Second half collapse dooms Tigers
by DrB on Dec 2, 2009 9:59 PM EST
in Clemson Basketball
8 comments
WTF CLEMSON?
We dominated them in the first half. All despite not shooting that well (35.9pct) and missing a ton of easy baskets inside, but we rebounded so well early on the offensive glass (14 off. reb, 25-19 total) that we got good second-chances (14pts). The rest of that huge advantage came from Illinois' sloppyness with the ball (10 turnovers) and our 12 points off of them, and us NOT turning the ball over. Clemson put up a 25-4 run and seemingly had the game put away....and our Guards even attacked the paint.
Then they went to halftime, and Clemson came back out totally flat. Illinois puts up a 28-4 run, with good zone defense and superior effort, then Clemson decides to start playing again to make it a ballgame, but the momentum was already gone. This has to be the worst loss of Purnell's time at Clemson. Its certainly the worst performance I've seen one of his teams put out there in several years.
The culprits:
-Standing around and not doing shit. Swing it a couple times, obvious look inside and then the defender jumps in front of it, then rush a shot or shoot a bad one.
-Turnovers: sloppy passing and ballhandling. We turned it over 2 times in the first half, then couldnt hold onto anything or pass well enough to keep the ball on our side of the court.
-Freshmen disappeared. Jennings is....damn, he was 5-star? Noel Johnson got minutes and scored points early, then where did he go?
-No presence inside by Trevor Booker in the 2nd half. Apparently we cannot pass the ball inside to him. Why doesnt Jerai Grant take it to the hole?
-Total lack of intensity on defense that spilled over to the offensive side, very passive. No longer fighting for rebounds. Nobody seems to be playing hard or even trying to, except Narcisse.
-No true shooter to go to when we get down. You see teams collapse on Booker, and since the Guards took the 2nd half off (with the exception of a few clutch 3s late) we have no reason for them to play honest.
-David Potter, what the fuck were you thinking at the end? FOUL, dont let another 8 seconds run off the clock. Wheres the basketball instincts? and a senior? Stagnant offensive player.
Your thoughts on this garbage?
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I cried.
My Dad went to Illinois so you can imagine how fun that was.
Who needs affection when you can have blind hatred?
by ClemsonGirl on Dec 2, 2009 11:03 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
That was an awesome choke.
I’m not going to deny it, that was fun to watch. Classic Clemson at their best.
I’ve reached the point where frustrating shit like that just makes you laugh. You think, “Here’s Clemson about to fuck up again.”
As long as we win the ACC Title in football, I’ll be happy.
"Once again the trousers of evil are yanked down by the mocking hands of justice!"-Revshawn
by Revshawn on Dec 2, 2009 11:49 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
One of the biggest choke jobs i've seen....
Living in Virginia and rooting for Clemson is tough. Everyone around here knows Clemson for jumping out to 18-0 starts and collapsing. They know Clemson football for getting within shouting distance of a championship and then choking. I tried to tell them that this Clemson team was different because they didn’t have Ogelsby screwing up the chemistry. Boy was I wrong.
The most obvious problem in this game was a lack of intensity in the second half. Clemson seemed to think the game was in the bag and they could start playing street ball. It’s frustrating because I’ve seen them do it before and there doesn’t seem to be any coaches on the bench screaming at them to pick up the intensity. I blame the coaches and the veteran players on this team for not getting guys together when the lead was cut to 14 and saying “Lets GOOOO!!”.
I usually like the style of basketball that this team plays because they have talented athletes and play an up and down pace. But what kills me is the lack of fundamentals and basketball smarts. There are way too many trips down the floor where Booker doesn’t touch the ball. This is partly his fault for not setting up with good position and demanding the ball, and it’s partly the guards fault for not looking inside enough. But there is also a certain amount of responsibility from the coaching staff to tell the players what needs to be done. Guards that become complacent with swinging the ball around the 3 point arc and chucking up bad shots should be pulled from the game. New players should be sent in with the understanding that the ball needs to go through Booker. With double teams coming to him nearly every time he touches the ball it opens up wide open shots for other players. It should be a guards dream to play with a guy like Booker, but nobody has the sense of urgency to take advantage of it.
Clemson is a very frustrating team to root for in both basketball and football. They kept the ACC from winning the Challenge this year with one of the biggest chokes I’ve ever witnessed.
by ggggmen08 on Dec 3, 2009 9:20 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Clemson Choke History
Two recent choke jobs come to mind when I think of Clemson basketball. The tournament game against Villanova two years ago when we got up by 20 in the first half. We lost that lead really quickly too.
There is also the FSU game last year on our homecourt where we got up by 20 and lost the game. The players on the roster are changing and yet it still happens. That tells me that some of it needs to fall on the coaching staff.
by ggggmen08 on Dec 3, 2009 11:44 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
the loss to UVA that knocked us out of the tourney spot
a few years ago, had a 13-14 point lead in that one as i recall
by DrB on Dec 3, 2009 11:46 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
I remember that one....
it seems like the list goes on and on. This team has to learn how to close out games.
by ggggmen08 on Dec 3, 2009 12:31 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
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