Cards vs. Tigers, who we got?

[LeFors4Ever]

Our year is rolling along, new opponent at 9pm tonight. They're tough, but struggggggling. We got a win over a desperate Duke team, we stopped our slide. I think this is a game that may define the season, call me crazy but I truly believe this could set us up for a big run or a slide.

We'll play tonight then get a week off. This is a game against a good team, a winnable game. We have wins against Seton Hall, Pitt, & Va Tech, but overall we need to win games like this to keep out of bubble range. Lunardi has us as a 7 Seed & the analytics guys aren't our biggest fans either. After tonight we play @ Cuse, @ UVA, Pitt, @ VA Tech, Cuse, and @ UNC again in our next 6 games. I think we need a good win to send us into this stretch with confidence. We lose this game and that'll make 3 out of 4 losses going into a much tougher stretch of games.

This will be a quality Quad 1 win that will put us in much better position going down the stretch.

 

[Morgantown Card]

I'll feel a lot better about the season with a win tonight. Style points don't matter, just win by 1 with a free throw at the end is completely fine. NET Ranking is currently 42 (11/10 seed, clearly bubble territory) and yes it's early but we need to climb not fall back further.

That all said I think Cards win by 10+ tonight.

 

[REDFISTFURY3]

As usual dont have this package so i have to do Paul on the airwaves so this is my only words. Hate to go their but i think Clemson wins. Hope i'm wrong . Clemson was a ranked team they have been a bit helter skelter of late getting pummeled by Vir, Gt, & Fl.st all one after another . With them being at home coming off that slate they are hungry for a win. And remember this is a team that has beaten Bama they are more than capable. And we havent the past few years handled them that well.

The spread Clemson 1.5.

 

[LeFors4Ever]

Clemson likes their games to be a knife-fight rather than a shoot-out. They play good defense and keep the score low. They've only given up 70+ 3 times, which was last 3 games. Their 3 game losing streak has been because teams got hot from 3-point range.

-We are 217th (12th in ACC) in 3pt % & 324th(last in the nation) in 3 point attempts. So that's not gonna work if we continue at that pace.
-Our best 3point shooters in ACC play are Johnson (41%), Sam (36%), and Quinn (36%).
-Withers is the only player on our team with a positive Offensive & Defensive Rating in conference play. He is our most efficient player too.
-Clemson is #50 on Kenpom. #80 offensive & #21 defensive. Our most similar opponent with those rankings was Kentucky.
-In ACC play, Withers is the only player with a positive defensive rating. Sam, Calik, and Traynor are just barely negative, so really not that bad.

Per Mike Rutherford
-Clemson & UVA are the only 2 places we haven't won in the ACC. 0-3 at Clemson since 2015.
-This is the 2nd time we've been an underdog this year, the other was at Wisconsin, another weird COVID schedule game on the road.


Our defense isn't great and this team cannot score, so I think I'd like to see a more offensive approach.
-Withers/Slaz/Williamson/Johnson/Jones might be 5 that can work.
-Would give us 3 35% shooters.
-Carlik would have more room to operate and get to the rim
-Withers is our most effective when he's on the court
-It would let Davis & Traynor come off the bench and save some fouls
-Mineland being able to slide right in with Nickelberry as the 9th man shooter

It really really really shows me how much better we'd be with Malik at center, I think him alone would transform us into a top 10 team.