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If anyone has anything or if Rev. Dodd would like to give anymore thoughts that would be good too.

Sagarin has us as a 2.5 favorite, so tossup.

Bleacher Report has a good breakdown of the SMU Clemson matchup. Apparently Clemson can struggle on offense at times. They have the Ponies winning 61-52.

Clemson has won with defense all year and they frequently holds their opponents to under 60 pts per game. The guy to watch is K.J.McDaniels, a versatile 6'6" athlete. The guy can play inside or out and will be all over the court, but he's been dangerous in the paint and on the offensive boards all year. If he gets hot from the perimeter, look out. Perimeter shooting has been a weakness, but DaMarcus Harrison is a shooter we have to watch. Rod Hall is strong with the ball...have to keep him from driving the lane. I think our bigs will match up well. Look for Kennedy to have a big night

I just want to know which one will hit 9 of 10 3 pointers.

will be interesting to see who gets the assignment of guarding McDaniels. My guess is Sterling to open and then Ryan when Sterling needs a blow. They need to run K.J. into the ground. We also need to hope Hall doesn't get little Nic into early foul trouble

Needs a blow?

Schedule rundown as follows, emphasis on common opponents/ NCAA tourney teams:

Initially, I'm more impressed with Cal - although I don't possess a high basketball IQ.

Clemson, however, has certainly played some tough teams. They're considered "overachieving".

Wins:
Temple
Duke (split: one win, one loss)
Wake Forest (split)
Fla. State (split)

Losses:
Arkansas (close)
Syracuse (badly)
Virginia (close)
Pitt X 2
North Carolina (badly)

Should be excited to play in New York -need to acclimate away from Moody and prove we're a road team, too...

Methinks we win with some pucker action. Need to hit free throws...

Well at least it is a neutral site so Clemson will not have a home court advantage. In fact if SMU can bring enough fans SMU can have a fan advantage.

My thoughts:

t seems that there are quite a few similarities here. Young teams, defense oriented, struggle on offense at times, each has looked very good at times and miserable at others. Each riding a three game feel good winning streak into NY. The best player on the court may be in orange but the depth and sharing of scoring appear to go our way.

I think this comes down to who stays out of foul trouble and who can execute enough offense to maintain and keep a good 7-8 point gap. I expect an ugly, low scoring game. Hopefully the refs let them play. Hopefully we make free throws at 75 percent or better....especially the ones down the stretch. Hopefully we value the ball and avoid stupid turnovers. It seems like both defenses will force enough as it is.

One thing I wonder: As both teams seem to prefer a half court offense to an up and down game, who is better when it breaks down and turns into an up and down? We're not bad.

First ( and only) team to 60 wins.

Who is Clemson's best player?

6' 6" KJ McDaniels can take a game over. Can go to the hoop and/or hit a three. Tough assignment, tough matchup.

austinponie wrote:Schedule rundown as follows, emphasis on common opponents/ NCAA tourney teams:

Initially, I'm more impressed with Cal - although I don't possess a high basketball IQ.

Clemson, however, has certainly played some tough teams. They're considered "overachieving".

Wins:
Temple
Duke (split: one win, one loss)
Wake Forest (split)
Fla. State (split)

Losses:
Arkansas (close)
Syracuse (badly)
Virginia (close)
Pitt X 2
North Carolina (badly)

Should be excited to play in New York -need to acclimate away from Moody and prove we're a road team, too...

Methinks we win with some pucker action. Need to hit free throws...

Cal has better athletes top to bottom than Clemson. Clemson plays better defense start to finish. As mentioned, our biggest problem is an occasional swoon on offense. It can doom us or allow another team (see that second Wake game and especially first FSU game) to catch back up.

We always lose to UNC in Chapel Hill ... it's an amazing streak when you stop to look at it. I can't look at it without wanting to throw up, however.

He left off UMass, which was a Top 25 team most of the year. They were too stout inside early in the year. The UNC loss triggered their 12-game win streak. Always happy to do our part for the ACC.

Arkansas was early, and Syracuse was on the tail end of a 5-of-6 ACC road death march. We also couldn't hit from the wings to save our soul in that game (see the lack of consistent offense that has bedeviled us at times). Pitt Game 1 was too physical for us. Pitt game 2 was the game the refs gave PItt a tying basket after the light came on to end the game, and we just couldn't get back up in time to win in OT. Virginia, Landry Nnoko was out with the flu and we trailed by 1 with a minute to go.

All in all, we over performed for a team expected to finish 14th in the conference, and like y'all we're proud of our guys. The neutral court may make the difference for one of us.

Take care!