Revisiting the Jan. 13 court-storming
posted by LW, Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Clemson fans created a mini-controversy after watching the Tigers slap around North Carolina on Jan. 13.
They stormed the court in raucous celebration of a team that might or might not have been very good.
A month later, there ain't no mights about it: The Tar Heels are bad.
At the time of the court-storming, I didn't have a problem with it. The Tigers finally broke their Tar Heel hex (outside of Chapel Hill, of course), snapping a 10-game losing streak in the series. They handed Roy Williams his worst defeat in seven years at the school.
One question to the court-stormers: If you knew then what you know now, would you even think of approaching the court after a convincing win over this sad bunch?
Doubt it.
North Carolina has lost nine of its last 12 games, and six of the defeats have come by double digits. Williams' worst defeat as of Jan. 13 was replaced by a 21-point smacking at Maryland last week.
And last night's 68-51 defeat at Georgia Tech was much worse than the score suggests; the Yellow Jackets were up 20 at halftime and up 28 at one point in the second half.
I decided to watch the second half to get an idea of what's ailing this team. The answer: Just about everything.
Injuries to Tyler Zeller, Ed Davis and others have no doubt been a factor. And a major dropoff was expected after the loss of Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green.
But this bunch should not be this bad.
It was so bad that a number of Georgia Tech fans, who like just about everyone else are not accustomed to beating the Tar Heels with regularity, decided to beat the traffic.
A 27-point lead over Carolina is usually enough to make an opposing crowd delirious. This crowd of 9,191 was bored. It was such a complete whipping that some fans headed for the exits. At the next timeout, more departed. By the end, with reserves for both teams in the game, the crowd was so sparse it looked like an Atlanta Braves game in the Dale Murphy era.
"When they're leaving because we're so far down, that's embarrassing," Dexter Strickland said.
From national champs to no postseason. Amazing how likely that looks right now.
UNC beat writer Robbi Pickeral didn't see much desperation in the Tar Heels last night, and neither did Williams.
“I don’t know if it was a desperation game,” Williams said. “You know, I try to play every day in practice, and in every game. I didn’t say in the locker room, ‘Win this, or we’re not going to do that.’ I believe in doing the best you can every day.
“But if I’m desperate, I’m going to dive on the dad-gum floor for the ball. If I’m desperate, I’m not going to turn it over on a handoff. If I’m desperate, I’m going to sprint back. If I’m desperate, I’m going to know who I’m guarding.”
And later...
"I’m a guy who always feels like the glass is half full, that we can.
“But guys, we can’t win against anybody with that kind of effort, intellectually and physically. That just didn’t get it done tonight. … I’m totally shocked, flabbergasted. It’s not fair to say embarrassed, because I’m embarrassed in myself, too.”
North Carolina is 14-12 and 3-8 in the conference, and here's the remaining slate: at Boston College, Florida State, at Wake Forest, Miami, at Duke.
How cool is it going to be for fans of other ACC schools to snag tickets from North Carolina fans after the Heels lose in the first round of the conference tournament in Greensboro?
Suddenly, Virginia Tech is 21-4 and 8-3 in the ACC after last night's come-from-behind win over Wake Forest.
David Teel writes about the yuge victory, and also notes that it was the Hokies' first ranked opponent in a month. How often does that happen in the ACC?
Ken Tysiac says the ACC's relative weakness isn't helping Duke, which is forecast as a No. 2 seed for the NCAA Tournament.
Good piece from The ACC Sports Journal's Barry Jacobs, who notes the tremendous importance of experienced guards.
With the majority of conference games already played, all of the top teams are led by upperclass backcourts.
Duke, with two league losses, is paced by senior Jon Scheyer and junior Nolan Smith. Two other upper division ACC teams have senior starters at guard: Wake Forest with Ish Smith and L.D. Williams and Maryland with Greivis Vasquez and Eric Hayes.
Virginia Tech, which sits in second place just ahead of the Terps and just behind the Blue Devils, takes its cues from juniors Malcolm Delaney and Dorenzo Hudson.
Four of the conference’s top five scorers come from this group: Delaney, Scheyer, Vasquez and Nolan Smith.
“I think the experience in the backcourt is definitely the key,” said Haith, who has a senior guard in James Dews complemented by a pair of first-year ACC players. “That’s true to form, I think. That’s definitely a formula for winning.
Clemson is 6-5 in the ACC with a junior (Demontez Stitt) and two sophomores (Tanner Smith and Andre Young) getting most of the minutes in the backcourt. Stitt has been hampered for a month with a foot sprain but, lo and behold, the Tigers are starting to play better as he returns to full strength.
So Jacobs' premise certainly seems to apply to the Tigers.
Amid all the hysteria about conference realignment, The Orlando Sentinel devises some important rules about this radical, survival-of-the-richest world. Part 2 is here.
Apocalypse strikes in Lubbock: Tommy Tuberville says he wants to be more -- gasp! -- balanced on offense.
Aargh.
LW
Click here for the "Eye On The Tigers" blog archive.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
Clemson fans created a mini-controversy after watching the Tigers slap around North Carolina on Jan. 13.
They stormed the court in raucous celebration of a team that might or might not have been very good.
A month later, there ain't no mights about it: The Tar Heels are bad.
At the time of the court-storming, I didn't have a problem with it. The Tigers finally broke their Tar Heel hex (outside of Chapel Hill, of course), snapping a 10-game losing streak in the series. They handed Roy Williams his worst defeat in seven years at the school.
One question to the court-stormers: If you knew then what you know now, would you even think of approaching the court after a convincing win over this sad bunch?
Doubt it.
North Carolina has lost nine of its last 12 games, and six of the defeats have come by double digits. Williams' worst defeat as of Jan. 13 was replaced by a 21-point smacking at Maryland last week.
And last night's 68-51 defeat at Georgia Tech was much worse than the score suggests; the Yellow Jackets were up 20 at halftime and up 28 at one point in the second half.
I decided to watch the second half to get an idea of what's ailing this team. The answer: Just about everything.
Injuries to Tyler Zeller, Ed Davis and others have no doubt been a factor. And a major dropoff was expected after the loss of Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green.
But this bunch should not be this bad.
It was so bad that a number of Georgia Tech fans, who like just about everyone else are not accustomed to beating the Tar Heels with regularity, decided to beat the traffic.
A 27-point lead over Carolina is usually enough to make an opposing crowd delirious. This crowd of 9,191 was bored. It was such a complete whipping that some fans headed for the exits. At the next timeout, more departed. By the end, with reserves for both teams in the game, the crowd was so sparse it looked like an Atlanta Braves game in the Dale Murphy era.
"When they're leaving because we're so far down, that's embarrassing," Dexter Strickland said.
From national champs to no postseason. Amazing how likely that looks right now.
UNC beat writer Robbi Pickeral didn't see much desperation in the Tar Heels last night, and neither did Williams.
“I don’t know if it was a desperation game,” Williams said. “You know, I try to play every day in practice, and in every game. I didn’t say in the locker room, ‘Win this, or we’re not going to do that.’ I believe in doing the best you can every day.
“But if I’m desperate, I’m going to dive on the dad-gum floor for the ball. If I’m desperate, I’m not going to turn it over on a handoff. If I’m desperate, I’m going to sprint back. If I’m desperate, I’m going to know who I’m guarding.”
And later...
"I’m a guy who always feels like the glass is half full, that we can.
“But guys, we can’t win against anybody with that kind of effort, intellectually and physically. That just didn’t get it done tonight. … I’m totally shocked, flabbergasted. It’s not fair to say embarrassed, because I’m embarrassed in myself, too.”
North Carolina is 14-12 and 3-8 in the conference, and here's the remaining slate: at Boston College, Florida State, at Wake Forest, Miami, at Duke.
How cool is it going to be for fans of other ACC schools to snag tickets from North Carolina fans after the Heels lose in the first round of the conference tournament in Greensboro?
Suddenly, Virginia Tech is 21-4 and 8-3 in the ACC after last night's come-from-behind win over Wake Forest.
David Teel writes about the yuge victory, and also notes that it was the Hokies' first ranked opponent in a month. How often does that happen in the ACC?
Ken Tysiac says the ACC's relative weakness isn't helping Duke, which is forecast as a No. 2 seed for the NCAA Tournament.
Good piece from The ACC Sports Journal's Barry Jacobs, who notes the tremendous importance of experienced guards.
With the majority of conference games already played, all of the top teams are led by upperclass backcourts.
Duke, with two league losses, is paced by senior Jon Scheyer and junior Nolan Smith. Two other upper division ACC teams have senior starters at guard: Wake Forest with Ish Smith and L.D. Williams and Maryland with Greivis Vasquez and Eric Hayes.
Virginia Tech, which sits in second place just ahead of the Terps and just behind the Blue Devils, takes its cues from juniors Malcolm Delaney and Dorenzo Hudson.
Four of the conference’s top five scorers come from this group: Delaney, Scheyer, Vasquez and Nolan Smith.
“I think the experience in the backcourt is definitely the key,” said Haith, who has a senior guard in James Dews complemented by a pair of first-year ACC players. “That’s true to form, I think. That’s definitely a formula for winning.
Clemson is 6-5 in the ACC with a junior (Demontez Stitt) and two sophomores (Tanner Smith and Andre Young) getting most of the minutes in the backcourt. Stitt has been hampered for a month with a foot sprain but, lo and behold, the Tigers are starting to play better as he returns to full strength.
So Jacobs' premise certainly seems to apply to the Tigers.
Amid all the hysteria about conference realignment, The Orlando Sentinel devises some important rules about this radical, survival-of-the-richest world. Part 2 is here.
Apocalypse strikes in Lubbock: Tommy Tuberville says he wants to be more -- gasp! -- balanced on offense.
Aargh.
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 @.