The Upside- Clemson | Syracusefan.com

The Upside- Clemson

SWC75

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- We in some, we lose some. Tonight we won one and are back to .500 at 9-9. That gives us no clue as to what’s going to happen next but I’ll take it.

- Miami, a team we had that 18 point lead on and lost by 1 point, beat Duke in their next game and demolished North Carolina tonight in a game that must have resembled our huge win over them in the 2020 ACCT. Florida State, who we almost swept, beat Duke tonight. As we “walk through the valley of the shadow of death, (defeat), I will fear no evil” in the ACC this year. We can beat, (or lose to) anybody.

- If we beat Wake and FSU as we should have, we’re 11-7 and 5-2 in the conference and everybody’s outlook would be very different.

- Our last 9 games: We lose by 4, win by 31, win by 12, lose by 5, lose by 1, lose by 3 in overtime, win by 16, lose by 5, win by 13. That sounds like an above .500 team to me: one that just has to do a better job at the end of close games.

- JB played 9 guys and everybody played at least fairly well, (although Cole Swider almost went down for the third time).

- Clemson was supposed to bomb us out from three point range but they were just 8 for 27 (29.6%). We had one more three than t hey did, 9 for 22, (40.9%).

- It continues: we’ve won the boards in every ACC game. It was 49-26 tonight. That’s what other teams do to us when we lose by 13 points.

- Buddy Boeheim missed a couple of open threes but still scored 25 points with 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.

- Joe Girard had probably his best game of the season, scoring 23 points and hitting some BIG shots, (he tied Buddy with one late shot only to have Buddy top him with a steal and lay-up to take game scoring honors: when those two are having an in-game rivalry, that’s good news for us). He also had 5 assists and 4 steals, playing with obvious confidence.

- Jimmy Boeheim had a good comeback game with a 13 points, 10 rebound double-double, including a “clean-up” of his little brother’s miss he must have gotten a kick out of.

- Jesse Edwards also had a double-double, as did his opposite number for Clemson, PJ hall. PJ dominated early but Coach Boeheim lit a fire under Jesse at halftime and our guy dominated the second half. It was fun to see the two big guys try to out-do each other. PJ scored 19 on 9 for 13 shooting and had 11 rebounds and 2 steals but Jesse had 15 points on 4 for 6 shooting and 7 for 10 from the foul line, (he’s developed a knack for sneaking the ball over the front rim but if he could push it about 3-4 inches forward I’d be a lot less nervous about it), with 11 rebounds and 4 blocks.

- Sy Torrance continues to improve. He made a couple of jump hooks off the backboard that impressed and had a rebound and a couple more assists in 14 minutes of play.

- Benny Williams played 5 minutes but made it seem longer with aggressive play. He got a rebound and block but was the block that was memorable. He engulfed a lay-up attempts and get the ball to a teammate who started a fast break. It was one of those ‘flash’ plays that shows you what got the scouts so excited. His one miss was a short jumper in the lane that wasn’t close. He’s a work in progress but he showed a little of it tonight.

9-9 with 13+ to go.

LET’S GO ORANGE!
 
Bennie, so far, has shown little ability to make those short jumpers. However, his athleticism is off the charts. Why is this kid not rolling to the hoop on every possession that he is in the game ??? Especially, when Jesse is in there and often drawing attention...there should be some open lanes for Bennie to be available for dunks and/or short putbacks on misses !!!
 
- We in some, we lose some. Tonight we won one and are back to .500 at 9-9. That gives us no clue as to what’s going to happen next but I’ll take it.

- Miami, a team we had that 18 point lead on and lost by 1 point, beat Duke in their next game and demolished North Carolina tonight in a game that must have resembled our huge win over them in the 2020 ACCT. Florida State, who we almost swept, beat Duke tonight. As we “walk through the valley of the shadow of death, (defeat), I will fear no evil” in the ACC this year. We can beat, (or lose to) anybody.

- If we beat Wake and FSU as we should have, we’re 11-7 and 5-2 in the conference and everybody’s outlook would be very different.

- Our last 9 games: We lose by 4, win by 31, win by 12, lose by 5, lose by 1, lose by 3 in overtime, win by 16, lose by 5, win by 13. That sounds like an above .500 team to me: one that just has to do a better job at the end of close games.

- JB played 9 guys and everybody played at least fairly well, (although Cole Swider almost went down for the third time).

- Clemson was supposed to bomb us out from three point range but they were just 8 for 27 (29.6%). We had one more three than t hey did, 9 for 22, (40.9%).

- It continues: we’ve won the boards in every ACC game. It was 49-26 tonight. That’s what other teams do to us when we lose by 13 points.

- Buddy Boeheim missed a couple of open threes but still scored 25 points with 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.

- Joe Girard had probably his best game of the season, scoring 23 points and hitting some BIG shots, (he tied Buddy with one late shot only to have Buddy top him with a steal and lay-up to take game scoring honors: when those two are having an in-game rivalry, that’s good news for us). He also had 5 assists and 4 steals, playing with obvious confidence.

- Jimmy Boeheim had a good comeback game with a 13 points, 10 rebound double-double, including a “clean-up” of his little brother’s miss he must have gotten a kick out of.

- Jesse Edwards also had a double-double, as did his opposite number for Clemson, PJ hall. PJ dominated early but Coach Boeheim lit a fire under Jesse at halftime and our guy dominated the second half. It was fun to see the two big guys try to out-do each other. PJ scored 19 on 9 for 13 shooting and had 11 rebounds and 2 steals but Jesse had 15 points on 4 for 6 shooting and 7 for 10 from the foul line, (he’s developed a knack for sneaking the ball over the front rim but if he could push it about 3-4 inches forward I’d be a lot less nervous about it), with 11 rebounds and 4 blocks.

- Sy Torrance continues to improve. He made a couple of jump hooks off the backboard that impressed and had a rebound and a couple more assists in 14 minutes of play.

- Benny Williams played 5 minutes but made it seem longer with aggressive play. He got a rebound and block but was the block that was memorable. He engulfed a lay-up attempts and get the ball to a teammate who started a fast break. It was one of those ‘flash’ plays that shows you what got the scouts so excited. His one miss was a short jumper in the lane that wasn’t close. He’s a work in progress but he showed a little of it tonight.

9-9 with 13+ to go.

LET’S GO ORANGE!
That block was Jeremi Grant like (St. John’s@the garden).
 
Bennie, so far, has shown little ability to make those short jumpers. However, his athleticism is off the charts. Why is this kid not rolling to the hoop on every possession that he is in the game ??? Especially, when Jesse is in there and often drawing attention...there should be some open lanes for Bennie to be available for dunks and/or short putbacks on misses !!!

I am not worried about Benny (other than portal concerns)...

His defense is already improving and he looked a lot less lost out there last night in his limited time on the court.

His offense will come and he's definitely in the mental/confidence rut many Freshman get... and especially ours, since JB doesn't allow Freshmen to play through mistakes and they are on such a short leash.

All that said, my gut says he will be one of those "it just clicked" guys... kinda like Jesse is this year...

When the game slows down for him and he gets that confidence swagger back, the improvement will be night and day...
 
I am not worried about Benny (other than portal concerns)...

His defense is already improving and he looked a lot less lost out there last night in his limited time on the court.

His offense will come and he's definitely in the mental/confidence rut many Freshman get... and especially ours, since JB doesn't allow Freshmen to play through mistakes and they are on such a short leash.

All that said, my gut says he will be one of those "it just clicked" guys... kinda like Jesse is this year...

When the game slows down for him and he gets that confidence swagger back, the improvement will be night and day...

Yes, people are looking through SU history for a player comparable to Benny's situation. Why do we need to look past his teammate Jesse Edwards, who rarely played and didn't do much when he did his first season, made his presence felt as a sophomore and is blossoming into a star as a junior? Everybody has their own schedule for development.
 
Can't be above .500 if you have as many losses as wins.

But you can if you turn losses into wins. And a team that alternates decisive wins with close losses might be capable of doing that.
 
Yes, people are looking through SU history for a player comparable to Benny's situation. Why do we need to look past his teammate Jesse Edwards, who rarely played and didn't do much when he did his first season, made his presence felt as a sophomore and is blossoming into a star as a junior? Everybody has their own schedule for development.

Onuaku was similar trajectory.
 
But you can if you turn losses into wins. And a team that alternates decisive wins with close losses might be capable of doing that.
Yeah that paragraph you wrote on this gave me pause and some hope about a strong season finish. I get so jacked up about the losses I really didn’t pay attention to the overall picture
 

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