Clemson Basketball falls in first test vs. Michigan 69-61

And really, the game was not as close as the score might look. The Tigers fell behind early and spent most of their time anemically trying to claw their way back into the game.

Brownell said Milton Jennings hasn't been playing as well of late, but his replacement- Tanner Smith was abysmal last night. It was painful. He fouled a guy shooting a three, then threw up a horrid shot.

Brownell had this to say of the Milt/Tanner, "Milton (Jennings) wasn’t as good as he’s been of late. And he could have played defense a little better. So we had to start playing guys like Tanner (Smith) and Noel (Johnson) to force something and try to overcome it. We are not going to play that way very much, but Michigan was packing it in defensively"

The key to that quote is "We are not going to play that way very much." God, I hope not. It was ugly. It looked like an OP offense, minus the dorking around for 20-25 seconds then missing a contested shot. This was just plain missing bad shots. The game plan seemed to lack a bit.

While Clemson is still learning the motion offense, Michigan was running it with aplomb.  It helped that their team was hitting their shots. It didn't help that the Tigers were afraid to go inside, even with the defense "packing it in defensively."

Now the team get a brief break before a tough road game against the gamecocks, followed by an early ACC match up against FSU.

It is time to start figuring things out Tigers. It will not get any easier. This could/should have been a tough win. Instead, it is a tough, though deserved, loss.

You can read more about the game, the stats, etc, here:

SCACCHoops
ESPN-
notice that at the end of the basketball article, it is no longer about basketball, but rather about Kyle Parker and the presentation of the CWS rings. Nice work ESPN- stay focused!
Tigernet 

Clemson Throttles UVA 72-49

The OP Stat of the Game: Milton Jennings, 4-4, 11pts.

I know I could have chosen Jerai Grant 8-9 with 18 pts, but the possibility that this was Milton's breakout game is too much to resist. Milton Jennings played like the pre-season hype. If he continues on even half this pace, he has made big progress. His confidence has been building the past few games on the defensive side and now, hopefully, his confidence has switched to the offensive side of the ball.

Not only did Milton Jennings score 11 points, but Grant had a serious game. The refs, lead by Karl Hess, allowed the Tigers to play, which, of course, always benefits our style of play.

 

Potter forcing Landesberg right. (Greenville News)

The defense was on point yesterday, despite the fact they actually had fewer steals and TOs created than usual. OP had the team well-prepared. More importantly, though, the team was hitting their shots. Grant and T. Booker down created space down low and when the ball was kicked out the bench was able to step up hit jump shots, threes, or drive and dish, as the team had 18 ast vs. UVA

Here's a UVA recap and the full boxscore

Of the game, Grant said, "“It's just being on the floor, straight up playing the game,” . “I used be in foul trouble a lot, but staying out of foul trouble keeps me on the floor, and staying on the floor has made my confidence soar.”

It also helps that when refs let the Tigers play their game. Clemson had 6 fouls, UVA had 14. Defensively, the Tigers did not have to rely on the press throughout. They used it to set up tight man-to-man.

This three game stretch came at just the right time. And the Tigers handled it with aplomb, going 3-0. Even Tony Bennet's crooning could not stop the Tigers.

 

So, here's what you got to do. You've got to clampdown and squeeze. Then, pull and twist. (Greenville News)

WTF? (Greenville News)

Check out the rest of the Clemson/UVA photo gallery, notice 26% female shots out of 163. They found the fans down low and didn't show any of the empty seats up top.

Nonetheless, now 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.

So,

Go Tigers!

Clemson Tigers Defeat UNCG 89-67

The OP Stat of the Game: Milton Jennings. 14 points, 16 min

While it isn't as exciting as the UNC loss to Syracuse, 87-71, over on ESPN2, the win is the 2nd away win of the season. The Big East is looking strong thus far, the ACC, not so much, as two ranked ACC teams have lost.

Per the Tigers have shown resilience and versatility this year. Yes, Booker is still getting the job done with his 17 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 steals. But, in each of the previous games the role players have stepped up.

Tonight was no different. This time, Milton Jennings stepped up with 14 points and David Potter followed his career performance with an 11 point game.

But what about Andre Young? When is he going to start? He is out-playing, hustling, and just plain playing better than Stitt. Maybe bring Young into the starting lineup will get Stitt back in the game. He is better than he is playing, but is looking like he didn't work as hard as needed this summer. Young, Smith, Potter, Booker, and the Freshman on the other hand, looked like they did work.

Our team identity is still developing, as we were not entirely into the game early. That lack of total dedication throughout will lead to early holes we will have to deal with.

Tonight is game three in the tune-up phase, Winthrop is up next. And while they are not as strong without Gregg Marshall, they are still a primarily Basketball-oriented school. They will, hopefully, serve as the intermediate before we open up an against major, BCS opponent in Texas A&M.

Some kinks, especially defensively, will have to be worked out if we plan on playing late into March. This is probably not a concern yet, as it is early, but just something to keep an eye on.

OP addressed the lack of defensive commitment during the game, and hopefully the players will continue to respond.

Its almost tailgate time!

Go Tigers!

OP receives a raise and discusses the future of Clemson Basketball

Terry Don Phillips will be increasing Oliver Purnell's pay.
Phillips said he and Purnell have agreed on the total “enhancement” value, but Purnell’s attorney has since made a proposal for how to structure the “enhancement” into the contract.

Yesterday, Milton Jennings was on ESPN sportsnation chat- here's a link to the transcript.
He seems like a level-headed, mature person. I can't wait to see how his game translates to the ACC, where the competition will be much stiffer than his private school league. It will be more like his AAU competition- maybe better.

The Raleigh News and Observer lists the 2009 McDonald's All-Americans playing tonight who will be playing in the ACC next year.

Booker plans to work on his game this summer and smilingly says of the freshman class:

"I'm looking to rough all of 'em up a little bit.I'm gonna show all the freshmen the ropes, not just my brother."

Clemson Associate Head Coach Ron Bradley was named one of the 20 finalists for Assistant-Coach-of-the-Year by Basketballscoop.com

Here's a transcript of much of Oliver Purnell's 2008-2009 season reflecting press conference from two days ago.

Go Tigers!

Milton Jennings, the Future of Clemson Basketball ?

Tomorrow, Milton Jennings plays in the McDonald's All-American game at 8pm. Read about other games next year's class will be participating in here.

Since arriving in Miami, Milton Jennings has already placed 2nd in the first-ever all around basketball skills competition. He finished with a time of 37.9 seconds, losing by just .9 seconds to Dante Taylor.

And while Milton Jennings will have a role in the future of Clemson Basketball, the rest of the team, at least in the starting positions, will be open up to competition, per Oliver Purnell.

With us not finishing the way we’d like to, the mix is not necessarily the mix we’re going to go with next year. We’re going to play guys who defend and make an effort, plus be effective as one defensively and offensively.

Trevor Booker might be the only lock as a starter, as Booker will be coming back next year. Here is a link from draftexpress.com analyzing Trevor's game and potential draft status.

Elsewhere around the Clemson Hoops world:

Clemson student Adam Linkenauger won a dunk competition and will featured in a commercial for something I probably won't buy.

Ex-Clemson/Florida/Shyatt assistant and co-hort Shaka Smart will take over for Anthony Grant at VCU.

Here is a long list of links to pictures from the Greenville News of this year's games. The games are listed in reverse chronological order.

Michigan 62, Clemson 59

ACC tournament, part 1

Georgia Tech 86, Clemson 81

Wake Forest 96, Clemson 88

Clemson 75, Virginia 57

FSU 73, Clemson 67

Virginia Tech 80, Clemson 77

Clemson 81, Georgia Tech 73

Clemson 93, Maryland 64

UVA 85, Clemson 81

FSU 65, Clemson 61

Clemson 74, Duke 47

Clemson 86, Virginia Tech 82

Clemson 73, Georgia Tech 59

UNC 94, Clemson 70

Wake 78, Clemson 68

Wake 78, Clemson 68

Clemson 63, N.C. State 51

Clemson 66, Alabama 59

Clemson 77, East Carolina 66

Go Tigers!

Milton Jennings selected as McDonald's All-American

While UNC may have four McDonald's All Americans next year, Clemson brings in their third ever next year, as 2010 Clemson signee Milton Jennings was selected as a representative on the 2009 East team.

Milton Jennings is also the first player selected from South Carolina since Ray(mond) Felton in 2002.

Here's a highlight video:

Check out his ESPN recruiting page
Greenville News article

Oh, and of course, my picture of the back of Milton Jenning's head entering the Wake game.


Go Tigers!

Clemson frustratingly loses to Wake

The day started out solid as I was entering at the same time as Milton Jennings.




I took a few pre-game pictures.


I sent a text message to see who the announcers were.

Somewhere between here and there, things went wrong.

Here is a brief selection of some of the texts I sent:

-WTF? Does Teague not get called for fouls.
-CJ and Dabo are the halftime entertainment.
-These are the worst refs ever.

I really don’t know what to say right now. We weren’t hitting our shots and we weren’t playing our game- at least offensively.

We could not break and sustain the 10 point threshold.

Wake is clearly a national caliber team. Chas Macfarland plays dirty- with the fans.

More analysis later.

Go Tigers!