Back to the drawing board? Lamont Paris explains how Gamecocks must respond to loss

After a shocking 74-71 home loss Monday night to North Florida, the first words out of coach Lamont Paris’ mouth were how the result might impact NCAA Tournament aspirations.

Paris and the Gamecocks (0-1) didn’t get off to a good start on their quest to have a return trip to March Madness.

“I’m sure the metrics are really going to like this outcome, as far as the Gamecocks are concerned,” Paris said.

Their 26-win season and NCAA Tournament appearance began last year with a 12-1 start in nonconference play. This year, the Gamecocks are already 0-1 — and that first loss falls into Quad 4, the kind of defeat that hurts the most.

It’s not the end of the world. And no, Paris said, the sky isn’t falling. And yet, it doesn’t help..

For Paris, it wasn’t about players having an off night — that’s fine to him. That’s has an easy fix. He can just make a substitution and hope another player can create a spark.

What’s not an easy fix: a lack of effort. Paris is “not a big fan of coaching effort,” he said

He expected UNF to come out and play hard, saying “their DNA is how hard they play.” UNF beat USC to long rebounds and loose balls, winning most of of the 50-50 plays.

The night before the game, that gritty play style by the Ospreys worried Paris, he admitted. He wasn’t sure how the game would play out for his Gamecocks.

Yes, USC had a size advantage over UNF and a perceived physical and athletic edge.

“That’s why probably somebody thought we were supposed to win by whatever it was,” Paris said. “… But you have to play the game.”

It’s easy to see how good or bad a team projects to be on paper. Highlights on YouTube, film, social media comments — all create a narrative of what a team could be when it’s time to face them.

With that plethora of information, Paris implied that the players may have underestimated UNF.

“You think any of these guys think they’re a worse player than that guy?” Paris said, referring to UNF having a transfer from NAIA. “So I think that’s part of it too.”

“While I didn’t know some of these new faces they had and exactly how they would play, I did know that,” Paris said of UNF’s competitive nature.

He continued to say it’s a sign of self-doubt to overlook and be overconfident against an opponent that you think you should beat.

Self-doubt leads to losses.

“That needs to be corrected,” Paris said.

It’s upsetting to Paris, given he said he and his staff have identified the formula to winning for USC basketball, even on nights where shots aren’t falling.

Those things did not happen Monday. Bad fouls, ineffective use of pump fakes (or lackthereof), losing effort plays — all things Paris preaches about.

“I do get frustrated with having to repeat myself over and over and over,” Paris said.

But that’s exactly what he’ll have to do. It’s back to the fundamentals at practice. The little details. The things that worked last year.

It’s simple for Paris: The guys who do those things will see the floor. The ones who don’t? They won’t play.

They’ll have to show that they should be on the floor, especially during the biggest moments of the game.

“It needs to be real. And the guys that will do that will play the most, regardless of their talent,” Paris said, “because I know we can win games with that.”

For the Gamecocks, it just comes down to avoiding another performance like this. On Monday, they were outclassed in essentially every intangible part of the game, and it cost them — especially down the stretch.

They just got outplayed.

“We earned exactly what we got,” Paris said.

Next four South Carolina MBB games

• Friday: vs. SC State, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
  
  

• Nov. 12: vs. Towson, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)

• Nov. 16: at Indiana, 3 p.m. (Peacock)

• Nov. 21: vs Mercer, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)