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Early, Early August Football Notes – Figure Four of Shakin the Southland

Monday, August 9th, 2010

Finally, it is here. Fall football is on the cusp. That means that we (the boys over at www.shakinthesouthland.com) no longer have to debate uniforms and who is or is not a true fan and can get down to the dirty (although, we are opinionated and get pissed pretty easily, so you may see some more “extracurricular commentary” in the pipe line).

I will give the disclaimer that I was working independently and, at times, in parallel with Dr. B’s earlier work, so some views may be duplicated below.

The big question I always hear on the street is: “Figurefour, in all your infinite wisdom about anything and everything in the universe ultraverse, what is going to happen to the 2010 Tiger football squad.” Well folks, that is the question and fortunately, I think I have the (preseason) answers. Just hit the jump to see what I’m generally thinking as we head into August practice.

The Tigers will be a little better than most folks out there think we will fare. Clemson, if we can get our sh** together at the wide receiver position and stay healthy up front, can be a pretty good football team. Here are some general thoughts going into the fall. Beware, we will get into the nitty-gritty and will be brutally honest as we move through the off-season and into the regular season.

What are we looking at here at STS? I can’t speak for the good Dr., but will give my opinion. We gave the rookies a break here at STS, and that will all change this season. I really expect improvement out of Billy Napier and think that we will not see the same bs to start the year in ‘10 that we saw last year. Likewise, I think that Dabo has figured out how to better manage things (media, players, coaches, schemes, etc…). We will be looking critically at our wide receivers coach, Jeff Scott. Each of these three guys got a mulligan last season but will be fair game for criticism after each man has spent a full season in his current role.

.The State, ESPN, P&C

Coach J. Scott and our receivers group will be looked at closely all season because of the lack of production we have gotten out of this group recently. To put it bluntly, our receivers (the guys who were here last season, as I cannot accurately discuss Freshmen) are less than adequate. We discussed the shortcomings with this position over and over again. I really don’t know if too much has changed (especially with the upperclassmen) since this time last year (here is what we thought at that time) at the receiver position other than Jacoby Ford is now a Raider.

I really hope that we/I am overly concerned because this offense will be limited if Kyle Parker has no one he can depend upon to throw the ball. If Clemson ends up with a static rotation of Dye, Clear, and Ashe, we will be in for a long year throwing the football. We need exponential improvement from the veterans at this position and will rely upon some young guys to show their skills early on.

We are obviously interested in how a young guy like DeAndre Hopkins will perform this season. He has turned some heads during voluntary 7 on 7 drills this summer. We are also curious if a guy like Jaron Brown or Marquan Jones can live up to their “hyped talent” and be productive members of this position group.

Kyle Parker coming back is a big deal, make no mistake about that one. Parker has a cannon and if he can improve on his accuracy issues will be very good. Coach Swinney has openly discussed his potential future in the NFL. While I am not sure how much of this talk was the salesman in Dabo coming out, it is obvious that Parker is a talented athlete. I, like most other folks out there, think that his height (and baseball career) will keep him out of the pro game. However, we really don’t care at this moment about such and are only focused on Clemson’s 2010 football season.

Not having to run another Freshman QB out to start the season (again) is beneficial for this football program. Also knowing that this is probably Parker’s last season in Tigertown assures the coaches that they will absolutely have to slam Tajh Boyd into more games to assure that he has experience in anticipation of Parker forgoing his final two years of eligibility.

While we have a great deal of uncertainty in the pass catchers at the WR slot, Clemson was able to introduce the tight end into the mix more often last season. Clemson’s best pass catcher was tight end Michael Palmer. TE Dwayne Allen gives us lots of hope (and at this point our biggest hope) in the pass catching portion of the game.

Allen is more talented than his predecessor and if he catches the ball half as well as Michael Palmer did we are in good shape. Allen is a Shannon Sharpe type of guy who has the talent to line up in a three point stance, can be flex out, or be placed in the slot to be a viable threat. The coaching staff has been jacked up about this guy for a while now and insists that Allen has all the tools to be the best tight end in school history. With all this talent, we expect a lot out of this guy this season and will be watching closely to assure that the coaches are getting everything they can out of this potential star both in the passing game and through his run blocking.

The biggest talent loss from ‘09 is obviously Spilldog. C. J. Spiller is a special player that we all know tons about, thus I will not bore you with the highlights of Spiller’s Clemson career. Spiller’s replacements, we think, will do a fine job in the backfield. Jamie Harper and Andre Ellington are two fine backs who have differing running styles. I am really big on Ellington, as he has great quickness and explosion when hitting holes. Ellington ripped off several nice gains last season by locating the hole, immediately hitting it, then getting through it without dancing around or trying to get too cute. Harper was a little tentative last season running the ball but did show glimmers of his hyped greatness bestowed upon him coming into school. Again, I honestly believe that Clemson will be just fine at the running back position in 2010.

Up front offensively, we have a handful or so who appear to be ready. The loss of Wilson Norris eats into our depth and I will be extremely concerned if any starter goes down this season. Of course everyone out there knows STS’s views regarding offensive lineman recruiting and development, so I will spare you from hearing more about these concerns. Hopefully this group can stay healthy and has matured/developed enough that we can maintain consistency at the LOS.

Defensively, Clemson is probably in a little better spot than last season. We obviously lost a couple veteran corners but replace them with guys who have gotten quality snaps over the past few years. Up front, we should be jam-up. Losing Sapp to the graduation and Jamie Cumbie to off-the-field shenanigans will impact our front four. However, we do expect this to be a quality group if we can maintain proper fundamental play.

Our secondary is fine also. In fact, Dr. B. will tell you straight up that Hall is one of the best players in America. The problem that Clemson will face is the same one we saw last season…linebacker play. Clemson cannot endure more of the same of the (lack of) fundamental play we saw last season at this position. I would like to at least be in the position to complain about technique, but last year’s crew was so far out of the play at times it is useless to talk about such things. Hopefully a full off-season allowed Steele to make improvements here.

One thing that has to improve is the Clemson kicking game. Richard Jackson will need to get a little more control to go along his booming leg. That and missing extra points is unacceptable.

On the topic of special teams, losing Spiller will be most felt by our kick return teams. Spiller could–and did-break big ones week in and week out. When Spiller did not take it to the house, he often forced the opponents to kick away from him. This threat gave Clemson excellent field position all season even when C. J. wasn’t able to even field a kick.

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Spring is here…baseball, basketball, and football

Saturday, March 13th, 2010

Today we will give a Spring shoutout hitting on some aspects of springtime in Tigertown.  Feel free to come visit us at www.shakinthesouthland.com for more insight and updates on Clemson Tiger athletics.

We will start with baseball today.  The season is still young, but I am pleasantly pleased with last weekend’s outcome in the 3 game set with our foe from Columbia.  Clemson was able to fight back for a big win in game 1 and throttled SC in game 3.  The obvious disappointment was the performance of the bullpen in the buffer game of the series, giving up late runs to allow the Gamecocks to dodge a Clemson sweep.

I will be the first to admit that March baseball is relatively unimportant in the grand scheme of things.  You will also hear me state that one or two games really cannot capture how good a baseball team really is.  Baseball is a completely different monster than either of the other two major sports for a variety of reasons.  It differs from college football because a playoff system dictates the winner and the main thing that counts is getting hot late in the year.  The large number of games played puts a premium on consistency.  Series play also gives you a better idea of who the better teams are by allowing teams to immediately avenge fluke losses or a simple bad night on the diamond.  Teams hope to grind through the regular season then peak for the conference then NCAA tournaments, with the good teams showing consistent improvement into the summer.

Purely from a fan’s perspective, I wish these two teams could get together for both an early season and late season series for a good overall comparison.  These two programs have a lot to offer from both a regional and national standpoint. First off, both schools have baseball programs that have been consistently good.  Clemson has been good forever, USC since Tanner came on board.  Both schools can boast nice baseball facilities.  Beautiful Tiger Field has seen substantial upgrades over the past decade and SC has a new stadium that is extremely impressive (especially when you realize the facility is ONLY utilized for USC baseball and does not host a minor league squad after college baseball season).  While we will probably never see any more than three regular season games between the two teams in a given year, more games would be nice for the fans.

That being said, you can take what you wish from the SC series.  I really hope that this team can build some momentum from the SC series as we move towards conference play.  We all like taking the series from the in-state rival, but let’s remember that a baseball season is long and grueling.  The best teams peak at the end and are flush with pitching, something that will be a question for Clemson as we progress.

Basketball wise, this team was one W shy of our preseason prediction of 10 ACC wins this year.  On the year, Trevor Booker has been a disappointment, forgetting the fierceness that he showed in years past.  Lack of effort, basic fundamentals, and a the need for a pure shooter have hurt this team over the long haul.  Honestly, I expected more out of this group and have been sorely disappointed with the output and overall effort shown on the court..  The loss to NCST was indicative of poor effort and a team that was really unprepared for ACC Tournament play.  We were pathetic (as usual) on the offensive end and allowed the Pack to shoot well from the field for most of the evening.

I have to think that Clemson is in the Big Dance, but really would understand if we were left out and would not be too pissed at the selection committee given the epic collapses and lapses we have seen out of this squad this season.  The Tigers have been pretty average all season and, when including the tournament, finished just above average (9-8) in an ACC that is having a “down year” when compared to previous ACC seasons.

While I think the group probably has the ability to make it deep into the NCAA tournament, there are tons of questions left about their heart and character.  We will see if one of the Freshmen can come up big in postseason action.  Can Purnell actually get his team excited about a game in March?  Will Trevor Booker actually give effort all game long?  Clemson has played itself into yet another tough scenario by losing games they should have won, giving minimal effort, and not playing good fundamental ball.  Now the Tigers will suffer with a probable 10-seed.  Thanks for playing.

On to a few football items near and dear to my heart.  Dr. B has already exposed the ridiculousness that is the “indoor practice facility”, so I won’t go into it too much but will fire in a few takes.  First, is an indoor facility absolutely necessary here?  No, this is a luxury item that is nice to have to allow players a year-round practice area but not an absolute necessity.  I will say, there are some facilities–I have toured the Nebraska IPF–that are magnificent.  IMO, these items are an indicator of how serious an administration takes its athletic programs.

However, at a place like Nebraska who’s administration actually wants its athletic programs to succeed, their facility houses a variety of weight rooms, general areas, indoor beach volleyball courts (yes, they are good at beach volleyball in Nebraska–so good in fact that they were not happy with local sand and were importing their beach volleyball sand in from Hawaii when I was out there), and a state of the art indoor practice facility.  While I understand that their climate makes such a complex a necessity, this school did not go half-ass when putting up a structure.

Thus, the core issue that I have with this indoor track facility is that it is a cheap out for Clemson.  B. Robinson sold the fact that it would be a great tool for the football team when not being used by track, when in-fact that is not the case.  I am not sure how necessary such a structure is at Clemson and really don’t have an IPF at the top of my list.  However, for the administration to EVER claim that they were meeting the needs of the football team with this track bubble is preposterous.  The point of the story is that we are (and have been) falling behind and our administration does not care.  We are so preoccupied playing the “shell-game to a Top 20 university” that (I believe) the administration almost secretly roots against the athletic teams and merely views the football program as a revenue stream to subsidize non-revenue sports and the general university coffer.  Clemson would be much better off embracing athletics (and football in particular) as athletic programs are some of the best recruiting tools that a university has.  However, this is how it has worked at Clemson since Jan 1990, and I don’t see it changing especially with the higher ups keen to lag on items that could immediately help athletic programs (training table is a pretty obvious one, but we will save that one for another day).

Moving along, Clemson is obviously in the midst of spring practice.  While I used to get all jazzed up about the in’s and out’s of SP, I have come to realize that this is pretty much a mini-camp for the boys and that half seven-eighths of the crap that comes out of the Spring has no real bearing on fall football.  Hence, I will refer to this period as a refresher course for existing players.  This time period gives the reserves a chance to brush up on Clemson’s playbook, learn basic fundamentals, and begin jockeying amongst themselves for slots in the fall.  That being said, here are a few spots that I am interested in fundamental issues and how the competition looks headed into summer:

1.  Wide receiver.  Our receiver corps was pretty slim last year and is really lacking productivity this season.  When we did see someone other than Ford, Ashe, or Dye as a WR on the field (this happened mostly early in the season), the results were poor as these guys could not catch a cold butt naked in Alaska in the middle of winter.  We have to see vast improvement here.  Hopefully McNeal will step up after his RS year.  I really expect Jaron Brown and Marquan Jones to see more of the field this fall, and would like to see these guys push for starting roles.  Other that Dye, we really have a lot of question marks (and even with Dye, there are still some questions that need to be answered, although I have heard a lot of positives about his leadership and progression for this team).

2.  Tight End.  I realize that Dwayne Allen played a lot as a freshman, and gave this squad some really good snaps.  I am really curious how he will respond being the starting TE.  We know that you can flex him and get quality routes and catches, but how will he hold up out of a three-point stance running the football all game?  Will we have to move a better blocker out there in obvious running situations?  I think that Allen has the ability to do these things and have seen numerous articles writing about the staff being very excited about his ability.  Let’s hope that he will be able to fill Mike Palmer’s void in all aspects of the game.

3.  Offensive line.  We go through this one almost daily, so no surprises here.  With Cloy out, and Brad at the healm be prepared for the usual 5-lineman Monte game that good ‘ole BS likes to pull at any given point.

4.  Linebackers.  Another spring is great for Kevin Steele and crew.  This time period will hopefully allow the staff to straighten up a lot of the issues we saw last season that involved players grossly out of position.  I really wish Justin Parker was in school and could participate in these spring drills, as we are thin and desperately need his services.

5.  Odds and ends.  Obviously we all will be paying attention to Boyd as he gets a lot of reps this spring.  He has wow’ed most of the staff and current players on the practice squad and we are all excited about seeing him rep with the 1st and 2nd-teamers.  I have heard that Ellington has bulked up a little.  As has been stated here numerous times, I am really excited about seeing more of him on the field IF he finds the cure for the fumbleitis he had at points of last season.  Not too concerned about the DB’s and know that whoever does not win the corner battle will still see a lot of action over the course of the season.

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ACC Tourney Begins with NCSU

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

2010_acc_bracket_medium

Clemson Tigers (21-9, 9-7) vs. N.C. State Wolfpack (17-14, 5-11)

When: Approx. 9:30 on Raycom

Kenpom: Clemson 17, NCSU 68, Kenpom predictor says a 7pt Clemson win.

RPI: Clemson 27, NCSU 103

Leading Scorers: All-ACC F Tracy Smith (17.0ppg, 7.7rpg), F Dennis Horner (11.8ppg, 4.8 rpg), Javier Gonzalez (10 ppg, 3.8 apg)

Statistically, NCSU is behind us in pretty much every defensive category, and their offense is similarly bad statistically. They have good players inside but on the outside they are not daunting.

Looking back at our first meeting, we thoroughly dominated the woofers in the 1st half 45-28. We shot like mad (60%) and Booker ate them up early….then Stitt went down, we lost all momentum, and NC State started raining shots all over us in the 2nd half (43.8%) when our offense became stagnant and our shots stopped falling (34%, 1/10 from 3). We were in serious jeopardy of losing it at the end. Booker and Grant also had a bad time inside in the 2nd half getting any rebounds. Neither team turned the ball over that much, 11 for each.

Julius Mays put up 17 against us, Howell 13 points and 12 boards, and Smith put up 16 with 9 boards.

This time around, the big thing may again be how well we do on the boards. We didn’t impress against Wake there, and NC State did very well against us the first time around, particularly in offensive rebounding.

Right now, the team seems more confident than last year heading into the ACC Tourney after blowing our shot at a 1st-rd Bye.

“We kind of stumbled into the tournament last year,” sophomore guard Tanner Smith said. “We went in losing a few more games than we wanted to.”

Clemson went 3-4 in its final seven regular-season games a year ago, including losses in three of its last four.

The last time Clemson finished with a 5-2 flourish – two seasons ago – the Tigers advanced to the ACC tournament title game before losing to top-ranked North Carolina 86-81.

“We did lose our last game (at Wake Forest), but we’ve been playing well,” Smith said. “Confidence-wise, there’s a big difference. Going in on a roll will be nice for us.”

Demontez Stitt feels similarly

“I think that’s one the best things about this team,” said junior point guard Demontez Stitt. “We really haven’t played Clemson basketball for 40 minutes a game this year. We still have something to look forward to. If we start to put the pieces together and come together more, we’re going to be a tough team.

“That’s the exciting thing about it. We haven’t played up to our full potential. We still have a chance to go to the NCAA and make a lot of progress in the ACC Tournament.”

Defense fuels the optimism. In the last eight games, the Tigers have held their opponents under 70 points four times, and both Wake and Virginia Tech scored exactly 70.

“I think the concern in terms of turning the page from last year (was), ‘How are we going to shoot it,’” Purnell said. “I said maybe we won’t shoot it as well but we’re a better defensive team. I believe defense wins. That’s our strength. Now if we shoot it (well) to boot, which I think we’re capable of doing, well we’ve demonstrated that time in and time out (if we do that) we’ve got a chance to get on a roll.”

I’ve always had trouble having confidence in this team, particularly since we tend to choke in the state of NC. I think we beat NC State though.

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The Tigers Stumble into the ACC Tournament

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.

Trevor Booker and the heralded freshman class were supposed to contend for an ACC crown right away. Booker’s senior leadership and the freshmen athleticism were going to usher in a new era for Clemson basketball.

As it stands, Clemson missed out on an opportunity for a 3rd seed and slipped to a 6th seed by virtue of losing at Wake and now have to play NCSU on Thursday night. They are the only team playing on Thursday with 20+ wins.The game is at 9pm. Should they defeat NCSU, they play FSU on Friday night at 9pm. Both games could go either way.

If the Tigers cannot regroup from the inconsistencies they demonstrated on Sunday, they will have an early exit. If they can take advantage of the neutral court site, where they have already had some success this season against UNC-Greensboro.

And as I said in November, hopefully, the UNCG game will help the Tigers prepare for the ACC tournament.

OP said this of the Tigers’ focus going into the ACC tournament,
“We don’t need to think about the ACC title, we don’t need to think about the NCAA first-round game or any of that stuff – we’ve got to get our focus squarely on N.C. State. If you win a couple, then you can change your mindset.”

Despite the bloodied eye, Trevor Booker was named to the All ACC 1st team.
I don’t feel the need to delve into his performance or lack thereof against Wake on Sunday. The refs clearly were letting them play down low. Booker needed to take advantage of this a little more.

I know he didn’t get any calls, just a bloody eye.

From @TBook35 A Busted Eye…but no foul

That pretty much sums up the ACC season ending game against Wake.

The awards have been announced and everyone’s favorite Terp is the ACC player of the year. And the Gary Williams is the Coach of the year. I can live with that, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.

Here is an interactive 2010 ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament Bracket from The ACC:

Publish Post

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Thoughts as Spring Practice Begins – 5 Questions

Monday, March 8th, 2010

“I’m real excited about getting onto the field and starting with this 2010 team,” he said. “We’ve answered a lot of questions this year. We’re at a different point with this team. We’ve been through the fire. It’s not new. We know how we want to practice, what we want to practice. Last year, we signed 12 [in the recruiting class]. We feel good about this class we’re bringing in here. Minimally, we should be better. We should be a smarter team, staff. That should show from day one.

“If we can do the job the right way, it will help us play at a high-level every week. It’s a focus area for us. We’re good enough. As we evaluate all of the film, we’re pretty pleased with all of the information. We’ve got to take a little bit more pride in our consistency. If we can do that, we can have a very good year.” (source)

Clemson started spring practice yesterday, and now comes the time when you hear of the offseason all-stars who get built up to superhuman levels and then come crashing down during the season. Last year it was Antoine McClain that got rave reviews from everyone, and then missed the most assignments of any starting lineman. Oh, and remember Rendrick Taylor, the Football King of Spring?

We’ve done our Positional Analyses (and the last one for the DL will come out this week), so I don’t see any reason to do a spring preview. I would just keep in mind that whatever news is reported, here or elsewhere, in the next few weeks should be taken with a grain of salt. It is still just practice and scrimmages, its not performance under pressure in Fall against Auburn or UNC. Some guys don’t practice worth a crap (Walker) and some light people up in practice so much that you’d think they are made of gold (Taylor).

This spring, we’ll be looking at a few question marks.

1. WR corps. Can the young guys catch yet? Can they run routes any better and get open when we don’t have Spiller and Palmer to catch the passes?

2 .Left Guard and the Tackle situation. Right now, David Smith is being moved to LG, but I don’t see how he beats Mason Cloy for it in August if he’s 100%. I think Norris should be moved to LG for Spring since he reps as a Guard already, but Brad disagrees. Technique things are the same for both positions so Smith can still learn at Guard, but I’d rather have him rep against the quicker Ends/LBs he’d see in Fall when he’s moved back to Tackle.

Now with Price repping at 2-RT, Walker will have no one to light a fire under him. With his reputation so far as a lax practice player, we might come out disappointed with Walker in a few weeks. Brandon Thomas will start repping at 2-LT as a redshirt freshman. Recall that the 2’s roll out as a unit in practice, so you cant tell Smith to rep at 1-LG and then 2-L/RT successively, so the depth chart is a bit misleading.

In reality, Smith would step in at either L or RT if Hairston or Walker went down. Putting in Price or Thomas shouldn’t cause you to have a meltdown.

3. I have a suspicion that Tajh Boyd will be built up so much by writers this Spring that he will be the favorite player on the team this fall by TardNetters, especially if he doesnt play. Everybody loves the backup, and you’ll hear people screaming for Boyd at the first sign of Parker struggling. Just remember, Parker has one year of reading NCAA defenses, and that experience counts. I also suspect you’ll see at least 10 articles about Parker’s baseball/football dilemma.

4. Linebackers. We need them to step up. They are talented, at least according to the recruiting sites, but none really has done anything yet. We’ll see a definite rotation this spring but I suspect if a few guys continue to put on some weight, then things will change in Fall and the post-spring chart will be meaningless. I would not be surprised to hear us sticking to more Nickel and running out Meeks as a pseudo-SAM backer like we did with DMac 2 years ago.

5. Corner. Most of you, myself included, think that Maxwell will have one spot locked down soon enough. He did admirably last year. The other though is up for grabs. It could be Brewer, it could be Sensabaugh, or maybe someone like Spencer Adams will get moved over with the speed he has, but I think/hope Gilchrist steps into it.

Year 2 of a defensive scheme reaps the most gains, especially a complex one like we run. If the defense is not well ahead of the offense this spring I would be concerned. Bowers needs to step up his game to make up for the loss of Sapp, but I’m excited by having both Safeties back and expect quite a bit of 2 High Shell coverage.

Swinney will seek a new commitment to excellence this year, says Greg Wallace. We’ll see.

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How has Oliver Purnell turned the Tigers around?

Sunday, February 21st, 2010

A couple weeks ago, after a very disappointing loss to Virginia Tech, many people started to give up on our chances. I personally thought 7-9 was a likely finish to the ACC slate. Our half court sets were abysmal during our slide since the UNC game and shooting was terribly inconsistent. We knew going into this 3-game homestand that this was the most crucial point in the season: either we’d fall apart like other years, or put it together and make the NCAAs. Well, we got the 3 wins we desperately needed, but how?

To put it simply, we’ve shot better.

The half-court sets are not really better or more advanced these last couple weeks, we’re scoring our points off of the same in-out game on offense and off turnovers, just like we always have. The defense has definitely had its moments, and has been good on the whole, but I wouldn’t call it smothering.

Some stats to put it in perspective:

  • In 5 games prior to this homestand, Clemson shot 113/304 = 37%. The only good game out of that was the 50% shooting performance against Boston College, that we lost. For the 3 game homestand, Clemson shot 67/141 = 47.5%, and 44% against one of the ACC’s best defensive teams in FSU.
  • In 5 games prior to this homestand, Clemson shot over 70% from the FT line exactly 0 times, the best being a 9/13 (69%) performance against Duke. Since BC, where we were 50%, it has consistently risen in every game. During this homestand, we shot over 75% in every game, 66/82 = 80.5%.
  • Since ACC play started, Clemson has not shot better than 40% from the 3 point line.  We have not shot over 30% from the arc but twice, Game 1 vs BC (35.7%), and NC State (40%). In each game of this homestand, Clemson has shot 35% or better in every game and 23/58 = 39.6% for the 3 games.
  • No defensive statistic shows this drastic a change over the homestand. We aren’t defending percentagewise any differently, and other than UVA today (2/13) we actually did a worse job at defending the 3. We didn’t force that many turnovers (15, 14, 12) though we did get 11 steals against FSU. Our own turnovers don’t show a noticeable trend over the last 8 games.
  • Other than a day off 2-pt performance against FSU, Jerai Grant has really stepped up his production on offense since the Boston College loss. He put up over 10 points just 5 times until BC, but has had 5 games over 11 points since, 2 double-doubles and nearly a 3rd after having just 1 all season. He’s finally turned into the offensive threat at the 5-spot that we needed to take some pressure off Booker going forward, averaging 12.3ppg over his last 6.

But why? Well Andre Young has certainly picked up his game since Stitt’s injury. His assists have gone way up along with his production. Demontez Stitt has come back to full health slowly, and until today’s blowout his minutes have been going upwards. David Potter had been trending upwards until Miami, where he again fell off the map offensively (3/13). Trevor Booker’s stats haven’t shown a real trend either, he actually got close to 20ppg from the first Duke game until Maryland, and since the flu he’s been down offensively in part because his minutes have been lower. Over the 3 game set he put up 13, 18, and 14 points in 25 minutes today.

So it’s really not just one player that’s carrying us, we’ve just shot better as a team and hit those much-needed baskets and layups in transition and off the steals we have gotten. Its been different guys to step up in each game.

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Clemson throttles UVA 72-49 to move to 7-5 in the ACC

Sunday, February 21st, 2010

The Tigers moved to 3-0 with their resounding 72-49 win yesterday against UVA. They were able to successfully hold home court in that critical three game stretch to move to 7-5 in the ACC.

UVA is in a swoon as they played four games in the same amount of time the Tigers played two, including yesterday’s game. Landesberg was held in check by the defense and the Tiger defense was allowed to play, despite the lead official of the game being Karl Hess. Maybe if the Hess curse can be broken, then maybe the Chapel Hill curse can be as well. This is definitely a season the Tigers can lament the ACC scheduling imbalance, as the Tigers will not be playing in Chapel Hill this year.

Two of the most important developments of the past three games has been the maturation and play of Jerai Grant and the improved play of Milton Jennings. Jerai Grant played solidly against UVA, going 8-9 for 18pts. While he was in foul trouble against the tall trees of FSU, he had 13 pts in the win against Miami. If he is playing strong down low, more space is created for Trevor Booker. And when the outside shots are falling, the Tigers look and play like an actual, real-life top 25 basketball team.

Now, if Milton Jennings keeps his confidence up for the remainder of the year, the Tigers will be a much different team than the one who lost to BC, Duke x2, GT, VT, and even Texas A&M and Illinois. Milton Jennings had easily his best performance of the year against UVA going 4-4 with 11pts. He has been playing assignment basketball, focusing on rebounds  and defense. Should he continue to match his offensive effort with his defensive efforts, many of the Jennings naysayers and schadenfreude revelers will have their comeuppance, and more importantly, Clemson basketball will be in a better place. Yes, that is a lot of hypotheticals.

Up next  the Tigers have to maintain their current level of play in two upcoming road games. The Tigers play another road-weary team in Maryland. The Terps are coming off an emotional, last second, two last shot, win vs. GT. Remember Grievous Vasquez and his Stitt comment? Here’s what Booker had to say:

“They didn’t think Stitt being out was a factor,” Booker said of the Maryland team. “(Grievous) Vazquez said something in the newspaper about, ‘Who’s Stitt?’ or something like that.“When we get up there,”  “he’ll find out who Demontez Stitt is.”

On Wednesday, it will be time for the Tigers to let the Stitt out against MD.

Stay up late and watch the game on Raycom Wednesday, 2/24/2010, at 9:00pm.

To read more about Clemson Basketball, check out The OP Blog.

Go Tigers!

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February Thoughts on Clemson Athletics

Sunday, February 7th, 2010

Here are some random thoughts and opinions about a variety of issues that we will continue to investigate over at www.shakinthesouthland.com:

Clemson signed an acceptable class this season.  We overviewed this class at STS here:  http://www.shakinthesouthland.com/2010/2/3/1289865/the-2010-clemson-tiger-recruiting and will evaluate how the Tigers class looks on a needs-fill basis this week (week starting Feb 8).  Bringing in Justin Parker was critical for this class.  It was also nice to see the set of skills players (DB’s and WR’s) that we brought in this season.  Clemson has a lot of work to do for the ‘11 class based on needs and losses after this year, but should be (overall) happy about this group.

Clemson basketball has placed itself in a bad situation moving forward.  With a loss at Virginia Tech, Clemson fell to 4-5 in conference play.  Clemson has played extremely poor fundamental basketball, especially in half court sets.  Further, the Tigers do a poor job of moving without the ball and implementing anything complex.  Clemson cannot convert free throws and is really poor shooting from the field.  If the Tigers’ full court press does not result in easy transition points, the Tigers are in real trouble each and every night.  This team has a lot of basic issues that need correcting.

Moving forward, Clemson is really spiraling and has to win a minimum 3 of their next 4 to legitimately position themselves for any decent NCAA birth.  The Tigers have three consecutive road games before traveling to College Park.  CU still has hope but needs to do a lot of things to become more relevant.

On the basketball note, I have been particularly disappointed with the television coverage/availability for the country’s premier conference.  Living in SC, I would expect that I would be able to watch Clemson play on Saturdays.  Unfortunately, no one in my viewing area carries ACC basketball on Raycom.  I expect Swofford to address this issue.  ACC basketball is a huge conference asset.  To handicap this conference by lack of a distribution network is comical.  Raycom provides excellent basketball coverage.  It is almost criminal that Swoffy and the boys cannot work out a better plan to get ACC teams more coverage (especially in bball season).   Current Raycom announcers are well versed in this conference’s history and teams and I personally believe that viewers nationwide would be interested in seeing some of the country’s best basketball coupled with excellent coverage.

The folks in the SEC are reaping the benefits of media deals, I would expect the ACC to follow suit within the year.  If not, the schools should demand the ACC leadership completely removed and replaced with a group that wants the ACC (and schools outside the research triangle) to get some benefit from participating in this league.

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Basketball Q&A with VT blog Gobbler Country

Saturday, February 6th, 2010

I would like to thank the folks over at Gobbler Country for participating in a Question/Answer session in anticipation with our game this Saturday.  Please feel free to visit their site for all new V Tech info including bball and football articles as well as our responses to their questions.

STS Question: You mention on your site that a 0.500 record will not get Va Tech into the NCAA tourney.  What record will get them there?  What would a win over Clemson do to boost these chances?

GC Answer: It’s beginning to look more and more like a 10-6 conference record is a must for the Hokies. The ACC as a whole has proved to be very balanced across the board, but with no real powerful teams. Virtually every team Tech faced in the non-conference slate has a losing record, and most of those teams are at the bottom of their conference standings. Winning at home against Clemson will be very important for their tournament hopes. Coach Greenberg constantly stresses the importance of winning all of your home games, because road wins are hard to come by in this conference. A loss on Saturday would put the Hokies’ backs against the wall heading into the second half of the conference season.



STS Question: Malcolm Delaney is averaging almost 20 points a game for the Hokies.  What will Clemson need to do to keep Delaney at bay?  Can Virginia Tech win if Delaney can be stopped, or do you suspect another Hokie will be able to step up here?

GC Answer: Clemson’s full-court pressure will be a tough matchup for the Hokies, because Delaney will have to be the primary ball-handler. That could wear him down quicker than coach Greenberg would. When Delaney sat out the game in Cancun against Seton Hall with a sprained ankle, Dorenzo Hudson erupted for 41 points. That will never happen again, but Tech has proved they can compete even if Delaney is missing from the lineup entirely. That being said, Clemson is another animal compared to Seton Hall.



STS Question: VT handled UVa a few weeks ago, giving the Hokies a quality January win.  You then followed with a loss to Miami.  Which team should we expect to see Saturday?

GC Answer: As was said earlier, winning on the road in the ACC is extremely difficult to do, no matter who you are. The win over Virginia was draining for a few reasons: it involved two double-digit comebacks, a game-tying buzzer-beater by Virginia, and of course an overtime period. The team went straight from Charlottesville to Miami, and they came out very sluggish in the early going against the Hurricanes. It was a taxing road trip to say the least. The Hokies are 9-0 (maybe 9-1 or 10-0 depending on UNC outcome) at home this season, so I expect a strong showing on Saturday.



STS Question: VT will be coming off a game on Thursday against UNC.  Do you expect fatigue to play a factor for the Hokies against Clemson?  If necessary, how deep can this team get into the bench and still get quality production?

GC Answer: Because both games are at home, and there is no traveling involved, fatigue should not set in for this team. Greenberg has done an excellent job playing 10 and 11 guys in every game, so that they are ready if called upon in important moments. Realistically, there are five players off the bench that Greenberg would be comfortable putting in a game as important as this one. J.T. Thompson, Erick Green, Ben Boggs, Manny Atkins and Cadarian Raines will all play a decent number of minutes. Raines, a promising 6’9’’ freshman, will have to be used to defend Trevor Booker if Victor Davila and Jeff Allen are both out of the game.



STS Question: Which unexpected player should Clemson fans be watching for Saturday?  Also, is there some player on the roster who gives extreme effort and plays better than his raw talent?

GC Answer: J.T. Thompson has emerged over the last few games as the proverbial “starter off the bench”. His numbers would indicate he is a starter (6.6 ppg, 4 rpg), and his 17-point performance against Virginia tied a season-high. He followed that up with 14 points at Miami. He has great length for a forward, but will face a tough test if he has to defend the physical Booker inside.



STS Question: Overall, where does this VT team stand when compared to the rest of the ACC?

GC Answer: It’s hard to tell, honestly. Nobody in the ACC is bad, but nobody is great, even Duke. The Hokies have the worst field-goal percentage in the league, but have one of the best scoring defenses. They remind me of Florida State from a year ago. Malcolm Delaney carries the team, just like Toney Douglass did, while the supporting cast is full of long athletic players who play lock-down half-court defense. The biggest problem is if Delaney is ineffective, there is not another proven scorer that you can count on to pick up the slack. I would peg the Hokies as the fifth or sixth-best team in the league, but with the ridiculous parity in the league this year, does that really mean anything? The ACC tournament will be as important as I can remember it ever being in determining who goes to the big dance and who doesn’t.

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Clemson Welcomes Duke to Tigertown

Friday, January 22nd, 2010
Necessary items for winning basketball games

Necessary items for winning basketball games

Right now, the Tigers are in a precarious situation.

Their performance of late has been less than consistent. At best, the Tigers are a Sweet 16 team; at worst, they don’t even make the tournament. They are a team with two distinct parts of their personality:

  1. They play aggressive hard-nosed defense. They feed the ball through T. Booker,  Stitt  slashes and passes, and another player rises to the occasion as necessary.
  2. They have short-term memory loss. They build big leads quickly and let off the gas. They do not follow through with their course of action

This is what I wrote on Deadspin before last year’s NCAA tournament:

2) Stay Hard Clemson Each of the past four years, the Tigers have started out hard. Each of the
past four years, the Tigers have finished soft. Incidentally, the 1996-1997 team did as well.

2006: First Half of season: 11-0, second half: 8-13, final record, 19-13
2007: First Half of season: 17-0 second half: 8- 11, final record: 25-11
2008: First Half of season: 10-0, second half: 14-10, final record: 24-10
2009: First Half of season: 16-0, second half: 7-8, current record: 23-8

These strong starts have been a knock against Clemson Basketball from both fans and national media. Still, as a charter member of the ACC, and a self-proclaimed “football school,” just being discussed in the context of basketball is nice. We’ll see if Oliver Purnell can get his first NCAA win and help the Tigers seal the deal this year.

The same general idea holds true now. While we are not involved in a gaudy winning streak. We are involved in a series of in-game collapses, or near collapses- see Illinois and NC State games.

With Duke coming to town this weekend, the Tigers must not get wrapped up in the national attention this game will be receiving, but rather play their game.

Duke is not invincible. They lost to NCSU, who the Tigers just beat, though just barely, last week. They keep their focus tight and clear. It is up to the Tigers to prevent the Blue Devils from playing the anticipatory Duke brand of basketball. They block passing lanes, they move well without the ball, and do the small things that most other teams do not. Their big three: Scheyer, Singler, and Smith now have a capable supporting cast.

Clemson has to feed Trevor Booker. They have to have a big game from Stitt.  Someone else from either the starting lineup- Grant, Potter, or Smith needs to play well and one player- or any combination of players- from the bench needs to step up.

The loss to GT was tough, but it proved that the Tigers can be resilient. This resilience will be necessary to avoid a mini-collapse as the ACC progresses.

The next group of games after this much-hyped match up with Duke could be dangerous for the Tigers if they are focusing on anything else but the game at hand.

For more Clemson basketball news and info, check out The OP blog or follow me on twitter.

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