Wednesday February 24, 2010

Win and In?; Homecoming; Greivis

Win and In?
Clemson enters tonight’s game at Maryland with a 19-7 record and a 7-5 conference mark. The Tigers are an underdog tonight as Maryland is 13-1 at home this season and undefeated at the Comcast Center in ACC play this year.

But tonight is also a great opportunity. Maryland is 34th in the latest RPI and a road win against this kind of opponent would do wonders for the Tigers’ NCAA tournament hopes. A win tonight might not be the final win needed but it would give Clemson an excellent chance at record above .500 in the league which would almost assure Clemson of a bid.

A loss tonight hurts but it would not devastate Clemson’s chances. A win however, may just be a huge step closer to their third bid in three seasons.

Purnell’s Homecoming
Oliver Purnell had a big decision to make in 1985. He was a star player at Old Dominion from 1972-75. When he graduated from the Virginia school he stayed on to become a graduate assistant coach for two seasons (1975-77). He stayed at his alma mater when he got an offer to become a full-time assistant in 1978. Purnell arrived at Old Dominion in 1972 and spent 13 years there as a player, grad assistant and assistant coach but in 1985 he was offered a job on the staff of legendary Maryland coach Lefty Driesell.

Purnell grew up admiring ACC basketball and he took the step to the next level when he accepted the position and moved back to his native state. His three seasons in College Park saw some highs but is still marred by the death of Len Bias.

He turned the Maryland job into his first head coaching position in 1988 when he took over at Radford. Purnell is in his 22nd season as a head basketball coach but I have to believe that it was the Maryland stint that accelerated his coaching career.

Coaches always talk about one game at a time and the next opponent is the most important one but because of his ties to the state of Maryland and because of his stay in College Park, I would think Purnell has to think beating the Terps is pretty special.

When analyzing all of the success of Purnell at Clemson, one can look at the Maryland series as the pivotal one. Before Oliver Purnell, Clemson was 41-83 against Maryland. That is a .333 winning percentage. Under Purnell, Clemson is 7-3, a .700 mark, against the Terps.

Before Purnell arrived at Clemson, the Tigers were 8-48 at Maryland. Clemson had won 14% of its games in College Park. Under Purnell, Clemson is 2-2, a .500 mark, at Maryland.

From 1998 to 2004, the Tigers lost 13 in a row to Maryland. Under Purnell Clemson has won seven of the last nine games against the Terps. Purnell has done some remarkable things at Clemson but the Maryland series is probably the one that you can point to as the biggest mark of improvement. Purnell has beaten the Terps seven times which is only one less than Florida State, the conference foe Purnell has the most wins against.

Greivis
Coach Purnell talks about holding down a team’s leading scorer and how important that is to his teams. He says that when you can limit the opponent’s best scoring threat, it makes it so much easier to defend the other players who are not used to leading a team.

With that thought, Greivis Vasquez has to be the key for Maryland tonight. Simply stated, when Vazquez plays well, Maryland is tough but when he is off of his game opportunities arise.

The senior won his first two games against Clemson in his freshman season. In those games he played well. The first time he faced the Tigers in his career the guard was 3-5 from the field, scored 10 points and had two assists and three turnovers. Later that season he was 5-8 from the field and 1-1 from three point land. In that contest, Vasquez scored 15 points and had 11 assists and only two turnovers.

Things have gone downhill for Vasquez against the Tigers after that freshman season though. As a sophomore he faced Clemson once and was only 4-12 from the field and 0-5 from three in the loss. He scored 13 and had seven assists but also turned the ball over seven times.

In his junior season he also suffered a loss in his only game against Clemson. Vasquez was just 3-8 from the field and 2-5 from three. He had just one assist and six turnovers in a bad loss.

In the first game against Clemson this year it was the same story. In this one he was 3-8 from the field and 1-3 from behind the three point line. Vasquez was held to 10 points and had three assists and NINE turnovers.

When Vasquez started 2-0 against Clemson in his freshman season he was 8-13 from the field and averaged 12.5 points and 6.5 assists and 2.5 turnovers per game in those wins. Since that freshman season, Vasquez is 0-3 against Clemson. In those losses he is 10-28 from the field and 3-13 from three. In the losses he has averaged 3.6 assists and 7.3 turnovers per game.

Clemson’s pressure defense has caused a lot of those turnovers and the Tigers game plans have been very good in defending the 6-6 point guard. But credit also has to go the players who have played a big role in stopping the senior. Clemson switches bodies often against him but over the last two seasons it seems Tanner Smith has really gotten under Vasquez’s skin. The Tigers defense of Vasquez will be a big part of how well Clemson plays tonight.

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, Larry in Naples, FL, RTG-Pawsitive Tiger, Mary-Louise Pawlowski (John's daughter), 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, Amy Murphey, Jack Huffman, Nancy Winkler, Dr. Nancy Strom Morgan, John Reeve, Eileen Woodrum, Ethel Southard, Vinnie Brock, Kaitlyn L, Eric Boessneck, John Bowers, Jimmy Ness, Susan Miller, Joyce Harley, Steve Proveaux, John Petrey, Chalmers Carr, Drayton Melton, Jeffrey Greene, the Hutto family, Sherl Drawdy, Caleb Kennedy, Teresa O'Connor, Matt Jacobs, Mike Kingsmore,Perrin Seigler, Carole White Begley, Candee Massee, Lindsey Jordan, Sam Catoe, Tyler Felch, Steve Cato, the Nicolopulos family, Cason Palmer, Candace Fallaw, Scott Jackson, "the Jacksonville, FL guys", Kim Sims, the Coyle familty, Ryleigh Tedder.