The USC Gamecocks blew their best chance of winning an SEC game this season at Auburn yesterday. They lost to the Tigers by the score of 63-52.
This is the second straight year that the Gamecocks have lost to Auburn. Some national pundits considered Auburn the worst major D-1 program last year and of course they beat USC at home. Now this. Auburn had been labeled bottom tier and they made USC look silly on the court in their last match-up. Well, the Gamecocks did not help themselves in the second half of that game but the point is, the Gamecocks lost to a team yet again they should have beat.
At the beginning of the season, I personally thought that Coach Horn would earn one more year to figure it out at South Carolina, but this team is bad and it doesn’t look like it is going to get better anytime soon.
Who and what is to blame for this team being as bad as they are? I think there are a few factors that have played a major role in this team stinking it up so far. Recruiting, developing players, style of play, and the conference talent getting better. I continue….
Coach Horn will take the blame as he should as this team is now the worst in the SEC. Granted the competition has improved in the SEC, but you can’t beat anybody when you shoot 20% in a half.
It all starts with recruiting, just like in every sport, and Coach Horn has dropped the ball on this one big time. Bruce Ellington, Malik Cooke and Damontre Harris are nice players but are they are not top echelon players.
I understand it is very difficult to recruit the best of the best when you are in UNC and Duke’s back yard, but I would like to see some improvement. Coach Horn had a lot of success his first season with Dave Odom’s players but since then they have consistently been at the bottom of the SEC. Hard fact is it is getting worse.
Overall things must improve fast or USC might have a new coach next season. I know Eric Hyman wants to keep Coach Horn, but if you don’t win a game in the SEC this season, you have to let him go. The fans are not behind this Coach. Look at attendance at games and chatter on message boards. Most are already thinking of baseball.
There are 12 games left on the season and it looks like the best chance for this Gamecock team to get a win in the SEC will be back-to-back home games against LSU and Georgia.
Can Coach Horn turn this team around in 12 games? I don’t think so, but I would at least like to see some improvement in the overall play. Show improvement or it may be time for a change before the bottom is reached.
