Clemson ACC tournament loss afterthoughts

The oh-so-clever headlines concerning being stung in both active and passive voice are stale.

The Tigers were outplayed yesterday in all aspects of the game.

NCAA Basketball Stats

I have thought about it and have decided that was the worst this team has played all season.
This decision is not based upon missed shots, missed opportunities, etc. But rather, on the the Tigers' inability to play as a cohesive unit.

KC reflected:

“You could see it. They had nothing to lose. They made a mistake, they had a smirk on their face, patting each other on the back. We’d make a mistake, and it’d seem like we were scared, got too timid to do anything else. The frustration crept in at times and it got to us. We kept dwelling on what happened the play before.”

Tanner Smith, though, says it all:

"If you go back and look at all of our losses, they're just like this. We have long stretches where the energy just disappears."

Yesterday, that long stretch was 40 minutes.

Maybe the Tigers were distracted by TO- the famous one, not Terrence Oglesby- sitting right behind the bench.

The Famous TO- Greenville News

Concerning Grant starting, OP had this to say,“Jerai played well against Georgia Tech, gave us some physicality, and I thought against their big front line he’d really help us. He had foul trouble and we didn’t have him throughout the course of the first half. Jerai has been good for us all year long and we thought we’d shake things up a bit.”

The shaking continued as Narcisse got into the action. While I am excited to see him play, I guess I don't understand the psychology substitutions. Starting Grant over Sykes seemed to get Raymond a little more into the game than he was against Wake, but he seemed, as did the rest of the team, slow and almost uninterested.

While the loss to GT was obviously disheartening, I don't know this is, as the Anderson Independent states, rock bottom. Despite playing poorly and Clinch playing lights-out, the Tigers lost by five to a team with nothing to lose. And remember, this type of all or nothing underdog win has happened in the Georgia Dome before with the other big State school. Yes, it was the SEC and the tournament was abbreviated, but it is a valid point, I think.

Now it is time to wait.

The Tigers should be in the NCAA tournament. About their seeding, KC Rivers said,

"Seeding? I don't care about that mess, man. A seed is just a seed, you still got to play. All that matters is who's more motivated."

“It’s up to us to believe in our principles, believe in ourselves, turn the switch at some point,” he said. “It turns one way or the other. It’s been (turned the wrong way) long enough. We need to turn the thing back, play good Clemson basketball and go win.” from the Anderson Independent.


Go Tigers!