POINT, COUNTERPOINT: CLEMSON BASKETBALL 08-09

Point: Things are good

Willy Mac: Some people are going to look at this ending in a negative light.  I’m not trying to blow sunshine up your ass avert your attention from the fact that we should have beaten Wake Forest, yet again, and failed to do so.  Not only that, but we stumbled lazily without hope and ambition throughout the latter part of our conference schedule.  But the television announcers reminded me last night right before I switched off the channel that the first season is over.  Now comes the fun part.

Now before you continue, shake off that familiar “Oh, woe is me” feeling that Clemson sports always gives you the morning after a loss.

Okay, now here is one important fact to remember: We were pretty much in the same boat last year right before the ACC Tournament.  Granted, we ended stronger than this, but the records reflect the same amount of effort.  Given the loss of leadership and maturation of young talent (something I’ve been shoving down your throat all year, sorry), I’d say that we’re poised to do great things this weekend.

Last year we were uneasy going into the the tournament in Charlotte, but Purnell had us firing on all cylinders and you should feel confident that he can do it again with nearly equal talent.

Chili: Willy Mac lays out pretty good points above in that the Tigers sort of shat the bed towards the end of the schedule, but given that we lost some big puzzle pieces from last year things aren’t awful. I still feel that the Tigers will notch Purnell’s first NCAA tournament win for him this year. Watching some of the losses down the stretch, it was clear that Purnell was experimenting with lineup and defensive sets, especially in the Virginia Tech game where he continued forcing the press long after it was evident that the Hokies were just going to pass over it. This is likely a change in mindset from a regular season mentality to more of a tweak-it attitude to make final preparations for the postseason, and that’s alright by me. Did we lose games we should’ve won? Absolutely, and that sucks, but there are still more positives than negatives to take away from this regular season.

Counterpoint: Things are bad

Clemson football fan who went to a couple basketball games this year: Horseshit. Toughness. That’s what this team needs, is some toughness (in case you didn’t see it the first time I typed “toughness.”). Toughness. I’m forgetting the horrendous Shyatt years and the slow progress of Oliver Purnell’s first couple of years and suddenly thinking we should win the same games this year as the top tier of the league. Each loss we suffered this season was a painful dagger jabbed into my heart (either that or all the bacon explosions are starting to cause a murmur).

You know what I miss is the Barnes era. Yeah, back when we were real good and real tough. Why do I miss the Barnes era so much? Probably because it exists as a fuzzy memory in my brain right beside the gaping hole in my neuron network caused by mainlining Busch Light for the better part of 15 years. Because I don’t live the Barnes era day-in and day-out like I do the Purnell era it seems somehow fantastic and amazing as I forget all the bad crap, and I’m sure no correlating phenomenon can be found in my Clemson football obsession. Nope, none whatsoever.

Besides, 23-7 doesn’t get you a New Year’s Day bowl game.

Counter-counterpoint: Willy Korn plays football.

EKR: OBLONG BALLS ARE FUCKING SUPERIOR. They’re easier to grip without gigantic freak hands, they have laces, and when thrown against a hard surface their bounce is as unpredictable as the heart of a beautiful woman. A beautiful woman named WILLY KORN. Wait, what? Why the hell are we even talking about BASKETBALL? When I was first approached to throw my two senses (I never understood that, I thought we had 6 senses? How do you pick just two? Who am I, Anne Frank?) at this subject I figured, yeah, okay WILLY KORN finally decided to play basketball, so I guess we’re undefeated huh? NO. No, I was SADLY MISTAKEN. EXTREME DISAPPOINTMENT. My overall take on the basketball season: DOOOOOON’T CARE. I was hoping for NBA Jam style dunks that light the  fucking rim on fire, but WILLY KORN has decided to stick to football and focus his extemitudes on that endevoration. Fair enough, the KORN moves in mysterious ways, so I guess I’ll just have to watch this Trevor Booker guy stretch rims like Goatse.

EKR OUTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT