Monday February 02, 2009

Hoops; Mackey; Recruiting

Hoops
Two weeks ago some Tiger fans were questioning this basketball team. I read some of the posts. I heard some of the callers on our radio shows. Some thought this team was overrated after the Tigers lost to Wake Forest and in Chapel Hill.

My thoughts then are the same they are now. Wake was a superior talent and UNC would have defeated any team in the country that night in Chapel Hill. To me there was no shame in losing to two top five teams.

I also said a few other things like:
*A basketball season is a marathon instead of a sprint. When teams play 30 games in a regular season that lasts from November to March, fans should not get too high or too low.

*Dry spells will happen especially in this league. The sport yields long scoring droughts in games and bad offenses in some stretches over several games.

*Losing streaks happen because of those spells and because of the top level of competition in the ACC.

*Winning streaks can happen when confidence gets extremely high also. A team can get on a roll where they can play way above their normal level but that usually only lasts about two weeks.

*Road games are very difficult in the ACC. Georgia Tech is not a very good basketball team. Tech came into this past weekend’s game with Wake Forest on a six game losing streak in the league. The Deacs are as talented as any team in America. Final score- Georgia Tech 76, Wake Forest 74.

Virginia Tech had beaten Wake Forest on the road when the Deacs reached number-one in the land. The Hokies had won nine of their ten games including four in a row in the ACC. Clemson has a terrific second half comeback in Blacksburg on a Thursday and Tech follows that effort up with a 67-66 loss at Boston College.

*The bottom of the league will have a direct effect on the top of the league. This has already happened and will continue to happen in February. Duke has one loss in the league so far. Three teams have two losses—Wake, UNC and Clemson. So far Wake has lost to Georgia Tech and North Carolina dropped a home game to Boston College.

Duke’s only loss is to Wake Forest and Clemson’s losses are to Wake and UNC but both Duke and Clemson still have plenty of opportunities to drop games to the lower half of the league.

If Clemson beats Duke Wednesday night we will have a four way tie for the league lead with Duke, Wake, Clemson and UNC. FSU, Virginia Tech and Boston College currently have just three league losses. This league will be decided by road games and games with the lower half of the league.

Georgia Tech is not very good at the point guard position but Lawal and Shumpert are getting better every game and they proved Saturday that they can beat anyone in the league.

NC State is another team with point guard issues and they have not beaten a top tier team yet but Costner, McCauley and Fells are good enough to beat a good team on a bad night.

Maryland has looked awful at times this season but College Park is a tough environment and Vasquez and Milbourne are good enough to beat a top team on a good night.

Virginia has only beaten Georgia Tech this season in the ACC but Landesberg is talented enough to carry his team to a marquee win at some point this season.

I think the team that wins the league will have to go 6-2 or 5-3 on the road. If a team can go 6-2 on the road it can afford another slip up at home. North Carolina has already lost to Boston College at home and Wake Forest has dropped a home game to Virginia Tech. I think those teams need to go 6-2 on the road.

I also think the regular season champion might need to go 7-1 or 6-2 in the league. I would guess every coach in the ACC would take a 12-4 conference mark right now. I really think 12-4 is good enough to get the top seed in the conference. I could also see 11-5 winning the league but tie-breakers might become a bigger factor there.

So Clemson’s Wednesday night game with Duke is the latest in the big games this season. If the Tigers can beat Duke, Clemson would improve to 5-2 and grab a share of the conference lead. Duke still has two more games with UNC and a home game with Wake. Wake has a home game with Clemson and a road game with Duke. UNC has two with Duke.

A win against Duke puts 12-4 into play for the Tigers and helps with the tie breaker with the Blue Devils. Lose to Duke and 10-6 or 9-7 becomes more of a possibility but again this is a long season and so much can still happen. Clemson can lose to Duke and still win the league but a win would greatly increase the odds.

However, again, the league will not be decided by the top of the league. Instead it will be decided by the bottom teams and road games.

It is too early to really get too excited about it but this is really fun for us Tigers with little experience in this field.

Mackey
I have been following recruiting since 1986 and I have not heard of the rule that will apparently cost Clemson Leon Mackey. This is a strange circumstance because Mackey qualified out of his 12th grade year and signed with Virginia Tech. He chose to go to prep school instead of Tech, so he is ineligible to sign with another ACC school without sitting out next season. A strange, rare rule looks like it cost Clemson another good one.

I would think Frank Beamer kept his son Shane Beamer, who is an assistant at South Carolina, abreast of Virginia Tech’s plans the entire time. I don’t blame Virginia Tech. I would hope Clemson would not release him if the shoe were on the other foot. I don’t blame South Carolina. They cannot turn down a top caliber defensive lineman.

Instead, I would blame a silly rule in the ACC. Why stop kids from going to school where they want to go to school?

Recruiting Class
As I thought back in December, this is not going to be a class that will have Clemson fans flying their car flags on Thursday. I will get more into this later this week but this class became an uphill battle when the Tigers were destroyed by Alabama and the uncertainty of the season and future hurt this class.

Rest assured Dabo and his staff will have a full understanding of the importance of the Class of 2010. They cannot afford to have a small class and really need to come up with several difference makers at a bunch of different positions in the next recruiting class. I think it is appropriate to classify the Class of 2010 as crucial to Clemson football.

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! Thanks,
Peggy

Amy Murphey - diagnosed with ALS, pray for healing

Jack Huffman

Nancy Winkler

Dr. Nancy Strom Morgan

Ronnie Queen

Creighton McCallum

Edward Putman

John Reeve