The answer:
"Milton Jennings has really bought in. And I had some doubts about that happening after what we saw in Hawaii."
In other words, all bets were off after Jennings' nationally-televised spat with Brad Brownell during the team's tournament in Hawaii over the Christmas holidays. From that point forward, Jennings was doing just about everything to make people think he was learning and growing from that dark day.
Emphasis on "just about everything." Apparently Jennings' wasn't serious enough about school, leading to last night's announcement that he's suspended indefinitely for "failure to comply with the team's academic standards," according to the SID release.
The word we're getting is that this is not something that's serious enough to put the rest of the season in jeopardy. We've been told the suspension is at least two games, but we don't know that for sure.
Comes at a bad time, given this team's issues on the road. The Tigers' next two games are tonight at Virginia, and then Saturday at Virginia Tech. The Cavaliers are a good team and would be difficult to beat even with Jennings. The Hokies are off to a rocky start, but no one feels comfortable enough to chalk up a Clemson victory in Blacksburg.
Brownell and Co. need all the help they can get, and yet another episode from Jennings has to be frustrating. Remember the "Manny being Manny" phrase that was popularly ascribed to the weirdness of Manny Ramirez? Well Jennings is quickly approaching a "Milt being Milt" distinction not only from exasperated fans, but from his own teammates and coaches.
It's long past time for this kid to grow up.
-- Speaking of weirdness, there was a lot of it in Virginia's last outing.
The Cavaliers had four field goals in the second half, and didn't make a basket in the final 8:25, and were out-rebounded 42-25, yet they won 61-60 at N.C. State.
-- Clemson won't have many transition opportunities tonight in Charlottesville, so their halfcourt execution is going to have to be as good as it's been all season for the Tigers to have a chance. Clemson will try to spread out the Cavaliers and drive, the same thing opponents have done to the Tigers on various occasions this season.
-- Brownell told me yesterday it was time for the freshmen to take a step forward, and that was before the Jennings news came out.
Since scoring 11 points in a loss at Boston College on Jan. 12, T.J. Sapp has produced a total of two points in the last four games while missing 14 of 15 shots from the field. Brownell said Sapp's confidence has suffered as a result of that drought, and the Tigers need him to repair it soon.
This sounds like a cliche -- actually it is a cliche, and apologies for that -- but these aren't freshmen anymore. Or at least they aren't viewed as such. They're 20 games in, and six of the final 10 games are on the road.
For this team to show progress, a couple of freshmen are going to have to show progress.
LW
No comments:
Post a Comment