Clemson Basketball: 2008-2009 slide show

No, I didn't abandon the Tigers. I just needed to cool jets. Now, I think I have.

It was a long, sine wave of a season. Though some fans may be disappointed, I think for the most part, they are proud of this year's seniors- KC Rivers, Raymond Sykes, and Jesse Yanutola. This year's seniors have accomplished things no other senior class has done.

Congratulations and Thank you for everything you did for Clemson Basketball and Clemson University. For the underclassmen, you are part of the Clemson family, for better and worse. And let's always hope for the best.

I took the pictures I posted this year on the blog and randomly placed them in a slide show. Most of the images appeared on the OP blog earlier this year. Some came from other sources. I am sure someone, somewhere could do a better job. Let me know if its you and I will post your video.

Here it is. Enjoy.

Go Tigers!

The ACC tournament starts Today

from the Greenville News

I don't know if today's game counts as a home game for GT or not. They have no reason avoid playing at the top of their game. And for as bad as GT has been this year, they have several big, strong athletes. No team preview is necessary. The Tigers just need to win.

Right now, the line on the Tigers is -9.5.

Here is a Raymond Sykes profile
Tigers welcome a long ACC tourney stay
Tigers eye Shiny ending in ACC

The ACC Record Book is posted online for the first time by the ACC

If you sign up now, you can sign-up for FREE Fantasy ACC Basketball challenge- you have only about four hours.


I am going to have to figure out a way to skip out of work early today.

Go Tigers!

Clemson Tigers blow it at home.

Seriously, WTF?!

The OP Stat of the Game: Raymond Sykes, 5-5, 10 pts, 6 reb.

The Tigers were up by 13 with 7-ish minutes to go, down from as much as 19.

OP waved the white flag.

The Tigers lost.

Raymond Sykes started the game on. He spent much of the game on the bench. WTF? FSU was working Booker. Sykes could have been the offensive spark the Tigers needed. We weren't hitting from the outside (6-24 3pt), so move it in side.

And for the love of god, bench TO. Keep him there. 2-9 fg, 1-6 3pt, 1 reb, 2 ast, 6 turnovers, 4 stls. While the steals helped, six turnovers is unacceptable. Especially as they were the result of his poor offensive performance.

What the Stitt? Stitt returned last night and might have had a bit more confidence in his game for the next two away games, but his team didn't support his strong-ish performance: 50% FG, 5 ast, 1 TO.

How about the rebounding? Where was it last night? 34 FSU, 23 Tigers, including 15 FSU offensive rebounds.

And per our FTs, 77.7% is a decent average. But, only being aggresive enough to have 9 FTs is not acceptable. If, as FSU did, they were going to pack the inside, why didn't we continue to take it there. Many of the blocks Alabi had were not against our strongest inside players, but against other players trying to slash inside rather than feed the post. I'm looking at you TO. And you too, Tanner.

“This is a very disappointing loss. On our home court, in a game we had some control of in the second half," said OP after the game.

Yes. Yes it is indeed.

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.

The Tigers win against GT

The OP Stat of the Game: Team- 13 assistsDemontez Stitt, proving he indeed does know how to pass the ball successfully. (from The Greenville News)

Last night's performance in parts was:


The best stretch of the game, however, bookended halftime. The last minute of the 1st half into the first five minutes of the second half, we opened it up. The resulting game play proved we learned something in Chapel Hill, as we played with the intensity of the Tarheels surrounding the half.

However, how many times does a team that scores fewer baskets and has a lower FG% win?
That is right Tiger fans.

Did this win come down to freethrows? Possibly. We were 23-31, 74.2%; while GT was 10-14, 71.4%. This stat not only shows that we hit most of our FT, but we were also attacking the basket.

And, as the stat of the game shows, we shared the ball.
Even TO. He made several passes when he would normally have shot the ball. Still, he was 5-15 shooting- all made baskets were 3PT.

Stitt had a much better A/TO ratio of 5/2 to go with his six points.

Booker had a quiet double-double, 11pts, 11reb. But was 2-7 shooting, with only one dunk. ONE. Stop the floating, circus-tap, hookshot, away-from-the-basket BS and back it up and DUNK. Inside-out. Inside-out.

And what about Grant? He is developing nicely in the past couple of games. OP made the adjustment to start him in the second half and was rewarded nicely. Grant was 4-4 shooting, 2 layups, two dunks, and 2-2 from the line to go along with 4 reb, 1 steal, and 2 blocks. If he can stay out of fould trouble, he could/should give us a stronger, more athletic inside forward presence.

Ray Sykes is big, and he had ten points, but on 5-9 shooting. With all of his shots coming from within four feet of the basket, he should have a higher shooting percentage. "Tiny Wine" get your head in the game.

Next up, Virginia Tech, Thursday, 1/29. This is not the best time to be playing a team coming off two strong away wins (Wake and Miami). Hopefully, they will be emotionally spent and we will be out of our shooting funk for the game in Blacksburg.

Go Tigers!

Tigers host Alabama in final non-conference game

When: 9:00pm
Where: Littlejohn, Clemson, SC

Watch: Fox Sports Network
Listen: WCCP Online
Follow: SCACChoops

Tonight's game should not be overlooked by the Tigers awaiting the opening of the ACC season with NCSU and a tough stretch against WF and an away game at UNC-we know that storyline.

And while OP is happy about some national recognition, he too knows the Tigers should not look past Alabama.

"Alabama is really really good and that's what we've got to be focused on rather than how somebody views us," Purnell said.

"Whether we're flying under the radar or not, it's important for us to recognize that we're a work in progress."

Alabama is coming off a strong performance against GT behind senior guard Ronald Steele. The Tide posts a 10-3 record, with the three losses coming to Ken Pomeroy RPI #204 Mercer, KP #87 Texas A&M, and KP #125 Oregon, while Alabama's KP ranking is 136 and Clemson's is #11.

This doesn't mean much really. Alabama was picked to win the Western Division of the SEC by a group of AP writers- you know what I think of them. On the other hand, Alabama hasn't played an away game since 11/26/08, nearly a month longer than Clemson's last away game at Miami on 12/21/08.

Of tonight's game, Alabama coach Mark Gottfried said, "They are very athletic. We will have to handle their pressure with no lapses. We can have no periods in the game where we lose our concentration." He knows about the Tigers and remembers from last year. The article writer, however, does not.

The top scorer is senior K.C. Rivers, a 6-foot-5 wing player who is averaging 15.3 points per game. The Tigers also have a strong inside game with 6-foot-7, 240-pound senior Trevor Booker (14.6 ppg, 9.6 rpg) and 6-foot-9 junior Trevor Sykes (9.0 ppg, 5.6 rpg)

Hopefully this doesn't make Raymond Sykes mad, or someone on the Alabama team might end up like that guy from South Carolina.


Enjoy tonight's game, get excited about bracketology, and remember we need to hit our open shots and press. press. press.

Go Tigers!

Clemson Throttles SC State

The OP Stat of the Game: 14-19 FT, an amazing 73.68%

The Tigers also had 22 assists.

Even Bobo got to get in on the action this weekend, on 1-8 shooting and 2-2FT. The game wasn't ever really close. The Bulldogs were outclassed and overmatched from the beginning. Most everyone on the team was able to get some minutes.

Read Recaps of Saturday's 90-63 win:
Greenville News
- and an article on Booker, exams, basketball, etc.
The State
The Charleston Post and Courier

Still, a striking absence from today was Raymond Syke's game. He started the season gangbusters, but now has brought back "tiny wine" hands Sykes, circa 2006-2008.

Sykes scores 2 of his dominating 4 pts to go along with his 2 rebounds, his 1 assist, his 2 blocked shots and three personal fouls, awesome. (from the Greenville News)

Also notably absent from Saturday's game was a healthy crowd.

#22, Terrence Oglesby past #22 Bulldog defender in front of a crowd of 15, or so, people. (from the Greenville News)

View a photo slideshow of the game from the Greenville News to see where you could have been, or weren't, sitting. Yes, school is out and exams are over, but seriously?

Now, the Tigers are 10-0, going for 11-0 Tuesday night at 7:30 in Littlejohn against North Florida. That will be their last gimme-if any game can be called such-game of the season.

The difficulty of the remaining games increases exponentially, as the Tigers follow the UNF game with a short hop down to Coral Gables to take on Jack McClinton and Miami on 1/21.

That brief, early ACC game is followed by South Carolina, 12/30, East Carolina, 1/3 and Alabama, 1/6, respectively before the full-on ACC Season begins against NCSU on 1/10

It will not get any easier for the Tigers as the season unfolds.

Go Tigers!

Clemson defeats Savannah State 81-49 in Littlejohn

The OP Stat of the Game: Oliver Purnell, 100 Clemson Victories!!!

Booker and Oglesby lead the Clemson Tigers in scoring at 17 a piece, followed by surprise offensive force Raymond Sykes with 14. Grant and Stitt each scored 8, while, KC Rivers had a notably of night with only 6. points. Nonetheless, the Tigers won- the correct ones.

Still, 61.9 FT % on 13 of 21. Savannah State, on the other hand, shot 71.43% on 5-7 FT. Based upon percentages alone, we lost this match up. However, the Clemson Tigers were able to get to the FT line three times as much as the SS Tigers. Of the attempts at the line, 10 were by Booker, who made 7 of the 10. Sykes, Oglesby, Grant, Stitt, and Yanutola all missed one. This changes the perception of the FT% at least a little.

Elsewher, Bobo made his 'electric' debut with 4 points from two dunks, but also had two blocks, two rebounds, and one turnover in his 9 minutes of NCAA collegiate action- in which Catalin Baicu nearly doubled the amount of time he played 'professionally' in his native Romania. Don't trust Willy with your money next time Bobo, and you probably won't have to sit out five games.

Per the Oglesby front, he returned to form nicely and shot 66.7% from 3pt. range on 4-6 shooting and 17 total points.

The Tigers needed this breather after the close game in Charlotte. And while we didn't perform consistently throughout, in the end, the Tigers followed through and defeated the younger, less-talented Savannah State Tigers, whose only bright spot was Anthony Jones' 20 points.

Now, the Clemson Tigers have to look forward to the Blue Hose of PC Friday night @ 7:30. So when you're fat with Turkey and looking forward to a Saturday meal of chicken, you can relax and enjoy another Tiger Basketball game. OP will start working toward his 2nd hundred in the win Clemson win column then.

Go Tigers!

Clemson defeats Wofford 93-40

Above and Beyond

From the Greenville News

The OP Stat of the Game: 16-18 FT%, 88.89%

The Tigers didn't really have a tough go at it last night against the lowly Wofford Terriers, who had only one player, Noah Dahlman, score in double digits. The game essentially became a practice, as most everyone on the team was able to get in the action. Even Trevor Booker, sprained ankle, mohawk, and all participated.

Booker's mohawk- via the Greenville News

The Tigers won in all areas in which they could win. One of the biggest developments this season, however, has to be the progression of Raymond Sykes as more of an offensive threat. This season, though it is still young, he is averaging 10.3 ppg along with 6.5 rpg, and 1.5 bpg. If he is able to further improve his offensive acumen, coupled with his defensive prowess, he will be a valuable asset to the Tigers this season.

In addition to Sykes' improvement, last night the entire team improved as the game progressed. As OP said, “The major reason I was pleased with the way we played was we got better as the game went on."

And true to form, OP, despite winning by the largest margin his tenure and the largest margin since 1990, did not hang a century over the Terriers' heads.

So now, the Tigers must prepare foran away game against the Charlotte 49ers. Charlotte is pretty jacked up about this event, the first ACC competition to come to Halton Arena. The athletic marketing department has created shirts that read, "Witness the Power." Seriously. The shirts, of course, are black. For a black-out, I guess. Our visit to Charlotte will be biggest thing to happen inCharlotte athletics' history until their football program starts.

This game will not be easy. Think back to last year's disappointing loss to Charlotte.

Oh, and one more thing concerning last night's game.

Terrence Oglesby laughs at your game Wofford

via the Greenville News

Go Tigers!

Clemson Defeats Hofstra

OP Stat(s) of the Game: Raymond Sykes- 13 points; Tanner Smith- 13 points; Trevor Booker- 16 points, 13 rebounds, Terrence Oglesby- 13 points, 3-4 3pt, Clemson Tigers- 98 points, 52.9% 3pt.

Congratulations Tanner "Gentle Ginger" Smith for an exceptional Tiger Debut.
Raymond "Tiny Wine" Sykes, solid work as well.I cannot remember a time when Raymond Sykes had such a dominant game. It seems he worked on his hand skills this summer.

OK, FT% and the point production of KC Rivers were not things we could rely upon tonight. But rather, Defense and Sykes and Tanner Smith. Defensively, the Tigers looked strong and this allowed them to have some room to work offensively.

The box score shows FIVE Tigers scoring in double digits: Rivers, Booker, Oglesby, Smith, and Sykes.

With the 98-69 win, the Tigers will be playing the silver and purple Horned Toads Frogs of TCU tomorrow, probably in the 8:00 game, as TCU defeated W. Michigan. The Tigers will not get an opportunity to avenge the early exit at the hands of the W. Michigan Broncos in the first round of the 1998 NCAA tournament. Elsewhere in the Charleston Classic, Charleston beat the tournament team with the longest name, SIU-Edwardsville, and Temple defeated ETSU.

Good thing VMI wasn't invited to this tournament, the Keydets won at Rupp Arena in Lexington against Kentucky tonight.

OP nicely called for the team to dribble out the game rather than hanging the century on the Dutchmen. Again, OP demonstrates class.

Oliver Purnell praised the Tigers' defensive efforts and though he thought the match-ups would be difficult, it was the native Dutch inability to handle the Tiger Press that was their undoing.

And so it goes. Booker is Booker, Oglesby is Oglesby, and Ginger is Ginger(?).

Bring on the Horned Toads- er, Frogs!

Thanks to all the Tiger fans and Alumni for making the first Charleston Classic hopefully fulfill its namesake as classic- at least for the Tigers.

Go Tigers!

Clemson Tigers suffer first loss

Raymond Sykes had a break out game with 17 pts. and 7 rebounds, but the Tigers did not emerge victorious in Puerto Rico.

They biggest key to the game was rebounding.

Clemson: O: 11, D: 19, T: 30
Ole Miss: O: 21, D: 17, T: 38

Otherwise, the Tigers played well, but couldn't break away. With three minutes left, the Tigers matched their biggest lead over the Rebels with six points, but the Rebels continued to push and hit key freethrows in the last 90 sec.

Of the game, OP said, "Our undoing was the offensive glass." Our
(AP photo via ESPN) abysmal freethrow shooting did not help either, as we were 59.1%


James Mays returned for five minutes and tested the hip. It seemed to be little more than a practice run for him.

Others stepped up during the course of the game, but the Rebels responded. They will probably move into the top 25 with this win, though up-and-coming coach Andy Kennedy said, "Clemson is a very good team, and this is a win we'll be able to hang our hat on deep into the year if we continue to improve because they're going to beat a lot of people."

I don't know what to think about that quote. I can't tell if it is a legitimate compliment or not.

Despite what some will say, a loss is never good, be it now or after a longer winning streak.

Enjoy your holiday Tigers. May this loss and your X-mas meals help fuel you further and farther than you have been in some time.

Go Tigers.