It’s definitely cliché when we say one team broke another, but when it comes to Clemson basketball I think there’s something to it. After a COVID pause 9-1 Clemson was playing on their home floor on January 15 in a marquee game against the Virginia Cavaliers.
Virginia woodshedded Clemson 85-50. It was a complete and total beatdown. The Hoos literally ran a 40 minute scrimmage in every phase of the game. There was some hope from Clemson nation that rust was in play following the pause. There’s no question rust played a role, but that’s a disservice to how well Virginia played. They played so well in fact, that it’s becoming apparent that it has affected Clemson mentally.
In otherwords Virginia may have really broke Clemson.
Since that game, Clemson hasn’t just lost two more games they’ve been blown out. Wednesday night facing a Georgia Tech team that was playing their first game since their own COVID pause, they lost 83-65 in a game that wasn’t really that close. Georgia Tech made a whopping 16 3 pointers. Then Saturday against red-hot Florida State, the Noles ran them off the court 80-61. It wasn’t that close either.
I think we can agree that Virginia and Florida State are probably the ACC’s best teams, and Georgia Tech has one of the premier backcourts in the conference, but that doesn’t explain it all.
Clemson was a team pre-pause that had wins over Florida State, Maryland, Alabama, and Purdue. They had earned a top 15 ranking, but since then some weaknesses have been exposed.
When Clemson can’t create easy baskets off their defense, they don’t have true floor general that can manufacture consistent scoring opportunities in the half court. PG Nick Honor is a nice player, but he looked overmatched against the likes of Virginia’s Kihei Clark, Georgia Tech’s Jose Alvardo, and FSU’s Scottie Barnes.
That’s just one aspect of Clemson’s issues though. This team’s body language is terrible. When they start falling behind any hint of continuity is out the window. Consistent defensive effort is lacking as well.
This falls on head coach Brad Brownell.
He’s got to find a way to get Clemson out of this mental funk that Virginia put them in, and that Georgia Tech and FSU kept there with their own fine play.
Brownell is getting precariously close to totally losing a pretty talented team. We gave credit to Brownell for the season’s start, but now he must take the blame for not having Clemson prepared in a post-pause mess now that’s now reached three games.
Clemson did so much quality work early in the year, that the season is not lost, but Brownell has to get his team mentally right or it will be really soon.
Make sure you follow the All Sports Discussion Twitter account at @AllSportsDACC and please like our Facebook Page
Leave a Reply