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Replies: 5
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Legend [15907]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 7794
Joined: 11/15/09
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I don't feel any differently about our team now than I did 2 months ago
Jun 6, 2017, 10:55 AM
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The team was crushing it through the midpoint of the season, but as everyone else's seasons also played out it was easy to see that our schedule was backloaded with great teams.
Did the team regress, or just start playing better teams?
I'm not a crunch the numbers guy, but my guess is fielding stayed about the same, pitching and hitting numbers went down. Again, with better competition, that's what we would see.
Its a whole season. Yep, we took a nosedive at the end. But how would we feel about this team were the schedule flipped? I bet if we started early with an 1-12 record and finished 42-21 people would be stoked. And yes, you want to see improvement, I get it. While wins and losses is the ultimate marker, I'm not sure that we got worse as the season went on... we just weren't as good as who we played.
While I'm disappointed we don't get a crack at the Beavers, I'm not disappointed in the season and progress of this team.
Just some thoughts I had..
Thanks Tigers for another great season!
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Legend [15501]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 21400
Joined: 9/24/07
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Re: I don't feel any differently about our team now than I did 2 months ago
Jun 6, 2017, 11:11 AM
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I remember, not that long ago, when we were wondering how a new, young, inexperienced Head football coach was going to work out. Many naysayers then, too, but how has that worked out? I think Monty Lee is in a better position than Dabo was back then, and I predict that we see great things from the baseball program. JMO, but I am not quitting on that program, because I see a lot of success in our future.
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Orange Blooded [3573]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 6516
Joined: 6/1/99
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I'm excited, but I don't quite see the progress yet
Jun 6, 2017, 12:53 PM
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I mainly see us beating the teams we are just supposed to beat. I don't much care about midweek games (win or lose). They are the college equivalent of "pool play games." You use them to develop talent. "Eating pressure like candy" is one thing when you are playing CofC than UofL. I think we missed some opportunities to develop relievers this year by playing weeknight games like weekend games. We were 17-13 in the ACC this year and 22-18 against top 100 RPI teams. We've been 16-14, 16-13, 15-14, 18-12 and 16-14 the previous 5 years. So our improvement isn't translating to the big games yet.
That being said, I'm upbeat about the team/program. We still need more pitching depth, but it feels like our defense is better. The numbers haven't translated, but baseball isn't just a numbers game. We can't avoid the big inning where we give up 3-5 runs. But to me thats easier to correct that consistent errors and bad plays that give up 1 or 2 runs per inning. You can correct the reasons behind the big inning if making an error is the outlier. Previous years was almost a "hold your breath" situation every time a ball was hit to certain positions. It also feels like there is more energy on the recruiting trail and more buzz about Clemson in the top baseball talent pools.
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Orange Blooded [2839]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 4656
Joined: 1/7/12
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Re: I'm excited, but I don't quite see the progress yet
Jun 6, 2017, 12:58 PM
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That's really not true at all. Midweek games can be the difference between a 1 and a 2 seed, or a 2 and a 3 seed. Winning the games you're supposed to win was more than Jack Leggett was doing in his last two seasons.
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Orange Blooded [3573]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 6516
Joined: 6/1/99
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They aren't even close to the same weight as a weekend
Jun 6, 2017, 3:30 PM
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If we had been able to hold late leads and taken either the UofL, UNC or FSU series, it wouldn't have mattered what we would have done in midweek games. No combinations of games against CofC/Wofford/Furman/Upstate/Western Carolina will ever add up to 1 top ACC series. FSU we just shot ourselves in the foot in game 3, but UNC and UofL was the result of lack of pitching depth that I would have thought we could have developed by that point in the season.
Leggett was losing those series AND losing midweek games.
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Freshman [8]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 5
Joined: 1/8/12
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Re: I don't feel any differently about our team now than I did 2 months ago
Jun 6, 2017, 1:26 PM
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I think this is really well said. We probably looked better early in the season than we actually were and the contrast at the end made us look worse. My only real issue is that I was at the FSU games and we should have won 2. I was at the UNC games and honestly, we outplayed them for 24 innings out of 27. This should have still been a 43-44 win team but we couldn't catch a break. Baseball is sometimes cruel that way.
For all the people dogging the players on the boards, you should have been there last night, at midnight as the seniors and draft eligible players were just standing on the infield, unwilling to leave. Say what you want but they do care and this team was close. The freshman came for Coach Leggett's last year, barely made a regional, played 2 games in CA and left. Last year, won the ACC and got a national seed. This year, our tough schedule and quality wins got us a regional and we took it to game 7. I think these guys left it better than they found it.
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