FSU 57 Clemson 77 The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
The Good
Players of the game: Malique Ewin with almost another double double (15 pts, 9 rebounds). And it wasn't easy but showed he could get through a tough defense mostly through the use of his spin moves. Without the emergence of Ewin, FSU does not have 11 wins so far this season. Jamir Watkins reaches double digits once again (11). You want to talk about a defense making it tough on someone. Watkins did not reach that number until the game was clearly decided and in garbage time. Clemson sure did that today to FSU's leading scorer. Jerry Deng also with 11 reaching double digits for the fourth time this season.
Although FSU did not get to the FT line as much as they like, the Seminoles did shoot pretty well, 11-15 (73%).
Dequan Davis with 5 assists and added 7 points.
At least the Seminoles led in the game. For six minutes in fact. You look for little things like that when you get blown out.
Plays of the game: Ewin with the spin move down the lane and putting up the hook shot, 8-7. The short stretch early in the first half where Davis forced the Tigers into the three consecutive turnovers. The contested jumper by Deng from the left baseline, 17-15. Ewin backing down the defender into position for the point blank lay up, 21-27. Davis with the rebound racing coast to coast for the lay up, 23-29. Davis again teaming up with Taylor Bol Bowen with the lob finished off with the slam dunk, 25-29. Justin Thomas with the steal getting out on the break and passing to Ewin for the dunk, 33-49. And then the same two repeat the same play, 35-49. Ewin with another spin move down the lane right past Ian Schieffelin for the lay in. Watkins with the backwards bounce pass to Chandler Jackson to Deng all alone under the rim, 49-61. After receiving a long outlet pass, Davis all alone on the break for what looked like a sure two points but instead Chase Hunter hustled back to block the lay up. The ball quickly ends up to a shooter in the right corner. The three pointer increases the Clemson lead to 73-52. With 3:05 remaining. That was pretty much the game. A bad play for FSU, but you have to appreciate the hustle by Hunter on that play. With less than a half minute to play, Bol Bowen steals the ball at the top of the Clemson key and gives himself the assist by lobbing the ball underhand off the backboard, catching it and finishing with the slam. He nearly repeated the play by stealing the ball again on the Clemson side of the court but did not get the shot off before the buzzer sounded.
The Bad
FSU falls to 11-5, 2-3 on the season. The nightmare at Littlejohn (not to be confused with Little John) Coliseum where FSU has lost five straight there and 8 of 10. FSU has not won at Clemson since February 19, 2019. It was also another lost opportunity to earn a quality win where the Seminoles are 11-0 in Quad 3 and 4 games but o-fer in Quad 1 and 2 games.
FSU's last lead in the game was 17-15. Clemson however went on a 14-4 run to lead 29-21. FSU closed it to 29-25 with those two plays mentioned earlier and trailed at the half 36-29. It was a disastrous start to the second period as the 'Noles, just as they did at Miami, came out of the locker room lethargic. A 13-2 run put the Tigers up 49-31 in just minutes. The closest FSU would get the rest of the game was 58-47 after a 7-0 run by the 'Noles. Plenty of time was left on the clock with just under nine minutes remaining. But you never got the sense the Seminoles were capable of making a strong run. Neither the offense or defense were in sync for this game.
Turnovers or the lack thereof. FSU's offense relies greatly on forcing turnovers; defense to offense. Clemson simply took care of the ball with only 10 turnovers and FSU scored just 7 points from those miscues. The Tigers held onto the ball and FSU did not do much to force mistakes.
Watkins. Credit the Tiger defense. Obviously Watkins was the first focal point on the scouting report. After Watkins hit two three pointers to start the scoring for FSU, he did not make another shot until 4:39 was left in the game and was 0-6 until that FG. That third basket was his last out of out 12 attempts. An 8 of those 12 were from behind the arc. That is not his game and is more of an attack the basket player. He did very little of that which affected his trip to the FT line. Just 3 of 3 from the stripe for the player who is second in the nation in FT attempts, 135.
It might have helped Watkins had he had more scoring support from teammates. Relying on two players is not the Hamilton idea of offense.
The Ugly
From 26 assists against Miami to just 10 vs Clemson. Clearly the Seminoles were not moving the ball. Clemson certainly had something to do with that such as putting defenders in places FSU players wanted to go but couldn't because there was a defender there. Hamilton said after the game that the goal is 225 passes in a game. Today he estimated it was only 165.
A stat flashed on TV during the game. Clemson is 6-0 (make that 7-0 now) when Chauncey Wiggins scores 10 points or more. Wiggins had 12 today. Why didn't they just end the game right there when he scored point #10? Would have saved every one a lot of time and for FSU fans some frustration.
Something was bound to give as Clemson leads the ACC in three point shooting and FSU is near the top in three point defense. It turned out to be FSU as the one to give. Leonard Hamilton in his pre game interview stressed the ability of Clemson to shoot the three with seven players on the roster shooting 10 or more. For whatever reasons, FSU, who has been good defensively at the arc, was anything but today allowing the Tigers to connect on 13 of 28. Many were of the uncontested variety, something Hamilton lamented in his post game interview. Clemson continued its streak of shooting 6 or more threes in every game they have played this season.
Meanwhile FSU, who has shot 40% in three straight games prior to today, was just 4 of 16. That is 25% for those keeping score at home.
With 2:44 left in the half to the 17:45 mark of the second, FSU scored exactly zero points. I'll save you some time figuring that out. That is 4:59 seconds without a point. By the time Jackson had scored that drought breaking FG, CU was already up 42-29.
The flagrant one foul on Watkins when he mistook Jaeden Zachery's head for the ball and gave a good smack to the side of his head. That had to smart juuuuuuuuust a little.
Hamilton obviously saw things were not going well and called a time out with 16:36 left in the game. Coming out of a time out the last thing a coach wants to see is a turnover by his team. Apparently Davis was not aware coaches hate to see that sort of thing happen.
Up Next
FSU returns home for a late night tip hosting the Pitt Panthers. Yes, it is a 9 PM contest at the TLCCC (I have a feeling the number of empty seats will outnumber the seats with bodies in them). The game will be broadcast on ESPN. When we last saw the Panthers (12-4), they were in the process of losing to Louisville (anyone notice the Cardinals are 5-1 in the ACC?) earlier today, 82-78. Prior to that, Pitt had lost to Duke, 76-47. But make no mistake, this is a very good team averaging 81 ppg. They have quality wins over WVA, LSU, and Ohio State. Oh, and you may recognize the name Cam Corhen who in on the Panthers' team. The former Seminole is 4th in scoring for the Panthers averaging 10.9 ppg, .632 shooting %, and 5.8 rpg. In other words, he is playing well.
The Good
Players of the game: Malique Ewin with almost another double double (15 pts, 9 rebounds). And it wasn't easy but showed he could get through a tough defense mostly through the use of his spin moves. Without the emergence of Ewin, FSU does not have 11 wins so far this season. Jamir Watkins reaches double digits once again (11). You want to talk about a defense making it tough on someone. Watkins did not reach that number until the game was clearly decided and in garbage time. Clemson sure did that today to FSU's leading scorer. Jerry Deng also with 11 reaching double digits for the fourth time this season.
Although FSU did not get to the FT line as much as they like, the Seminoles did shoot pretty well, 11-15 (73%).
Dequan Davis with 5 assists and added 7 points.
At least the Seminoles led in the game. For six minutes in fact. You look for little things like that when you get blown out.
Plays of the game: Ewin with the spin move down the lane and putting up the hook shot, 8-7. The short stretch early in the first half where Davis forced the Tigers into the three consecutive turnovers. The contested jumper by Deng from the left baseline, 17-15. Ewin backing down the defender into position for the point blank lay up, 21-27. Davis with the rebound racing coast to coast for the lay up, 23-29. Davis again teaming up with Taylor Bol Bowen with the lob finished off with the slam dunk, 25-29. Justin Thomas with the steal getting out on the break and passing to Ewin for the dunk, 33-49. And then the same two repeat the same play, 35-49. Ewin with another spin move down the lane right past Ian Schieffelin for the lay in. Watkins with the backwards bounce pass to Chandler Jackson to Deng all alone under the rim, 49-61. After receiving a long outlet pass, Davis all alone on the break for what looked like a sure two points but instead Chase Hunter hustled back to block the lay up. The ball quickly ends up to a shooter in the right corner. The three pointer increases the Clemson lead to 73-52. With 3:05 remaining. That was pretty much the game. A bad play for FSU, but you have to appreciate the hustle by Hunter on that play. With less than a half minute to play, Bol Bowen steals the ball at the top of the Clemson key and gives himself the assist by lobbing the ball underhand off the backboard, catching it and finishing with the slam. He nearly repeated the play by stealing the ball again on the Clemson side of the court but did not get the shot off before the buzzer sounded.
The Bad
FSU falls to 11-5, 2-3 on the season. The nightmare at Littlejohn (not to be confused with Little John) Coliseum where FSU has lost five straight there and 8 of 10. FSU has not won at Clemson since February 19, 2019. It was also another lost opportunity to earn a quality win where the Seminoles are 11-0 in Quad 3 and 4 games but o-fer in Quad 1 and 2 games.
FSU's last lead in the game was 17-15. Clemson however went on a 14-4 run to lead 29-21. FSU closed it to 29-25 with those two plays mentioned earlier and trailed at the half 36-29. It was a disastrous start to the second period as the 'Noles, just as they did at Miami, came out of the locker room lethargic. A 13-2 run put the Tigers up 49-31 in just minutes. The closest FSU would get the rest of the game was 58-47 after a 7-0 run by the 'Noles. Plenty of time was left on the clock with just under nine minutes remaining. But you never got the sense the Seminoles were capable of making a strong run. Neither the offense or defense were in sync for this game.
Turnovers or the lack thereof. FSU's offense relies greatly on forcing turnovers; defense to offense. Clemson simply took care of the ball with only 10 turnovers and FSU scored just 7 points from those miscues. The Tigers held onto the ball and FSU did not do much to force mistakes.
Watkins. Credit the Tiger defense. Obviously Watkins was the first focal point on the scouting report. After Watkins hit two three pointers to start the scoring for FSU, he did not make another shot until 4:39 was left in the game and was 0-6 until that FG. That third basket was his last out of out 12 attempts. An 8 of those 12 were from behind the arc. That is not his game and is more of an attack the basket player. He did very little of that which affected his trip to the FT line. Just 3 of 3 from the stripe for the player who is second in the nation in FT attempts, 135.
It might have helped Watkins had he had more scoring support from teammates. Relying on two players is not the Hamilton idea of offense.
The Ugly
From 26 assists against Miami to just 10 vs Clemson. Clearly the Seminoles were not moving the ball. Clemson certainly had something to do with that such as putting defenders in places FSU players wanted to go but couldn't because there was a defender there. Hamilton said after the game that the goal is 225 passes in a game. Today he estimated it was only 165.
A stat flashed on TV during the game. Clemson is 6-0 (make that 7-0 now) when Chauncey Wiggins scores 10 points or more. Wiggins had 12 today. Why didn't they just end the game right there when he scored point #10? Would have saved every one a lot of time and for FSU fans some frustration.
Something was bound to give as Clemson leads the ACC in three point shooting and FSU is near the top in three point defense. It turned out to be FSU as the one to give. Leonard Hamilton in his pre game interview stressed the ability of Clemson to shoot the three with seven players on the roster shooting 10 or more. For whatever reasons, FSU, who has been good defensively at the arc, was anything but today allowing the Tigers to connect on 13 of 28. Many were of the uncontested variety, something Hamilton lamented in his post game interview. Clemson continued its streak of shooting 6 or more threes in every game they have played this season.
Meanwhile FSU, who has shot 40% in three straight games prior to today, was just 4 of 16. That is 25% for those keeping score at home.
With 2:44 left in the half to the 17:45 mark of the second, FSU scored exactly zero points. I'll save you some time figuring that out. That is 4:59 seconds without a point. By the time Jackson had scored that drought breaking FG, CU was already up 42-29.
The flagrant one foul on Watkins when he mistook Jaeden Zachery's head for the ball and gave a good smack to the side of his head. That had to smart juuuuuuuuust a little.
Hamilton obviously saw things were not going well and called a time out with 16:36 left in the game. Coming out of a time out the last thing a coach wants to see is a turnover by his team. Apparently Davis was not aware coaches hate to see that sort of thing happen.
Up Next
FSU returns home for a late night tip hosting the Pitt Panthers. Yes, it is a 9 PM contest at the TLCCC (I have a feeling the number of empty seats will outnumber the seats with bodies in them). The game will be broadcast on ESPN. When we last saw the Panthers (12-4), they were in the process of losing to Louisville (anyone notice the Cardinals are 5-1 in the ACC?) earlier today, 82-78. Prior to that, Pitt had lost to Duke, 76-47. But make no mistake, this is a very good team averaging 81 ppg. They have quality wins over WVA, LSU, and Ohio State. Oh, and you may recognize the name Cam Corhen who in on the Panthers' team. The former Seminole is 4th in scoring for the Panthers averaging 10.9 ppg, .632 shooting %, and 5.8 rpg. In other words, he is playing well.
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