Are we better off with OP ?
by sedge94 on Feb 1, 2010 7:00 PM EST
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PrintClemson Basketball is not just a team that I follow game in and game out. I have a relationship with Clemson basketball. I scream at my TV. I get on my hands and knees when we're shooting 1-1 with under a minute on the clock. I live and die with this team.
So, what I'm about to say is not easy -- Clemson has settled when it comes to basketball coaches. We can do better.
I was a student in Clemson for the 4 Rick Barnes years. 3 straight trips to the big dance and a sweet 16 that was 30 seconds away from an Elite 8. Rick came to Clemson as an up and coming coach out of Providence. He and Clemson started off their relationship on equal footing. BUT, in his 4 years.. Rick got hotter.. and suddenly other school were interested.. and he looked at Clemson and said "I can do better"
Larry Shyatt was the classic rebound. He was a mess. Clemson was desperate.. he kinda looked like Rick.. and acted like Rick.. but he wasn't Rick.. not even close. He somehow managed to recruit kids that couldn't shoot and weren't athletic. I choose to block out all memories of any of the Larry Shyatt teams. His 1 team with Rick's players.. choked.. didnt get in the dance.. and made it to the NIT finals. Once he had his own recruits, he won 3 acc games a year.
OP was a very safe hire. Anything was better than Larry Shyatt. He was established, and his resume shows he can build a respectable program. He wasn't flashy, he wasn't going to leave in 4 years. He can win a few games in the regular season, and he can get some decent kids in the program, but ZERO NCAA wins.. will always be ZERO. He can't hide from that. OP will be in Clemson as long as we let him. He's not going anywhere. After years at ODU and Dayton, he made it to the ACC. This job is the pinnacle of his career.
As Tiger fans.. is this what we want ? OP isn't going anywhere.. He's not going to bail on us like Rick did. Wouldn't you rather have the young coach that can get us in the sweet 16 (Brad Stevens comes to mind)? So what if he leaves a year later. I would rather have a program that brings in a coach.. develops the talent in the program.. gives us a deep run into march and then moves on and lets us start over.. To me at least, that's a lot more appealing than watching a team start off 14-0 4 straight years.. only to get ZERO victories in March madness during that stretch.
As Tiger fans.. we can not settle for mediocrity. We can't say... at least he's better than Larry Shyatt. We're an ACC program.. we deserve better.
These opinions are not necessarily those of the Proprietors of Shakin' The Southland.
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My assessment
Let me first say that I’ve followed ACC basketball closely for 20 years. I’ve only been following (closely) and rooting for Clemson for the past 6 years. So although I remember Shareece Wright and others, I didn’t follow them like I do now. With that said:
OP seems to be a very good recruiter. For the most part he wants to bring in athletes that can get up and down the floor and play his style, which is running at every opportunity and pressuring full court for the entire game. A lot of these guys seem to come to Clemson with a lot of athletic ability, but are not polished fundamentally.
OP doesn’t seem to be a good X’s and O’s coach. Clemson shows fundamental flaws on both offense and defense. I
n their half court offense there seems to be little movement, poor spacing, poor screens being set, and bad decision making. When is screen is set it should be set with the intention of making contact with the opponent. The man coming off the screen should be cutting hard and brushing shoulders with the man that sets the screen in order to run the opponent guarding him into the screen setter. I rarely see this basic concept executed by Clemson. Things like this frustrate me. Clemson seems to fall back on high ball screens (which is fine when not used every time down the court), which is a simple an offense as you can get.
On defense they don’t consistently box out well. They also don’t always see man-and-ball, which is an important fundamental so that a) you can give help to your teammates and b) so that you don’t get beat by backdoor cuts. Both of these things happen.
All in all, I’m not sure how to feel. I haven’t rooted for Clemson long enough to see how far the program has come. I know OP has X’s and O’x flaws, but at least he is bringing in talent. He could use an assistant that really teaches the X’s and O’s. Plus, he isn’t the only coach that tries to rely on talent rather than X’s and O’s. Roy Williams does the same thing. UNC struggles and has struggled in half court sets because Roy relies on his athletes to get steals, offensive rebounds, and beat the other team down the court. OP seems to be using this recipe.
Interesting thoughts ggggmen
Shaka Smart was the guy who really did the legwork on the Fab Four freshmen, and now he’s gone. I think we’ll definitely see how good a recruiter OP is in the next couple years: he’s got to get a true PG and a shooter in my opinion. Young is kind of a 2 in a PGs body, and when we lose Stitt I think we’re in trouble. We must have another outside threat as well, and MJ or Johnson could turn into that guy, but they arent it now.
But the inability to set a proper screen or execute a simple pick & roll, that drives me nuts.
OP can teach the Press well. He’s a very good defensive coach, but I agree what we need to do to improve, to match teams like Duke and UNC every year, is either to just whoop ass in recruiting talent, or hire an assistant who can teach our guys how to run an offense.
A few things
Our big men like to catch the ball in the post.. bring the ball down to ankle level and try to pass.. or.. grab an offensive rebound.. bring the ball to his waist. and then pump fake 3 times. both make me yell at my TV
Every time i see a loose ball hit the ground.. i see a Tiger trying to dribble it rather than grabbing it strong with 2 hands. This leads to things being thrown at my TV.
I havent seen a screen down and a solid ball cut all year. We prefer a “whiff” screen and jog to the corner rather than cutting
in 4 years in the program, David Potter somehow got worse. We may miss a departing student manager more than David next year.
2011 lineup – Still, Smith, Johnson, Little Booker, Grant
Think that’ll scare anyone ??
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