After the buzzer: Clemson

Quick Hitters

-After the collapse against Duke, it would have been more surprising if there wasn’t some sort of hangover from the team, which it appeared that there was. Luckily, Louisville got Clemson at home and hung on to get the win. It wasn’t pretty, but this is a game where they can take a lot of lessons from it, and to do that in a win is much better than having to learn from a loss.

-Obvious, but closing out games has to get better. Louisville led 48-41 with 3:20 to play and then started to force shots, miss shots, and stop defending in the post. Clemson also hit a couple of wild threes. In that time, only two possessions of Clemson’s press got stops. On one, Jordan Nwora threw the ball away deep. On the other, Sutton got tied up for a jump ball with the possession going to the Tigers. Oh, and then that final inbounds pass, which was a disaster and almost sent the season in a downward spiral. So, three possessions, but they were so avoidable to me.

-On the inbounds play where Nwora threw it long and nobody was there, I feel like that was his mistake. Ryan McMahon is Louisville’s best free throw shooter, so he probably isn’t going to be running away from the ball in this situation. He also isn’t who you want in transition for a layup because he can get caught and blocked. You want him shooting free throws, so he fakes long, and then comes to the ball. Plus, Enoch ran deep, probably as a decoy. You wouldn’t send two guys deep. I think Nwora lost focus and didn’t know what McMahon was supposed to be doing. Just my guess.

-Maybe someone else can inbound the ball against the press.

-You will see in the film review below, but Jordan Nwora and Darius Perry have to get better on fast breaks. They want the ball, I get it. But you make it so easy on the defense if you never pass it. If you pass the ball, the defense follows it, and you can get it right back for an easy bucket. Keep it yourself, and they can key in on one person with no ball movement.

-Steven Enoch was 1-7, which is rare. He missed some from point blank range. Hit a couple of those and there is a lot more breathing room in this one.

-Louisville had 8 assists total, and they were all from CC and McMahon. That isn’t ideal.

-The rebounding margin was 42-29 in favor of Clemson. Also not ideal.

-No matter who Louisville played after that Duke loss, it was going to be a struggle. Hopefully, it was just a one-time thing and now they can get back on track. To play that poorly and with the assists and rebound numbers, and STILL come out with a win, is still a positive. You saw things you have to work on, but you saw them in a close win. Now go fix those things. Please.

Film Review

-Go Cards. Go Krogering.