Monday links
posted by LW, Monday, February 23, 2009
The Tigers finished third in the ACC last year. But with four games remaining, they'd already lost five conference games and were essentially out of it behind UNC (finished 14-2) and Duke (13-3).
Not so this year. The Tar Heels opened the door ever so slightly with Saturday's loss at Maryland, falling to 10-3.
In second at 8-4 are Clemson, Duke and Florida State, followed by Wake Forest (7-5), Boston College (7-6), Maryland (6-6) and Virginia Tech (6-6).
Winning the regular-season ACC title is still a possibility. Then again, so is finishing eighth in the conference.
Here are the remaining schedules for the front-runners:
UNC: Georgia Tech, at Virginia Tech, Duke
Clemson: Virginia Tech, at FSU, Virginia, at Wake Forest
Duke: at Maryland, at Virginia Tech, Florida State, at North Carolina
Florida State: at Boston College, Clemson, at Duke, Virginia Tech
Bottom line: I think there are some losses in there for the Tigers, Blue Devils and Seminoles. And I don't think there's a loss in there for the Tar Heels, though the game in Blacksburg looks dangerous.
And don't sleep on Wake Forest. The Deacons' remaining schedule is manageable (N.C. State, at Virginia, at Maryland, Clemson). If they win their next three, the March 8 game against the Tigers could very well be for second in the conference.
The key for the Tigers, of course, is finishing in the Top 4 and earning a first-round tournament bye. And the key within the key is getting a No. 2 or No. 3 seed and avoiding the prospect of facing the Tar Heels until the championship game.
This is going to be a fun couple of weeks. And the ACC Tournament is gonna be a full-fledged war. Then again, when isn't it?
Nice job by the Tigers yesterday of maintaining their cool after falling behind by 15 at Georgia Tech.
I guess it's a good thing that this team has so much experience surmounting double-digit deficits to win (five this year, a school record), but an extended bout with lethargy could end up ending the Tigers' season early in the NCAA Tournament.
But if Andre Young continues to shoot well, it gives the Tigers yet another weapon from outside.
More on Clemson's increased production from Demontez Stitt and Young.
Greg Wallace of the Independent-Mail has a message for TDP: Show OP the money!
Wow, what a fun game in Cameron last night. Mike Krzyzewski has incurred some deserved heat for his team's declining success over the past few years, a development brought on by a dip in recruiting, but Coach K was in his element last night.
If you had to win one game, is there any other coach you'd rather have pushing buttons, moving around X's and O's, and whipping your team and fans into a lather?
Coach K knew the magnitude of last night's clash, and you could see it in his actions from beginning to end.
More on that here from Lenox Rawlings of the Winston-Salem Journal:
"What we changed, though, is that instead of saying we had to win it, I told them: ‘I'm not going to tell you we have to win it; I'm going to tell you we're going to win it.' I think the anticipation of doing something should help us better than the expectation of having to do it. It's a little bit what we did with our Olympic team: We're going to win -- not that we have to win. It's a subtle thing, but it's an important thing, I believe. Feelings are important."
When Wake Forest shaved a 22-point deficit to two, I thought the Deacs would win by 10 because Jeff Teague, Ish Smith and James Johnson were doing whatever the heck they wanted on the offensive end of the floor. But the Blue Devils just wouldn't let it happen. Some huge offensive rebounds, coupled with some big-time 3-pointers by Gerald Henderson and Jon Scheyer, ended up creating just enough separation.
I still don't think this Duke team goes far in the NCAA Tournament, and the Blue Devils still could easily finish 9-7 with that tough closing stretch. But you have to credit K for changing things up. Scheyer is now running a lot of point; freshman Elliot Williams is playing more; and Brian Zoubek's butt is where it should be: on the bench.
Emotionally, the Devils just looked like a different team last night than the one I saw in Clemson a few weeks ago. If they can duplicate that kind of intensity and fire, they'll be a much tougher out than they were when losing four of seven conference games.
Here's a look at Wake Forest bemoaning its poor defense.
And Henderson made a strong case for first-team All-ACC, but a lot of players are making compelling cases for those five spots.
Terrence Moore of the AJC writes about all the Clemson fans who populated Georgia Tech's digs yesterday.
... you'd have thought there were orange paws along 10th Street leading to Alexander Memorial Coliseum. Nearly a third of the 8,339 in attendance were Clemson fans. They even did the unthinkable by infiltrating the Tech student sections with loud voices.
In the end, when Clemson surged to an 81-73 victory, the only thing missing was the Tech pep band playing “Tiger Rag.”
“You had to notice [all the Clemson fans], but it’s nobody’s fault but our own,” (Paul) Hewitt said...
Oh, and nice job by the baseball team yesterday of surmounting a 5-0 seventh-inning deficit and winning 6-5 in 10 innings.
A sweep of Charlotte ain't a bad way to begin cleansing last season's nightmare.
LW
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The ACC's stretch run is always fun to watch, but it's a lot more fun for Clemson fans this year because their team is -- make sure you're sitting down -- actually in it.
The Tigers finished third in the ACC last year. But with four games remaining, they'd already lost five conference games and were essentially out of it behind UNC (finished 14-2) and Duke (13-3).
Not so this year. The Tar Heels opened the door ever so slightly with Saturday's loss at Maryland, falling to 10-3.
In second at 8-4 are Clemson, Duke and Florida State, followed by Wake Forest (7-5), Boston College (7-6), Maryland (6-6) and Virginia Tech (6-6).
Winning the regular-season ACC title is still a possibility. Then again, so is finishing eighth in the conference.
Here are the remaining schedules for the front-runners:
UNC: Georgia Tech, at Virginia Tech, Duke
Clemson: Virginia Tech, at FSU, Virginia, at Wake Forest
Duke: at Maryland, at Virginia Tech, Florida State, at North Carolina
Florida State: at Boston College, Clemson, at Duke, Virginia Tech
Bottom line: I think there are some losses in there for the Tigers, Blue Devils and Seminoles. And I don't think there's a loss in there for the Tar Heels, though the game in Blacksburg looks dangerous.
And don't sleep on Wake Forest. The Deacons' remaining schedule is manageable (N.C. State, at Virginia, at Maryland, Clemson). If they win their next three, the March 8 game against the Tigers could very well be for second in the conference.
The key for the Tigers, of course, is finishing in the Top 4 and earning a first-round tournament bye. And the key within the key is getting a No. 2 or No. 3 seed and avoiding the prospect of facing the Tar Heels until the championship game.
This is going to be a fun couple of weeks. And the ACC Tournament is gonna be a full-fledged war. Then again, when isn't it?
Nice job by the Tigers yesterday of maintaining their cool after falling behind by 15 at Georgia Tech.
I guess it's a good thing that this team has so much experience surmounting double-digit deficits to win (five this year, a school record), but an extended bout with lethargy could end up ending the Tigers' season early in the NCAA Tournament.
But if Andre Young continues to shoot well, it gives the Tigers yet another weapon from outside.
More on Clemson's increased production from Demontez Stitt and Young.
Greg Wallace of the Independent-Mail has a message for TDP: Show OP the money!
Wow, what a fun game in Cameron last night. Mike Krzyzewski has incurred some deserved heat for his team's declining success over the past few years, a development brought on by a dip in recruiting, but Coach K was in his element last night.
If you had to win one game, is there any other coach you'd rather have pushing buttons, moving around X's and O's, and whipping your team and fans into a lather?
Coach K knew the magnitude of last night's clash, and you could see it in his actions from beginning to end.
More on that here from Lenox Rawlings of the Winston-Salem Journal:
"What we changed, though, is that instead of saying we had to win it, I told them: ‘I'm not going to tell you we have to win it; I'm going to tell you we're going to win it.' I think the anticipation of doing something should help us better than the expectation of having to do it. It's a little bit what we did with our Olympic team: We're going to win -- not that we have to win. It's a subtle thing, but it's an important thing, I believe. Feelings are important."
When Wake Forest shaved a 22-point deficit to two, I thought the Deacs would win by 10 because Jeff Teague, Ish Smith and James Johnson were doing whatever the heck they wanted on the offensive end of the floor. But the Blue Devils just wouldn't let it happen. Some huge offensive rebounds, coupled with some big-time 3-pointers by Gerald Henderson and Jon Scheyer, ended up creating just enough separation.
I still don't think this Duke team goes far in the NCAA Tournament, and the Blue Devils still could easily finish 9-7 with that tough closing stretch. But you have to credit K for changing things up. Scheyer is now running a lot of point; freshman Elliot Williams is playing more; and Brian Zoubek's butt is where it should be: on the bench.
Emotionally, the Devils just looked like a different team last night than the one I saw in Clemson a few weeks ago. If they can duplicate that kind of intensity and fire, they'll be a much tougher out than they were when losing four of seven conference games.
Here's a look at Wake Forest bemoaning its poor defense.
And Henderson made a strong case for first-team All-ACC, but a lot of players are making compelling cases for those five spots.
Terrence Moore of the AJC writes about all the Clemson fans who populated Georgia Tech's digs yesterday.
... you'd have thought there were orange paws along 10th Street leading to Alexander Memorial Coliseum. Nearly a third of the 8,339 in attendance were Clemson fans. They even did the unthinkable by infiltrating the Tech student sections with loud voices.
In the end, when Clemson surged to an 81-73 victory, the only thing missing was the Tech pep band playing “Tiger Rag.”
“You had to notice [all the Clemson fans], but it’s nobody’s fault but our own,” (Paul) Hewitt said...
Oh, and nice job by the baseball team yesterday of surmounting a 5-0 seventh-inning deficit and winning 6-5 in 10 innings.
A sweep of Charlotte ain't a bad way to begin cleansing last season's nightmare.
LW
For questions or comments on this blog entry, please visit The West Zone message board.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
Donnie Patterson. Donnie Patterson is the founder of Patterson Tax Service, located in Easley, S.C. He has been active in tax preparation since 1970, and offers a full range of tax and bookkeeping services.
Larry Williams. Larry has covered the daily beat at Clemson since 2004. Williams, who worked for the Charleston Post & Courier from 2004-08, joined Tigerillustrated.com in November of 2008. He may be reached by email at ldubya08(at)gmail.com. Replace (at) with @.