It feels good to look forward to the next game.  

Anyone know anything about Clemson?  It looks like Jennings is finally doing something for them and Booker is pretty strong down low.  I know next to nothing about anyone else on their team.

A win on the road would just keep the good mojo going.

has a "Booker" been there at least a decade?

Going to be tough....they handled UVa, a team we struggled with, by 15....an easy win. Won't be any easier for us but again, with determination and effort, it can be won.

A little bit of a breakdown of Clemson's team...

Booker has been our steady force this season. Athletic and strong enough to make a difference down low when our guards are able to get him the ball.

Milton Jennings is possibly one of the most frustrating players I've ever seen. Went for 20 & 11 against UVA after doing absolutely nothing for the past week or 2. Completely capable of repeating this performance on Tuesday, or going 0-10 from the field with 5 turnovers. You never know what you'll get from him, it's impossible to guess and after 4 years, Clemson fans have stopped trying.

KJ McDaniels (So.) is the best of the bunch. Athletic freak, can do some dynamic things on offense, defense needs a little work, but has the tools to be a great one.

Our front court is the most reliable part of the team. Beyond that we have a revolving door at the 2 guard spots.

Jordan Roper & Demarcus Harrison man the shooting guard spot. Jordan Roper is a freshman who has never seen a shot he didn't like. The key is finding shots he can make. Defense is meh, and shot selection needs A LOT of work. Harrison is a very streaky shooter who transferred from BYU who has started showing some flashes of confidence in his shot making abilities.

As for our PG situation, we have Rod Hall and Adonis Filer. Rod Hall has a very limited ceiling as a player. He will make the few shots he takes, but largely he's a steady presence that doesn't make mistakes on offense and plays hard on defense. Filer has the lookings of Demontez Stitt 2.0. Great driver, steady jump shot, but right now he's your typical freshman where he might wow you one game and then be a non-factor the next.

As for our back up big men, look for Landry Nnoko (long big man, very very raw still) and Bernard Sullivan (Former 4* recruit sophomore who is looking more and more like a bust) to play the few minutes that Booker & Jennings aren't on the court.

We easily could have beat UVA by 15. Take away two huge 3s at the end and we're looking at an 8 point win right there. I wouldn't put to much emphasis on what they did to UVA. They are an enigma. Good showings against Gonzaga and Arizona but then a loss to Coastal Carolina. Booker vs Thomas will be a battle and if Thomas can stay out of foul trouble then we have a good chance. The next guy to watch for is mcDaniels, he's like Roundtree but can score. Averages 11 ppg, 2 steals and 2 blocks. They're pretty balanced beyond that but nothing spectacular. In the games they lost they were ice cold from 3. CCar played zone and Clemson shot 19% from three. They also had something like 18 turnovers.

Thanks for the update, Hitspomebody.


The Deacs are going to have their hands full in EVERY road game. Rebounding and keeping turnovers to a minimum will be critical. I expect to see the team leaning on CJ and Trav again. If the Frosh can deliver a bit, then the Deacs can give the Tigers a game.

OldBlackAndGold wrote: We easily could have beat UVA by 15. Take away two huge 3s at the end and we're looking at an 8 point win right there. I wouldn't put to much emphasis on what they did to UVA. They are an enigma. Good showings against Gonzaga and Arizona but then a loss to Coastal Carolina.

True. How did he say we struggled with uva unless you just look at the scoreZ? We dominated pretty much all except the first 5 mins of the game and the last 5 mins.....

This thread misses most of the key points about Clemson.

#1 - Booker is turning into a legit inside player, and in their victory over UVA they played the ball to him in the post alot, he got fouled, alot, he made FT's, and when he kicked it out they made threes better than they have all season.

#2 - They play a 40 minute high pressure defense full court that forces turnovers.  UVA's PG play is horrendous as we saw so it affected them.

#3 - While Clemson is definitely an up and down squad so far this season, that fact that they played well against top competiton should be a warning to us.  They are capable, and the first two points referenced here are issues for us.  We struggle defending the post, and we are turnover prone, especially against pressure.

I expect another close game that could go either way.

fusiondad10 wrote: This thread misses most of the key points about Clemson.

#1 - Booker is turning into a legit inside player, and in their victory over UVA they played the ball to him in the post alot, he got fouled, alot, he made FT's, and when he kicked it out they made threes better than they have all season.

#2 - They play a 40 minute high pressure defense full court that forces turnovers.  UVA's PG play is horrendous as we saw so it affected them.

#3 - While Clemson is definitely an up and down squad so far this season, that fact that they played well against top competiton should be a warning to us.  They are capable, and the first two points referenced here are issues for us.  We struggle defending the post, and we are turnover prone, especially against pressure.

I expect another close game that could go either way.

fusiondad10 wrote: All the "holier than thou" outrage at someone simply admitting the honest truth about our program is what's sickening.  No True Deacon Fan wants to team to lose.  BUT every smart Deacon Fan knows that the sooner bz is gone the better...if losing games this season hastens his departure so this group of potentially good freshmen players get a better coach and stronger leader, then that's what's good for them.  They deserve a chance to succeed.  All the fans who blindly allow this disaster to go on in the name of school loyalty are the folks who should be chastised.

Sometimes people have to take their medicine to get well.  I'll bet none of our frosh would ever wish to be in CJ's or Travis's shoes after 3 years in the program, but that's where they'll be if Bz stays.  Losing a few games sucks, but being a joke with no chance is worse.  Buzzout no matter how we do it, and for whatever reason makes you feel politically correct.


So you expect another close game? Huh? Nice.......

Regardless of fusion's motivations, I don't see any reason not to expect a close game.  Clemson is 9-6, the same as us.  We aren't going down there and winning big, but I don't think Clemson will blow us out like they did here last year either.

Clemson is going to be a very tough game!  Littlejohn is a tough place to play, especially since they have those bleachers set up where the students are right up at the end lines.  Remember when Chase McFarland was "body-slammed" by that Clemson student punk in 2008 or 2009?

We may not win this game, but it will be a good road test against someone other than dook.  Good luck to Coach Buzz, the staff and all the players!  Hopefully we will come out with a win and extend our longest WINNING streak in a long time!

I watched Clemson at Duke for a while-- they looked horrible, much worse than we did against Duke.  It was ugly.  Duke let up at the end or it would have been 30+ pt win.  Not saying this means we will cake walk, but I agree with others who said-- it depends which team shows up for Clemson.  Wake could win or got whacked...  Hoping we play solid D, with few TOs, and rebound well.  If so, we are in this game.

fusiondad10 wrote: #3 - While Clemson is definitely an up and down squad so far this season, that fact that they played well against top competiton should be a warning to us. 

So you are saying we are top competition? 

Clemson is not very good and there success really based on how well Jennings and Booker play.  It is much like us with CJ and TM.

Like I said before.... Booker is a force but Thomas can defend. If Thomas gets in foul trouble, Booker will be looking at a 25 point 12 rebound game with 8-10 FTs. If Clemson hits a high percentage from 3, or shoots less than 10 it will be real tough to win.

They will pound the ball and try to get Thomas out of the game with fouls. If that happens, they will dominate us down low. Our guards need to control the game so their frontcourt doesn't kill us.

Strong inside player like this is where we really miss our man Daniel Green!

Thanks for the info.  This is why I started going to the boards to begin with...info I couldn't find elsewhere.

OldBlackAndGold wrote: Like I said before.... Booker is a force but Thomas can defend. If Thomas gets in foul trouble, Booker will be looking at a 25 point 12 rebound game with 8-10 FTs. If Clemson hits a high percentage from 3, or shoots less than 10 it will be real tough to win.

Holding Clemson's outside shooting down is important. I think Thomas can play good D on Booker and Booker may still get 20 points and 6-8 rebounds, but that is alright. The keys defensively are keeping Thomas in the game and playing good permeter defense. If Thomas plays good D, and we play perimeter defense as well as we did against Virginia, we can win even if Booker gets his 20 and 8. Thomas has to stay in the game, though, because his shot-blocking presence allows our guards and wings to play tighter perimeter d. If we lose Thomas defensively we are in serious trouble.

Clemson is an 8 point favorite