For the first two months of the season, Clemson was marching towards the NCAA tournament. They raced out to 20-3 (10-1) start, and getting to the big dance began to look like a formality, and then…
Clemson started losing, lost another game, and then another. Now at 20-7 (10-4), Clemson would be in the NCAA tournament if it were tomorrow, but make no mistake, they are on the bubble now.
Defensively, the Tigers have just lost it. I was there when Virginia Tech repeatedly broke Clemson down off the dribble, and then ended up shooting better than 50% from the field and over 50% from three-point range. Duke is Duke, and Clemson was never winning at Cameron, but then Wednesday night at Wake Forest was another defensive mess.
The Deacs scored 85 points and had a FG percentage of 55%.
Clemson was never an athletically gifted team, but it succeeded with tough defense and good half-court basketball. The tough defense is now absent, and the offensive play has become sloppy and turnover-prone.
Here is the scary part and why Clemson’s NCAA positioning may become precarious quickly.
Saturday is a game against a very dangerous Florida State team that spreads the floor and has athleticism that Clemson may have trouble matching. Then there is a game NCAA locks Louisville and UNC, before what would be a worthless win over a terrible Georgia Tech team.
If Clemson loses 3 of their last 4 games, it will enter the ACC tournament on the outside looking in of the NCAA tournament.
Florida State suddenly becomes Clemson’s most important game of the season.
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