...and we did enough to overcome.
I don't want to start here, but I will: We survived a HORRIFICALLY reffed 1st half, as well as some things that were self-inflicted (both on the floor and from the bench) and showed considerable grit.
- Getting it out of the way, there is just no excuse for how one-sided and blind the first half reffing was. Clemson was blatantly pushing our rebounders in the back on virtually every shot and our guys (RJ in paticular) were getting assaulted both on and off the ball ---yet Clemmy had a grand total of 4 team fouls at the half.
- The saving grace was that Hubert (and even Mando) gave the zebras a well-deserved ear-full and we finally got some calls. And make no mistake, that was the biggest difference in the game. In all liklihood, we don't win that one with a repeat of what went down in the first.
- On the positive side, other than some missed rotations and/or switch recoveries, our defense carried the day in what again, devolved into a rock-fight. I'm gonna start with our boy Armando F***ing Bacot. Mando catches flack from fans (sometimes deservedly) on the offensive end, but lemme tell ya -- what y'all saw today was as fine a defensive performance by a 5-man as you'll ever witness. Count on one hand the number of Centers you see moving their feet and beating guys to spots 15-18 feet from the basket like that, then closing and/or rim-protecting. Make no mistake --- PJ Hall can play, and Mando all but neutralized him.
- Speaking of D, kudos to the staff for running a phalanx of guys at Girard. I told y'all earlier that he was the difference with this year's Clemmy team, and we frustrated him into force after force.
- as valuable as Ingram is, he was just awful at the outset --- getting in the way of outlets (you're the damn 4 in that lineup, get yer butt into a lane!), finessing close shots and getting outworked for rebounds. He got (properly) pulled early for that, but to his credit, came back and had a strong second half, including a dagger drive down the stretch.
- another scare with Cormac, who was having an effective game before the ankle roll. Man, I hope that doesn't become chronic.
- I'm probably not gonna mention everyone (don't @ me),but I like that Hubert has stayed committed to a deep rotation (we went 10 today). It pays off over time. Everyone contributed and although most had a rough moment or two, in a perpetually close game, we got some big shots at timely moments -- Seth hitting a big 3 after a rough offensive first half --- JWash's sweet baseline turn-around (that I wanna see more of) --- big Woj 3 when our movement had stopped.
(edit for this next section: I didn't realize EC had the 2 early fouls --- I addressed that below in a reply ITT)
- Finally, I have to point out something that just won't hunt in the long run. We came out of the gate on the road playing Carolina basketball and scored 11 points in exactly 4 minutes. Then, as has been the norm, out goes Cadeau and we instantly get pulled into a clunky half-court game. Any time RJ has to run Point it is becoming 2014-15 all over again, when defenses would swarm Marcus Paige and make his life miserable, that is, until Joel would come in and offense happened. That was EXACTLY Clemson's tactic today, and it worked. I sure as hell would do it if I was coaching against us. I've said it before, and disagree if you will, but we need to alter that early sub pattern. It kills our rhythm and helps opponents create the rock-fight so many of them want.
Anyway, no Cory... Clemson is NOT the best team in the ACC. Another hard-fought road win... need another one Wednesday!...
I don't want to start here, but I will: We survived a HORRIFICALLY reffed 1st half, as well as some things that were self-inflicted (both on the floor and from the bench) and showed considerable grit.
- Getting it out of the way, there is just no excuse for how one-sided and blind the first half reffing was. Clemson was blatantly pushing our rebounders in the back on virtually every shot and our guys (RJ in paticular) were getting assaulted both on and off the ball ---yet Clemmy had a grand total of 4 team fouls at the half.
- The saving grace was that Hubert (and even Mando) gave the zebras a well-deserved ear-full and we finally got some calls. And make no mistake, that was the biggest difference in the game. In all liklihood, we don't win that one with a repeat of what went down in the first.
- On the positive side, other than some missed rotations and/or switch recoveries, our defense carried the day in what again, devolved into a rock-fight. I'm gonna start with our boy Armando F***ing Bacot. Mando catches flack from fans (sometimes deservedly) on the offensive end, but lemme tell ya -- what y'all saw today was as fine a defensive performance by a 5-man as you'll ever witness. Count on one hand the number of Centers you see moving their feet and beating guys to spots 15-18 feet from the basket like that, then closing and/or rim-protecting. Make no mistake --- PJ Hall can play, and Mando all but neutralized him.
- Speaking of D, kudos to the staff for running a phalanx of guys at Girard. I told y'all earlier that he was the difference with this year's Clemmy team, and we frustrated him into force after force.
- as valuable as Ingram is, he was just awful at the outset --- getting in the way of outlets (you're the damn 4 in that lineup, get yer butt into a lane!), finessing close shots and getting outworked for rebounds. He got (properly) pulled early for that, but to his credit, came back and had a strong second half, including a dagger drive down the stretch.
- another scare with Cormac, who was having an effective game before the ankle roll. Man, I hope that doesn't become chronic.
- I'm probably not gonna mention everyone (don't @ me),but I like that Hubert has stayed committed to a deep rotation (we went 10 today). It pays off over time. Everyone contributed and although most had a rough moment or two, in a perpetually close game, we got some big shots at timely moments -- Seth hitting a big 3 after a rough offensive first half --- JWash's sweet baseline turn-around (that I wanna see more of) --- big Woj 3 when our movement had stopped.
(edit for this next section: I didn't realize EC had the 2 early fouls --- I addressed that below in a reply ITT)
- Finally, I have to point out something that just won't hunt in the long run. We came out of the gate on the road playing Carolina basketball and scored 11 points in exactly 4 minutes. Then, as has been the norm, out goes Cadeau and we instantly get pulled into a clunky half-court game. Any time RJ has to run Point it is becoming 2014-15 all over again, when defenses would swarm Marcus Paige and make his life miserable, that is, until Joel would come in and offense happened. That was EXACTLY Clemson's tactic today, and it worked. I sure as hell would do it if I was coaching against us. I've said it before, and disagree if you will, but we need to alter that early sub pattern. It kills our rhythm and helps opponents create the rock-fight so many of them want.
Anyway, no Cory... Clemson is NOT the best team in the ACC. Another hard-fought road win... need another one Wednesday!...
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