Wednesday January 27, 2010

Hard Times on the Hardwood

Hard Times on the Hardwood
Like many of you, I was furious last night but decided to sleep on the loss to Boston College and I do feel a little better this morning.

OK, go ahead and accuse me of getting soft in my old age but I am still willing to give this team a pass for this three game losing streak.

Yeah, I know the perimeter offense is atrocious. I know the three-point shooting was bad. We all saw the Tigers once again struggle from the free throw line and I will not try to convince you that Milton Jennings is anywhere close to a five star prospect.

Sure this team has issues. Some of them are temporary and others will be here all year.

However, I don’t think it is fair to judge this team or this program based upon the last three and a half games. The biggest complaint I hear is the half court offense but I did not hear a lot of those complaints when Demontez Stitt was healthy. I also do not think it is fair to judge a player or team if injuries hit. I hear some blame Purnell but he had nothing to do with Stitt’s injury.

What would happen if Duke lost Jon Scheyer or Nolan Smith? Where would Virginia Tech be if Malcolm Delaney was injured? Would Maryland be leading the league if Greivis Vasquez was hurt?

I am not saying Stitt is as talented as Scheyer, Smith, Delany or Vasquez but I am saying he is just as important to his team as those guards are to their teams.

Clemson has multiple issues. Tanner Smith is a solid player but he is not much of an offensive threat as a two-guard. The Tigers are not a good outside shooting team because that is not the strength of starters like Smith or David Potter. The Tigers are also having to play solid role players for 25-30 minutes per game instead of 15-20 minutes.

However, most of the issues were not huge issues when Stitt was healthy. He is not an all-conference player but he is one of the most valuable players to his team. Stitt can push the basketball in the transition game to get the Tigers a few easy baskets. In the half court set he can bail out the Tigers with his ability to drive the ball to the hole.

Without Stitt in the transition game or his ability to drive the ball to the basket then Clemson becomes very limited offensively. Teams can double down on Booker and the Tigers don’t have an outside threat to0 answer. Because Young cannot drive the ball as effectively as Stitt, the defenses don’t have to lay back off of him and this takes away some of his three-point shooting opportunities.

Without Stitt, Clemson becomes a team much easier to defend. Basically they become one-dimensional with that one option being Trevor Booker. With Stitt in the lineup, the Tigers can relief some of the pressure off of Booker.

In most cases, when a player goes down then someone else has to pick up the slack but the Tigers have had a hard time finding other options in this stretch.

The freshman class has been counted on this season and sometimes they have played like freshmen. The highest profile freshman coming in was Jennings and it is painfully obvious that Jennings has lost his confidence at this point in the season. He is just four for his last 20 from the field including a bunch of missed shots inside of three feet. He has a total of eight points in the last seven games.

Donte Hill is another freshman that has not been a factor on the offensive end of the floor so far but the difference is that Hill did not have Jennings’ accolades out of high school.

Devin Booker and Noel Johnson have shown some signs but both are still learning the game in their initial seasons.

I do think it is fair to think the freshmen would have been a little farther along at this point but one of the issues is this team has to depend on the freshmen for so many minutes.

So where is this season headed? I think I know the answer but it comes in the form of a question. Tell me when Stitt will be close to 100% and I think I can tell you where this season is headed.

Lost in the three game losing streak is the fact that the Tigers were 3-1 in the league when Stitt was healthy. The offense had a better flow and there were fewer questions but Clemson basketball is like a small market baseball team in that there is less margin for error.

I have looked at the schedule and I see opportunities coming up but not without Stitt. Clemson can rebound and get on a roll but that will be difficult without the starting point guard. I know it may seem like I am making Stitt sound like he is Chris Paul but that is not the intention. The point is that he is so valuable to this team and without him this team is just a shadow of itself.

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, Larry in Naples, FL, RTG-Pawsitive Tiger, Mary-Louise Pawlowski (John's daughter), 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, John Reeve, Eileen Woodrum, Ethel Southard, Vinnie Brock, Kaitlyn L, Eric Boessneck, John Bowers, Jimmy Ness, Susan Miller, Joyce Harley, Steve Proveaux, John Petrey, Chalmers Carr, Drayton Melton, Jeffrey Greene, the Hutto family, Sherl Drawdy, Caleb Kennedy, Bob Pollock, Teresa O'Connor, Matt Jacobs, Mike Kingsmore,Perrin Seigler, Carole White Begley, Candee Massee, Lindsey Jordan, Sam Catoe, Tyler Felch, Steve Cato, the Nicolopulos family, Cason Palmer, Candace Fallaw, Scott Jackson, "the Jacksonville, FL guys".