What Lamont Paris said after South Carolina’s 80-54 win over Towson on Tuesday

After an 80-54 win over Towson, South Carolina head coach Lamont Paris spoke to the media about his team’s performance on Tuesday. Here’s what he had to say.

– Thought they had a great team effort against a team he thinks will win a lot of games. Towson is tough and tough. They know what their identity is. This is the kind of team you like to play and see what you’re made of early in the season.

– Just generally thought the effort was good, especially on the defensive end. As help defenders, thought they were more willing to get into some spots to help the overall defense.

– Nick Pringle has had some good opportunities so far this season. Think the stage was set in the North Florida game to establish what it would look like to get early chances. Have faith in his ability to create some chaos around the basket.

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– Thinks if they hadn’t lost the North Florida game, he just doesn’t know if the team would have gotten the message that they have since then. The energy and effort is clearly different now.

– The scouting report is 90 percent about what South Carolina does. But Towson has a couple shooters that can get it going if they make a few shots. It’s hard to pull off the look unless you change every single action. But they made a conservative effort to make their appearance more rushed and uncertain. Doing so helped the numbers work in their favor.

— 42 and 18 out of CMB and Pringle can be tough to play every game. But he will develop them into a real threat around the basket. He will force the defense to make tough decisions when it comes to choosing to stop them or stop the outside shooters. There is an obligation to get the ball inside and do some things around.

— They spent some time this week on some ball movement. They had to play in the half court with limited dribbling unless you attacked. It helped them move the ball. Movement is good on offense. It makes the defense work. Like how they moved the ball tonight. Didn’t rely on the ball screen a ton to generate offense.

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– Very pleased with what Jacobi Wright is doing. He is one of the most loyal guys he has come across. He believed and trusted him when they told him there was an opportunity for him when Paris was hired. He’s a great kid. The move had mostly to do with his reliability and in some ways his predictability. That’s where his opportunity came and he’s been playing pretty well.

– Hope tomorrow will be a fruitful day for the team with national signing day. Have been in contact with the recruits. It’s another exciting time. These guys have pushed all their chips to whatever the next step in their lives is. It is exciting to help them achieve a goal they had.

– Weston Coggeshall was sick the other day so they just decided to be cautious and keep him off the field tonight. He didn’t fit in with the team.