Monday March 05, 2007

Widmann; Swept; VT; Bubble; Matt Drills

Widmann
Today is a huge day in the life of Stan Widmann. The Clemson shortstop is headed to Duke for medical test on his neck and our prayers are needed. Because of the range of possibilities and with an attempt to be sensitive to his injury, I will refrain from writing what the doctors are saying at this point. Hopefully the Widmann's can get some positive reports and Stan can resume his playing days. I am not sure of the time table here so stay with us and hope for the best.

Swept
It always hurts to lose to your arch-rival but I am not sure which loss from this weekend hurts the most.

Saturday Clemson got USC's best. The Gamecocks played what both head coaches called the perfect game in routing the Tigers 12-0. I thought Harris Honeycutt was masterful. He pitched very intelligently and provided young pictures a blue print of how to control the opponent. He got ahead in almost every count and worked both sides of the plate. Whenever a dangerous Clemson batter stepped up, Honeycutt pitched around him. I think the best pitchers decide before a game which couple of batters they will not let beat them. The Tigers had only two hits in the game and one was an infield hit.

At the plate the Gamecocks used the wind to their advantage and took bigger advantages of Clemson miscues. The Gamecocks used the timely long ball to demoralize Clemson. Quite frankly it was one of the dominating wins USC has had in Clemson.

On Sunday we saw two excellent pitching performances but in the end it was the home team's ability to hit one of the best closers in college baseball that made the difference. After taking a one run lead in the top of the eighth on a USC miscue the Tigers left another run at third base. South Carolina was able to get to Clemson closer, Daniel Moskos, for two runs over the final two innings. I think if you told Jack Leggett he would give the ball to Moskos in the eighth with a lead he would feel pretty comfortable. Give the Gamecocks credit for getting it done against a tough pitcher.

So the question remains, which loss hurts worse? I would say Sunday's. Had the Tigers held on to win the second game it would have been a gutsy performance and a great comeback after Saturday's blowout. But it was the Gamecocks who had the best comeback this weekend.

Clemson-VT
It is no secret that Cliff Hammonds is my favorite Clemson basketball player of all time. I have mentioned many times that when I talk to my 15-year old about fundamentals or attitude or hustle or any admirable trait concerning basketball I point out Hammnonds as the role model. I also have him watch K.C. Rivers because I believe both Rivers and Hammonds are among the most intelligent on the team and make the best basketball decisions. There are a couple of guys that seem to make poor decisions more often and do not hustle the way Rivers and Hammonds do. With that said, is it a coincidence that Hammonds and Rivers took over the ball handling and shots coming down the stretch of Saturday's win?

I think Saturday's game proved a couple of points. First, it took an unbelievable shooting performance to win the game by a point. There is an old saying in basketball that offense comes and goes but defense travels. Defense wins in basketball. However, the Tigers continue to struggle on the defensive end and I felt for Oliver Purnell Saturday. He tried the full court press and that was not very effective. He tried man-to-man but dribble penetration killed the Tigers. He tried the 1-3-1 half court press and that did not slow down Tech. He even tried a match-up 2-3 zone but that did not work. This proved to me that some players were not quick enough or smart enough to play good defense. It also made me long for the days of high energy and effort on the defensive end.

Don't get me wrong. I am ecstatic about the win but my point is that the Tigers cannot depend on the three ball to go in at that rate every game. I maintain that the problems start on the defensive end. I also think that Purnell has to lose sleep over the bad decisions by a couple of players.

With that said, what a great win. The 1-70 stat hurts but the truth is that stat tells the story of the uphill battle Purnell faces. Perhaps the biggest battle will be psychologically because despite being an optimistic guy I gave them no chance in Blacksburg. I hope I am wrong a lot more in the future.

Bubble Boy
Over the next couple of days I will get more into the bubble watch thing. I don't think Clemson is currently in but I think they would get in with a win over FSU Thursday. Even though they still have work to do, I can make a much better case for Clemson than I can for many other schools on the bubble.

Matt Drills
If you ever wonder how hard a football team works then drop by Jervey Gym at 5:30 AM one day this week. I assure you that you would be shocked at the work ethic. It would make you think twice if you ever considered booing a player.

Running down the hill is great and getting your name and face on TV would be an 18-year old's dream but most don't understand the sacrifice, time and dedication.

I know the average SAT may be lower than the student body average but I can tell you how hard work overcomes all of that. Look at the Letterman's Association at Clemson and look at the success stories. Look at the number of former football players that go one to become millionaires because of how successful they were in business. Dumb jocks turned millionaires because of the things they learned in football. I can rattle off at least 20 former football players that could never get in Clemson today that are ultra-successful businessmen. I wonder how often they are asked about their SAT?

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