The Gamecocks problems are not new; all season long, they have had serious trouble with slow starts, both starting the game and starting the second half. They have been streaky, in both shooting and defense, to ridiculous extremes. They have shown the ability to come back from a huge deficit and have played several teams point-for-point in the second half. (At Ole Miss, the second half was only 35-34 in favor of the Lady Rebels.) It has been maddening for their fans; the Gamecocks will play stretches of terrible basketball and then suddenly put on a brilliant spurt of defense and scoring, confirming the kind of talent that we suspected the team has... But the Gamecocks have had a great deal of trouble putting together a consistent 40-minute game effort, which is what they need to do to win games in the SEC. Turnovers are another problem for the Gamecocks; especially in the first half of their games, the Carolina team has been giving the ball away at a rate that would make you think it was radioactive. The points off of turnovers is what has resulted in the huge deficits that they work to erase in the second half. And shooting has been wildly inconsistent, partly due, it seems, to the fact that the coaching staff cannot decide what to do about the point guard position. Both Jordan Jones and Brionna Dickerson are shooters, not point guards, and neither are at their best when they try to play both positions. They give a game effort, but they need to be free to do what they do best, which is SHOOT the ball. The Gamecocks have a player in the top 10 in the SEC in assists and assists-to-turnover ratio, in freshman Samone Kennedy–despite the fact that she averages just under half a game’s playing time. Let her play! Let her do what she does best. At this point, the best possible SEC record that could result in regular season play is 6-8. The experiments with other guards have not worked, as is evidenced by 1 win out of 8 tries. What is the worst that could happen? Another loss? Maybe it’s time to try something new. The same old formula is bringing only the same old results. Jordan Jones, Demetress Adams and Brionna Dickerson are the leading scorers with 12.2, 11.4 and 10.4 points per game. Adams leads the rebounders with 9.2 per contest and is the team leader in steals (58 ) and blocked shots, with 43. Samone Kennedy is second in steals, with 31, and leads the team in assists with 79.