In all fairness...
posted by LW, Thursday, March 25, 2010
Whenever Clemson squanders a big lead and loses, a colleague in the region (who shall remain nameless) calls or texts and says some variation of the following:
"Leave it to Oliver Purnell to give up a (insert deficit squandered here)-point lead."
As we discussed yesterday, and have discussed plenty before, the Tigers have squandered some huge leads in the last few years. I don't need to recount them any longer, because most of them are probably already permanently seared into the consciousness of Clemson fans.
But there have also been quite a few comebacks. And that's the part that tends to get overshadowed when people are talking about the drawbacks of Purnell's pressing style.
The above picture is of Clemson's celebration following a comeback from a 20-point deficit at Maryland in 2008. It has to rank as one of the top three or four highlights of Purnell's seven seasons here.
There have been other comebacks, too. In 2009, the Tigers were down 15 early at Georgia Tech but easily surmounted that deficit and won by eight. In the same season, they were down 15 at Virginia Tech and came back to win 86-82. The same team was down 11 early at South Carolina but devoured that deficit and won by double digits.
In the shot-clock era (since 1985), Clemson has come back from 10-point deficits and won on 41 occasions. Twelve of those comebacks have come in the last seven seasons under Purnell.
Purnell's style, which he has deemed the most effective way for Clemson to compete in the ACC and overcome the recruiting disadvantages it faces against some of its more decorated competition, his high-risk and high-reward. And while there are some legitimate criticisms of Purnell after his latest season ended with yet another first-round flameout in the NCAA Tournament, it is only fair to point out the rewards that have accompanied the risks.
Looking back at this season, the TIgers had two comebacks of 10 points or more. They came from 12 down in a late-November win over Butler, and they were down 13 in a late-February win at Florida State.
They made big comebacks in other games but weren't able to close the deal. And I think that illustrated just how much they missed K.C. Rivers and Terrence Oglesby.
They were combustible with those two. On so many occasions, Rivers and Oglesby were the ones lighting the fuse with big 3-pointers off of turnovers in the full-court press.
This year, not so much. The Tigers were better defensively. But they were not nearly good enough in the halfcourt, and not explosive enough overall to complete a large number of comebacks.
On the topic of risk-reward, Rich Rodriguez is facing some serious problems as a result of his involvement in condo developments in Tuscaloosa an Blacksburg.
Rodriguez was named as one of several defendants in the lawsuit that claims that The Legends of Tuscaloosa LLC, which was formed to develop The Legends of Tuscaloosa condominiums, failed to repay a $1 million loan for the $18 million project. The complaint, filed by the West Columbia Trading Co., seeks more than $995,000, plus interest and attorney's fees.
Among those several defendants: Former Clemson assistant Ron West.
Also involved: The late Lamar Greene, who was disassociated from Clemson after his role in improprieties involving players the Tigers were recruiting in 2000. In December of 2008, Greene was charged with five felony counts of fraud after allegedly stealing unspecified amounts of money from Palmetto State Enterprises, which is named as a defendant in the current suit.
Bad news for Wake Forest football:
Dominique Tate won't play football play for Wake Forest next season, Josh Harris might and Brendan Cross, barring some unforeseen development, will.
Coach Jim Grobe said yesterday that Tate and Harris have been declared academically ineligible by the University and Cross was one of five freshmen players arrested by the Winston-Salem Police on Saturday night for under-age drinking.
Does it really matter if C.J. Spiller indeed scored a 10 on the Woderlic test?
Nope. It's been proven that brain-surgeon smarts aren't required to run circles around the competition.
But I have to say I'm surprised, and also that it doesn't look good. Not for a guy who was celebrated for his academic achievement and given a standing O by the Board of Trustees upon graduation.
In the Greenville News, Ed McGranahan has a piece on Kyle Parker calmly doing the two-sport thing.
Unlike a year ago when he wore down as he was pulled in both directions, Parker is totally relaxed most days, and it’s reflected in both sports.
Swinney said Parker comes to practice prepared and as the incumbent starter has taken a more vocal role. His laser throws are routinely sharp yet it seems he found time to work on his touch.
Baseball assistant Tom Riginos said Parker is dialed in at the plate, though when the season began he hadn’t picked up a bat since Clemson’s Super Regional appearance in Tempe, Ariz., last June.
In the Independent-Mail, a story on Corico Hawkins' development.
Corico is a very intelligent young man, so he’s picked up on the package very good,” Steele said Wednesday. “He’s also a very instinctive young man — he’s got a lot of natural instincts. He’s got good leadership qualities and he’s a tough guy and a sure tackler.
“He’s a (sophomore) and he’s still in transition. But he improves each day.”
In The Post and Courier, Dabo Swinney expresses confidence in his unproven receiving corps.
'The wideouts are going to have a lot of eyes on them,' Swinney said. 'I'm confident and excited about the (receivers) just as I sat here last year and said I was excited about safety. Yeah, some guys had to go prove it.'
So the last we heard, Urban Meyer was going to try to chill out and relax a little more so he could, you know, stay alive and stuff.
How's that working out lately? Apparently not too well.
Meyer went absolutely ballistic at an Orlando Sentinel reporter over this quote from a player:
"With (new QB John) Brantley, everything's with rhythm, time. You know what I mean, a real quarterback."
If that quote is controversial, it shouldn't be. Given Tim Tebow's unique style, you can totally understand what this kid is talking about. He doesn't appear to be coming close to ripping Tebow as much as saying Brantley is merely a more conventional quarterback.
Try telling that to Urban.
An angry Meyer not only threatened to have the reporter, Jeremy Fowler, removed from practice if he did it "again," but said if the story had been written about his son he would have "gone at it" with him.
Meyer, who recently returned to work from a health-related leave of absence, has not spoken with reporters since the first day of spring practice. When he approached a group of them Wednesday, most thought he was ready to be interviewed. Instead, Meyer pointed at Fowler and began conveying his anger.
Here's the full text of what transpired:
Meyer: "You'll be out of practice ... you understand that? ... if you do that again. I told you five years ago: Don't mess with our players. Don't do it. You did it. You do it one more time and the Orlando Sentinel's not welcome here ever again. Is that clear? It's yes or no."
Fowler: "Urban, come on. Don't make any threats. That's fine. I'll play by rules."
Meyer: "What's that? (walking away, then turning back)"
Fowler: "I'll play by rules, but all I was doing is quoting the guy. I don't think I was the only one."
Meyer: "You're a bad guy, man. You're a bad guy."
Fowler: "Thanks, Urban. I appreciate that."
Meyer: "Maybe when you get a chance, call his family and all that and help them out with it [dealing with the controversy the blog post created]. The kid has never been in trouble one time. He's a great student, a great kid and you're going to do that [to him]?
"If that was my son, we'd be going at it right now."
Here's the video of the episode, brought to you by our Rivals friends at Gatorbait.net.
Goodness freaking gracious.
According to the New York Post, Paul Hewitt is awaiting approval from his bosswoman to sign on at St. John's.
The former Long Island resident has spent the last 48 hours conferring with his wife and three daughters as he decides whether to leave their comfortable life in Atlanta to return to the Big Apple.
"It will be done Friday," said a source in New York who knows Hewitt. "He just needs to get his wife completely on board."
There's not even an opening at Georgia Tech yet, and Siena's Fran McCaffery is shooting down reports that he's going to interview in Atlanta.
Can't imagine it'll be a joyous bus ride to Charlottesville after Elon came to Doug Kingsmore and took two from the Tigers.
LW
Click here for the "Eye On The Tigers" blog archive.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
Whenever Clemson squanders a big lead and loses, a colleague in the region (who shall remain nameless) calls or texts and says some variation of the following:
"Leave it to Oliver Purnell to give up a (insert deficit squandered here)-point lead."
As we discussed yesterday, and have discussed plenty before, the Tigers have squandered some huge leads in the last few years. I don't need to recount them any longer, because most of them are probably already permanently seared into the consciousness of Clemson fans.
But there have also been quite a few comebacks. And that's the part that tends to get overshadowed when people are talking about the drawbacks of Purnell's pressing style.
The above picture is of Clemson's celebration following a comeback from a 20-point deficit at Maryland in 2008. It has to rank as one of the top three or four highlights of Purnell's seven seasons here.
There have been other comebacks, too. In 2009, the Tigers were down 15 early at Georgia Tech but easily surmounted that deficit and won by eight. In the same season, they were down 15 at Virginia Tech and came back to win 86-82. The same team was down 11 early at South Carolina but devoured that deficit and won by double digits.
In the shot-clock era (since 1985), Clemson has come back from 10-point deficits and won on 41 occasions. Twelve of those comebacks have come in the last seven seasons under Purnell.
Purnell's style, which he has deemed the most effective way for Clemson to compete in the ACC and overcome the recruiting disadvantages it faces against some of its more decorated competition, his high-risk and high-reward. And while there are some legitimate criticisms of Purnell after his latest season ended with yet another first-round flameout in the NCAA Tournament, it is only fair to point out the rewards that have accompanied the risks.
Looking back at this season, the TIgers had two comebacks of 10 points or more. They came from 12 down in a late-November win over Butler, and they were down 13 in a late-February win at Florida State.
They made big comebacks in other games but weren't able to close the deal. And I think that illustrated just how much they missed K.C. Rivers and Terrence Oglesby.
They were combustible with those two. On so many occasions, Rivers and Oglesby were the ones lighting the fuse with big 3-pointers off of turnovers in the full-court press.
This year, not so much. The Tigers were better defensively. But they were not nearly good enough in the halfcourt, and not explosive enough overall to complete a large number of comebacks.
On the topic of risk-reward, Rich Rodriguez is facing some serious problems as a result of his involvement in condo developments in Tuscaloosa an Blacksburg.
Rodriguez was named as one of several defendants in the lawsuit that claims that The Legends of Tuscaloosa LLC, which was formed to develop The Legends of Tuscaloosa condominiums, failed to repay a $1 million loan for the $18 million project. The complaint, filed by the West Columbia Trading Co., seeks more than $995,000, plus interest and attorney's fees.
Among those several defendants: Former Clemson assistant Ron West.
Also involved: The late Lamar Greene, who was disassociated from Clemson after his role in improprieties involving players the Tigers were recruiting in 2000. In December of 2008, Greene was charged with five felony counts of fraud after allegedly stealing unspecified amounts of money from Palmetto State Enterprises, which is named as a defendant in the current suit.
Bad news for Wake Forest football:
Dominique Tate won't play football play for Wake Forest next season, Josh Harris might and Brendan Cross, barring some unforeseen development, will.
Coach Jim Grobe said yesterday that Tate and Harris have been declared academically ineligible by the University and Cross was one of five freshmen players arrested by the Winston-Salem Police on Saturday night for under-age drinking.
Does it really matter if C.J. Spiller indeed scored a 10 on the Woderlic test?
Nope. It's been proven that brain-surgeon smarts aren't required to run circles around the competition.
But I have to say I'm surprised, and also that it doesn't look good. Not for a guy who was celebrated for his academic achievement and given a standing O by the Board of Trustees upon graduation.
In the Greenville News, Ed McGranahan has a piece on Kyle Parker calmly doing the two-sport thing.
Unlike a year ago when he wore down as he was pulled in both directions, Parker is totally relaxed most days, and it’s reflected in both sports.
Swinney said Parker comes to practice prepared and as the incumbent starter has taken a more vocal role. His laser throws are routinely sharp yet it seems he found time to work on his touch.
Baseball assistant Tom Riginos said Parker is dialed in at the plate, though when the season began he hadn’t picked up a bat since Clemson’s Super Regional appearance in Tempe, Ariz., last June.
In the Independent-Mail, a story on Corico Hawkins' development.
Corico is a very intelligent young man, so he’s picked up on the package very good,” Steele said Wednesday. “He’s also a very instinctive young man — he’s got a lot of natural instincts. He’s got good leadership qualities and he’s a tough guy and a sure tackler.
“He’s a (sophomore) and he’s still in transition. But he improves each day.”
In The Post and Courier, Dabo Swinney expresses confidence in his unproven receiving corps.
'The wideouts are going to have a lot of eyes on them,' Swinney said. 'I'm confident and excited about the (receivers) just as I sat here last year and said I was excited about safety. Yeah, some guys had to go prove it.'
So the last we heard, Urban Meyer was going to try to chill out and relax a little more so he could, you know, stay alive and stuff.
How's that working out lately? Apparently not too well.
Meyer went absolutely ballistic at an Orlando Sentinel reporter over this quote from a player:
"With (new QB John) Brantley, everything's with rhythm, time. You know what I mean, a real quarterback."
If that quote is controversial, it shouldn't be. Given Tim Tebow's unique style, you can totally understand what this kid is talking about. He doesn't appear to be coming close to ripping Tebow as much as saying Brantley is merely a more conventional quarterback.
Try telling that to Urban.
An angry Meyer not only threatened to have the reporter, Jeremy Fowler, removed from practice if he did it "again," but said if the story had been written about his son he would have "gone at it" with him.
Meyer, who recently returned to work from a health-related leave of absence, has not spoken with reporters since the first day of spring practice. When he approached a group of them Wednesday, most thought he was ready to be interviewed. Instead, Meyer pointed at Fowler and began conveying his anger.
Here's the full text of what transpired:
Meyer: "You'll be out of practice ... you understand that? ... if you do that again. I told you five years ago: Don't mess with our players. Don't do it. You did it. You do it one more time and the Orlando Sentinel's not welcome here ever again. Is that clear? It's yes or no."
Fowler: "Urban, come on. Don't make any threats. That's fine. I'll play by rules."
Meyer: "What's that? (walking away, then turning back)"
Fowler: "I'll play by rules, but all I was doing is quoting the guy. I don't think I was the only one."
Meyer: "You're a bad guy, man. You're a bad guy."
Fowler: "Thanks, Urban. I appreciate that."
Meyer: "Maybe when you get a chance, call his family and all that and help them out with it [dealing with the controversy the blog post created]. The kid has never been in trouble one time. He's a great student, a great kid and you're going to do that [to him]?
"If that was my son, we'd be going at it right now."
Here's the video of the episode, brought to you by our Rivals friends at Gatorbait.net.
Goodness freaking gracious.
According to the New York Post, Paul Hewitt is awaiting approval from his bosswoman to sign on at St. John's.
The former Long Island resident has spent the last 48 hours conferring with his wife and three daughters as he decides whether to leave their comfortable life in Atlanta to return to the Big Apple.
"It will be done Friday," said a source in New York who knows Hewitt. "He just needs to get his wife completely on board."
There's not even an opening at Georgia Tech yet, and Siena's Fran McCaffery is shooting down reports that he's going to interview in Atlanta.
Can't imagine it'll be a joyous bus ride to Charlottesville after Elon came to Doug Kingsmore and took two from the Tigers.
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 @.