Sunday's Game: Clemson at Wake Forest

Mar 6, 2009, 11:41 AM

Who: Clemson (23-6, 9-6 ACC, No. 18) at Wake Forest (23-5, 10-5 ACC, No. 10)
Where: Sunday, 6 p.m. at the Joel in Winston-Salem
Is it on TV? Yes, on FSN
What's the spread? Not out yet, but I'd expect the Deacs to be 5-point favorites
When last we met: A loud, LOUD Littlejohn saw No. 2 Wake take an early lead, then No. 10 Clemson close to within one point. Wake won at the line 78-68.

Wake students are on spring break

What's at stake? For Wake, it's senior day for Harvey Hale. It's also a chance for Wake's 3rd Top 20 win of the year, the potential difference between 2nd and 4th in the ACC seeding. For Clemson, it's a chance to match last year's win total with at least 2 games to go, the chance to have back-to-back 10-win ACC season (we only have 3 all-time) and could mean a bye in the ACC tourney. We'll know by tipoff if that's the case. In other words, Clemson has a lot more riding on this game than the Deacs.

The demon deac has not been kind to Clemson

Yeah, but it's at the Joel and we've never won there, right? Pretty dang close. We actually won our first game there, but no one currently involved with Clemson basketball (well, except Tim Bourret) has ever seen the Tigers win at the Joel. The good news is the Wake students are on spring break so maybe there won't be quite as many tie-dyed doofuses in the stands.
What's changed since our last game with Wake? A little bit. Wake actually lost to VTech at home (we can relate) and to GTech on the road (ala us and Virginia). They're been streaky .... really good (like when they pasted Florida St.) and really bad (when they lost to NC State.

Jeff Teague ran us ragged last time
Wake is still led by Jeff Teague (19 ppg, 3 reb, 4 ast, 24 points last time vs. Clemson) who was masterful against our full court pressure in Littlejohn. He's scored in double figures every game this year, and when defended by a good guard, he has no problem dishing out assists instead. He's still the glue that hold Wake's offense together.

Johnson has a mean treak on the court

Forward James Johnson (14 ppg, 8 reb, 2 ast, 18 points vs. Clemson last time) was a major problem for the Tigers in Littlejohn. After two monster games against NC State and Maryland, he's been held below double figures vs. Maryland and Virginia. He plays almost as minutes as Teague and is a solid defender as well as power on the board.

Behind Johnson, Al-Farouq Aminu (12 ppg, 8 reb, double-double against Clemson last time we met) has been picking up the slack. It seems if one guy is held in check the other steps up. Aminu also has the wingspan to alter shots underneath, as his 4 blocks against the Tigers last time attests.

McFarland beating on fans is nothing new

We couldn't let Wake go without mentioning everyone's favorite bleacher creature Chas McFarland (8 ppg, 6 boards, 12 rebounds and one squashed spectator vs. Clemson last time) He excels at goading opponents with his Bill Laimbeer imitation, then whining to the refs like Greg Paulus at a gay strip joint. L.D. Williams (8 ppg, great defensive job vs. Clemson last time) will see a lot of court time as well. I'm impressed with his ability to understand the game, rather than trolling for trouble like McFarland.

What can Clemson do to have a better chance this time? Don't foul Teague. Sure it sounds easy, but Teague riddled our defense (he does that to a lot of people) and the only option was either foul him or give up the layup. More than half of his 24 points against us came at the line (13 of 18). In fact he outscored the entire Clemson team at the line.

We don't have the borides to keep Wake off the boards entirely, but we have the definite edge outside. KC Rivers (14 ppg, 6 reb, 15 vs. Wake last time) is supposed to be back from an elbow tweak. If we have any hope of beating Wake we'll need his outside shot because it's a safe bet Terrence Oglesby (14 ppg, 15 vs. Wake last time) will see a lot of Deacon overplay. BTW we were 5 of 23 from the arc last time ... which won't get it done against the Deacs.

A lot of folks criticized our use of the press against the Deacs, but it forced 18 turnovers and helped spark our late rally to get within one. But Teague is at the stage of the season where his performance is less stellar late in the game. Ish Smith may see more action this game as Teague will need some rest.

"I'll let Teague inside, and you can clobber him"
Demontez Stitt (8 ppg, 4 ast, fouled out against Wake last time) must get more help against Teague, who is just too fast. That or the Tigers need to just play more half-court trapping against the Deacs and give everyone byut Teague more chances from the outside. The Deacs can hit out there, but it's not their first option. Without Teague they're under 30 percent from outside.

Inside, Wake is tough, as Trevor Booker (15 ppg, 10 reb. 2 blck, 9 points and 8 boards last time vs. Wake) can attest. Perhaps the senior game by Ray Sykes (8 ppg, 5 reb, No. 4 on the ESPN highlight reel last game) is a harbinger of things to come. Wake can't just sag on Booker if Ray plays like that.

The two things we must improve this game are fouls and rebounds. Wake will get plenty of both. We just can't give them more than necessary. A slower tempo actually helps Clemson in this case. Keep the game in the 70s or lower, hope the outside game is going and keep pressuring Wake in the half court. That's how NC State beat them. VTech and GTech beat Wake on its own ineptitude. And much as I'd like to see that, you just can't count on that happening.

Clemson must have road wrriors on Sunday
Clemson will need to play its best road game of the year to win. Wake is a bad matchup inside for us, so we need to be smart. We can do it, and given everything at stake, we should be focused.

It remains to be seen which Wake we get. The one that rolled up in Littlejohn, or the one that snored through NC State and the Techs.

The one thing Clemson has over the Deacs is depth. While Wake has keyed more and more on a top 6-7 rotation, the Tigers continue to go deep into the bench.

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Sunday's Game: Clemson at Wake Forest

Re: Sunday's Game: Clemson at Wake Forest

Thanks Rev. Still LOL at the McFarland description***

Rebounds, rebounds, rebounds. If we get them we have a

Point for the use of Hawk and Animal***

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