Cemetery Hill

Don't think you guys want my prediction.

Haha call me crazy but I think Clemson really has a chance in this one. I think we could see a similar situation as Arizona with the game tied late before Miami's Seniors take over. Only way I see a Miami blowout is if Booker gets in foul trouble or the Canes shoot lights out from 3 (which given Clemsons troubles defending the 3 is very possible).

I'll be at the game tomorrow night covering the action for Clemson 247. Feel free to log onto this thread and join the discussion as I'll be updating with my observations from court side.

Will be in LJ today. Should be a good environment.

In my opinion this will be our biggest need for next season after losing Booker & Jennings, as I feel that our outside shooting will improve with the incoming recruits + getting Coleman & Blossomgame back from injuries.

Clemson is recruiting a few big guys pretty hard right now, including Junior Etou (6'7" 210), Demetrius Henry (6'9" 210) & Sidy Mohamed Djitte (6'10" 230). Out of those three Henry is the most talented and would be a big plus for next years class. I've heard rumors of the Tigers looking to bring in a transfer for the post position (haven't heard any specific names), but IMO it would need to be a situation where the guy could step in and play immediately next season.

We're court side in Littlejohn for tonight's big game...

One stat of interest...these two teams are currently #1 and #2 in the conference for blocked shots with the Tigers holding a slim 0.3 blocks per game advantage over Miami. Whichever team can have the bigger affect on blocking shots down low will hold an early advantage in this one.

Biggest mismatch in the early going is Kadji vs. Jennings...can't leave him too open from outside as he can knock down those looks (Clemson lucky he is 0-2 so far from beyond the arc) but he has better size and post skills vs. Jennings inside defense. Clemson has already made the switch with Booker guarding him on the last few possessions.

Lots of second chances for the Tigers on offense...but they're failing to knock down the open looks or finish near the basket. KJ's close layup seemed like it rolled around the rim for 5 seconds. Same problems that have hampered Clemson on the offensive end all year.

Clemson shooting a "words can't describe this" 6.7% from the field so far tonight. Good defense, along with some missed open looks from Miami are keeping this game close.

KJ McDaniels showing that he still has some work to do on his dribble-drive ability. During the offseason his outside shooting really improved, but now defenses can press on him out deep as he doesn't have the current ball handling skills to beat a guy one-on-one...often resulting in a turnover when he tries going hard to the basket.

Some nice minutes from Josh Smith on the defensive end vs. Reggie Johnson...who looks like an offensive guard out there running around on the court. Miami is leaving Booker one-on-one down at the post and Clemson needs to keep feeding him the ball.

Early action shots...

Miami up 18-16 at the half. Early observations...

- Nice coaching move by Brownell in the early going by making the switch of guarding Kenny Kadji with Booker instead of Jennings. Kadji just has too much size and power and was able to push Jennings around down low in scoring the games first 5 points for Miami. After making the change Kadji hasn't scored since.

- Jim Larranaga then countered by inserting Reggie Johnson into the game w/ Kadji...hoping that this would transition Booker off of Kadji and provide another mismatch. Brownell replied by using a combination of Freshman Landry Nnoko & Josh Smith to defend Johnson...and as a result Clemson was able to go on a 11-4 run in the middle of the 1st half.

- Demarcus Harrison still looks a little slow out there and was clearly beat on the inbounds play that gave Miami it's 2 point lead before halftime. Right now both Filer & Roper seem to play with more intensity on defense and have more confidence when shooting the ball.

- Lots of missed open looks for Milton Jennings, who is 1-7 from the field and 0-4 from 3 point land. While standing in the tunnel before the game I was able to get a good look at the players as they headed to the locker room after early warmups. Most of the younger guys seem pretty relaxed...but the 2 players that clearly stood out as being more serious above the rest were Booker and Jennings. They both realize what this game means and how it could be one of the last chance of their careers to tally a big win in Littlejohn. Jennings really shows how much this pressure weighs on him while he moves around the court and misses these open looks.

- Booker isn't faring much better as Miami has the size to leave him one-on-one in the blocks. Combined both of Clemson's seniors are 2-14 from the field...the Tigers desperately NEED these guys to step up if they want to have a chance in the end.

Clemson has a real chance to win this game.

I demand more pics of rally cat girls..haha...I wish the game was on tv

Clemson at a critical point in the game where it could get away from them.