The ACC Round 1: Clemson vs. Ga. Tech

Mar 10, 2009, 10:04 AM

Who: Clemson (23-7, No. 5 seed, No. 17 AP) vs. GTech (11-18, No. 12 seed, RPI of a mid-range MAAC team).
When: Thursday, 2 p.m. or so in the Georgia Dome
Is it on TV? Locally we get it on Raycom. Check your local listings.
What's the spread? Not out yet, but I'd expect Clemson to be 7-point favorites.

Jacket fans turned out in droves this year.

Why? Tech has the home-court advantage, right? Ummm, you haven't seen the games in Atlanta this year, have you? That's all right....not too many people have. Truth be told, there's not a lot of vocal support for the Jackets this season. Remember the closing minutes of our 81-73 win in the Thrillerdome? You could hear the cadence count cheer bouncing off the backs of Jacket fans sprinting for the exits.

Oh yeah! We smacked the Jackets pretty well. How have they done since then? Believe it or not, the Jackets have doubled their number of ACC wins. Sure that only means one win, but they've looked pretty good against mid-pack ACC teams. GTech whipped Miami in a game the Canes really needed, then came up just short of beating Boston College.

Clinch wonders: What if Iplayed for a team that was any good?

What's changed for Tech? In a word, balance. The Jackets are spreading the ball around on offense a lot more and getting a much better game out of Lewis Clinch (14 ppg, 3 reb, 3 ast, 27 last game against Clemson). He's scored 20 or more in his last 6 games, including 30 in the win over Miami.

Shumpert wipes his forehead on KC's jersey.

Iman Shumpert (10 ppg, 4 reb, 5 ast, 6 steals vs. Clemson last time) is settling into the role of point guard, and Gani Lawal (15 ppg, 9 reb, 11 points vs. Clemson last time) has scored in double figures in the Jackets' last six games.

The Jackets are playing better defensively as well ... or perhpas their opponents are just getting tired. After Clemson torched Tech for better than 50 percent beyond the arc, the Jackets held Miami and BC to less than 25 percent from the outside.

Essentially, the Jackets are playing well enough to win now. And if the Tigers go into the Georgia Dome expecting to face a rag-tag Jacket squad, we'll have a rude surprise. Rememebr that Tech held a sizeable lead on the Tigers for much of the first half in the Thrillerdome before, mainly on Clinch's outside shooting, before running out of steam.

Speaking of steam, how much does Clemson have left? On offense, things look pretty good. Clemson is scoring nearly 80 points per game, good for 3rd in the league, and our 47 percent field goal shooting is in the top 4. Despite some matador defense against Wake last weekend, the Tigers are still holding foes under 68 points per game (good for 3rd in the league) and we're among the leaders in forcing turnovers and steals.

Clemson can't start slow again

If there's a problem against Tech, it's slow starts. Twice, the Tigers came out of the gate slow against the Jackets, then took the game in the second half. Winning like that takes a lot of energy. It's the difference between chasing a bee around with a fly swatter or just squashing him immediately. We really don't need to waste energy if we want to have a hope of beating FSU on Friday.

Why drive? Just shoot!

If so, how do we squash the Jackets early? We need to play the first half we did against Wake. Between KC Rivers (14 ppg, 6 reb, 2 ast, 2 steals, 19 points last game vs. GTech) and Terrence Oglesby (14 ppg, 2 ast, a flu-marred 5 points last time against GTech) the Tigers have two potent offensive threats from the outside. Inside, Trevor Booker (15 ppg, 10 reb, 2 blk, 21 points and 12 reb last game against GTech, 2nd team All-ACC) has to work around Lawal and Aminu, but has been a solid presence.

We might see more of this from Stitt

A wild card for this game is Demontez Stitt (9 ppg, 4 ast, 9 points and 7 ast last game against GTech) who had a tremendous game against Wake. If Stitt can force Clinch (who will likely be facing him) inside like he did Teague, the Tigers will have even more room on the wings.

Much like the Wake game, the Tigers face some size on the boards, meaning Ray Sykes (8 ppg, 5 reb, a lackluster game last time vs. GTech) should be called on more as a defender than offensive threat. We need to keep the Jackets off the offensive glass, where they rolled Miami.

An up-tempo game would benefit the Tigers, and we can expect to see a lot of the bench. GTech will likely stay with its starters and reserve guard Maurice Miller (since every game may be their last) Clemson will rotate 9 deep ... maybe 10 if we get ahead early.

How do things look overall? You know the old adage about how hard it is to beat an opponent 3 times. Tech tried going inside and lost. Then they tried riding CLinch's shooting and lost. And they would have lost by a bunch if the Tigers didn't start slow, then shut things down with a few minutes to go in both games.

Bee-ware of yellow jackets.
Anything is possible, especially if we get sloppy with the ball. And Tech is desperate. That said, we have the edge on the outside and can play evenly on the boards. I'd anticipate a shooting clinic fomr the outside and a slow pulling away in the second half. With a good, clean effort, the Tigers should move on in the tourney, saving at least at the worst a 5 seed for the Dance.

flag link

military_tech

thumb_down

thumb_up

The ACC Round 1: Clemson vs. Ga. Tech

first one to read***

uhhh...congratulations?***

Thanks Rev -- and LOL at matador defense...although

Re: Thanks Rev -- and LOL at matador defense...although

Was that defense like an old AMC Matador?...

I know were not vs. VT, but where are the Dana Delaney pics****

Dang! I ran out! So how about...

TigerBoard POTD