Duke Review
Saturday was a great day in Littlejohn. It was great for the fans to get a chance to enjoy a big win, perhaps the biggest in the
Brad Brownell
Brad Brownell
Head Coach
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era. It was great that the staff that has worked so hard had a chance to enjoy the fruits of their labor. But most importantly, it was a great day for the players. They chose Clemson and it was nice to see them rewarded enjoy success and perhaps inject confidence into the program.
Brownell and his staff came up with a terrific game plan, but their biggest task was giving the players a reason to believe despite a bad performance just two days earlier. The staff got the players emotionally ready to play when they could have laid down and felt sorry for themselves.
One of my biggest satisfactions Saturday came from hearing the praise for the Tigers from Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.
Coach K said, "First of all, congratulations to Clemson. Brad and his staff and his team just had a heck of a game. Their kids played so hard, and it started from the get-go. From the start you could tell they had a great verve. I thought that in the first half we did a good job of countering that, but their physicality and athleticism and determination wore on us. We got doubled on the score in the second half. A lot of it was their defense. We missed some shots that we should hit. In saying that, I’m not sure that that would have been enough to beat them. Blossomgame had an amazing game, 14 and 14. He had two big three-point shots that I think turned the tide definitely in their favor. That’s how games change. They killed us on the boards, 48-30. We’re not a good team right now. We’re a small team and we need make up for it in other ways. We’re not some powerhouse. When you watch the game, they’re bigger. [K.J.] McDaniels is one of the best players in the league. He’s the best athlete, and he’s also an outstanding player. They were terrific, and we need to get a lot better. We’re not very good right now and that’s on me as a coach. I never bad mouth my team or any guy. We win together, we lose together, but we’re not very good right now and we’ve got to take steps to try to get to be good, because the league is unforgiving.”
Who would have thought that a Hall of Famer would have those words about this program after Thursday night?
Coach K added, "Again, they were outstanding. Their crowd, everything. They were obviously the most deserving of winning.”
With the win Clemson moved to 2-1 in the ACC and has a chance to win on the road Wednesday night against Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.
The Tiger defense held Duke to 59 points, a season-low for the high-scoring Blue Devils who averaged 84.3 per game entering Saturday. Duke shot 32% (8-for-25) from three. Clemson outscored Duke 41-22 in the second half. The Blue Devils were 8-25 in the second half and were outshot by the Tigers 51% to 25%. Duke was just 3-14 from three in the second half.
I thought another key was Clemson's transition defense. Duke usually has a lot of success in the transition and also off of the secondary break but Clemson held Duke to only two points off of the fast break.
A lot of fans got a chance to see Jabari Parker for the first time but I thought Clemson did a terrific job against the future lottery pick. Clemson held Parker to 15 points.
A huge key was Clemson's dominance on the boards. Clemson’s +18 rebound margin (48-30) was its second-highest in 111 games under Brownell. The biggest was +19 over Coastal Carolina earlier this season. The Tigers had three players with double-doubles. It is the first time Clemson has had three players with double-doubles in the same game since Feb. 13, 1985 when Horace Grant (24-12), Vincent Hamilton (21-10) and Raymond Jones (10-15) all had double-doubles in an 80-65 win over Wake Forest at Littlejohn Coliseum.
Jaron Blossomgame
Jaron Blossomgame
RS Fr. Forward
#5 6-7, 215
Alpharetta, GA
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was a great example of a player who was not a factor Thursday but rallied for a brilliant performance Saturday. Blossomgame tallied his first career double-double when posted 14 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. He had never had a double figure game in terms of points or rebounds in any game so far in his career, yet posted both Saturday.
McDaniels scored a game-high 24 points Saturday, his seventh game of at least 20 points this season. McDaniels added 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season.
Landry Nnoko
Landry Nnoko
So. Center
#35 6-10, 245
Montverde, FL
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also recorded his third double-double of the season, with 10 points and 13 rebounds. Nnoko’s 10 were a career-high against an ACC opponent. He matched his career-high with six offensive rebounds Saturday.
Rod Hall
Rod Hall
Jr. Guard
#4 6-1, 210
Augusta, GA
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was in effective in the paint against Florida State because of their size but he had a great game Saturday. Hall posted 11 points, all in the second half.
One game after being outscored 44-16 in the paint by Florida State, Clemson reversed the trend and beat Duke 38-20 by the same measure Saturday.
A crazy stat is Duke lost by 13 despite turning the ball over only five times.
In the end, Saturday was one for the record books and one that many of us will remember for a long time. It was not the 74-47 route of a few years ago but it was just as sweet in so many ways.
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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 email me at mickeyplyler@hotmail.com
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Those who need our prayers include: Finn Brookover, Jo Ann Bachman, Kenneth Bryant, Pruitt Martin, Got Igers and his family, David Rowland, Leonard, Gillespie and his family, Jim S., Daniel Rosborough, the Huffman family, Nancy Winkler, John Reeve, Vinnie Brock, Kaitlyn L., Susan Miller, Joyce Harley, Steve Proveaux, Jeffrey Greene, the Hutto family, Sherl Drawdy, Caleb Kennedy, Teresa O'Connor, Matt Jacobs, Perrin Seigler, Candee Massee, Lindsey Jordan, Sam Catoe, Tyler Felch, the Nicolopulos family, "the Jacksonville, FL guys," Kim Sims, the Coyle family, Ryleigh Tedder, Steve Lee, Kelly Trakas, Jimmy Moore, the Thomas V. family, Emary Claire Young, Kitty Bowers, Julie Locke, the Scheider family, Lauren Kittles' family, Frank Gentry, Joyce Bussey, Stacey McKeown, Dale Childs, Larry Lentz, Jr., Carl Sharperson, Scott Hannon, William Perry, Tyler Swaney, Lillian, Mark Feit, David Frame, Chad Berry, the family of Matthew M. Watson, the Dowis family, Shervin Messer, Alan Putnam, the Olivers, Lee Tate, Ronnie Abrams, Eddie Greene, the Jackson family, Bill Vader, Jim Taylor, Tina DeWitt, Rock Horne, Christopher Tuten, Bobby Wayne Thomas, Emma and Danielle Carothers, Robert Ditty, Mr. and Mrs. Murray Smith, Dot Cartee, Ayden Mills, Millie Heatley, Lynn Martin and family, Michael Pinson, Jake David family, Angie Crowley, Ira, Mike Tolson, Poly Wells, Dr. Muriel Bishop, Jack Cunningham, Emily Jefford Meister, Zachary Stoller, Aaron Clackum, Pat James, Cortney Moore, William Moore, Angelia and Savannah Anderson, William Ross, Meredith Legg, Scott Johns, Frank Carroll, Brandon Thompson, Alvin Sammons, Georgine McAlhaney, Glen Davis, Mike Price, Clay Childers, Aaron Knight, Danielle Johnston and family, Nicholas Abrams, Lana Kuykendall, Gary, Gary G., William Huggins, Jim Bennett, Chantz Fowler, Ethel McElveen, Michele Gurganus, William Gentry, Lewis Usher and Tanya Sanders, Shon Cooper, Nick Collins, Amanda Peake, Danny Hammond, Chip Turner, Nick Collins, Allen Steen, the Sturkey family, the Lance family, Nick Chrisley's family, Allison Williams, Lt. Kyle Walker, Summer and Joel Johnson, Nicole O'Donnell, James O. Johnson, Joy Pruett and family, Bill Schmidt, Jack Bailey, Gardner Family, Charles Turner, Kathy Bartholomew, Ray Sanders, David and Robin Blocker, J.R. Ray, Kenneth Kowe, Lauren Sielicki, Doug Bailey and family, Jenna Phipps, Mark Lawrence, Harlan Sullins, Peter Laboy, Kat and Carlisle Jones, Elizabeth Galloway and family, Anita McDonald, Willard Harryman, Liz Surratt, Molly Senn, Jackie Shearer, Richard Sellers, Tim Drisdelle, Edward Easterling, Dawson Bourne, Susan and Mike Brown, Julie Goodman Marshall, Willard and Dorothy Harryman, Justin Jernigan, Jack Cunningham, Mia Daughtery, Tee Senn, Jim Lanier, Bob Garrett, Skylar, Joseph Thomas, Mrs. Nelis, Jeanne Thompson, Sean Rowell, George Parker, Levon Kirkland and family, Catherine Sewell, Randy Davenport, Patrick Destefano, David Vaughn, Keith Dalton, and our great country and the men and women in uniform that protect and serve it every day, plus their families.
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