Friday Email Bag
Each Friday I publish your comments and answer your questions. To submit a comment or questions please email me at mickeyplyler@hotmail.com.
Mickey,
There is absolutely no logical explanation for the attempt to inbound the ball in any way under the Pitt basket unless the attempt is to throw the ball in a rainbow pass fashion out to mid court. This was a clear coaching mistake and I am a big fan of BB but he is not a mature coach and will learn from this. The fact that the pass could have been caught, fouls were committed etc. does not justify this failed attempt. The proper play is very simple: Put KJ on the foul line facing the inbounder. Behind him approximately 6 feet or so is another fast Tiger say Rod again facing the inbounder. When the ball is declared in play Rod breaks hard towards the inbounder (as do the other 3 players), KJ takes a couple of quick steps in that direction and then reverses direction and runs towards our basket. All this while the inbounder throws a rainbow pass to mid court. KJ will either catch the pass or knock it towards our baskets. This play does not fail and I have used it and seen it used very rarely but it always works. However, it must be practiced occasionally in the "situational" part of a practice.
GOOO TIGERS
JS
JS,
I am sure the staff has several situational inbound plays to chose from and I am sure they work on them every practice. The play should not have been that difficult. It is easy to say in hindsight what we should have done. If McDaniels catches the basketball clean then the game is over. If the officials make the correct call the game is over.
Mickey,
In regards to the Pitt loss I am with you on all you said in the article. Whether the ball was on the fingertips at the 0.0 mark is debatable but I can't really fault the refs as indisputable is tough to call and staying with the call made was not inexcuseably wrong. What was inexcusable was the scheme of bringing the four options for the inbounder
to near the baseline along with 5 Pitt players following and then throwing the ball into a guy under the basket. Too much of a crowd not to expect a high probability that something bad would happen. I was very disappointed that Brownell did not recognize and take responsibility for the setup I assume he called after the game. Hopefully he will not make that type of mistake again. That more than the refs decision was the reason for grasping defeat from the jaws of victory. Brownell is a young coach and has some learning to do along with his young team. I am all for him having a chance to do that
but he must recognize his mistakes and learn from them.
Having said that Coach Brownell has this team finally playing near its potential here at the end. I just hope the team does not let the loss beat them twice and can at least get a 1st round win in the tournament. Even though we beat Duke this year I don't see us beating this Duke team again. Not sure our sudden surge in guys shooting the ball well will continue under the pressure of a Duke defense and the pressure of the ACC tournament but hope springs eternal.
Brian
Brian,
I think the program is in good hands with Brownell and his staff. I think they are building a nice program. Clemson basketball is a hard job and there is very little room for error. At this point I trust this staff to continue to build.
Mickey,
Great win against Miami...good stuff!
Here's my problem...during the game my wife was sitting beside me and she said "is Clemson changing their colors, it looks like Florida." It's always bugged me (the blue replacing the purple), but last night the pot boiled over. There are blue shirts in the stands, the paint on the court looks blue, blue and purple chairs in Littlejohn, even some of the banners hanging are blue and white! The score display on FSS showed the orange paw, but had a blue background...my kids came in and said "I thought Clemson was orange and purple...why is there blue everywhere?"
I think you get what I'm saying. We need a push to get all the blue OUT! I cant think of another school that has just "started using a different color"...and very gradually at that! Is it the goal to become orange, blue and white????
Sorry for the rant...but I'm a little pissed off!
Jarrod
Jarrod,
I can assure you they are not wearing blue. The problem is the purple often times looks blue on TV. The court is purple not blue. The banners are purple. However, TV makes it look blue.
Mickey,
If this were at Duke, you would have not had the issue. The clock operator would have had a fast finger!!!!
Also, if this were to happen at UNC, you would see an outcry and an investigation. Of course they would have to hire an engineering firm run by NC State electrical engineers to figure it out! The difference would be staggering, only because basketball is number one there.
All that said, what does the rulebook say about exactly when is the game over? We shot ourselves in the foot with the missed free throws and by letting Pitt get that last 3-point shot. That should have been a knock down situation and do NOT let them hit a 3. Inbounds pass should have been a ala Stan Rome way back in the day.
Thanks,
Roger
Roger,
There is no doubt in my mind that if this happened at Duke or North Carolina then the outcome would have been different. I was surprised this was not a national story. In fact, most people in the league paid very little attention to the controversy.
Mickey,
I know you and many others will disagree with this but
Brad Brownell
Brad Brownell
Head Coach
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went from a coach that possibly would have been in the top 3 in voting for ACC Coach of the Year to a second rate D3 coach in 15 seconds against Pitt. If you cannot have an out of bounds play that involves being able to run the baseline and get the ball inbounds when there is less than 3 seconds in the game then you need to look for another job. Losing the game to Pitt was an absolute joke and is another example of why you have to think of something other than defense like simple getting the ball inbounds. What a shame because with less than 3 seconds and nobody guarding the ball all you have to do is send the other 4 players to midcourt and throw the ball where it is simply touched by anyone and the clock runs out.
Andy
Andy,
You are right. Brownell all of the sudden just forgot how to coach. His entire career and experience went down the tubes in three seconds. He is now a second rate D3 coach.
Mickey,
On
Jack Leggett
Jack Leggett
Baseball Head Coach
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, Why are you such a homer? Just read your response to the first email bag today. Your answer was the recruiting coordinator? Wow!
The same for Brownell. We could lose every game and you'd say it's the facilities. Go to Butler, Valpo and many others in the top 20 and they'd kill to have Little John. I used to read your post without fail, but you are so in much in the tank that it's becoming much less.
Ted
Ted,
I have been accused of many things but a Jack Leggett apologist is a new one. I have held Clemson baseball to a higher standard than any other sport in Clemson. Most think I am too hard on the program but you obviously disagree.
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