Dein erstes Forum » moved to the power forward spot to accommodate Okafor

NEW YORK -- South Carolina coach Frank Martin savored his teams victory over No. 25 Michigan and then went straight to the videotape.While his team enjoyed a flight to New York, Martin watched film of his last game at Kansas State -- a loss to Syracuse in the 2012 NCAA Tournament. He discovered everything his former team did wrong against the Oranges zone defense and vowed the Gamecocks would not repeat those miscues.They didnt and sprinkled in some dominating defense.Sindarius Thornwell scored 16 points as South Carolina had enough offense to go along with its defense and never trailed in its 64-50 victory over No. 18 Syracuse on Saturday in the Brooklyn Hoops Holiday Invitational at Barclays Center.I slept on it and I said `Ive got to change what I did and you saw we ran the bigs kind of up to the elbows, Martin said. We needed to lift the big up to the zone rather than try behind it. Once we lift the zone then find the cracks behind it so we can have space to shoot.Credit our guys. I dont claim to be Einstein. I just try to do my job. They listened, they were in tune (and) they executed.South Carolina shot 45 percent and scored 30 points in the paint. The Gamecocks scored most of their points after frequently getting defensive stops via 12 steals and 17 Syracuse turnovers.Every game we come out and guard, thats what our coaching staff and our team prides itself on, defense, South Carolina guard PJ Dozier said. We make our offense out of our defense.The Gamecocks effectiveness at getting through Syracuses zone and forcing turnovers resulted in their second win in three seasons against a Top 25 team in Brooklyn. On Jan. 2, 2014, South Carolina had a 64-60 victory over No. 9 Iowa State.Thornwell made 9 of 10 free throws. He also had six rebounds, five assists, three steals and was named the MVP of the Invitational.Maik Kotsar also had 16 points for South Carolina (6-0) while Dozier added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Gamecocks, who gave up 12 of the first 18 rebounds but finished with a 37-30 margin on the glass.Tyler Lydon led the Orange (4-1) with a season-high 18 points. Andrew White III and Frank Howard added 10 points apiece as Syracuse shot 31.8 percent.They were just really good defensively, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. They pressured you, they got in the lane. They just really are a good defensive team. We knew that because we saw the Michigan game and Michigan is probably as good an offensive movement team as anybody against man-to-man in the country and they couldnt get anything.Lydon hit a 3-pointer with 17:05 remaining to get Syracuse within 40-32. Following a defensive stop, Lydon had another basket forcing South Carolina to call time out.Two free throws by White cut the deficit to 47-43 with 11:39 remaining but the Orange went nearly 5 minutes without a point while Howard missed four free throws and Lydon missed an open 3-pointer.The drought ended when White hit a 3-pointer to make it 51-46 with about 6 1/2 minutes left.Following Whites 3-pointer, the Gamecocks gradually restored the double-digit lead they held late in the first half. South Carolina took a 57-47 lead on a basket by Kotsar with about 3 minutes left and finished off the win at the free throw line.BIG PICTURE:South Carolina: South Carolinas defense continued to hold teams to low shooting percentages and it could make the Gamecocks difficult to play against for other SEC teams. The Gamecocks have held teams under 40 percent in each of their six games.Syracuse: Lydon can take over at times and did not disappoint for at least the two NBA scouts in attendance to watch him.OFFENSIVE WOES:How bad was Syracuses offense? The Orange were outscored by their football counterparts who lost 76-61 to Pittsburgh on Saturday.POLL IMPLICATIONS:The Gamecocks were not one of 16 teams to receive any Top 25 votes last week. That should change after South Carolina remained unbeaten with wins over No. 25 Michigan and No. 18 Syracuse.Syracuse will likely stay in the poll though it is unlikely the Orange will remain at No. 18. Out of the teams behind them in the poll, Baylor and Iowa State remained undefeated and likely will move ahead of the Orange in the next poll.HONORING PEARL WASHINGTON: Before the national anthem, there was a moment of silence of former Syracuse guard Dwayne Pearl Washington, who died of brain cancer on April 20. Syracuse is the midst of a 31-day campaign to honor Washingtons memory. The campaign culminates Dec. 17 when Syracuse hosts former Big East rival Georgetown. Before his three seasons at Syracuse from 1983 to 1986, Washington attended Boys and Girls High School, which is located about 2 1/2 miles east of Barclays Center.UP NEXT:South Carolina hosts Vermont on Dec. 1.Syracuse is at No. 16 Wisconsin on Tuesday in ACC/Big Ten Challenge.---More AP college basketball: www.collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25. Cheap Jersey Website . In the lead up - which seemed to begin the moment Mike Geiger blew the whistle in Houston last Thursday night - the Impact rumour mill went into overdrive. The speculation went into meltdown mode, of the golden nugget variety. Cheap Jerseys Review . The Browns coaching search remains incomplete. https://www.cheapjerseysreview.com/ . Its the second straight game Bell has scored in extra time for Kelowna, which beat the Brandon Wheat Kings 6-5 on Friday, and he now has four game-winning goals on the season. Where To Buy Cheap Jerseys . It was the kind of score that might make everyone else wonder which course he was playing. Except that Graeme McDowell saw the whole thing. Crouched behind the 10th green at Sheshan International, McDowell looked over at the powerful American and said, "Ive probably seen 18 of the best drives Ive seen all year in the last two days. Best Site Buy China Jerseys . All of the scoring came in the final 20:04. Lucic scored on a power play at 15:46 of the third period, when he tipped a shot over Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen for a 3-1 lead. PHILADELPHIA -- The Los Angeles Lakers took advantage of a timely game against the lowly Philadelphia 76ers.Julius Randle scored nine of his 25 points in a dominating first quarter and the Lakers snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 100-89 victory Friday night.Lou Williams added 18 points and DAngelo Russell and Nick Young had 15 points apiece. They were playing the third game of a seven-game, 12-day trip -- their longest of the season.It feels great, Young said. Its tough coming in after every loss, putting our heads down.Joel Embiid scored 15 points for the 76ers. They have dropped eight straight at home to fall to an NBA-worst 6-20.We got jumped from the start, Philadelphia coach Brett Brown said.Sevyn Streeter performed the national anthem wearing a We Matter jersey. The R&B artist had been scheduled to sing before the 76ers home opener in October, but was scratched by the team two minutes before the performance because she was wearing a We Matter T-shirt.Streeter came to center court on Friday in a black jersey with the words We Matter above the No. 7. She received applause upon her introduction and cheers when she completed the song.Los Angeles rebounded after a 107-97 loss at Brooklyn on Wednesday night when they shot 38.5 percent from the field, 22.2 percent from 3-point range and 61.8 percent from the free-throw line. Coach Luke Walton publicly challenged his team after the loss.Theyre competitors, Walton said. Theyre sick of losing.The Lakers scored the first 13 points against the 76ers, finished the first quarter up 30-18 and led from start to finish on the way to the rout. They blew the game open in the third quarter by tallying 15 of the first 21 points, taking their biggest lead on Youngs drive that made it 68-46 with 5:41 left in the period. The 76ers missed 10 of 12 shots to start the period.Philadelphia cut the third-quarter deficit to 10 points, 74-64, entering the fourth, and the 76ers got as close as seven, 80-73, on Dario Sarics 3-pointer with 9:07 remaining. But the Lakers responded with a 10-2 run to go up 90-75 with 6:19 left.The Lakers won for the first time since Nov. 30.GETTING DEFENSIVELos Angeles held Philadelphia to 36.4 percent from the field, including 19.4 percent from the arc. Walton said the Lakers defense was a key to the victory.I thought we came out and set our tone defensively early on and had one of our better defensive games, Walton said.dddddddddddd. Better communication and better effort from everybody. We had guys really committed to playing defense tonight.THREES A CROWD?Philadelphia had all three of its coveted big men -- Embiid, Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel -- available together at the same time for the first time.Embiid, the third pick of the 2014 draft, missed the first two seasons with a foot injury. Noel was picked sixth in 2013 by New Orleans and traded to the 76ers. He returned Monday after recovering from offseason knee surgery only to sprain his ankle and miss Wednesdays game.Noel had two points in 8 minutes and aired his frustration afterward.I think Im too good to be playing eight minutes, he said. Thats crazy. Need to figure this (stuff) out.Okafor, picked third in the 2015 draft, started alongside Embiid for the second time. He had 14 points.The duo also started in Wednesdays 123-114 loss to the Raptors and Embiid had his worst game as a pro, tallying a season-low nine points.Embiid and Okafor didnt look very comfortable together on the floor again. Both natural centers, Embiid moved to the power forward spot to accommodate Okafor.Never from the start to the finish did you feel like you were in any type of rhythm or flow, Brown said. It doesnt surprise me. It saddens me but it doesnt surprise me.TIP-INSLakers: Tarik Black (ankle) missed his sixth straight game, and Jose Calderon (right hamstring) sat out for the seventh consecutive contest. ... Russell was high school teammates with Embiid and 76ers No. 1 pick Ben Simmons at Montverde Academy in Florida. Simmons has been out all season with a foot injury.76ers: Philadelphia shot 6-for-31 from 3-point range. ... The 76ers honored Allen Iverson for his recent induction into the Hall of Fame. Iverson rang the replica Liberty Bell in the pregame and spoke at halftime. He questioned the fortitude of present-day players. Not taking anything away from the new era, but I could never, ever, ever sit out of a game if something wasnt broke, he saidUP NEXTLakers: At Cleveland on Saturday night for one of their 16 back-to-back games of the season.76ers: Host Brooklyn on Sunday night. ' ' '