Searching for a post presence

Man, they were on fire.

There's no doubt about it, the Milwaukee Panthers were feeling the heat headed into halftime at the Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina on Sunday. Milwaukee had been on fire for much of the first half, going into the locker room shooting 8-of-14 from beyond the arc, with the biggest culprit being brand new megastar Jordan "Jay-O" Aaron.

But there was some concern, at least in my corner, about the fact that Milwaukee had been relying too heavily on the three-pointers and not enough on the inside shot. It was the same thing I was concerned about in the Mary game, although that team didn't have the firepower to make Milwaukee pay for that weakness.

South Carolina did have the firepower. They unleashed LaShay Page and Michael Carrera, two newcomers who very much became the focal point of the Gamecocks team. Between the two of them, they scored 36 of the Gamecocks' 82 points, and Carrera had no problem picking up 15 rebounds and three blocked shots, all of which were huge plays.

The reason Carrera was able to put up so strong of numbers? Plainly put, Milwaukee had no answer for him. It would be the perfect game for Adrian Tigert or Anthony Hill to assert dominance in the post and put an end to any ideas USC had of coming back in the game. Instead, Carrera snatched up all the garbage and Page drove the lane with ease, bringing South Carolina back twice and eventually putting the game into overtime for a victory.

Upon first look at the box score, one might think Milwaukee did okay in the post. James Haarsma, the starting "5" so to speak, had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Black and Gold. However, he only scored six points on two-pointers and only one of those was a put-back, the others being a jump shot and a fast break dunk. The 10 rebounds were good, but we can't just have one guy on the boards; we need an army in the post.

Most notably, Kyle Kelm took one two-point shot and pulled down two rebounds; he may not be starting right now, but Milwaukee needs a lot more than what he gave in 34 minutes if they're going to be a championship team.

Sure it's a concern that the Panthers gave up a big lead, but that didn't have to happen if they had a post presence. Even after picking up his 4th foul on a Ryan Haggerty layup attempt on a fast break, Michael Carrera didn't foul again - if Milwaukee had been playing for it, they should have sent someone at him on every play trying to draw that fifth foul, and he was enormous for South Carolina down the stretch.

People want to revisit the phantom foul call on Kyle Kelm near the end of regulation, but the fact of the matter was if Kyle was asserting himself in the post and limiting Carrera's effectiveness, the Panthers wouldn't have been in that mess.

And free throws. Seriously? Free throws.