Thursday January 22, 2009

Jump

Jump
For all of those that want to jump off of the Clemson basketball bandwagon after two consecutive losses I say go ahead. It will make my seat a little more spacious.

Clemson has two consecutive losses by a combined 34 points. The offense has not played well in four games. Jump and jump now.

“This is the same old Clemson. This team is overrated. Same ole, same ole. Stitt has struggled handling the basketball. Sykes has glaring weaknesses. Good defenses can frustrate Oglesby. Booker has not established himself inside. The last two games the transition defense has been pathetic,” so says the negative fan.

Well don’t expect a life jacket from me. I am still on board.

Sure the Tigers are now on a two game losing streak but those losses were to two teams ranked in the top five in America.

Clemson did not play well Saturday or last night but sometimes you have to credit the opponent. I wonder how many teams in America could have beaten North Carolina last night?

In my opinion, Clemson basketball is not broken and the season is not about to head down the toilet. They are in a slump. However, every team in America will suffer the same fate at some point in a season. Basketball seasons are long. The regular season is 30 games. Basketball seasons begin in November and end in some cases in April. Counting exhibitions, the regular season, conference tournaments and post-season play, a season can last about 40 games. Slumps happen in any sport when you are called on to perform that many times per year.

Basketball is a game that can make you look unbeatable one game and pathetic the next. I watched Wake Forest beat Clemson Saturday and thought this was the best team in America. I watched the Demon Deacons last night and I did not think they were a top 25 team. Two weeks ago I watched North Carolina have a horrific shooting night and drop a home game to Boston College. The next game the Eagles lost to Harvard. Last night the Tar Heels played very well and looked the part of a top five team again.

Basketball seasons have peaks and valleys. They have momentum swings. Confidence soars at some points and disappears at others. The basket can look like a wash tub or a slinky.

I had the Tigers losing to Wake and North Carolina but not by 34 combined points. Clemson needs to regain confidence but the answer will come in the form of Georgia Tech in Littlejohn Sunday night.

The issues are still there. Stitt has to protect the basketball better. Booker needs to establish himself on the blocks more often. Grant needs more minutes as Sykes struggles. Young needs more minutes as Stitt struggles. The rebounding efforts have to get better. If the transition defense does not improve this team won’t go 8-8 in the league. Sure, the issues are still there. However, every team has issues and those issues seem to get magnified when you play number two on Saturday and visit number five on Wednesday.

The key to this regular season does not lie in games against top-ranked Wake, second-ranked Duke or fifth-ranked North Carolina. A lot of teams would lose to that trio. The true measure of this team and the key to the regular season will be winning the rest of your home games and finding a way to steal a few road victories.

Outside of the trip to Winston-Salem, Clemson will not be heavy underdogs in any game left on the schedule. They will be underdogs in some but not heavy underdogs. They will be favored in all of the home games maybe with the exception of Duke but not heavy favorites in many of those.

The key to the regular season in the ACC is holding serve at home and stealing games on the road. So far this season Wake has not been able to do that as they lost to an inferior opponent at home when they dropped last night’s game to Virginia Tech. North Carolina could not do it because they dropped a home game to an over matched opponent when they lost to Boston College. So far Duke has been able to do it but the schedule gets tougher soon. So far Clemson has been able to do it but we are only four games into a 16-game conference season.

Clemson will beat Georgia Tech Sunday night to go 17-2 and 3-2 in the league. Then comes the most crucial stretch of the season. Some would say the Wake and North Carolina games were crucial but the Tigers were not as talented as those teams. The next two after Sunday are crucial because if Clemson plays well it can win in Blacksburg and beat Duke at home. If they don’t they can go 0-2 in that same stretch.

After that is it vital to win your home games against Florida State, Maryland, Virginia Tech and Virginia. The road games are at Boston College, Virginia, Georgia Tech, Florida State and Wake Forest.

I still feel Clemson can go 4-4 on the road. The Tigers are 1-1 on the road now and can split the next six with wins at BC, UVA and Georgia Tech.

We can make a case that Clemson goes 6-2 at home with a loss to Duke or a slip up elsewhere.

At 10-6 and 24-6 the Tigers would finish second, third or fourth in the ACC and grab another first round bye in the ACC tournament. At 24-6 and 10-6 Clemson would be a three, four or five seed in the NCAA tournament.

Sound like the season is over to you?

The Brad Hughes All-State Insurance Agency

Prayer List
We have started a prayer list on the blog. Here are the guidelines:
*If you are offended by prayer or prayer lists then I apologize in advance. The blog is free and the prayer list will be on the bottom of the page so you don’t have to read it.
*If you would like to add someone to the list please e-mail me at mickeyplyler@hotmail.com
*If you want the reason for the prayer to be added to the name please specify in your e-mails.
*Please let me know when it is appropriate to take the person off of the prayer list

Those who need our prayers include:
Finn Brookover-was born Wednesday, January 14 several weeks pre-mature and was 2 lbs. 15 ounces. She is doing well but like all pre-mature babies she will have to get through several issues over the next few weeks.

Mrs. Kathleen Bowers

Larry in Naples, FL. Larry is currently being kept sedated in ICU and has acute pancreatitis. Larry is going to be transferred this week to Shands in Gainesville, FL for surgery on his pancreas. The doctors are saying that there is a 40% mortality rate with this surgery and if successful, there will still be a very long recovery. Larry is a great guy and a wonderful husband/father. Larry is 32 years old.

RTG-Pawsitive Tiger

Kaitlyn L-4 year old girl in TN who has seizures and a brain lesion that may be a slow-growing tumor. She will likely have a biopsy in February.

Mary-Louise Pawlowski (John's daughter)

Sandy Wright

Jo Ann Bachman

Frank Taylor

Kenneth Bryant

Pruitt Martin

Got igers and his family

David Rowland

Leonard Gillespie and his family

Jim S

Christine Hepfer

Daniel Rosborough-4-year old Inman, SC who will have a kidney transplant 1/14/09 in Charleston

Special Prayer Request from Peggy Lesley at Brookwood Church .

I am starting a signing for my son's best friend who has cancer (Hodgkin's Lymphoma). He is 11 years old and is not doing well at all. He was diagnosed with this cancer 2 weeks ago and the tumor is next to his jugular vein and entwined in it...has moved his wind pipe over a inch making it hard for him to breathe. The tumor is the size of a large eggplant and is sitting right above his heart. This little boy needs all the prayer he can get. I would like you to sign this and pass it on to as many people as you can. Once we get to a thousand people can you please send this back to me at: 1volsgirl@bellsouth.net When I get the 1000 people that have signed it...I am going to print this up for my sons best friend and show him how many people care and how many people are praying for him to get better. If you have a heart at all, you will all do this for me. I love this child as though he is my own and we really need all the prayers!

Thank you,
Peggy

Amy Murphey - diagnosed with ALS, pray for healing

Jack Huffman

Nancy Winkler