Tallahassee is a Bust- Tigers lose 73-66

The OP Stat of the Game: 23 Turnovers

Losing Sucks (from the Greenville News)

I thought that if I waited long enough, it might go away. That after starting 18-2, 4-4 February was a bad dream.

February started out with such promise- a routing of Duke- but now it is March and it is snowing.

The Tigers were not aggressive throughout the game yesterday. Had they had the fire they had in the second half, they probably would have come out on top in Tallahassee. Nothing is more reflective of their lack of drive- not really heart, because they surely wanted to win- than the fact the team only had eight FTs. Eight.

If we are going to continue to improve this season and into any tournament, ACC or beyond, we are going to have to move the ball inside. Their big men held Booker in check and Sykes was able to draw some fouls with his 26 minutes of play. However, Booker needs to be the point of the inside attack.

Per the turnovers, 17-23 were committed by the starting lineup: Rivers, Stitt, and Booker each with 4, while Oglesby had 3, and Sykes 2. For all of the complaining I and other Clemson fans do about Sykes' hands, they weren't even the primary culprits today. Young is still handling the ball well, but is not getting-or looking for- the offensive minutes and attempts. He had 3 points, 1-1 shooting.


Defensively, we didn't play horribly, but they made us look porous in the first half. FSU had a comprable FG% to Clemson, 46%-43%, but they were the aggressors, as they shot 21 FTs, hitting 14.

Offensively, the Tigers are off, out-of-sync, whatever. The halfcourt sets are not working for us right now. I don't know if we are not adjusting to the focused inside pressure on Booker, if the bench is not performing adequately, or what. But it is not working.
The Four Factors to winning at basketball

• Florida State did better than Clemson at Free Throw Rate (37.5 vs 13.8) and Turnover Pct (22.9 vs 32.9).
• Clemson did better than Florida State at Effective Field Goal Pct (53.4 vs 52.7) and Offensive Rebound Percentage (40.0 vs 32.4). (statfix.com)

The game might have gone the other, but it didn't. We have one more home game against UVA on Tuesday night. The Tigers have to at least get this game to finish with a winning ACC record, but also to send KC Rivers and Ray Sykes out as winners on their senior night.

Loose internet links:
FSU game photos
Tigers tumble from high wire- The State
Turnovers undo Tigers [in Tallahassee] against Seminoles- Greenville News
Tigers fall in Tallahassee- Greenville News
Milton Jennings- Panthers capture 4th straight State Crown- Charleston.net

Go Tigers!