] And, yeah, I mean, there's. There's certainly a lot to unpack here lost by seven points. But I will say that for much of the second half, it was a double digit deficit. And we staged a little bit of a late comeback where you thought if you hit a three and get a quick stop in another three, like you're, you're right there. So that final score isn't necessarily indicative of how the game went.
[00:06:32] And I was watching it, and I'm just sitting there largely disappointed.
[00:06:38] You know, it's a rivalry game. You thought maybe that the team had a couple of wins where they could maybe get a little momentum here. They were so close against some power four teams earlier in the year. That is this for the one they get over the hump. And what a moment that would be, as we are right around the corner from conference play. But, you know, you had another off night shooting.
[00:07:02] You're. You're four from 26 for three. So we're a team that was built to shoot the threes and a team that was designed to shoot well, but we're not shooting well.
[00:07:14] And as I was watching it, you know, I was trying to come up with a word of like, what am I seeing now from this team?
[00:07:23] And then you're kind of putting the pieces together from some of the other games. And the word I kept coming back to was disjointed.
[00:07:31] This team looks disjointed. And maybe that's because it's a bunch of new faces who were thrown together and we were expecting them to do noticeably better than last year.
[00:07:43] And you had Lamont Paris this offseason saying, this is one of the hardest working groups he's been around. Their chemistry was great. Right off the bat, you had players in the offseason saying, you know, we're going to be scary. Look out for us. Dark horse. All this jazz and it just hasn't transpired.
[00:08:00] So it's disappointing this team is disjointed. You saw a lot of discourse online about the energy that the players were giving off and just not seeming to fight. Guys who went completely cold in the second half, just not coming out ready to battle. I mean, the team was down seven points at the half, which that's not insurmountable, you know, and like I said, like late in the game when, you know, the pace was picked up a little more fast and furious, we were able to close the gap. But in that middle of the the second half, like you really weren't doing much and you saw just getting dominated in the post again, not hitting the threes. I saw a few bad Turnovers that I just really didn't like. 14 turnovers total on the night.
[00:08:51] And it's just tough. I mean, yes, you know, you weren't at full strength. Eli Ellis was out. But Eli Ellis is good and he's exciting, but, you know, he's not the difference maker right now. He could develop into that. But, yeah, I was. I was disappointed in this one. You know, Kobe, Knox, 13 points, Mike, 13 points. And then it, you know, kind of drops off from there. Michi with eight.
[00:09:16] You know, you had two guys in double figures. I mean, this is a rivalry game. And I just think from an outsider's perspective, as a Couch fan, a Couch coach, I just don't think you necessarily saw that fire. And I think that's maybe what it's been this year is you haven't seen that. That fire and that net, that just grit. You know, these guys come close, and at the end they've tended to, you know, kind of be fast and furious and close the. Close the gap a little bit, but can't even get close to get over that hump. So it's definitely an interesting spot for South Carolina because the teams that you've beaten have all been kind of ass.
[00:09:54] You know, you're just so you're left there with your hands up, like, well, what. What kind of team do we have? Like, are we about to get destroyed when we get to the sec? Like, SEC might not be as good as they were last year, but there's certainly. It's certainly still a deep conference with some high caliber talent, you know, and good coaching, tough environments on the road. How the heck are we gonna fare with that?
[00:10:20] So it's. It begs a lot of questions, you know, so, you know, we have. We have to touch on it a little bit because there's been a lot of chatter online about Lamont Paris. And look, I'm a Lamont Paris fan, and I think it's one of my faults as a fan that I'm a little late to get on criticizing coaches. I just. To me, that's like a last ditch. Like, we are rock bottom. You gotta start talking about moving on from the coach. You have a lot of fans out there who are talking about that, about Lamont Paris. What I will say about this program under him is that it is very interesting that we have a really good year right away. Right? It was year two, you know, but that first year, I don't think the best coach in. In the world could have done much with that roster.
[00:11:14] He turns around, he works the portal Incredibly well.
[00:11:19] He has guys who he retained, who developed. That was like a lot of Michi Johnson. Right. And he goes on this incredible run. Right. And that was a really fun year.
[00:11:29] Fan support was there. Yeah, it would have been. You know, the resources allocated for you for the future. You go to the tournament and it's fallen off a cliff.
[00:11:39] And to me, that is the head scratcher. Like, how does it fall off that much? Like, he identified players early, like Talon, Cooper and BJ Mack to. To come to usc.
[00:11:53] I believe that cycle might have also included Miles Studi. And yes, everything fit kind of nicely where you had cmb. The local kid stayed home and he was a great compliment, really good out of the gate his freshman year.
[00:12:06] But since then, the recruiting, especially the recruiting through the portal, has not been anywhere near that.
[00:12:15] You know, I think last year we missed on a couple of guys. You know, you were right there at the end. But to me, it seems like the formula for Paris was there.
[00:12:24] And we're kind of back to guys not playing their best positions. And I think he doesn't have exactly the roster he wants. You know, it's more. It's closer to it. But that's what's concerning me about the program under Paris.
[00:12:39] So we'll see how this goes. You know, I mean, is there a world where this team is scrappy and is a little bit of a disruptor in the sec? Like, to a degree, yes. Right. Because when you see some of these games, like the Northwesterns, you know, a little bit of the Clemson, like, you know, we're not getting destroyed by these Power 4 teams, but we're just not good enough to win. So we can be scrappy in the sec, you know, and there's going to be some nights that the team you're playing is cold and you're not. So you get that win. And maybe there's a couple of nights where it is close late, and maybe you do force it to OT like we've seen, and in ot, maybe you get it done and you get a nice upset win or two. Point is, that's kind of where I'm at with this team. Like, let's just see if we can have some fun.
[00:13:35] I don't think this is the team that, you know, when earlier in the year start, you kind of saw the vision of what we could have. And I think as the games have progressed, you see the post play is not very strong. And if it's a cold night shooting, we're in deep, deep trouble.
[00:13:54] And that's just not A recipe for success.
[00:13:57] So, you know, I'm not going to make any declarations on Lamont Paris right now, but I will say, like, red flags are, you know, they've been taken out of the count or they've been taken out of the cupboard and, you know, we're getting ready to hook them onto our flagpole. We're not raising them yet, but I know where they are and ready to speak on that a little bit further if the time comes. But let's get into SEC play and let the chips fall where they may. I want it to work with Paris. I think he's a good guy. I think he's a good communicator. I think he's a good coach. But there's a disconnect.
[00:14:32] I don't know why we were not able to recruit well at South Carolina. I don't know why we're not able to recruit well out of the portal. Teams are doing it left and right. You know, it's not like football where there's, you know, we can actually point to some of these things, you know, historically.
[00:14:48] So, I don't know, we'll see how that goes. On the other side of things, women's basketball, they are in action as I am recording this, taking on usf. So wishing them all the best over the airwaves and a quick turnaround for the ladies. They take on Florida Gulf Coast FGCU on Saturday afternoon, 2pm in Fort Myers. So kind of a quick stretch here of they're, you know, staying in South Florida playing these obscure teams, but, you know, they're taking a week off for the week of Christmas off, so we'll see them on the 28th. And the next men's game is next Monday at home against SC State. And then they were off for Christmas break as well. So we'll. We'll see how that goes. You know, I mean, really, right now, it's. Can the women kind of come together with their rotations and get healthy and everything like that? They've been rolling. And with the men, it's. Can we figure out a way to. To shoot the three a little better? And, you know, we. We will go from there. You know, you got to keep the faith. Maybe ask Santa for a couple of wins here. I don't know. You got to do whatever you got to do.
[00:15:59] But. All right, let me give you all a special couple of picks here, as we are in the College Football Playoff. I can't believe it's here. They're going to be some really good games this weekend here. So not quite a six pack, but rather a one, two, three, four pack. It's kind of like a craft beer, right? So it's fun. We got the games on. We got one game on Friday and then three of them loaded on Saturday here. So going to give this to y' all quick. Alabama versus Oklahoma. I'm going with Oklahoma minus one and a half on this. If you want to sprinkle a little bit of the under 40 and a half, I wouldn't mind that.
[00:16:41] Alabama really limping into this game, no pun intended. They were really banged up going into the SEC championship game. I know there's been some time to heal, but Oklahoma, I think this sets up well for them, especially with it being at home.
[00:16:57] Saturday Miami at Texas A and M. This is a very interesting matchup. I really don't know what to make of this one. I think they both match up really well. This being at College Station makes me want to think that A and M gets this done, but I might take the points with Miami in this one plus three and a half. There might be a last minute switch, but I'll update it on social media here.
[00:17:25] And then Saturday afternoon, very intriguing one here. Tulane at Ole Miss. The Lane Kiffinless Rebels here. How do they respond to this?
[00:17:35] I mean, they got, they got the staff largely intact.
[00:17:40] They've had time to process the loss.
[00:17:43] It's a very, very interesting matchup. I don't think Tulane gets this done. 17.5 points.
[00:17:50] That's a lot. I'm going over 56.5 because Fudget, why not? And then James Madison at Oregon for the nightcap. Give me the Ducks -21. I think the Ducks can make a lot of noise these playoffs here, but going to be a great weekend of college sports with that, y'. All. That wraps up this episode. Please follow me on social media, Twitter or X is Cox gamecox. 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.
