All-In [49613]
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Saturday's Game: Wake at Clemson
Jan 15, 2009, 10:19 AM
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I would have waited until tomorrow, but honestly I think all the bogus CJ posts would drive me crazy. So while we wait, perhaps folks can use their imagaintions a little more constructively:
The Game: Wake Forest (15-0, No. 2, No. 13 RPI) vs. Clemson 16-0, No. 10, No. 3 RPI)
When: Saturday, 3:30 p.m. in Littlejohn
The spread: Vegas isn't out yet. Pomeroy has Clemson by 2.
Is it on TV: Regional ABC. Check local listings.
Is this game really as big as folks make it? Easily the biggest in a decade at Clemson. The last time we had two top 10 teams square off in Littlejohn, the guys on both these teams were in elementary school. Oddly, that game was against Wake, too.
Student tents in '97 as seen from Littlehjohn
What happened in that game? Students camped out for tickets. The hype was amazing and the game intense. Alas, the Deacs won, 65-62. I think we'll see a slightly higher scoring game on Saturday.
Why's that? Because both teams are able to score, both have solid guard play and they like to run. This isn't just a Top 10 matchup. It's a matchup between two teams that are a lot of fun to watch. Both teams are deep and balanced. Plus both have great back stories: The Deacs rise after losing their coach and Clemson's climb from the pit of ACC hoops.
Jeff Teague can do EVERYTHING!
The first name to pop up for the Deacs is Jeff Teague (21 ppg, 4 reb, 4 ast, 2 st). Tyler Hansbro be ######, the Wake sophomore has become the golden boy of the league this year. In the league, he's averaging 32 points a game and done a solid job embarrassing some other top ACC guards (Lawson? See ya! Rice? Good-bye!) he can drive, he hits 55 percent of the 3-pointers and 85 percent of his free throws. He can be flustered occasionally by solid defense, but there's always someone else to pick up the slack.
And all of them are tall: 6-9 James Johnson (13 ppg,8 reb, 2 ast) 6-10 Al-Farouq Aminu (13 ppg, 9 reb, 2 ast) and 7-0 Charles McFarland (10 ppg, 7 reb) are going to give us fits on the boards. They're long and lanky, fairly quick for their size and don't mind fouling. In fact, they foul quite a bit, but the depth of Wake's bench allows them to keep coming. Their job, essentially, on defense is to create a thicket to snag would-be attackers. On offense, they look for size mismatches (which are bound to happen because most of their opponents run 3 guards) and take some poor sap to the hole.
A few names on the bench might be familiar: Ish Smith (3 ppg, 3 reb) was a terror last year but has been hobbled by a leg injury. Harvey Hale (6 ppg, 2 reb) tore us up last year from the outside. Now he sits on the bench.
Overall the Deacs like a fast pace, don't worry about fouls and throw the ball away. They are also solid on defense, get a lot of offensive boards and present major matchup problems. This is going to be a tough game.
So, are we doomed? Bah! Clemson has three things that so far no one else that's fallen to the Deacs (except, perhaps, UNC) can claim: Depth, balance and defense. The Deacs have 8 players getting 10 minutes or more per game. Clemson has 9. The Deacs and Tigers both have 5 players earning more than 8 points per game. Wake scores 85 and gives up 67. Clemson scores 81 and gives up 62.
Hmmm: Who's the foul gonna be against?
All eyes will be on junior Trevor Booker (15 ppg, 9 reb 3 blk) who's scored 19 ppg and 11 reb in the last 4 games. He'll have his hands full against the taller Wake intrior, and he and Ray Sykes (8 ppg, 5 reb) will need to keep out of foul trouble.
At guard, KC Rivers (15 ppg, 7 reb, 2 ast) doesn't have the press Teague enjoys, but he may have a more complete game. For openers, KC doesn't throw the ball away and is more active off the ball. His scoring the last 3 games has dipped a bit, but his rebounding is up.
Demontez Stitt (8 ppg, 3 reb, 4 ast) has found himself in early foul trouble the past few games. Perhaps a tad slow because of an ankle injury, he's taken to playing D with his hands, instead of his feet and getting some silly calls. This has given more minutes to freshman Andre Young (4 ppg, a 5-1 assist to turnover ratio).
Owing to Wake's size, we may see less of Tenner Smith and more of David Potter (5 ppg, 3 reb) and Jerai Grant (5 ppg, 4 reb, 2 blk).
Ya can't keep me down forever!
The absolute wild card Saturday is Terrence Oglesby (13 ppg, 44 pct from 3-point land). I imagine OP has been working in practice this week to get him open after NC State gave opponents a blueprint for stopping him. In fact, if Wake sacrifices a guard solely to defending TO, count on the Tigers to react with a barrage from outside. Wake's big guys like to stay clser to the basket, and Teague will wear himself out trying to cover the perimeter by himself.
On defense, The Tigers will press, but it's really futile to try to wear down a team with as much depth as Wake. I'd expect more half-court trapping, trying to force bad passes and denying the easy stuff inside. Wake is not especially good from the outside, beyond Teague. They don't have to be. We just have to work for the turnovers that will come.
Run Tigers, run!
So, what's the game plan? We either just run with Wake, or try to clog their offense and hope we can hit from the wings. No one has been able to run the whole game with them this year. BYU and UNC came close, but neither could hit free throws to put the game away.
Richmond (which lost to Wake by 7) and UTEP (which lost by 3) were both solid at the line and forced turnovers. I think that's the best way to play Wake. If we let Teague go off like we did Devane at USC, it will be a track meet. And in truth, that might not be a bad strategy to swap baskets with a team that's bigger. In the end, we've got better shooters outside than Wake does.
Whichever way we go, it's going to take the best game of the year to beat Wake ... unless they'd like to accommodate us with a lackluster effort. I don't see that happening.
This is one of those games where the crowd's energy will be needed, especially if we start running. And it should be an epic event ... hopefully as good as the game in 1997.
Just with a different outcome.
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