To finish that, Roper should win it this year. Johnson is the better college prospect but today Roper is the better player and has done much, much more.

We will see if the people who hand out the award agree.

South Carolina can't get it done. The fall to 9-14 overall, 1-8 in conference after dropping a 69-57 decision to Tennessee.

Bruce Ellington finishes with 12 points and six assists.

William, are Bruce and RJ cousins? where did RJ go to high school?

About the only positive thing I can say for this team is that-for whatever reason-it always seems to run a good play out of timeouts. Too bad, we can't seem to run a good play at any other point.
I really go back and forth on which we are worse at-offense or defense?
Whoever is coaching next year is going to need some talent influx in the spring signing period.

Actually, I really shouldn't say that. There are other positives-the players really do seem to care and, for the most part, play hard.
I'm not sure there are enough good players and the schemes aren't particularly awe-inspiring either.

I agree to a certain extent. Sure, there are some good players. But look at your last statement..."not going to challenge for the NCAA tournament." It isn't even about making it, how about just being in the discussion? Or even further, how about not being OUT of the discussion in mid-January? Even bad or mediocre teams don't lose all hope so soon.
I think Anthony Gill might need a coach with a different approach, he clearly is a very skilled "basketball" player as opposed to the "athletes" we've brought in with all too much frequency over the last decade.
The same could probably be said for Leonard. Even if he ends up being fairly one-dimensional, that is not the worst thing in the world if he is really good at that one dimension.
Harris could probably be compared to Muldrow and that's okay I suppose. But it would be nice to have Fr. and So. who would be more impact players and we wouldn't have to wait until their Jr. and Sr. years.
I'm not asking for Anthony Davis, mind you, just someone with capable offensive post moves.

What type of post players do you expect South Carolina to recruit? Geathers was a three year project to begin with. Is it bad to say he is ahead of where I thought he would be now? Yes, probably but he has improved from what I have seen his senior year in high school and right now he is a serviceable big man for 6-8 minutes a night.

It is not optimism, I watch these kids play all winter, spring and summer.

Haughton had an Alabama and Miami offer. He waited to long and they filled up.

You have to admit the most development of any players during their time at South Carolina has been from the post players (ie. Muldrow and Harris)

Tonight is the first time all year I've gotten pissed off at one of our games. I have become so resigned to losing that I really just watch until it's over, then go about my day or night without expending much emotion. Tonight I got angry, because we're terrible, and Tennessee is almost as terrible, and we lost by double digits. I expect us to recruit crap, because that's the best Horn can do. I wish I could expect us to recruit decent post players, but that's a pipe dream. I would LOVE to see Geathers develop into a player who could score any points at all. I would LOVE for Haughton to come in and perform the way we dream incoming players might perform. I see guys like Slawson, who we were told such great things about, average a bucket a game as a freshman, then we're told about how much he's improved, so now he averages two buckets a game as a sophomore.

I just want people to speak the truth, no matter how much their hearts want to believe something different. The roster we have right now will finish last in the SEC. We will lose Cooke, who is probably our best all-around player, so next year we may be even worse. We may lose Ellington, in which case we wouldn't even be able to function as a team. It's very likely that Eric Smith will be elsewhere next year if he wants to play at all, so I fear Horn will pick up some unheralded JUCO at the last minute, tell us how good he is, then we'll be rewarded with another crap season.

This program is going down the crapper fast and anyone who isn't lying to themselves knows I'm telling the truth. We are a joke to everyone. Imagine how Alabama feels having lost to us. Would you have wanted to be on that team the next day?

I'm sorry for my attitude tonight but I'm just sick of it. My entire life I've been a Gamecock basketball fan. My dad took me to watch some horrible Frank McGuire teams in the late 70s and I went to Foster's camps as a kid. No matter how mediocre we were, I always loved going to the games and I never lost hope. All hope is gone now. I can't wait for next Friday so I can focus on baseball and forget about this horrible basketball season. I hope Hyman has the good sense to dump Horn in April.

Gunter I fully agree with you. I don't participate in the coach talk because I know its not in our hands, but I think this team is a lot more talented than people think. If you look it we should have beat So Cal, providence, elon, tenn st, auburn, Tennessee (2x I think), should ne able to beat Uga (2x), then lsu or Arkansas. That right there is about 10 more wins I expect we should have win or should be able to beat coming up. I think we do have good players, but its baffles me how little our guys improve. I don't understand why we don't attack the basket or get mid range jumpers with our "shooters." It seems a few of our guys are do or die on the 3. Im one of the few people here who is a die hard basketball fan and go to all the games, but the last 2 years I feel like me and the people I go to the games with have the same convo after each game about not understanding what's going on. Im scared that were going to lose a few more young guys to transfer after this season and whoever eventually comes in is going to have a longer time rebuilding due to so many guys being run off or leaving. Im really dreading what could come to our program in the next few years.

Thanks for humoring me last night while I worked out my fury. I'm still ticked off, but this morning I see more clearly how ridiculous it is to get upset about something that is unlikely to change. I will try to care less instead. It's almost baseball season!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!