On fan support

I'm hesitant to criticize fans for a few reasons:

I get into games for free. Being a fan gets more expensive by the year, yet most fans aren't making more by the year. It's my belief that some of these extra millions being made by TV contracts should be devoted to giving fans a break and lowering the prices of season tickets and parking and all that.

All that said, the turnout at Littlejohn Coliseum for last night's game against Maryland was sad. Five minutes before tip, the wide swaths of empty seats (particularly in the student section) were stunning. I wondered if I got my schedule mixed up and was walking into a women's game.

This team is 11-12 and 3-6 in the ACC, so it's unreasonable to expect the fans to stuff Littlejohn to the gills on a weeknight under those circumstances. But this coach, these players and this program deserve better than that. They have earned better than that.

When Oliver Purnell came to town in 2003, he determined that he had to come up with some sort of gimmick or brand to serve as an equalizer against the superior talent he'd see in opposing ACC teams. He developed a style of full-court pressing and running that generated easy baskets off turnovers and cut down on instances of the Tigers having to produce in halfcourt situations against better teams.

Purnell determined that he really had no other choice at Clemson, a place not known for its basketball. He recruited to that system, and gradually he flourished by guiding the Tigers to three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and a load of exciting basketball games.

Brownell changed things in part because the players he inherited felt they'd been run to death under Purnell. The new staff emphasized relentless defense and precise halfcourt execution with motion offense. If you're going to do that at Clemson, you'd better 1) recruit some good players, 2) have superb execution most of the time, or 3) do a little of both.

Brownell did a masterful job last season, taking a team that lost Trevor Booker and guiding it to a record fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. This year's team has suffered mightily from losing Demontez Stitt and Jerai Grant. It has suffered from the fact that Devin Booker and Milton Jennings have not been nearly as good as anticipated. It has suffered from a lack of skill and an inability to make clutch shots.

It has suffered from deficiencies that most Clemson basketball teams have suffered from since, oh, 1912. It's never been easy to win here, and it never will be.

If this team starts getting blown off the floor in a manner reminiscent of the Larry Shyatt days, I'll change my tune and refrain from blaming fans for not showing up. But this program is showing progress. This coach is putting this team in position to win almost every game it plays.

This coach is in his second year.

This program, this coach and these players don't necessarily deserve sellout crowds on a weeknight. But they deserve better than what we saw last night.

LW