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1/13 300 pm @#19 Clemson ESPNU

casualcane

casualcane

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Clemson...

14-1 3-0
AP Rank 19th
RPI 6
SOS 44


Somehow, I had to double check that I actually was typing the numbers above. At any rate, we take on the Tigers at one of the toughest places for a road game according to ESPN (whatever), Littlejohn Coliseum.

Clemson has beaten 3 top 50 RPI teams, Ohio State (on the road), Louisville and Florida (thanks guys), with their sole defeat coming at the hands of Temple.

Brad Brownell is actually a good coach but his seat has grown warmer after a few lackluster seasons. He's finally had several pieces of the puzzle come together and the Tigers will bring a balanced offensive attack along with tough defense. After the departure of one man show Jaron Blossomgame to the Spurs, all 5 of their starters are averaging double figures this year. Their back court, lead by JR G Marcquise Reed (15.9 ppg) is strong. S F Donte Grantham (14.6 ppg 7.3 rpg) and JR F Elijah Thomas, who is playing much better ball this year, (11.6 ppg 8.3 rpg 2.7 bpg) comprise a formidable front court.

The back court of the Tigers hasn't been effectively contained all season. Key to the game will be containing their front court scoring. When Thomas struggles, the Tigers are vulnerable.

This game can go either way, but I think BB is playing his best basketball so far this year and our bench will be the prove to be the difference.

We win in a close one.
 
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Big game. Then Duke two days later.

That GT Loss is an albatross hanging on the team's neck.
 
Our last trip there wasn't pretty in 2016. We had them beat, and then forgot to score the rest of the game.
 
A few things:

1. Clemson is on the road tomorrow night against NCST at 9:00 PM. We get to rest.

2. I don't consider Brad Brownell a good coach. I don't even think he is decent. I am shocked he is still employed, here is why [the following is before this season]:

- 1 NCAAT appearance and this was in his first season (2010-11). So he is 1 for 7.
- The prior coach Oliver Purnell went 3 times to the NCAAT, including his last 3 seasons (perhaps Brownell had SOME of those players).
- BB's record at Clemson: 124-103 (56-66).
- Best finish in the ACC was in 2010-11 when he finished 4th (tied).

Keep in mind the following coaches were fired/left:

Seth Greenberg (8): 170–123 (68–76) - 1 NCAAT
Frank Haith (7): 129–101 (43–69) - 1 NCAAT
Al Skinner (5): 247–165 (106–106) - 3 NCAAT

I don't think anyone wants one of these guys at a real program.

3. Coach L v. Clemson (at Miami)

Overall: 5-2
Road: 1-2
Home: 4-0

Those 2 losses:

- 2013-14 by 4 points [This was a bad team]
- 2015-16 by 11 points [Newton and A-Rod, 3-15 from FG]

Please note I don't expect Clemson to be an elite team, I just don't see what makes him good/decent when the prior guy had a lot more success especially when OP did more at the same program.
 
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Brownell is a good coach. I listened to an interview the other day he is a bright guy understands the game.

Clemson is a tough basketball job. Always has been, but Brownell has gotten them to upgrade facilities big time.

They may sign Zion Williamson too.

They are a really solid club this year, Be Tough one to win.
 
gacaneaddict said:
Brownell is a good coach. I listened to an interview the other day he is a bright guy understands the game.

Clemson is a tough basketball job. Always has been, but Brownell has gotten them to upgrade facilities big time.

They may sign Zion Williamson too.

They are a really solid club this year, Be Tough one to win.
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Oh, you listened to the interview. I take it back.

Google Oliver Purnell and he wasn’t “good” and he had a lot more success at Clemson.
 
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I'll be watching Clemson tonight to see what they do against NC State.

From a stats standpoint, two things jump out at me.

1. Clemson relies extensively on their starting five, with 4 of the 5 averaging more than 32 minutes per game, and their 5th at 24 minutes.

2. Their top 4 scorers all shoot free throws really well -- all are around or above 80%.

Those two stats suggest to me that we may have more success if we push the pace, like we did in the first half against FSU, and we take advantage of our relative depth.
 
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It's tough to win on the road in the ACC. To beat a good team on the road is a really tough task. The refs give the home teams every call and swallow the whistle when you are on offense. I assume losses in these types of games but hope we can find a way to pull it out. If we lose I wouldn't take anything from this loss. However if we win, that will show this team is legit and ready to make a run to be a top team in the ACC this year.
 
HLSCane said:
I'll be watching Clemson tonight to see what they do against NC State.

From a stats standpoint, two things jump out at me.

1. Clemson relies extensively on their starting five, with 4 of the 5 averaging more than 32 minutes per game, and their 5th at 24 minutes.

2. Their top 4 scorers all shoot free throws really well -- all are around or above 80%.

Those two stats suggest to me that we may have more success if we push the pace, like we did in the first half against FSU, and we take advantage of our relative depth.
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2 ex UNCW coaches.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 
It would have been cool if Bel Biv hit the FT to send it to OT last night. Their 3 best players played ~37 MPG last night.
 
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Although they lost last night, I came away impressed with Clemson. They are a tough club and almost battled back for the win, even though Yurtseven was on fire for NC State, and Clemson lost the turnover battle 17-4!

On offense, Clemson doesn't scare me from outside. Instead, they want to push the ball to the basket (where they finish very well), and if they're fouled, they make their shots from the charity stripe (excluding "Bel Biv's" last one).

On defense, they didn't generate turnovers (0 steals for the game last night), but they play great help defense and make it difficult to convert inside. In the half-court set, they typically double the PG off ball screens (like UVA), as opposed to switching and creating mismatches, and NC State wasn't able to generate much off those screens. That has given us trouble in the past.

Now, the above observations are from only one game, but based on what I saw, this is going to be a tough game for us. We need to mimic our first-half offense from FSU and use our speed/depth/defense to make Clemson a half-court jump-shooting team. If we can do that, I like our chances.
 
HLSCane said:
Although they lost last night, I came away impressed with Clemson. They are a tough club and almost battled back for the win, even though Yurtseven was on fire for NC State, and Clemson lost the turnover battle 17-4!

On offense, Clemson doesn't scare me from outside. Instead, they want to push the ball to the basket (where they finish very well), and if they're fouled, they make their shots from the charity stripe (excluding "Bel Biv's" last one).

On defense, they didn't generate turnovers (0 steals for the game last night), but they play great help defense and make it difficult to convert inside. In the half-court set, they typically double the PG off ball screens (like UVA), as opposed to switching and creating mismatches, and NC State wasn't able to generate much off those screens. That has given us trouble in the past.

Now, the above observations are from only one game, but based on what I saw, this is going to be a tough game for us. We need to mimic our first-half offense from FSU and use our speed/depth/defense to make Clemson a half-court jump-shooting team. If we can do that, I like our chances.
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Sounds like we need to play a 2-3 zone then to force them to shoot from the outside. Will also help us stay out of foul trouble.
 
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