Tuesday January 08, 2008

I Was Wrong Again

I Was Wrong Again
I was wrong but won’t be fooled again.

Last week on the radio I mentioned how I thought North Carolina was not our measuring stick. I thought UNC was the top-ranked team in the country for a reason and Clemson’s measuring stick should have been the rest of the ACC, not the Tar Heels.

After watching the game Sunday night, I admit the Tar Heels are our measuring stick. Sunday the Tigers played toe-to-toe with the number-one team in the land and actually outplayed the Heels for a majority of the contest.

I thought a few things had to happen in order for the Tigers to have any chance. It was my belief Clemson had to:
1. Shoot the ball very well to be in the game. Instead Clemson had a great chance despite shooting 43% from the field.
2. The Tigers had to get hot from behind the arch. Clemson had terrific chance despite a 6-24 performance from 3-point land.
3. Clemson would have to make its free throws and we all are aware of the 51% mark on the night.
I felt Clemson had no answers for Lawson and Hansborough but actually the Tigers did a terrific job on both. In fact, Stitt might have been the biggest surprise of the night. With Clemson’s depth in the post and Stitt’s emergence, I am not sure UNC has a huge advantage in either area.

I was wrong again when I felt the Tigers had no chance if:
1. Ellington, Thompson or Green played well. Ellington had 36 including the heart breaker and Thompson and Green played extremely well.
2. They pressed UNC. However, the Tigers played the fast tempo well.

After the game I felt better about this team and this program than I did before the loss. Moral victories are like the tooth fairy, believe in them if you like but in the end we all know different. A loss is a loss. I hurt today and my voice is not the same yet but my outlook has changed as a result of the effort Sunday.

I am a believer more now than ever before. I now think this team can play with anyone in the country. We all know most college basketball teams slip up but this team is ready to complete at the highest level.

In the pre-season Oliver Purnell talked about competing for a national title and I thought it was typical pre-season talk. No one I know is at that point yet but this is a team that has so many positives and so few weaknesses that some on the national scene consider Clemson the second best team in the conference and a legitimate national seed in the NCAA tournament.

Before Sunday I was doubting if the Tigers were worthy of such talk but now I am ready to embrace it. Usually I try to downplay my expectations of my favorite teams and I have to make a conscience effort to keep my thinking about all the pitfalls ahead. But this team will not let me down. Sunday changed all that. This is not your typical Clemson squad.

We have seen Clemson have great pre-ACC seasons then let us down by falling hard when they have to play at UNC, Duke, NC State, Maryland, etc. This season is different for two reasons. First, Clemson is better. Also the ACC stinks. UNC is the top team in the league and most feel Duke is second and Clemson is third. Miami is the fourth highest ranked team in the league but they have not beaten anyone and have a loss to Winthrop. Boston College has a 25-point loss to Kansas and dropped a game last week against Robert Morris. Florida State has dropped games to Cleveland State and South Florida. NC State took it on the chin against East Carolina. Maryland lost to American and Ohio in the same week. Virginia Tech had a bad loss to in-state rival Richmond. Were you impressed with Georgia Tech’s loss to UNC-Greensboro?

Sunday was my turning point but some will accuse me of acting like a Gamecock and taking satisfaction out of a loss/moral victory. My answer is that Sunday was just the final step because I started to believe a long time ago. The Mississippi State win on the road and the Alabama win really impressed me. The dismantling of South Carolina was a thing of beauty and the Purdue win got my attention.

Doubt if you like but the doubt train has one less passenger. I am not sure where this optimism train will take me but I am not getting off anytime soon. Another James Mays injury cannot kick me off board. A Trevor Booker ankle sprain or a Cliff Hammonds thigh cannot de-rail our route. This not a quick trip either. It started when Purnell first arrived and the foundation has been laid for future gains as well.

Who would have believed that Clemson’s best team and best program would have been men’s basketball? In my 33 years of following Clemson athletics I have seen football win at the highest level. Men’s soccer had the nation’s top program at different times. Baseball has consistently stayed among the best in America. The men’s tennis program has been championship contenders. The golf team won it all and has been a perennial power most of those seasons. The men’s track program has had great success and has been considered a national power often. I am not that familiar with the swimming and diving program but it has had more success than men’s basketball.

So what Purnell has done is simply amazing. The sport at Clemson that has the least amount of tradition might be the best of the sports at Clemson today. He has recruited with no tradition and average facilities to a small rural school in the northwest corner of a small southern state.

The men’s basketball program doesn’t have a rock and a hill. The bowl signs on the side of the IPTAY building had to stop because they ran out of room yet banners hanging from the rafters at Littlejohn are not cramped or overcrowded. There is no great former coaching legend like baseball has with Bill Wilhelm. There is no former great alum that took over like Larry Penley. Rebuilding had no foundation to build upon like Trevor Adair was afforded. Purnell built from scratch. Zero. Nothing. Nada.

Excuse me if I am overly excited or optimistic about Clemson basketball but it’s not like I have been here before therefore I may not know how to handle myself.

Editor's Note: Thanks for your understanding yesterday withe absence of a blog. I attended a family funeral and was out of town most of the day. Thanks again for your support and understanding.

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