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!

ACC Basketball Teams as Car Companies: Teams 1-6

I am planning to buy a new, or at least newish, car in the near future. As I was starting to do some research, I began to think about cars, brands, and now that it is November, my mind obviously turned to Basketball. And sure this is probably lame, but its given me something to think about until the season starts this weekend. There is no methodology, just a sustained metaphor, which might even be weak at times.

In alphabetical order:

Boston College- Toyota.
BC is always solid and dependable, and rarely flashy. For as long as Al Skinner has been in Chestnut Hill, the Eagles have found a way to win. While they might not always field the strongest players, they usually have at least one or two who can get it done. This year it looks like that job will have to fall to either Rakim Sanders or Joe Trapani, both of whom return what might be one of the most veteran teams in the ACC this year.

Clemson- Hyundai.
As much as it pains me to say it, I think this is about where the Tigers are. Think back to the laughable, but efficient Hyundai Excel to now. A lot has changed for Hyundai, they are competing with the bigger, more established car manufacturers. The same can be said for the Tigers, while they had some success 10-15 years ago, that was a blip on the Clemson Basketball radar. Now with Oliver Purnell and this year's strong recruiting class, the Tigers, with preseason All-ACC selection Trevor Booker, are poised to topple some of the more traditional, established basketball powers of the ACC.

Duke- Mercedes.
Expensive, subtle, but not always dependable and long lasting. A Mercedes is, well, a Mercedes. Their price alone separates them from the other German car manufacturers. Historically, they have had unreliable vehicles, but things shifted a bit in the past. Now, with the exception of the ill-conceived SMARt Car, which of course, it is not, Mercedes is making a comeback in this area. Duke, much like Mercedes, is ready to do the same. Coach K is undoubtedly a good coach, whether you like him or not, but...he hasn't been able to break through recently. He has achieved more with his players than any other coach could have with the same team; however, he now has the added luxury of a strong recruiting class of athletes- which Duke has lacked. It could be a big year for Duke if everything runs well with the position adjustment of returning players Singler and Scheyer.

Georgia Tech- Ford.
The metaphor almost seems too easy- big successes early, recent poor performing vehicles, strong innovation, lack of execution, marketing, and follow through. Sounds about like a Paul Hewitt coached basketball team. This year, we will see what Coach Hewitt can do with his prized recruit, Derrick Favors. Now, Georgia Tech, Paul Hewitt, and all the Ramblin' Wrecks, which incidentally is a Ford Model A, are set to make a return to NCAA tournament after many lean years. Hewitt has the pieces this year to make things happen. And even though the Yellow Jackets were 2-14 in conference play last year, expectations are high- NCAA and beyond- following the Carmelo blueprint.

Florida State- Nissan.
Nissan has tried different branding (beginning with Datsun), sleek new designs, sexier and sportier ad campaigns, but just can't hit their stride. And while a Nissan is not a bad car, far from it, they are always seem poised to do something well, but it always seems to be lacking. Much the same can be said for Florida State. Last year the Seminoles cracked into the NCAA tournament after being left out the previous year. They were on the precipice of solid improvement and a larger win total. However, the key losses of Toney Douglas and Uche Echefu will hurt them. FSU has some reason to be happy, as they have a - if not the- most dominating center in the ACC in Solomon Alabi. With Alabi and a possible starting line up with no one under 6'7", the Seminoles could be formidable and imposing.

Maryland- Chevrolet.
Oh Chevrolet. You have tried everything except the most logical options. Rather than downsizing all of your employees at every turn, how about downsizing the redundant car/truck offerings. How many different names can a Chevy Silverado, s-10, GMC whatever have. Pick a brand and a model and stick to it. Stop sucking. You have potential, but it is limited by your lack of a cohesive identity. If you could do this, you could legitimately say you have the bestselling truck, but you can't. Oh Maryland! Oh Gary Williams! Maryland has a wildly passionate fan base, a la Chevy truck people, but they cannot seem to find the accidental greatness they had with Lonnie Baxter and Juan Dixon. Instead, Gary Williams supposedly refuses to play the recruiting games- good for him, possibly bad for Maryland, and their teams hopes are pinned to incendiary guard Grevis Vasquez. If these two hotheads can hold it together throughout the season, they should reach at least the round of 32, if not 16 in the NCAA tournament.

Teams 7-12 tomorrow.

Clemson Wins: Articles and Photos

We all know by now that Duke lost in a numeric, palindromic manner, 74-47.
Let's take a lazy spin around the interwebs to see what others have to say about the win.

OP- "Are you effin' kidding me ref, this blazer is Awesome. Check it out on my site: OrangeSuede.com"

OP- "Get the eff out of the way. Here comes the Orange Blazer Bitches!"

Shall we continue?

Duked!- via Deadspin
Embarrassing- via The Duke Chronicle
Clemson Crushes Duke- Photos - Raleigh News & Observer
Duke Stinks it up in Littlejohn- 850 the Buzz Blog
Block-C Game Photos- via Block C
Greenville News Photos- via The Greenville News
Anderson Independent Photos- via The Anderson Independent
CUTigers Photos- via CUTigers

And for fun, OP's reaction to TO's missed dunk:



ESPN News Highlight of the Night-


Anderson Independent Video-


Purnell Post Game Reaction- via The Anderson Independent


Go Tigers!

Clemson Wins. Coach K reflects: I am embarrased...We had No Heart Tonight.

Post Game Coach K quotes:

That is not why those guys wear that uniform...

We did not compete...

We have to practice better and have to be ready to play against Miami.

We had no heart tonight...It makes me choke to say that.

I can't believe I am saying that.

I can't equate it to anything else. That's how bad a loss it was.

A Duke team cannot play that way. That is the bottom line.


Go Tigers!

Clemson Takes on Duke Tomorrow in Littlejohn

OP and the Tigers will be looking to b-slap Coach K and Duke Tomorrow night (from clemsontigers.cstv.com)

When: 9:00pm
Where: Littlejohn Coliseum, Clemson, SC
Watch: ESPN
Listen: WCCP
Follow: SCACCHoops

Per the history of this matchup, Duke has won alot, while Clemson has not, dating back to 1926:

Overall: Duke leads 100-28
at Clemson: Duke leads 36-20
at Littlejohn: Duke leads 22-16
at Duke: Duke leads 56-4
at Neutral: Duke leads 8-4
First Meeting: Duke, 46-12 in 1925-26

However, the Tigers won the last meeting in the ACC tournament- beware the ides of March.

As this is the only scheduled meeting between the Tigers and Duke, expect a tough, defensive-minded game, especially after Duke's breakdown against Wake- and subsequent drubbing of Virginia. After the loss to Wake, prior to the Virginia game, Coach K held a tough practice.

"Friday was all defense," Krzyzewski said. "It wasn't like animal drills, where you're making up drills for toughness. It wasn't that kind of practice, but it was a real hard man-to-man defensive practice."

Duke gathered as much wind into their bag as they could with the Virginia win. And now, they are set to arrive in Tigertown with a supposedly renewed focus. They will be playing pressure defense, the same that lead to blowout win. However, Duke will have to try to contain more than just Sylven Landesberg tomorrow.

KC is coming of one of his strongest performances this season. He hitting his shots and lead the team, as a senior leader should. This was a big change from the previous games. But, not only has KC changed in his four years at Clemson, he notes, “It’s a lot different than what it used to be when I first got here,” Rivers said of the students. “It was definitely a lot different. The atmosphere and the buzz around campus is a lot different than what it used to be, and I definitely expect the same type of atmosphere, maybe even greater.”

OP reflects on the changes in the ACC, the Duke game, and the toughness of the league while Coach K- without naming names, says, "One of the things about our league is the pride the the different fans have at each school. That and the campus sites (for homecourts) create more parity."

This wasn't always the case. (see record above)

Per the offense and what the Tigers might face, here is a graphic from the Raleigh News and Observer.



So, look for set screens on offense, and man-to-man on defense. Right now, Clemson matches up better with Duke than either Wake or UNC. While Duke has some potential problems in the PG position- Nolan Smith/Greg Paulus, Singler and Henderson pose a tough test for the Tigers. Potter will have to stay out of foul trouble against Henderson. Likewise, Sykes and Grant are going to have to step up against Singler. And, of course, whoever TO matches up against it will be a defensive advantage for Duke, whether it is Scheyer or someone else.

The game will probably be decided on the inside. Booker has the edge inside. Yet, we are going to have to rebound as a team if we plan on winning. Thus, we should move the game inside instead of relying on the perimeter- where Duke has a strong defense. KC is going to have to move both inside and outside. If he hits some outside shots, we might be able to open up the inside a little more. If we play inside, we have to hit our FTs and have solid rebounding.

All of these things, I am sure, both OP and Coach K know. We have seen what is possible with the Tigers. Now it is time to go past that, past the impossible, to the possimpible.

It won't be easy. And while this is a different Duke team than last year's- we are as well.

Like last year, we might need to get on Booker's shoulders and move it inside.

Go Tigers!


postscript: no Dickie Vitale for tomorrow's game.

KC Rivers ACC Player of the Week

After his 28 point performance, KC, hopefully, has returned.

Elsewhere, in the Chic-Fil-A Classic in Columbia, Clemson and OP's premiere recruit, Milton Jennings and Pinewood Prep dominated.

OP was also there to watch Union HS Clemson recruit, Devin Booker. Coach K was there to watch Ravenscroft Duke recruit Ryan Kelly and Christ School Duke recruit Mason Plumlee.

Watch Milton Jennings action and commentary.


(from The State)

Go Tigers!

Et tu Du-ke?

"They're men; and their coach is a man.
- Mike Krzyzewski, Duke University Men's Basketball Coach, Philosopher


Duke escaped the Yellowjackets, as one by one, they ran away and cowered from Scheyer's face.

During a brief break between the clouds, rain, and tornadoes, I was able to catch the end of our game with Duke and we stepped up big.

We hit our freethrows. We weren't afraid of Scheyer's grimaces. And we wanted to play UNC again.

Now, we have solidified our position in the NCAA tournament. The next game may help determine our seed.

No more Duke. I want to hate Coach K, but then he goes and does something like this.

Go Tigers!

Clemson Tigers come back, then lose in Cameron

The OP was off the grid for the Clemson/Duke Game this weekend. As such, I will pretend the loss never happened.

However, the grid is now back up.
Here are some proxy comments I received during the game:

"Ah, the usual joys of watching Clemson basketball play at the Coach K fiefdom were realized last night.

There were literally too many horrible calls to go into here but, generally,
(1) if a Duke player touched the paint, there was a foul called against Clemson, and
(2) if a Clemson player wasman-handled/mauled/mutilated in the paint, there was no call.

Clemson didn't help itself by being the worst free-throwing shooting NCAA basketball team in the world!

I still don't understand this part of Clemson Basketball.

----------

Regardless of poor oficiating, Duke did two things to beat us: they knew they couldn't stop our big men, so they stopped the big men from getting the ball. Duke's pressure on our guards had me screaming for someone to learn how to pass. The game was also won by our horrible outside and free throw shooting.

An excuse: I heard that it was about 150 degrees and that [Duke] had the heat cranked. Other teams had cramped up in previous games.

I wonder if fatigue after coming back twice took it out of the Clemson guards more than anything else.

ugh."

We are now ORV in the AP poll and 25 in the Coaches' poll.

Tomorrow, the Tigers take on Wake, who dominated FSU, like we, nor Duke could do. FSU was probably suffering from the same type of post-loss hangover we did when we lost to UNC.

Either way, this game could prove tough. It will be interesting to see how we perform after this most recent loss. Will be shore up our mistakes, or play into our opponents' hands again. God I hope it is the first option.

If you plan on being in Littlejohn tomorrow here are the giveaways:
- Clemson Rally Towels compliments of Alltel
- Cliff Hammonds Trading Card to first 1,000 Fans

Untill tomorrow,
Go Tigers.

Clemson Basketball fails to cross 66 point threshold against Duke

Again.
This time, however, the relative close score does not reflect the whole of the game. The Tigers nearly erased the 21 point deficit created by missing 13 straight shots and finishing the first half going 6-22, at 27.3%.

After a deep, wet tongue-lashing from Capt. OP and the good karma of having Ray Ray and Fahmarr appear at half-time, the Tigers were able to go on a scoring run and bring the score to 47-42 with about 10:14 minutes to go in the half.

Thoughts of winning the game, making the tournament, stopping the pain, or any of the aforementioned briefly re-appeared as the Tigers once again brought the scoring deficit to five points at 69-64, though scarcely six seconds were left. Then something happened after I turned off the television and the Tigers lost 71-66.

To Sam Perry,

You blocked three shots and had five rebounds, but only had three points. I must re-iterate the mistake you are making when you suit up with that elbow-length-sleeved shirt. While I don't wear athletic undershirts, again, many quality brands manufacture such garments. Large-box stores even carry off-brand versions of such. I really do think you should give it a try. Then, let me know what you think.

signed,
the-op.blogspot.com

Now, Clemson has three games left three chances, two away (BC, VT), one home, one tomorrow. And the line from the press brief concerning OP and his 20 win seasons will again appear. Please, please win.

Go Tigers!

Clemson Basketball: Break out your orange blazers!

"We're on the brink of ruining the season after we started out so good," [Cliff] Hammonds said. "It would be a disgrace to go to the NIT after the way we started the season." Despite the grammatical concerns, I echo your sentiments Mr. Hammonds and know we are going to need more than just OP's orange blazer. We all need to be wearing orange blazers, just not of the Bruce Pearl Tennessee variety.
Everyone knows what happened in Cameron. We could have made tonight's game mean something had we responded with a forward push after the dook debacle. Instead, we have focused on cruising in the opposite direction. Dook comes into LJ with a less-than-perfect resume, but comes in as a team looking to play in the tournament and looking to succeed. Neither of which the Tigers can seem to do.

While I do not know the remedy for maintaining a team's focus and getting them back on track, I do know something needs to be done-- and the MD loss will be the catalyst, as that game ended the losing streak and our losing ways.

Go Tigers!

Clemson Basketball: Defeating Duke

• Clemson has lost 20 consecutive games to Duke. The Tigers last win over the Blue Devils took place on January 7, 1997, an 86-82 win in overtime.
  

• Clemson's 68-66 loss at Duke earlier this year was the closest Clemson has come to beating Duke since a 66-64 loss to the Blue Devils in the 1998 ACC Tournament.

How long has the following bullet been in the pre-game(s) press release?

• A victory on Thursday would give Clemson head coach Oliver Purnell a 20-win season at his fourth different school. He would become the seventh active Division I coach to record at least one 20-win season at four different Division I schools.

Too long.

Here is my analysis:
Win.
Somehow.
Anyhow.
Win.
For the love of OP
Win.

Go Tigers!

Clemson Tigers: endgame

1:44 left, 62-52.

Come on Tigers, don't get Echefu-ed!

UNC/dook- looks like a little fracas on the floor.

1:41, 63-52.
Its nice to see KC back in the game.

1:27, 64-55.
Mays at 2-8. That is not the type of production we need from him.
And still, they have way too many offensive rebounds: 12 to our 6.

1:14, 64-58.
1:09, 66-58.
:57, 66-58.

UNC on the comeback, 21-24.
The officials need to control this game. And for god's sake, do not listen to Billy Packer, no matter what you do.

:38, 68-58.
:32, 69-58.
:00, 71- 58 FINAL!

Win.

Go Tigers!

68-66: Familiar score

As these are Clemson's past two opponents, and losses, I thought the meeting between the two teams last night held some relevancy for us. UVa came back (again) to beat Duke. The score was the same as our Duke game, but the outcome more pleasant. Yes, I was disgusted concerning the UVa lost, but it wasn't such a gutteral reaction as the Duke loss.


Go Tigers!

Clemson Basketball: ACC officials= "Timing error?"

The ACC, again masters of the obvious admitted a mistake. While this might have not changed the outcome, it is reflective of the state of officiating in the ACC and specifically in Cameron. Even if Purnell had objected, it would have been fruitless. The better team did not win. The supposedly better coach was turned into a hypocrite by his own team. The better coach released a statement, the other, realizing he and his team were recipients of blatant bias did not.

• "I am satisfied with their review in this matter," Purnell said Friday. "We now need to put 100 percent of our focus on our game with Virginia on Sunday, and that is what we will do, starting with today's practice."
• A Duke spokesman did not immediately return a telephone message Friday seeking comment from Krzyzewski.

The second bullet says more than the first.

Go Tigers!

Clemson Basketball: Timekeeper guy needs to be fired.

From our seats, this image is right before things got bad.

This youtube video is when it got bad.

Never mind the added time at the end. The clock did not move when Vernon Hamilton took his shot. As I was at the game, I can assure you VH had the ball longer than .6 seconds. I hope to god OP files a formal complaint with the ACC officials/timekeepers/whoever for that. Yes, Duke would have still had an opportunity to shoot their final shot, but not 4.4 seconds.

Yes, I was in the belly of the whale, the death star. And I hated it.

Go Tigers!

Clemson Tiger Basketball: Clemson-Duke Notes

OP updated his blog, though the date is wrong on the top. He says Cameron Indoor Stadium is "arguably the toughest venue in college basketball." However, OP remains optimistic for the upcoming games against both Duke and Virginia and sees them "as a great opportunity to close out the first half of our ACC schedule on a strong note."

Duke Pre-game facts:

• "Arguably the toughest venue in college basketball" according to Coach Oliver Purnell
  
• Duke is ranked 1oth in both polls.
• Duke has won 87.7% of its games in Cameron since 1940.
• Clemson is 27-97 all-time against Duke and 4-54 in Cameron.
• Clemson is ranked AP 19 and ESPN/USA 17.
• Duke is coming off of a 23 pt win in Raleigh vs. NCSU.
• Clemson is returning from a two-game slump and a 20 pt win at home against a roster-depleted BC team.
• Clemson is, as of 1/22, 4th in the ACC standings at 4-2.
• Duke is currently 5th in the ACC table at 3-2
• Duke is starting to play like Duke.

Given these facts, Thursday's game looks to be tilted wholly in Duke's favor. To be sure, Duke is Duke. However, they are not shooting incredibly well from 3pt range and still have several underclassmen. Clemson is definitely the toughest team in the ACC they will have faced this season. The opening losses to VT and GT, respectively, show how Duke can be defeated- especially the GT game. Everything was going VT's way, so that helped a bit. Yes, I know, Duke is coming off three 20+ pt wins and they are ranked 10th. But, those wins are over: 9-11 Miami, 9-9 Wake, and 11-7 NCSU, and Duke's two losses are to 14-5 VT and 13-5 GT. To put this in perspective, Clemson's ACC wins have come over: 13-5 BC, 13-5 GT, 14-5 FSU, and 11-7 NCSU, while their two losses have been to 17-2 UNC and 15-5 MD.

What does this mean, not much. Thus far, Clemson has lost one home and one road ACC game, as has Duke. With only two common opponents, it is difficult to even find any threads with which to compare the teams. Essentially, Duke looks good in their most recent three games, bad in the first two. Clemson looked good in the first three games, bad in the next two, and good again in the last one.

For Clemson to win the game, they will have wear Duke down and play pressure defense. Again, shots have to fall. It may be close for a while, especially since Duke knows how to pressure and break that pressure as well. I am looking for a middle-scoring game with a few standout performances from each team.

More Analysis to come. Until then,

Go Tigers!

Clemson Basketball: Riding the OP wave.

Apparently, students at Clemson care more about basketball today than when Barnes was the coach. Well, you might be able to extrapolate this information from the article posted on the Clemson Basketball site. More students care now as we are ranked 16 and 19 in the respective polls, than when we were ranked #2 and were playing #2 Wake Forest, who had all-everything, Tim Duncan. I am not sure if this is more of a reflection of Clemson today as opposed to 1997, or even of OP vs. Barnes. Certainly, OP is more affable and approachable than Barnes and his tailored shirt collars.

The students lining up at Littlejohn would rather see the Tigers beat UNC than Duke according to an article from the Greenville News. I could get behind this sentiment if Clemson were playing in Chapel Hill this year. As we are not, I would rather beat Duke, though UNC is ranked higher. Speaking of, Duke is ranked one spot lower than Clemson in the ESPN/USA Today poll, and Clemson is ranked lower than Duke in the AP Poll.

UNC pre-game preview to come later. To get your thoughts back on the OP wave you were riding prior to the loss at Maryland, here is an article from Yoni Cohen posted on FOXSPORTS. A very positive, pro-Clemson article; which is, as you know, a rarity in the world of collegiate sports.

Go Tigers!