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Top 25? Here’s 25 Hoops Thoughts
Today the Tigers might break into the top 25 for the first time this season when the new poll comes out. It will mark third straight year Clemson has been in the polls. Since the Tigers are on the verge of the Top 25, here are 25 thoughts on Sunday’s win and the season so far:

* K.C. Rivers was a warrior in Sunday’s win. He tied his career high with 32 points including several key baskets. Rivers had 11 rebounds including perhaps the biggest on the game when he scored a huge basket in the final minute.

*Liberty played very well. The Flames played the best of any team Clemson has played this season. Their system is sound and their players executed extremely well.

*How did almost every school in the country miss on both Curry brothers? Watching Seth Curry is exactly like watching his older brother. Both are unbelievable shooters with quick releases. But both are more than just shooters. The brothers play extremely hard and are very intelligent players.

*I thought Clemson made two tactical mistakes Sunday. First the defense over extended. This created too many dribble drive opportunities and the Flames were able to penetrate too easy.

*The second of my second guessing came with the press. The Tigers’ press was ineffective against this five guard offense and lead to too many easy baskets.

*Rebounding was an issue Sunday. Clemson had a big size advantage against Liberty but only out rebounded the Flames by just one. Too many times Clemson gave up too many offensive rebounds.

*The Tigers played well coming down the stretch again and that made the difference in the win. Much like the Illinois game, Clemson out played the opponent in the final minutes of a close game. Coach Purnell talked after the game about preaching to his team about a six-minute game. He says the work very hard on last sox minute situations.

*Tanner Smith, Andre Young and Jerai Grant were not involved much Sunday. Smith and Young played more minutes earlier in the season but have not been factors in the last two wins.

*Balance is when someone new contributes and takes over the game every night. Rivers had not taken over a game this year but his 32 points and 11 boards were the difference Sunday. Against Illinois it was Stitt. In the Temple game it was Trevor Booker that put the team on his shoulders. I continue to say this kind of balance is the sign of a good team.

*I think the Tigers will benefit later this season from Sunday. Liberty showcased a tough zone defense that gave Clemson an entirely different look.

*Clemson went to the half court zone trap for a possession in the second half and forced a turnover. I did not understand not seeing that defense a few more possessions Sunday.

*Stitt scored 18 on Tuesday but he played well in another way Sunday. It was Stitt’s 11 assists and only one turnover were keys to the victory.

*We have seen Clemson shoot well from the free throw line at times this season but we have also seen below average nights there also. Sunday the Tigers shot 8-10 from the free throw line.

*Mental toughness comes from coaches often but Sunday we saw it originate from the players. Rivers showed leadership as he lead the Tigers during several timeouts.

*Duke lost to Michigan on Saturday and perhaps the Tigers win over Liberty will help Clemson when the Tigers face the Blue Devils. Duke’s style is similar to Liberty. Spacing, fast break strategies and offensive sets looked very familiar Sunday.

*Sunday I saw something I know I have never seen before. Liberty started five guards. I know I have never seen this at any point of watching the sport.

*Jamie Luckie might be the worse official in the ACC. He amazes me how he just gets worse and worse with every game.

*I could not help but to wonder how many Clemson teams in the past would have lost the last two games. This squad is winning tough, close games that many Clemson teams of the past may have dropped.

*Clemson is number two in RPI. The Tigers have played the nation’s seventh rated schedule.

*Exam week is crucial to many sports but basketball is one of the few that comes in the middle of the season. I am interested to see how the Tigers respond after exams. Can the Tigers keep this momentum?

*In some years, Exam Week was a concern for Clemson basketball. However, this team does not fear this opponent. Purnell has recruited excellent student-athletes.

*The ACC is not that strong from top to bottom in this early season. Several teams have bad losses. FSU lost to Northwestern. Georgia Tech lost to Penn State. N.C. State lost to Davidson. St. Louis has losses to St. Louis and Purdue. Virginia Tech and Virginia have three losses each.

*Dabo’s halftime speech yesterday was awesome. He gets it and it showed again yesterday. Is it just me or does the “Da-bo Swin-ney, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap” chant have a great ring to it?

The Brad Hughes All-State Insurance Agency

Comments:

St. Louis has losses to St. Louis and Purdue? I hope Clemson doesn't lose to Clemson!

And yes, I totally agree with Jamie Lucky sucking as an official, but no one can forget Ron Cherry (oh yea, wrong sport).

Posted by soccerkrzy on December 08, 2008 at 08:10 AM EST #

Mickey, the benefit of our press is not only in generating turnovers, but also wearing the other team down over the course of a game. Although Liberty broke our press without much trouble yesterday, they were still having to expend a great deal of energy every trip down the court. I think that was a huge factor in allowing us to make our run about 3/4 of the way through the game to come back from a 12-point deficit and take the lead. I am confident that Liberty made some mistakes late in the game due to "heavy legs" - mistakes that they might not have made otherwise.

That was a great win yesterday by our Tigers over a scrappy Liberty team. Oh, and it will be a travesty if we aren't ranked this week!

Posted by Judge Keller on December 08, 2008 at 08:25 AM EST #

What did Dabo say during the halftime speech at the basketball game yesterday? Thanks

Posted by WillTins3 on December 08, 2008 at 10:34 AM EST #

Perhaps you could write something about Dabo's talk yesterday. Thanks!

Posted by HereWeGo on December 08, 2008 at 12:38 PM EST #

30th in the ESPN/USA Today poll, what are these pollsters smoking? Clemson never gets the credit they deserve when it comes to polls, maybe that comes to our advantage, maybe not, we'll see. We're 2nd in the RPI for crying outloud, we should at least be in the top 25! There are 4 teams ranked above us with 2 losses...one of whom was flat our embarrassed by UNC AND Maryland on their home turf...

Posted by soccerkrzy on December 08, 2008 at 12:41 PM EST #

And no top 25. Someone explain to me how Michigan State can be stomped by an unranked Maryland team AND then further stomped by UNC and still be ranked above a 9-0 Clemson team? Clemson's opponents have a better record than Michigan States. Clemson SoS is 8 and theirs is 25, the only reason theirs is so high is because of UNC, who beat them like they were a high school team.

So Mickey, or someone, please explain it to me.

Posted by soccerkrzy on December 08, 2008 at 01:18 PM EST #

Mickey:

I see two areas of concern for this year's b-ball team:

1. Not much depth in front court behind Booker and Sykes. Apparently, Bobo is a project - I hope he can develop into a ACC caliber player. If we had a Tom Wideman on this roster, we would be very dangerous.

2. In Purnell's system, you need 9 or 10 contributors for ACC success. A rotation of 6 or 7 won't get it done. The freshman have to see significant minutes.

Posted by EGTiger83 on December 08, 2008 at 02:34 PM EST #

Sagarin has the Clemson schedule ranked 121st. That is a far cry from 7th.

Posted by JohnMa on December 08, 2008 at 04:35 PM EST #

We are the Rodney Dangerfield of the ACC...

No Respect!!!

Posted by 71PR on December 08, 2008 at 06:45 PM EST #

JohnMa: Sagarin has Clemson ranked #6 based on the Clemson played as of 12/8/08. Clemson's strength of schedule (for the entire season) is currently ranked #121.

Posted by Razzmatazz on December 08, 2008 at 10:23 PM EST #

You are wrong Razz. From the Sagarin page"

"The SCHEDULE ratings represent the average schedule difficulty faced
by each team in the games that it's played so far. The schedule
difficulty of a given game takes into account the rating of the
opponent and the location of the game."

Just face it, we have faced a weak schedule up to this point.

We are clearly a Top 25 team IMO, but we need to start scheduling like it if we want any respect.

Posted by JohnMa on December 09, 2008 at 09:08 AM EST #

JohnMa, you again are wrong. Current Sagarin rankings are different, your quotation even says that.

We are 1-0 against top 25 and 0-0 against 26-50 in Sagarin.

And I'll keep pointing out Michigan State, they are 0-1 against top 25 and 0-1 against 26-50.

So explain to me how they are ranked above us.

Posted by soccerkrzy on December 09, 2008 at 11:11 AM EST #