Since starting off the season as hot as anyone in the country and being the last of the 336 Division I teams to suffer a loss, the Tigers have gotten into a losing habit, dropping 7 of 9 and seeming in real danger of missing the NCAAs. The biggest problem for Clemson is that their shooting, which had propelled them through their early run, has disappeared. Clemson is now last in the conference in 3 point shooting, next-to-last in PPWS, and toward the bottom in EFG%. KC Rivers is emblematic of the team as a whole - he started off the year knocking down next to everything, but has hit only 5 of his last 33 from beyond the arc.
Clemson's crowd will likely be hostile tonight, and I'm sure we'll all hear more than we want to about the clock "controversy" at the end of last game. What will be forgotten is that Duke outplayed Clemson for the bulk of the time, and only a couple of freak mind-freezes by McRoberts kept the game as close as it was. The Devils handled the Tiger press for the majority of the game, and scored efficiently on the inside. Duke needs to be patient against the press tonight and not feed the Clemson turnover machine, which still turns opponents over more than once every four possessions.
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Over/under on how many times ESPN shows a video replay of the "clock controversy" from the first meeting during tonight's telecast? Or on how many times the commentors refer to that incident?
I'll go ahead and set the bar at 5 and 12, respectively.
I'll take under 5 on showing of the video clip (unless it gets to under two minutes and the score is within 3... then all bets are off).
while i admittedly missed all of the pre-game chatter, including the first 5 minutes of the game, and skipped the entire halftime show... i'm pleased that it would appear i overestimated ESPN's willingness to continue beating this long-dead horse.
i saw the clip only once during the game, and think i probably heard only about five verbal references (though i have no doubt that were far more of those before i started watching when ESPN surveyed the clemson crowd, who reportedly were all decked out for the occassion with clocks and clever signs).
most of all, i'm pleased that duke brought a strong game to the third contest in a row. git-r-done!
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