Basketball thoughts, nuggets

(Photo courtesy of The Post and Courier)

Had a good time last night in the old stomping grounds of Charleston, first gathering with the good folks of the Charleston County Clemson Club and then watching the Tigers' 73-50 win over The Citadel at McAlister Field House.

Clemson fans represented well; from my eyes and the eyes of others, there was more orange than baby blue in the joint. Supposedly Wednesday night is date night for the cadets, and that might explain why there were were a bunch of empty seats where the students usually sit.

Nice quote from Milton Jennings, who returned to his old stomping grounds:

"It's funny. When we go to Georgia Tech, I see a bunch of orange, (and also) at The Citadel, College of Charleston last year. I guess they were Citadel Tigers tonight."

Overall, pretty good night for the Tigers. Brad Brownell has applied a defense-first stamp to this program, so 30.2-percent shooting for the other guys is a positive development. The Tigers' defense really bothered the Bulldogs in the first half, when Clemson pulled away to an 18-point lead at the break.

"They really put us on our heels, and we never really got into an offensive flow at all," said Citadel coach Chuck Driesell. "It was frustrating and disappointing that we didn't handle their pressure better. I thought we would, so we've got some work to do."

Brownell was encouraged that his team didn't allow any easy baskets in the first half, when the Bulldogs missed 18 of 26 shots. He wasn't happy that his reserves got sloppy and loose late in the game, allowing The Citadel to reach the 50-point mark. The Tigers had 16 turnovers last night after totaling 18 in the opener against Gardner-Webb, and you can tell Brownell is a bit bothered by that. The Tigers also made just 11 free throws on 22 attempts. Devin Booker, Rod Hall and Bernard Sullivan combined for eight of those misses.

A few more observations from last night:

-- We've seen and heard a lot of T.J. Sapp and Hall, but not so much of Devin Coleman and Sullivan. I pulled Brownell aside and asked for his take on these two freshmen.

His assessments were enlightening and interesting.

On Coleman:

"Devin has some offensive skills. His offensive skills are not at all a problem. He can make threes. He's a pretty good driver. We still have to continue to work on his ball-handling with the full-court stuff. But his ability to make a shot fake and a one-dribble pull-up, some things of that nature, those are his strengths. Defensively, that's where he struggles right now. He played zone his high school career, and he just has a lot of bad habits. And until he can get to where he needs to be defensively, it's more difficult for him to play.

"He's really a two guard. That's what he is. He doesn't really have many other things that he can do because he's not big enough to be a wing, and he doesn't handle it well enough to be a point. So he's kind of locked into one position. Offensively, I think he can make shots and make driving moves. But defensively, right now he's just behind the other guys."

On Sullivan:

"Bernard is just a little confused right now. We've got to find a way to get him locked in. He's had a little bit of breathing issues with some asthma, and so he gets really tired really quickly. And once that happens, the mind is gone. That's not a good thing for him at this point. So he's falling into the trap of a guy whose fatigue and all the newness of the position and the level of physicality, and the pounding, is bothering him. But I think he's very talented in terms of high-post driving, high-post shooting.

"But his breathing issues -- he's so tired. It's crazy. I've never seen a guy sweat so much. We'll stand at a free throw for a quick break, and there's a pool of sweat on the floor. You touch the kid, and he's wet all the time. So he's breaking down with fatigue issues. But he has some of the tools that you need. But it's a matter of him hanging in there mentally when he gets so tired."

Interesting. I'd heard during the preseason that Sullivan was having some breathing issues, but I didn't know they were this much of a factor.

-- Liked what I saw from Sapp last night. There was a sequence in the first half when The Citadel was still hanging, and Sapp scored on back-to-back possessions to help put the momentum in Clemson's favor.

The first basket came on a nice drive and finish off a backdoor cut. The next came off a turnover. He he ran the break with confidence and finished with a layup.

-- Speaking of Coleman, I tried to watch him closely in the second half. He made a nice shot fake on the baseline and drive to the rim and finished nicely. That's exactly what Brownell was talking about.

-- Catalin Baciu showed some good things in 15 minutes, scoring nine points. But he missed six shots, most of them around the rim. The kid has some nice moves, but he just has trouble finishing. Also had four turnovers.

-- Devin Booker had a team-high 14 points, and his total would've been higher had he not sat for much of the first half with two fouls. He played 16 minutes and made six of nine shots from the field.

-- Rod Hall has some issues finishing, but you like to see the aggression and the confidence in attacking the rim. And he's a good fit in the "jammer" role.

-- Good game from Tanner Smith. Really smooth and efficient.

Tigers play host to College of Charleston on Saturday night, and the coaches know this is going to be a tough matchup. Talked to assistant Earl Grant 10 minutes after the game, and he was already talking about the next game and the challenges it'll present.

LW