Monday February 09, 2009

Ouch!

Ouch!
At least I get to write this morning’s blog on my deck with the weather climbing to 70 degrees today. How about that? February 9 and 70 degrees! I love it.

I still can’t seem to shake Saturday night’s loss to Florida State. I am having a hard time forgetting about:

*A 19-point lead.

*18 turnovers.

*FSU out rebounding Clemson 36-28.

*The Noles’ 17 offensive rebounds.

*Clemson scoring four points in the last 8:56.

In my head I saw a scenario where the Seminoles would have defeated Clemson but it was not like this. I thought if Clemson would have lost Saturday night it would have been due to a slow start because of the Duke hangover. I saw the Tigers playing sluggish early and not being able to mount a comeback.

The other loss scenario I thought we could see was a Toney Douglas show. I thought if FSU won it would have been on the shoulders of a 35-point night from Douglas.

However, neither happened and the Tigers still dropped a close one. I did not see Clemson building that kind of lead but I also did not see Florida State mounting that kind of comeback.

I do think it is imperative that we give the Noles credit too. They were 19 points down in a hostile environment and came back for a fantastic win that might get them back in the NCAA tournament picture.

But I also want to point out that Florida State is a difficult match up for Clemson. They are extremely big inside and their bigs are very athletic. This makes it terribly difficult for Trevor Booker. FSU is a lot like Wake Forest but less talented. Both teams are extremely long and athletic and it makes for a bad match up for the Tigers.

I am sitting here this morning trying to tell myself that these kind of things just happen in basketball. As I stated a few weeks ago, Clemson is not too talented to struggle at times. This is the nature of the sport. Since last week’s Associated Press poll came out, number 4, 6,7,8,9,10,11 and 12 were defeated. This happens in basketball.

Speaking of polls, I have no idea what Clemson will be ranked this week. I do know that if the Tigers would have won Saturday, they would have been ranked number five in the country. UConn, Oklahoma, Pittsburgh, North Carolina then Clemson would have been both polls top five. Now it’s anyone’s guess what the polls will look like. If Duke is still ranked ahead of Clemson then something is wrong. I hope the pollsters will at least remember the 27-point Clemson win. At this point I think UConn, Pittsburgh, Oklahoma and North Carolina have separated themselves from the pack. I think a few teams like Wake Forest can play their way into that consideration for a top seed too. I am not sure where Clemson stands but my guess would probably be between 8 and 16. If the season ended today I think the Tigers have made a nice claim for a number three or four seed in the NCAA tournament.

One other quick note from Saturday night that I have not seen mentioned elsewhere—I have never been to a Clemson sporting event where there were so many more buyers than sellers of tickets. Scalpers had none. I saw hundreds of people looking and only saw one pair of tickets for sale. Ticket demand at Clemson basketball games is at an all-time high.

So where will this team go from here? We may look back at this game in March and say that was the beginning of the end. Maybe the last nine minutes of dry spell will last over the next two road games and the Tigers fall to 5-5 in the league. Georgia Tech is a lot like FSU and Wake in that they are big, long and athletic and Clemson still has road trips to all three schools. Virginia Tech also comes to Tigertown. Maybe this will turn out to be a 23-7 team and a 9-7 ACC squad. I am still leaning towards 10-6 though. I usually waiver between 11-5 and 9-7 with 10-6 being my most common thought.

I still am thinking about winning 20 games for just the 10th time n school history. The school record for wins in a season is 25 and I am pretty sure that will broken this year as well. And I still have hopes for a top four seed in the ACC and NCAA tournaments. If Clemson wins Tuesday night in Boston they will be tied for second in the league Wednesday night after the UNC-Duke game because the loser will have three losses.

Yes, as bad as we feel this morning, the Tigers are still right in the middle of the hunt in the ACC. We are at the half way point in the season and I still believe we will continue to see more upsets throughout the second half of the season.

Invitation
I want to extend an invitation to you for a special event. I have the pleasure of being asked to give our testimonial a week from Saturday. I am honored to be the speaker at the First Baptist Church of Mauldin Men’s Ministry Weekend. The program is entitled, “Life Lessons - My amazement at what I have learned from a 16-year old.” It centers around what Ryan’s accident and taught us and I am extremely excited about the message. The event is Saturday, February 21st from 6:00 pm until 8:00 pm. There is a steak dinner in Fellowship Hall starting at 6:00 pm. Tickets for the event are just $10 for adults & $5 for children under 12. For tickets, please contact FBC Mauldin at 864-288-7835 and ask for Paula Sloan. Ryan and I can’t wait to see you there so please call Paula in advance and thanks for your consideration.

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

Mrs. Kathleen Bowers

Larry in Naples, FL

RTG-Pawsitive Tiger

Kaitlyn L

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

Amy Murphey

Jack Huffman

Nancy Winkler

Dr. Nancy Strom Morgan

Ronnie Queen

Creighton McCallum

Edward Putman

John Reeve

Eileen Woodrum

Ethel Southard

Anna Rawl