Clemson Catastrophe & ACC Notes: The U

An absolutely abyssmal performance on the road tonight for Carolina. Clemson's MO under Coach Purnell has been full-court pressure that often leads to easy transition buckets for the Tigers. In discussing the game with a friend earlier today, I said that the Heels could not turn the ball over and expect to compete, much less win. It was that simple. Well, they finished with about 73 turnovers, so mission not-so-accomplished. I'm not writing any more about this game for fear of being too reactionary. Just know that I did laundry from the twelve minute mark on of the second half. Also, know that Roy Williams' tie was gawd awful. Burn it Roy. Finally, know that I wore untested "Carolina Gameday" boxers tonight that I received for Christmas. Needless to say, I will no longer be wearing these drawers on gamedays.

Moving on to something new for this college hoops season: The Blue Team will feature team notes on each ACC team I get to see play in person. As you know, I work every home basketball game at Virginia Tech courtside and get to see at least nine ACC teams (including the Hokies) every season. Tonight, the Hokies opened ACC play by beating the Miami Hurricanes 81-66. VT actually led 48-13 at one point late in the first half, so this was never much of a game. However, there are still a few decent takeaways on the Canes despite their poor performance, so let's delve into the first set of ACC Notes.

The initial quality that jumps out about Miami is their athleticism. Every single guy on this team looks like a stud athlete. They are very smooth and fast. That being said, the collective skill of this team is not all that good. Shooting is streaky, turnovers are frequent, and good decision-making is not always present. They remind me a lot of Eddie Sutton's Oklahoma State teams of recent years, just not quite as good. However, Miami is going to be tough to beat when they defend well and can get out and run a lot, as not many teams are able to keep up with the Canes.

From an individual standpoint, no one player really jumped out to me as "the guy". Dwayne Collins is supposed to be option one, but he is still inconsistent. The Hurricanes did not do a good job, especially early on in this game, of getting into their offense. Every set seemed to get blown up, either by a turnover or just good defense from the Hokies. As a result, Collins was not a factor. He did completely sky over Victor Davila for a put back in the second half, so you know the tools are there. He's probably just waiting to unleash 30 & 13 on the Heels later this year.

Durand Scott, a freshmen guard from New York, is going to be a good one for Miami. He was a 4* recruit coming out of high school and really showed great burst and toughness tonight. He was frustrated with his team & his individual play at times tonight, but I think was the typical "New York competitiveness" coming out. He is a physically strong kid and will really be a good scorer once he hones his jumper.

Likewise, Reggie Johnson, a redshirt freshmen from North Carolina, shows a lot of promise as well. He is a big body, very much reminding me physically of current Tar Heel Deon Thompson when he was a rookie. He is not polished, but seems to use his size well and can at least man up defensively. If Frank Haith & his staff can work with this kid, Johnson could develop into a force before his Miami career is over.

On the flip side, sophomore Dequan Jones was a 5* guy coming out of high school, a huge recruiting get from Haith & Co. However, he is the definition of "athletic without skill" right now. Sure, he can rebound and defend, but he doesn't have much handle or a consistent jumper. I reckon he's going to improve and his body is off the charts, but the basketball skills have not caught up yet for this guy.

Overall, I think Miami is going to be alright. They took a lot of bad shots tonight, making some but missing more. I'm sure playing in a tough road environment did not help, but they seemed to lose composure and get rattled (reminds me of another team that lost on the road in the ACC tonight). However, there are four seniors on the team, so hopefully these guys will take it upon themselves to pull their team together and get better. I think I just a caught the Canes on a bad night tonight and we'll see the real Miami develop to the tune of 9-7 in the league. The battle, of course, will be with the selection committee to get past their atrocious non-conference schedule and snatch a bid.

One other quick note related to the Canes. They have a guy, whom I assume to be a senior in school there, who serves as a team manager. He sat on the end of their bench tonight and did all of the manager things: water, stools, clipboard, towels, etc. He also lept to his feet after nearly every made basket, clapped with far-too-enthusiastic vigor, and screamed at the officials on more than one occasion. It was bad enough that I noticed the other "end of the bench guys" (trainers, stat guy, strength guy, etc) discussing his behavior after a particularly strong reaction/meltdown in the second half. Somehow the Hokies' student section, the Cassell Guard, did not notice how into the game this guy was. But let me tell you, he heard them anyway. Every "Uuuuuuuu suck" or "Just like foot-ball" chant by the students was met by a slew of f-bombs, glares, and fidgety body language. I really thought this kid was going to lose it and strangle someone for yelling at his beloved Hurricanes. It's a long season dude, and you've got seven more ACC road environments to visit. You might want to chill out and relax, because if another school realizes how into the game you are, you could find yourself the target of their chants. Worse yet, if you snap on an official, Frank Haith will be looking for a new manager. It's just a game man.

We'll get to another ACC Notes segment next week, as the Boston College Eagles come calling to Blacksburg. I doubt I'll bother with a formal UNC breakdown at any point, given the amount of coverage the Heels already receive. We'll save the Hokies for later in the season, after they have developed a bit more. In the meantime, enjoy watching NBC screw themselves & Tennessee scramble to find a new coach not named Butch Davis.