First-year Clemson basketball coach Brad Brownell doesn't necessarily think that his team's ballhandling will be the key to Tuesday's trip to North Carolina, but statistics and recent trends seem to indicate otherwise.
Four different Tigers -- Andre Young, Tanner Smith, Jerai Grant and Demontez Stitt -- have at least 19 steals this season.
Coupled with Carolina's habit of committing turnovers in bursts, the error totals could give the Tigers a rare area of advantage in the series. Clemson (13-4, 2-1 ACC) has never defeated the Tar Heels (12-5, 2-1) in Chapel Hill.
"We always want to pressure the ball, but Carolina puts unbelievable pressure on your defense, too," Brownell said today. "They attack from the first five seconds of every possession, so it's very important to get back fast and establish your basic defense."
The Tar Heels have committed 244 turnovers, including 35 in the past two games. They had 18 in Sunday's 78-58 loss at Georgia Tech, when UNC was held to 26 points in the second half.
Three Carolina players -- John Henson, Harrison Barnes and Larry Drew II -- have a combined 105 turnovers.
But as much as the law of averages shout that Clemson eventually has to win a game at North Carolina, it's important to remember that the Tar Heels' habitually sloppy 2001-02 team (8-20, 4-12) routed the Tigers, 87-69, in the Smith Center.
-- Caulton Tudor
Monday, January 17, 2011
Tudor's take: Clemson coach isn't counting on UNC's help
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11 comments:
There are 3 things in which you can be certain: death, taxes, and Clemson basketball losing in Chapel Hill!
Shouldn't that read "the law of averages shouts"? Uh, yeah.
Tudor, you're nearly as stupid as Roy himself (if that's even possible).
The Heels were better coached in '01-'02, their record notwithstanding.
As everyone knows, Roy can't coach. If you give him 4 or 5 first-rounders, he'll win you a title 15% of the time.
Still, recruiting isn't coaching. Worse, his "offense" (run down the court as fast as you can after a defensive rebound) only works with an NBA point guard (Felton and Lawson qualify. Larry (Yikes!) Drew II does not).
Roy is a tremendous am(ateur).
Coach K is a tremendous douche. I hate him. But the man can coach.
If Duke wins again this year, I may slit my wrists.
UNC - we are a football school. Bring back Butch.....if the sanctions aren't too bad.
I agree (somewhat) with Anonymous 7:00pm, in that I question Roy's coaching decisions. I mean, its a huge mistake to pull your second string when they are playing well, hitting shots, and digging your starters out of a dreadful hole. And its even a bigger mistake to do it twice in a row - in the first half (much less, a third time in the second half). What the H is Ole Roy thinking?
The only way he can win is if he has an NBA point guard. Neither Drew 2 nor Marsh has that kind of ability. Drew is a lost cause. Marsh may eventually be serviceable. But Roy has to figure out a game plan. Neither of those amateurs will ever be Felton or Lawson. And Roy will never have a game plan. We're F'd.
Right now we have a bunch of "Talented" players. Has Roy made them untalented? I know for a fact that Roy has made Barnes worse than he was in High School.
Nothing more to say. I'm depressed.
Yours truly,
Matt "D'Bag" Doherty
The last two posts are spot-on. I don't see things getting better for Carolina anytime soon. Poor Roy doesn't have an NBA point guard coming in next year eiher. Worse, he'll have another year to make Barnes worse than he's already managed to make him.
I'm glad people are starting to question the Heels' coaching. Roy is certainly a great coach, a Hall of Famer. But he needs to adapt. He doesn't have the same team he used to have. If he doesn't change, we will continue to be mired in muck.
This is a sham. And a mockery.
I can't believe what I'm reading. The recent posts reflect how fair weather some of our fans are.
If you really were a UNC fan, you would know how well we've been playng lately (See Kentucky and Texas). The ACC is an awesome conference- pretty much the best ever. And we are 2-1 in conference play with a very young team.
Coach Williams will have us in the Sweet 16, maybe Elite 8 once Drew finds his shot. And once Roy lets MacDonald have more control, we could be in the Final 4.
Final 4 might be a little much, but I agree with the spirit of the last post.
It's early. Sure, we went down last night, but Georgia Tech played really well. If we can get a win tomorrow, we'll be 3-1 in conference. With a young team, that's pretty good.
I don't know how far we'll go, but I think we can make the tourney. Once you're in, who knows!
Go Heels!
To Anon 7:47,
Dude, you clearly don't know what you're talking about. I'm a die hard heels fan and have been since I could breath. But from a completely objective standpoint, your observations can be summed up easily in one word: WRONG.
I'll address you points one at a time:
1.) We have played some games better than the we did at the beginning of the season. However, that is like saying, "I'm older than I was a few minutes ago." It may be true, but it sure doesn't mean much. We may be somewhat better than earlier in the season but that's not saying much.
Also, don't know if you remember, but we lost to TX.
2.) The ACC is historically the best or one of the best conferences, but 9 out of 10 doctors would agree that this is a down year for the ACC. A really down year.
3.)Roy will NOT have us in the Sweet 16 because of anything that Drew or McDonald do. Drew is not, was not, and will never be a shooter. He is a point guard that can't shoot well. McDonald is role player, who happens to be our best shooter. Beyond occasionally hitting some open 3s, I don't think he'll be "in control" of much.
Good talk, we'll see ya out there.
Sincerely,
The NIT Selection Committee
We are NOT going to no nit. The last poster claims to be a UNC fan, but is clearly a Dook fan. We are about to be 13-5 after we beat Clemson - a team we've NEVer lost to at home. So - if we keep it up, we"ll be 26-10 or something. That's a tournament resume in the Acc.
With "never" as the parameter, it must be hard to find an angle on this game.
So...this year it's turnovers.
Roy and his baby blue sportcoat/tie/pocket square will press the panic button again if the "streak" ends tonight.
Can't wait to see UNC down by 15 yet again in the 2nd half with all 5 timeouts to spare!
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