Best foot forward

posted by LW, Wednesday, February 10, 2010

By far the most interesting development from yesterday's basketball press conference was the contrasting views on the health of junior point guard Demontez Stitt.

First, Stitt meets with reporters and tells us his sprained left foot is still bothering him. He says he and coach Oliver Purnell spoke after Saturday's loss at Virginia Tech and determined that Stitt needed to focus more on playing off the ball and shooting until his foot heals enough for him to resume driving to the basket and pushing the tempo.

A few minutes later, Purnell offers a completely different take. Says Stitt is close to 100 percent. Says Stitt was merely encumbered by some rust at Virginia Tech and should now be able to do all the things he did before suffering the injury on Jan. 16 at N.C. State.

Well, then.

Not trying to make this into a bigger deal than it is, and not trying to incite controversy between player and coach. But it's completely reasonable to conclude that Stitt and his coach are not on the same page when it comes to how much (or how little) this injury should be affecting Stitt's game.

The situation was the focus of this story we filed from yesterday's press conference, and it's going to be interesting to watch this unfold.

I don't know if Purnell and the staff necessarily think Stitt is being a baby, but it's evident at the very least that they think he's healthier than he thinks he is.

If I'm Stitt, I'm glad Toney Douglas is no longer at Florida State. Douglas was quite the defensive nuisance, and he'd be in good position to eat Stitt's lunch tonight given the lack of confidence and (perceived) lack of health.

Speaking of confidence, Stitt mentioned that term several times yesterday when describing the team's overall shooting woes.

"We have good guard play, but we've been trying to do more than what we should or more than what we should have to," he said. "Once we get the ball inside, it's tough for teams to guard us because if they double team Book and he finds the open person like he's been doing and we actually make shots -- we haven't really been making shots like we were at the beginning of the year.

"I think that just comes with confidence. I think we have to have guys just playing with confidence and be ready to shoot the ball and make shots."

I asked him to elaborate on the part about "trying to do more than what we should or more than what we should have to."

"We're over-penetrating, trying to make the big play all the time, not swinging the ball and trying to drive when there's guys in the lane. Some of the guards who are more experienced, I think we just have to cut down on the turnovers that we have. And we have to get the ball inside more. I know Book is getting double-teamed a lot this year, but that's still a strength of ours. Teams are either going to have to double-team him, or he's going to score. And once they double-team, with our guards and the way we were shooting the ball, it was hard for teams to guard us. But we haven't been making shots lately. That's on us as guards, as individuals, to get in the gym and play with confidence."

I asked him how much confidence this team is missing right now.

"We're in a slump right now as far as shooting. We're not really shooting the ball well. But we've got three home games in a row. It's plenty of time to boost our confidence, to get back in rhythm and to sprint out of this second half of the year and hopefully sprint into the NCAA Tournament."

A few telling stats:

-- Tanner Smith, David Potter, Noel Johnson and Milton Jennings are a combined 22-of-92 from 3-point range in ACC play.

-- Andre Young is regarded as the team's best perimeter shooter, but he is shooting 31.7 percent (13-of-41) from 3 in conference games.

-- Over a six-game stretch from Jan. 9 at home against Boston College to Jan. 26 at Boston College, Booker averaged 20 points per game and shot 52-of-84 from the field. In the past two games, Booker has scored a total of 17 points while shooting 4-of-26.

Of course, it doesn't figure to get any easier tonight against a big, imposing Florida State squad. The Tigers' anticipated starting five goes 5-9 (Young), 6-5 (Smith), 6-6 (Potter), 6-7 (Booker), and 6-8 (Grant). The Seminoles' goes 6-4 (Kitchen), 6-5 (Snaer), 6-9 (Singleton), 6-8 (Reid) and 7-1 (Alabi).

Florida State has held its past 59 opponents to less than 50 percent shooting.

That stellar streak is built on the Seminoles' stifling inside presence. Florida State has totaled 154 blocks this season to just 55 for its opponents. Alabi has 56 of them, Singleton 39.

Speaking of Singleton, the dude is 6-9 and he has by far the most steals on his team with 52. Impressive.

Tonight's game is far from a hopeless cause for Clemson, though, and here are some stats that bolster the Tigers' hopes.

-- As good as Florida State's overall defense appears to be, the Seminoles have allowed their ACC opponents to shoot 41 percent from beyond the 3-point arc on 18.8 attempts per game. Opponents have shot only a smidge better (41.5 percent) from inside the arc. As stated earlier, their perimeter defense is not the same without Douglas.

-- The Seminoles rank last in the ACC in assist-turnover ratio in conference games. They are averaging 11.7 assists per game, and no one else in the ACC is turning it over more than their 16.3 clip.

-- Junior point guard Derwin Kitchen has protected the ball well in conference play (36 assists, 15 turnovers). Not so much freshman shooting guard Michael Snaer (23 turnovers) or Singleton (30 turnovers).

In light of these numbers, it's no surprise OP is trying to orchestrate a return to "Clemson Basketball," whose foundation is stifling defensive pressure and easy buckets off that pressure.

OK, enough of the geeky number-crunching.



In The Post and Courier, Travis Sawchik recounts the most amusing exchange from yesterday's press conference.

Oliver Purnell was asked Tuesday if he has had to resist leaning on the Tigers' hot hand in hopes of thawing the offensive deep freeze.

The perplexed Clemson coach asked: "Well, who would that be?"

Not going to say who posed the question. But I'll provide two clues: He's a TV guy, and his last name rhymes with "sanity."

I fully expect Pete to single me out the next time I ask a silly question (likely very soon).

In the Tallahassee Democrat, Florida State's players and coaches say they know what's coming.

The Florida State men's basketball team knows the Clemson Tigers will press them tonight. All night.

The question will be: How will they handle it?

"Whenever a team presses you, you want to try to attack it and get points," said junior guard Derwin Kitchen. "But you also can't force shots. You can't get too rushed and force shots. That's what they really want you to do is force things."

That is if they can't get you to turn it over.

Clemson leads the ACC in steals (seventh nationally) at 10.1 a game and is forcing an ACC-best 18.2 turnovers per contest overall.

Florida State is last in the conference in turnovers and ranks No. 323 in the nation (out of 334 teams) in that statistic — so the Tigers are likely licking their chops at the prospect of making tonight's showdown an FSU turnover-a-thon.

Seminoles coach Leonard Hamilton had some nice things to say about Littlejohn Coliseum:

"Sometimes even during timeouts the players can't hear what you're saying," Hamilton said. "Clemson does the best job of anybody in our league of creating a fun, loud, enthusiastic atmosphere that you like to see in college basketball.

"We just need to try to tune it out and execute our game plan."

He then adds with a laugh: "But we don't always execute it when we're in a quiet place."

In the same article, Florida State assistant Andy Enfeld offers a good breakdown of Clemson's press. Notice his allusion to the Tigers' press being much better at Littlejohn than elsewhere:

"They have a man-to-man press, where they trap the first pass in the backcourt. They have another press where they get into a 2-2-1 alignment and wait for you to come up the court a little bit – and then they try to trap you. They also have a run-and-jump press, where they act like they're playing man-to-man. And as you clear out and begin to bring the ball up the court, one of their players will run up and trap.

"They're a very good pressing team at home. They feed off that crowd. They're very energetic. Their system beats a lot of teams at Clemson – and they're a very, very good home team because of that style of play. It just gives energy to their players. And if you start turning the ball over against the press, you're in trouble. … We have to take care of the ball in the backcourt.

"(Preseason All-ACC first-team forward Trevor Booker) is leading the team in assists in conference play. He can pass the ball. He has the ability to put the ball on the floor. He's very good in the post. He's worked on his game where he can face up from the 3-point line, take a hard dribble and then make a play for his teammates. He's a very challenging matchup for our guys. And the other players are pretty talented, too. They shoot the ball well from the perimeter and they're also very smart. It's going to be a challenge for our defense."

Not sure what he was talking about with the "shoot the ball well from the perimeter" part. Yo, Enfeld ... Terrence Oglesby and K.C. Rivers are gone.

Greg Wallace of the Independent-Mail writes about Clemson's quest to stay on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble.

Nothing new on the basketball team on the Greenville News' wretched web site. Interestingly, you have to go to The State's site to find this outstanding Bart Wright column on Jake Nicolopulos.

Her son had a bad migraine on Dec. 8 and took two pills that had been prescribed for such times, but it didn't seem to be working. The next morning, Jake had a big day ahead - a lunch meeting with Clemson assistant football coach Brad Scott, who had successfully recruited him a year ago.

Jake was feeling better the next morning, had breakfast, showered, shaved and got ready to leave. He walked slowly down the hall toward the living room when his father Craig noticed something unusual.

"He wasn't himself," Craig said. "He stopped and looked at me, and I said, 'What's going on?' and he just stood there. He couldn't say anything, his mouth opened but nothing came out.

Craig asked him his name and nothing came out. He helped him to the ground, put him on his back and lifted his son's knees, thinking he was lightheaded and needed blood flow to the brain. As soon as he put Jake's right leg up, it flopped right back to the floor, unresponsive.

"Call 911," Craig said to Anne, and five minutes later an aid truck was there. Five minutes after that, Jake was in the hospital.

And later...

The football career is over. Jake Nicolopulos had a small, bony protective covering of his skull - the skullcap, they call it - cut out of his head and implanted, for the time being, in his abdomen. When he has recovered enough, it will be placed back over the left side of his brain, but the stint doctors inserted in his head to drain fluid off his brain is permanent.

There will be no more football, but there will be lots of living. He might coach, he could scout, maybe he'll take up golf.
"His progress has been amazing to see," Craig said. "Exactly why or how it happened, we may never know, but it could have been related to the medication he took the night before the stroke. His attitude, according to the doctors and the therapists, has been phenomenal; the way he's accepted his learning path is something they talk about every day."

P&C columnist Gene Sapakoff sizes up the reasons behind the ACC's basketball struggles.

--Tar Heels slump. Injuries, under-achievement, close losses and chemistry issues add up to the unprecedented frustration for Williams. When an ACC main sail snaps, the rest of the ship floats in odd directions.

--Great expectations. North Carolina generally was a preseason Top 5 pick and there were four, five or six ACC teams on virtually all preseason top 25 lists.

--Weird losses. Harvard and Maine over Boston College. William & Mary over Maryland and Wake Forest. College of Charleston edging North Carolina on Meeting Street.

--Marquee freshmen have not come through.

--Non-conference results tilt the other way. The ACC is 7-7 vs. the Big Ten, 1-2 vs. the Big 12, 2-2 vs. the Pac-10, 7-5 vs. the SEC and 7-5 vs. the Big East. The poster loss, of course, is Clemson blowing a 47-27 halftime lead to Illinois.

The secret to North Carolina's recent dominance of Duke? Dominating the Blue Devils inside. Ken Tysiac wonders if that might change tonight in Chapel Hill.

Duke's lack of size and strength has been exploited by North Carolina over the past six seasons as Sean May and then Tyler Hansbrough controlled the area around the basket.

The teams have met 12 times since coach Roy Williams left Kansas to coach North Carolina. The Tar Heels have outrebounded Duke every time. The average rebounding margin was plus-10.6 per game. Six times the margin was plus-11 or larger. North Carolina is 7-5 in those games, but has won seven of the past nine meetings.

"The talent that those kids [May and Hansbrough] have had has had the most to do with it," Williams said. "The fact that we emphasize it has had something to do with it, and the fact that Duke hasn't had that size would be a part of it as well."

In the ACC Sports Journal, a look at John Henson's difficult transition to the college game.

Lenox Rawlings of the Winston-Salem Journal says Wake Forest looks like a dark horse in the ACC race.

David Teel takes a look at the consequences of tonight's Virginia-Maryland game being cancelled. Three games in five days won't be fun.

In the Chattanooga Times-Free Press, Georgia assistant Rodney Garner isn't exactly embracing the latest forms of recruiting communication.

Garner has evolved with these publicity-driven avenues in the recruiting process, but now Facebook.com and Twitter.com have entered the mix.

"I know you've got to embrace some of these things, but my job is already encompassing enough," Garner said. "I'm not going down certain roads right now until I have to."

Wouldn't be too encouraged if I were a Georgia fan.


LW

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