Clemson Tigers Travel to Duke for ACC Opener

When: 7:45pm
Where: Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham, NC
Watch: Fox Sports Networks
Listen: WCCP-FM



The Tigers survived the upset bid by SCState at home on 12/29.


Their reward?

A trip to Cameron Indoor to play a Coach K's improved Duke team. The last meeting was ugly for the Blue Devils, 74-47 L in Littlejohn.

Do not expect this to happen again for the Tigers. Remember K called a timeout with 20-ish seconds on the clock so his team could see what defeat and humiliation looks like. I guarantee he would like to make OP and the Tigers feel the same in Durham.

This game is also a return to the Duke opening ACC game for the Tigers. For years this was the case, and it is again.

Clemson's record against Duke is abysmal, 100L- 29W overall; at Duke, 4-56.

That's right. Its not 0-UNC in Chapel Hill, but it is close.

The Tigers, overall, are playing better than they did against Illinois. However, their improved play is compartmental. They still have yet to put together complete game. The fact that the SC State game was close in the end, no matter how far we looked ahead, or how strong they are is unacceptable. This team should be better than they are right now.

Per Duke, they are playing strongly right now. Their guard play has improved tremendously and they, unlike they past couple of years, are playing as a cohesive unit. They play three guards and two forwards or three forwards and two guards- I don't even know about Zoubek.

Their starters Singler, Scheyer, and Smith play a vast majority of the minutes, over 30 each. Whereas even Trevor Booker doesn't average 30 minutes a game for the Tigers. The Tigers' depth will have to be highlighted tomorrow and not required tomorrow night. In this, if the referees call tight fouls against Clemson, the depth will be required and not showcased and utilized as necessary.

The press probably will not work as effectively as it needs to against Duke. They know how and what to do to break it. It would be nice to see OP throw a few curve balls to K just to see what happens. As for the freshmen and sophomores, they have never been to Cameron. So...

Hopefully we see some creativity from Clemson in terms of defense, offense, and even psychology. If the Tigers even begin to play like they did against SC State or Illinois, it could easily end up being 74-47 Duke.

Its time to get it in the ACC.

Go Tigers!