Dabblin' With the Cockspur: Tennessee Debacles A Year Removed
posted by Roger Olivieri, 1/19/2009 09:43:00 AM
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“I don't really think about anything too much. I live in the present. I move on. I don't think about what happened yesterday. If I think too much, it kind of freaks me out.”
-Pamela Anderson
Who knew that Pamela Anderson would sum up the last decade of Gamecock basketball so precisely? Who cares if she was talking about sex videos, failed marriages and a career based solely on Beverly Hills best liposuction? For our purposes, her words ring through – precise, eloquent and optimistic.
Last January the Gamecocks, both men and women, welcomed in Tennessee Volunteer squads ranked in the top 10 nationally. Both resulted in a mauling where one team cruised to an embarrassing victory – capitalizing on a lack of heart.
The Tennessee men, ranked No. 8, couldn’t knock out a feisty Gamecock effort in the first half of action. Taking an eight point lead into the dressing room, a much more athletic and energetic Vols squad dismantled USC by another 16 points in the second half. When it was all over, the Gamecocks lost a 24 point shellacking on their home floor.
The following evening, the game was over from the onset. By halftime, the powerful Lady Vols already held a 23 point lead as Pat Summitt’s squad laughed their way into the locker room. The fourth largest crowd in Lady Gamecock history (7,841) witnessed programs on two very different levels.
Exit Dave Odom and Susan Walvius. Enter Darrin Horn and Dawn Staley.
The players remain the same, but the coaches are very different. The mindset is very different. The will to fight is tenfold.
The men’s squad looked to fall apart going to the half. Nothing new here, right? With as little as eight minutes left to play, the Gamecocks were 17 points behind while Tennessee was flying around the court.
Then it happened.
A flurry of Gamecock passion – some might even call it pride – rolled into Thompson-Boling Arena and carried an undermanned and undersized squad to an amazing comeback before dropping an 82-79 squeaker.
Zam Fredrick started popping three’s. Devin Downey did what he’s done for a season and a half in garnet and black – shine. Horn’s new “40 minutes of hell” defensive mentality finally started to wear down the Volunteers. One three point shot short, the Gamecocks looked a decade removed from last year’s squad.
The women, only one evening later, rolled into Knoxville with their new coach. Like the men’s squad, they were undersized, under (wo)-manned and still reeling after several heart wrenching conference endeavors resulting in losses. It would have been easy to let this one slip away. After all, this is possibly the most powerful program in the history of women’s basketball. A night off wouldn’t hurt.
One problem: Dawn Staley don’t roll like that.
This season, Tennessee clung to a three point lead entering the half and felt lucky to have even that. Senior Brionna Dickerson single-handedly made sure a repeat of January 2008 did not happen when she nailed three consecutive three pointers.
It wasn’t until a 17-4 run in the second half that finally gave Summitt’s squad the cushion they needed to hold off the 2009 Lady Gamecocks.
Some will say, “Yeah, but like always, the Gamecocks still lost both games.”
To those pessimists I frown, for they have let the years get the better of them. The differences between 2008 and 2009 are more than just on paper; they are in mind, heart, enthusiasm, system and every other way possible.
The differences between quitting and fighting, skepticism versus belief and fear versus confidence pours from Colonial Life Arena. That confidence overflows out of the coaches like none before them (at least recently). The players have caught the disease and the fans are beginning to.
Like Pamela Anderson, a few makeovers, injections and implants here and there have the programs looking great for the foreseeable future.
Who knew that Pamela Anderson would sum up the last decade of Gamecock basketball so precisely? Who cares if she was talking about sex videos, failed marriages and a career based solely on Beverly Hills best liposuction? For our purposes, her words ring through – precise, eloquent and optimistic.
Last January the Gamecocks, both men and women, welcomed in Tennessee Volunteer squads ranked in the top 10 nationally. Both resulted in a mauling where one team cruised to an embarrassing victory – capitalizing on a lack of heart.
The Tennessee men, ranked No. 8, couldn’t knock out a feisty Gamecock effort in the first half of action. Taking an eight point lead into the dressing room, a much more athletic and energetic Vols squad dismantled USC by another 16 points in the second half. When it was all over, the Gamecocks lost a 24 point shellacking on their home floor.
The following evening, the game was over from the onset. By halftime, the powerful Lady Vols already held a 23 point lead as Pat Summitt’s squad laughed their way into the locker room. The fourth largest crowd in Lady Gamecock history (7,841) witnessed programs on two very different levels.
Exit Dave Odom and Susan Walvius. Enter Darrin Horn and Dawn Staley.
The players remain the same, but the coaches are very different. The mindset is very different. The will to fight is tenfold.
The men’s squad looked to fall apart going to the half. Nothing new here, right? With as little as eight minutes left to play, the Gamecocks were 17 points behind while Tennessee was flying around the court.
Then it happened.
A flurry of Gamecock passion – some might even call it pride – rolled into Thompson-Boling Arena and carried an undermanned and undersized squad to an amazing comeback before dropping an 82-79 squeaker.
Zam Fredrick started popping three’s. Devin Downey did what he’s done for a season and a half in garnet and black – shine. Horn’s new “40 minutes of hell” defensive mentality finally started to wear down the Volunteers. One three point shot short, the Gamecocks looked a decade removed from last year’s squad.
The women, only one evening later, rolled into Knoxville with their new coach. Like the men’s squad, they were undersized, under (wo)-manned and still reeling after several heart wrenching conference endeavors resulting in losses. It would have been easy to let this one slip away. After all, this is possibly the most powerful program in the history of women’s basketball. A night off wouldn’t hurt.
One problem: Dawn Staley don’t roll like that.
This season, Tennessee clung to a three point lead entering the half and felt lucky to have even that. Senior Brionna Dickerson single-handedly made sure a repeat of January 2008 did not happen when she nailed three consecutive three pointers.
It wasn’t until a 17-4 run in the second half that finally gave Summitt’s squad the cushion they needed to hold off the 2009 Lady Gamecocks.
Some will say, “Yeah, but like always, the Gamecocks still lost both games.”
To those pessimists I frown, for they have let the years get the better of them. The differences between 2008 and 2009 are more than just on paper; they are in mind, heart, enthusiasm, system and every other way possible.
The differences between quitting and fighting, skepticism versus belief and fear versus confidence pours from Colonial Life Arena. That confidence overflows out of the coaches like none before them (at least recently). The players have caught the disease and the fans are beginning to.
Like Pamela Anderson, a few makeovers, injections and implants here and there have the programs looking great for the foreseeable future.
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Roger Olivieri. Roger began working with GamecockCentral in December of 2007. He currently serves as the site's chief videographer. He may be reached by email at roger(at)gamecockcentral.com. Replace (at) with @.