Littlejohn is a very intense place. I expect it to be rocking, especially if Clemson beats LSU tonight.
I’ll leave the stats to Kedsy and others.
This is a difficult game because its unpredictable.
My eye test watching Clemson play UNC was that Clemson was bad...until they weren’t. I lost count of how many blown layups Clemson players had, particularly in the first ten minutes of the first half.
There was also a comment upthread about Clemson being a poor 3 point shooting team. That may also be true, and yet they hit them when they needed them in Chapel Hill.
I’m not crying chicken little. I am hopeful that the coaching staff keeps the team focused and ready to play their game. ACC road games are never gimmes.
Littlejohn is a very intense place. I expect it to be rocking, especially if Clemson beats LSU tonight.
I don't know that the range of outcomes for this game is all that different, i.e. that this game is more unpredictable than usual. (And I know all about prediction, as I am crushing the Degenerates league, #1 against the spread, #1 in over/under :-). And if I'm right about Clemson being distracted, that narrows the range of outcomes, not widens it. (And if I'm wrong, then it's just a regular ACC road game).
"Dynamic" is a bit strong for Simms, but he's a good player and they do have other good players as well. I could certainly see Tevin Mack, who's a 5th-year senior, muscling Matthew out of the way on drives to the basket; generally, I actually like Matthew defending driving guards better (where physical strength can be less a factor) than muscular face-up 4s like Mack.
Yeah, although I would rank Simms' 3-pt ability as my second-biggest concern. For a big, he's good driving the ball to the basket (playing off his threat as a 3-pt shooter), and I would be worried that he can drive into Vernon and pick up fouls on him.
How Duke's big men can handle drives from Simms and Mack will be a key to the game, imo. Because while Clemson's guards are going to be pretty good in a year or two, I don't think they're ready to do much against Tre, JGold, Cassius, et al this season. (John Newman might pop as an athletic defender in this game, though. Duke actually had recruiting interest in Newman for like two weeks, although I don't think an offer was ever made.)
Clemson is a pretty mediocre 3-point shooting team. Their performance from distance against UNC was ok, hitting 12 of 31 attempts (38.7%). It was their 2nd best 3-point shooting performance on the season. UNC is in the lower tier of teams based on 3-point defense, allowing opponents to hit 34.3% of their attempts, 237th best in the nation. Duke, by comparison, is one of the better 3-point percentage defenses, allowing teams to hit just 29.4% of their attempts (43rd best in the nation).
In a single game, something wacky could happen. However, it is unlikely that Clemson is going to defeat Duke from beyond the arc.
This is actually the third time this season that Duke has played a team immediately after that team has defeated UNC in Chapel Hill.
Wofford, GaTech, and now Clemson.
Hopefully watching Duke defeat those teams (in the case of Wofford, easily) that just beat them adds some psychic pain to UNC fans.
As long as the officiating isn’t as terrible as the Ga Tech game, it should be a comfortable win. If Clemson is allowed to go over the back and campout in the lane, then it might get tight...
Since this thread needs to be on the front page, and since there's no sports on TV tonight -
Any news on AOC's hip/back after his hard fall Saturday?
He re-entered the game, playing 17 minutes, only scored 1 point but had 4 boards and 2 steals:
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...meId=401168357
No reports of him wearing a boot...
[redacted] them and the horses they rode in on.
i know clemson's bb team is terrible, but tomorrow night, they're going to be gunning for an upset....losing the title tonight will motivate their team AND fans to take it out on duke....
i don't like it...
"One POSSIBLE future. From your point of view... I don't know tech stuff.".... Kyle Reese
I watched the gamefrom the comfort of my home last night and got to bed at 12:30. I imagine people at the Clemson campus would have watched in groups, many in bars, and would have got to bed in the wee hours. If anything, the fans will be tired and bummed out. Even some of the players may have watched the game and gotten little sleep.
If we play our game at a top level, the number of hungover fans and/or opposing players becomes quickly irrelevant. Let's go play Duke basketball.
My worry is will Vernon be Vernon tonight? He's had a couple of sub par games in a row. If he dominates, we should be fine..
Tough, loud arena. Duke is -10 right now. It is rarely easy on the road in the ACC, although Duke made it look that way at Miami.
Yeah, Vernon is adjusting to extra defensive attention and has some issues scoring against good, big defenders (Banks from Ga Tech for example).
He can choose his shot selection more carefully and also keep the ball moving if covered up. The good news is -- he has shown good passing ability, and our outside shooters are performing well lately.
Outside of the Georgia Tech game, Carey is not having any trouble scoring from the field. He's taking fewer shots as more teams are doubling him in the post. He did struggle from the field, shooting just 6-14 (42.9%) from the floor against James Banks III and Georgia Tech. That was his second worst shooting performance on the season (3-8 against Kansas). Where Carey has struggled a little is at the free throw line. On the other hand, Carey's assist totals have gone up of late. He's gotten 8 of his 14 assists on the season in the last 5 games while maintaining roughly the same rate of turnovers. He's getting touches but passing out of the double team more often and finding open shooters every now and then. it would be nice to see him pour in another 20-10 game, though, to keep the defenses honest.
After last night's loss it's going to interesting to see if Clemson fans have anything left for basketball tonight. I suspect there may be moments when the crowd gets loud but I'm not expecting much. Most of the students probably got to sleep after 1am, had to get up this morning, figure out where they are and what they drank, get home, shower and dress (poorly), go to class, take a nap...then get to a basketball game and pretend to care after losing the Natty....
Looking at Clemson's schedule, they have some wins, including one against NCSU but essentially they haven't beat anyone worth a <redacted>
I agree with DBA. Vernon is not forcing shots when double or tripled teamed. He seems to be content on passing the ball to open shooters and I love that. As long as our perimeter players keep knocking down the three pointer, Duke will be fine. Well , as long as we continue to play good defense. This teams calling card is defense but it's offense is a close 2nd. However, Vernon needs to shoot free throws better because he's going to get fouled a lot and if teams sense he can't make the freebees, he'll get fouled even more.
GoDuke!