Can USC Upstate Be A Confidence Booster?

College of Charleston (3–3, 0–0)
USC Upstate (3–2, 0–0)
TD Arena
4:00 p.m.

The Cougars are in dire need of a confidence booster. After seeing their offense crater to one of the worst levels in Division 1 basketball (CofC curently ranks 335 out of 347 DI programs in ppg), Charleston needs to see the ball go into the basket a couple of times.

Although USC Upstate is no pushover, their defense (or lack thereof), should present some opportunities for CofC to score. The Cougs are done with the toughest stretch of their schedule. If they can jumpstart this non-conference stretch with some positive momentum, they’ll right the ship in time for league play.

So why has the CofC offense been so bad? Certainly with the tempo that Charleston creates on defense, they will never have a ton of possessions, but their efficiency has been worse than last year.

The obvious culprit is the schedule. The Cougars had to face 7'6 Tacko Fall in the paint, followed by a tall and athletic Wake Forest team, followed by the defending national champs in the span of a week.

Second is the lineup inconsistency. Earl Grant is integrating four new players into his rotation, and finding the right groupings has resulted in varying playing times for pretty much everyone.

Whatever the reason is, the Cougars have taken a step back from what was already a below-average offensive rating last season. Here are some of the most obvious disparities:

• According to KenPom, the only Cougars using 16% or less of the team’s possessions are: Cam Johnson, Nick Harris, Payton Hulsey and Chevez Goodwin. That’s three starters from last year, including the team’s leading scorer. Hulsey and Harris pride themselves on defense, but they need to offer some sort of offensive threat to take the pressure off their teammates. CJ has gone through shooting slumps before (including the start of last season). When his shot isn’t falling, I’d love to see him take the ball to the hoop and produce at the line.
• Speaking of Johnson, his 31% shooting from behind the arc is way down from his career average of about 38%. He seems one of the most hesitant players on the young season, routinely pump faking and passing up opportunities to pull the trigger.
• Pointer has been another player whose production has taken a step backward. The All-Rookie guard averaged 11.2 points per game last season on 34% shooting from deep. So far this season those numbers have dropped to 5.2 and 29% respectively. Pointer has been in and out of the lineup, but his shooting has not yet carried over to this season.
• Evan Bailey is another player who has been in and out of the rotation. We know that Evan is a three point specialist, but we just haven’t seen it yet this year. He’s just 1 of 7 from long range.
• There are other culprits too. After a hot start to the season, both Chealey and Riller have started to cool. The latter especially ever since his driving lanes have been cut off. Grant is 4th on the team in 3pt attempts but hitting just 19% on the young season.

If there’s a positive from all this, it’s that there’s a bar that we’re used to these players hitting and they all happen to be falling short. Over the coming games I’d expect everyone to settle into their roles and get their numbers back to where they should be. With the schedule easing up and the rotation taking shape, I’d expect that to happen.