Purnell's priceless moments
posted by LW, Thursday, January 14, 2010
In its last six ACC home games, Clemson has blasted Duke by 27 points and North Carolina by 19 points.
Yeah, you might say the Tigers and their fans could get used to this.
I'm not saying Clemson will lay a whipping on Duke when the Blue Devils visit Littlejohn Coliseum nine days from now.
But if the Tigers bring the intensity, aggression and poise they summoned in last night's beatdown of the Tar Heels, you have to think it's a possibility -- particularly given Clemson's unmistakable desire to atone for their ugly showing in Durham on Jan. 3.
If Oliver Purnell doesn't accomplish anything else over the rest of his career at Clemson, he'll be eternally beloved for his ability to demolish the Tigers' nemeses from Chapel Hill and Durham.
The seventh-year coach is a combined 4-18 against the Blue Devils and Tar Heels, and the 0-for-54 streak in Chapel Hill is still alive and well.
But the expressions of sheer exasperation on the faces of Mike Krzyzewski and Roy Williams on their past two visits to Littlejohn have to qualify Purnell to have a statue named in his honor.
Clemson fans love nothing more than to beat Duke and North Carolina in basketball, so the moments are utterly priceless when they beat them like a drum.
In case you forgot, last year's 27-point drubbing of the Blue Devils was their worst defeat since a 1991 trouncing at the hands of UNLV in the national title game.
And as we pointed out in this morning's story, Williams hasn't been beaten like that in seven years in Chapel Hill.
To me, the most poignant sequence of last night's game came after the Tar Heels trimmed a 21-point deficit to 11 in just more than six minutes.
The crowd was seriously on edge, having experienced the Tigers' meltdown against Illinois earlier this year -- not to mention meltdowns against the Tar Heels in previous years.
Some folks might say they believed at that point that Clemson would prevail. But most of those folks would be lying.
Purnell said he really didn't think much about his team's 10-game losing streak to the Tar Heels before, during or after last night's shredding. He said he's too consumed with the here and now to preoccupy himself with streaks and such.
But you have to believe the futility against North Carolina played a major role in helping Clemson turn back the Tar Heels late. The veterans on this team -- Booker, Stitt, Potter, Grant -- had suffered through the three excruciating losses to North Carolina two years ago. They'd suffered through last year's annihilation in Chapel Hill.
They weren't going to let any of that happen last night.
Bart Wright notes that Clemson's starters outscored their counterparts 67-30 and says that's the kind of stuff that could make this season a success.
That's the stuff that good teams do and if Purnell can coax this sort of effort out of his team on more than an occasional basis, maybe this will be his first Clemson team to make a postseason run.
We know this much for sure – Clemson was good on this night and North Carolina isn't so good right now, having lost five of six games away from home.
Chances are that will turn around at least a little bit for Williams' team, but the unanswered question at Clemson is whether the Tigers, humbled by a blown 23-point second half lead in a loss to Illinois and run over by a pathetic 12-point first half at Duke, can use this game to bury those bad starts and terrible finishes for the rest of the season.
Andy Katz says the court-storming, even after a win over a flawed North Carolina team, is completely acceptable.
So excuse the orange-clad faithful for letting loose and swallowing up their players and coaches after the Tigers pressured, trapped and flushed away the once-vaunted Heels 83-64 on Wednesday night in one of the more convincing wins in coach Oliver Purnell's increasingly impressive seven-year Clemson career.
As the Tigers built a 20-point lead, Girmindl said that beating the Tar Heels would mean the world to him.
After Clemson senior Trevor Booker nearly disappeared in the postgame swarm of students, he headed back to the locker room to catch his breath. But even some 20 to 30 minutes after the game, he was still shaking a bit.
"It means a lot to me,'' said Booker, who looked as if he was the most untouchable big man in the ACC with 21 points, four assists, two steals, nine boards and a few ferocious dunks. "This was the only team I haven't beaten since I've been here. Just to beat them gets a huge chip off my shoulder.''
Also, some staggering stats from Katz:
UNC has been a drastically different team at home versus road this season. The Tar Heels are 11-0 at home, scoring 88.5 points, given up 67.6 and shooting 52.6 percent at the Smith Center. Away from Chapel Hill. They’re an eye-popping 1-5, scoring 74.5 points, giving up 82.7 and shooting just 42.6 percent.
Scott Fowler of The Charlotte Observer said the Tar Heels were exposed.
Clemson's defense was a fire hose Wednesday night.
To handle it, North Carolina tried to use a teaspoon.
That didn't work out. The Tigers won, 83-64, handing the Tar Heels their worst margin of defeat in the Roy Williams era by protecting the 23-point lead they took in the first 10 minutes.
In those deciding 10 minutes, North Carolina looked overwhelmed by the combination of Clemson's passionate press and aggressive half-court defense. The Tar Heels looked stricken. Scared.
And those were the upperclassmen.
And later...
Much of what happened Wednesday is because Clemson is very good. The Tigers' frantic style can wear anyone out (except Duke). And they have a man in the middle – 240-pound Trevor Booker – who simply outmuscled every Tar Heel who got near him.
What the Tar Heels wouldn't give for a guy like that.
But Tyler Hansbrough is gone. Booker and his teammates made Ed Davis and Deon Thompson look invisible for most of the game. Clemson started the first half with a 35-12 burst – it was shades of the Kansas-UNC 2008 Final Four game and the Jayhawks' 40-12 start.
Williams called a timeout this time during the onslaught. Didn't help.
Later, after Larry Drew threw a 30-foot, no-look pass into the front row, Williams just shook his head, looked down and muttered, "Whew."
Whew, indeed.
Did anyone else experience a flashback to Will Proctor at Virginia Tech when Marcus Ginyard tossed a pass five rows into the stands?
Here's more from the Tar Heels' perspective.
"I've never felt like this before,'' fifth-year senior Marcus Ginyard said, after hundreds of orange-clad fans rushed the court in celebration. "… You've just got to play with poise; be calm under pressure, be even more focused. And all those places we needed to elevate our game tonight, we went the opposite. And that obviously made it that much worse."
Here are the game stories from The State, Post and Courier and Independent-Mail.
Wonder if the Tar Heels' bus has made it back to Chapel Hill yet?
LW
Click here for the "Eye On The Tigers" blog archive.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
In its last six ACC home games, Clemson has blasted Duke by 27 points and North Carolina by 19 points.
Yeah, you might say the Tigers and their fans could get used to this.
I'm not saying Clemson will lay a whipping on Duke when the Blue Devils visit Littlejohn Coliseum nine days from now.
But if the Tigers bring the intensity, aggression and poise they summoned in last night's beatdown of the Tar Heels, you have to think it's a possibility -- particularly given Clemson's unmistakable desire to atone for their ugly showing in Durham on Jan. 3.
If Oliver Purnell doesn't accomplish anything else over the rest of his career at Clemson, he'll be eternally beloved for his ability to demolish the Tigers' nemeses from Chapel Hill and Durham.
The seventh-year coach is a combined 4-18 against the Blue Devils and Tar Heels, and the 0-for-54 streak in Chapel Hill is still alive and well.
But the expressions of sheer exasperation on the faces of Mike Krzyzewski and Roy Williams on their past two visits to Littlejohn have to qualify Purnell to have a statue named in his honor.
Clemson fans love nothing more than to beat Duke and North Carolina in basketball, so the moments are utterly priceless when they beat them like a drum.
In case you forgot, last year's 27-point drubbing of the Blue Devils was their worst defeat since a 1991 trouncing at the hands of UNLV in the national title game.
And as we pointed out in this morning's story, Williams hasn't been beaten like that in seven years in Chapel Hill.
To me, the most poignant sequence of last night's game came after the Tar Heels trimmed a 21-point deficit to 11 in just more than six minutes.
The crowd was seriously on edge, having experienced the Tigers' meltdown against Illinois earlier this year -- not to mention meltdowns against the Tar Heels in previous years.
Some folks might say they believed at that point that Clemson would prevail. But most of those folks would be lying.
Purnell said he really didn't think much about his team's 10-game losing streak to the Tar Heels before, during or after last night's shredding. He said he's too consumed with the here and now to preoccupy himself with streaks and such.
But you have to believe the futility against North Carolina played a major role in helping Clemson turn back the Tar Heels late. The veterans on this team -- Booker, Stitt, Potter, Grant -- had suffered through the three excruciating losses to North Carolina two years ago. They'd suffered through last year's annihilation in Chapel Hill.
They weren't going to let any of that happen last night.
Bart Wright notes that Clemson's starters outscored their counterparts 67-30 and says that's the kind of stuff that could make this season a success.
That's the stuff that good teams do and if Purnell can coax this sort of effort out of his team on more than an occasional basis, maybe this will be his first Clemson team to make a postseason run.
We know this much for sure – Clemson was good on this night and North Carolina isn't so good right now, having lost five of six games away from home.
Chances are that will turn around at least a little bit for Williams' team, but the unanswered question at Clemson is whether the Tigers, humbled by a blown 23-point second half lead in a loss to Illinois and run over by a pathetic 12-point first half at Duke, can use this game to bury those bad starts and terrible finishes for the rest of the season.
Andy Katz says the court-storming, even after a win over a flawed North Carolina team, is completely acceptable.
So excuse the orange-clad faithful for letting loose and swallowing up their players and coaches after the Tigers pressured, trapped and flushed away the once-vaunted Heels 83-64 on Wednesday night in one of the more convincing wins in coach Oliver Purnell's increasingly impressive seven-year Clemson career.
As the Tigers built a 20-point lead, Girmindl said that beating the Tar Heels would mean the world to him.
After Clemson senior Trevor Booker nearly disappeared in the postgame swarm of students, he headed back to the locker room to catch his breath. But even some 20 to 30 minutes after the game, he was still shaking a bit.
"It means a lot to me,'' said Booker, who looked as if he was the most untouchable big man in the ACC with 21 points, four assists, two steals, nine boards and a few ferocious dunks. "This was the only team I haven't beaten since I've been here. Just to beat them gets a huge chip off my shoulder.''
Also, some staggering stats from Katz:
UNC has been a drastically different team at home versus road this season. The Tar Heels are 11-0 at home, scoring 88.5 points, given up 67.6 and shooting 52.6 percent at the Smith Center. Away from Chapel Hill. They’re an eye-popping 1-5, scoring 74.5 points, giving up 82.7 and shooting just 42.6 percent.
Scott Fowler of The Charlotte Observer said the Tar Heels were exposed.
Clemson's defense was a fire hose Wednesday night.
To handle it, North Carolina tried to use a teaspoon.
That didn't work out. The Tigers won, 83-64, handing the Tar Heels their worst margin of defeat in the Roy Williams era by protecting the 23-point lead they took in the first 10 minutes.
In those deciding 10 minutes, North Carolina looked overwhelmed by the combination of Clemson's passionate press and aggressive half-court defense. The Tar Heels looked stricken. Scared.
And those were the upperclassmen.
And later...
Much of what happened Wednesday is because Clemson is very good. The Tigers' frantic style can wear anyone out (except Duke). And they have a man in the middle – 240-pound Trevor Booker – who simply outmuscled every Tar Heel who got near him.
What the Tar Heels wouldn't give for a guy like that.
But Tyler Hansbrough is gone. Booker and his teammates made Ed Davis and Deon Thompson look invisible for most of the game. Clemson started the first half with a 35-12 burst – it was shades of the Kansas-UNC 2008 Final Four game and the Jayhawks' 40-12 start.
Williams called a timeout this time during the onslaught. Didn't help.
Later, after Larry Drew threw a 30-foot, no-look pass into the front row, Williams just shook his head, looked down and muttered, "Whew."
Whew, indeed.
Did anyone else experience a flashback to Will Proctor at Virginia Tech when Marcus Ginyard tossed a pass five rows into the stands?
Here's more from the Tar Heels' perspective.
"I've never felt like this before,'' fifth-year senior Marcus Ginyard said, after hundreds of orange-clad fans rushed the court in celebration. "… You've just got to play with poise; be calm under pressure, be even more focused. And all those places we needed to elevate our game tonight, we went the opposite. And that obviously made it that much worse."
Here are the game stories from The State, Post and Courier and Independent-Mail.
Wonder if the Tar Heels' bus has made it back to Chapel Hill yet?
LW
Click here for the "Eye On The Tigers" blog archive.
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 @.