Bryant: ‘We haven’t been playing Frank Martin basketball’

Keyshawn Bryant sat at a table, rocking back and forth and seemingly trying to collect his thoughts.
The Gamecocks had just lost their third straight home game, this time to Ole Miss, and it was Bryant tasked with talking to the media postgame about what went wrong this time out.
And, with his leg still bouncing under the table, Bryant summarized in just a few seconds what exactly the issue’s been for the last month.
Photo by Chris Gillespie “This is not really a Frank Martin basketball team if you want me to be technical. We haven’t been playing Frank Martin basketball,” he said. “I feel like everybody should be frustrated we’re not on the same page as our coaches.”
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That claim is pretty easy to see. Typically known for defense, the Gamecocks have allowed at least 80 points in six of their last nine games.
Typically good about protecting home court in the SEC, the Gamecocks have lost four league home games for the first time since 2018.
Typically good at playing together and communicating, the Gamecocks haven’t been pulling at the same cord and are trying to find that.
“The one thing my teams always do is they have courage and they have unity,” Martin said. “Right now we’re trying to find both. That old TV show In Search Of, we’re the lead actors in that one.”
Now, the Gamecocks have to regroup and try to avoid a four-game skid against a top-25 Tennessee team (9 p.m., SEC Network) coming off a loss to LSU.
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This week’s game is another loop on a rollercoaster that is the 2021 season with the game being pushed back a day due to COVID positives in the Tennessee program and two starters—Jermaine Couisnard and Justin Minaya—out for South Carolina.
A loss puts the Gamecocks at 5-10 with four games to go and would mean the first losing record at South Carolina since Martin’s second year on campus.
“Until we take ownership of that moment…and figure out a way to figure out how to do our jobs a little better and hold each other accountable a little bit better and learn to trust because we’re being honest with each other it’s going to be hard to correct those things,” Martin said.
“Blaming and pointing fingers and running around and trying to create excuses is not going to fix anything. We have to take ownership of our responsibilities and we have to do things a little better.”
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But, even despite the struggles in what Martin’s called an abnormal year, there’s still a belief from Martin and Bryant the Gamecocks can show signs of growth in this stretch run.
Barring a SEC tournament championship the Gamecocks won’t be playing in the NCAA Tournament this season, but Bryant said this team is good enough to show progress with five games to go.
Like Martin said, it’s “never too late to change,” but now it’s up to the players on the team to try and turn it around.
“We still have a few games to go. You can always turn it around,” Bryant said. “We have to come together as a team and figure out if that’s what we want to do as a team.”