Monday January 19, 2009

Wake Forest Review

Wake Forest Review
First and foremost I thought Saturday was fun. I could get used to that kind of atmosphere and that kind of build up.

Here are some of my thoughts from Saturday:
*The better team won. Wake will probably be ranked number-one in the country today when the new polls come out and they deserve it. This was an extremely talented team. I thought it was one of the most talented teams I have seen come through Littlejohn in recent years.

*I joked after the game that it looked like five NBAs vs five CPAs. It was not that bad. Clemson has good players but there was a difference in the talent level at almost every position.

*The game was about what I expected. Wake was long and athletic and posed tremendous matchup problems.

*I thought the major difference was James Johnson and Al-Farouq Aminu. Both of these big bodies were long and athletic. Johnson played terrific defense and was the best all-around player on the court. His passing was tremendous. He was 7-10 from the field and 5-6 from the line. Johnson had 19 points, eight rebounds, three blocks and three steals. He turned the ball over only once. I thought he was the toughest of the Deacons.

*Aminu is not as physical as Johnson and you can tell his body looks more like a freshman but he an athletic body. In his 12 points were two high-flying dunks that stopped Clemson momentum. He added ten rebounds and four blocks.

*Jeff Teague is a terrific player but I was not as impressed with him as much as I was Johnson and Aminu. Teague is a scorer and he drove the lane enough and got fouled frequently. He is strong and hangs in the air long enough to get fouled. Anytime an opponent shoots 18 free throws, it is difficult to win. He was impressive but I did not think he handled the ball all that well. I saw some kinks in his ball handling skills and now think that Johnson and Aminu are better prospects.

*The rest of the Deacons are also talented. L.D. Williams is long and athletic. He did a terrific job on the defensive end. His 11 points were also a key.

*Chas McFarland grabbed 12 rebounds and is a wide body but did not hurt the Tigers too much Saturday. Also, Gary Clark, Harvey Hale and Ish Smith were not factors against the Tigers.

*Perhaps the biggest surprise Saturday was the way Wake Forest guarded on the defensive end. I was shocked how hard they played on that end of the floor. I have seen Wake play several times this season and had not seen that kind of defensive effort yet.

*I have only a few questions about the Demon Deacons after seeing them. First, how will they handle this success? Will they stay unselfish and share the basketball? Can Teague distribute the ball enough to keep Johnson and Aminu happy or does he need to score too much? How much longer will they defend like they did Saturday? If they can answer these questions with the right answers, I think we are talking about a Final Four team and a national championship contender for 2009. They better do their damage this year because I could see Johnson, Aminu and Teague in the NBA draft this year.

*As for the Tigers, Clemson did not play very well. Trevor Booker did not play well and was not much of a factor in the paint. Credit Wake for this but Booker was not the inside presence the Tigers needed.

*I thought Demontez Stitt did a nice job on Teague defensively but offensively he suffered in the first half. I was impressed with his aggressiveness in the second half though.

*The Tigers probably played their worst game of the season but again Wake deserves a lot of credit for that. Clemson shot just 33% from the field, 21 % from three-point land and 55% from the free throw line.

*The fans were terrific. I did not think it was as loud as 1997 but when the Tigers cut the lead to just one point with 4:54 to go, the place was rockin’.

*Saturday proved to me that Clemson is one of the nation’s top basketball teams. They Tigers lost by 10 and would probably loss seven or eight times out of ten to the Deacons. But Wake might be the best team in the country. The Tigers played bad and still had a shot to win with less than five minutes to go.

*I am interested to see how this team rebounds from the loss. The hard part is they have to travel to Chapel Hill Wednesday so that might not be fair to judge the results there. But I am very interested to see how they respond when they come home Sunday to face Georgia Tech. The Tigers will be underdogs Wednesday and may fall to 2-2 in the league but the next few games present some fantastic opportunities. Blacksburg is a difficult place to play but the Hokies have surprisingly struggled this season. Duke could be another top five opponent in Littlejohn and the atmosphere should once again be electric. Clemson must hold serve at home against the likes of Florida State, Maryland, Virginia Tech and Virginia. It would be nice to steal some road wins against beatable foes like Virginia Tech, Boston College, Virginia, Georgia Tech and Florida State. This season can be very special.

The Brad Hughes All-State Insurance Agency

Prayer List
We have started a prayer list on the blog. Here are the guidelines:
*If you are offended by prayer or prayer lists then I apologize in advance. The blog is free and the prayer list will be on the bottom of the page so you don’t have to read it.
*If you would like to add someone to the list please e-mail me at mickeyplyler@hotmail.com
*If you want the reason for the prayer to be added to the name please specify in your e-mails.
*Please let me know when it is appropriate to take the person off of the prayer list

Those who need our prayers include:
Finn Brookover-was born Wednesday, January 14 several weeks pre-mature and was 2 lbs. 15 ounces. She is doing well but like all pre-mature babies she will have to get through several issues over the next few weeks.

Mrs. Kathleen Bowers

Larry in Naples, FL. Larry is currently being kept sedated in ICU and has acute pancreatitis. Larry is going to be transferred this week to Shands in Gainesville, FL for surgery on his pancreas. The doctors are saying that there is a 40% mortality rate with this surgery and if successful, there will still be a very long recovery. Larry is a great guy and a wonderful husband/father. Larry is 32 years old.

RTG-Pawsitive Tiger

Kaitlyn L-4 year old girl in TN who has seizures and a brain lesion that may be a slow-growing tumor. She will likely have a biopsy in February.

Mary-Louise Pawlowski (John's daughter)

Sandy Wright

Jo Ann Bachman

Frank Taylor

Kenneth Bryant

Pruitt Martin

Got igers and his family

David Rowland

Leonard Gillespie and his family

Jim S

Christine Hepfer

Daniel Rosborough-4-year old Inman, SC who will have a kidney transplant 1/14/09 in Charleston

Special Prayer Request from Peggy Lesley at Brookwood Church .

I am starting a signing for my son's best friend who has cancer (Hodgkin's Lymphoma). He is 11 years old and is not doing well at all. He was diagnosed with this cancer 2 weeks ago and the tumor is next to his jugular vein and entwined in it...has moved his wind pipe over a inch making it hard for him to breathe. The tumor is the size of a large eggplant and is sitting right above his heart. This little boy needs all the prayer he can get. I would like you to sign this and pass it on to as many people as you can. Once we get to a thousand people can you please send this back to me at: 1volsgirl@bellsouth.net When I get the 1000 people that have signed it...I am going to print this up for my sons best friend and show him how many people care and how many people are praying for him to get better. If you have a heart at all, you will all do this for me. I love this child as though he is my own and we really need all the prayers!

Thank you,
Peggy

Amy Murphey - diagnosed with ALS, pray for healing