FLORIDA STATE RECAP

Florida State 65, Clemson 61

I think there is a temptation to believe that Saturday's loss was the result of a post-Duke letdown, an inability to sustain the emotional high from Wednesday for 40 minutes. This is bound to lead to articles and editorials by local sportswriters about Clemson's lack of consistency this year. My feeling, however, is that there is an emerging, recurring problem here. If left unaddressed, the wrong matchup will send Clemson to an early exit in both post-season tourneys they will participate in.

By my reckoning, Clemson has now played three teams with top 10-caliber defenses that also rank in the top ten in average effective height. Effective average height is a statistic generated by Ken Pomeroy at Basketball Prospectus, and it essentially ranks teams by how much taller they are at each position relative to average height at each position. Those three teams? Wake Forest, Illinois, and Florida State. We have soundly beaten good defenses this year, but have struggled against good defenses that are tall across all positions.

Random thoughts:

• I think the coaching staff recognizes the problem. I saw more patience in the first half than I did in the WF game, as the guards looked for openings to drive the ball inside instead of shooting the three if the pass wasn't there. There was also what looked like set plays to free up perimeter players not necessarily for a shot, but for clean look inside. Unfortunately, a lot of these plays still ended in a turnover.
• Even though we were up by 19 in the second half, I never felt comfortable. I just didn't feel like the offense was getting the ball into the paint with any consistency, and too many of our points were coming from sloppy FSU play.
• I'm not sure what else to do if you are Clemson. You can't suddenly teach/train an extra 5 inches around the perimeter.
• Maybe more inside the arc jump-shots instead of always driving straight to the hoop? Could extend the interior of the defense instead of padding the other team's block totals.
• Yeah, Sykes hit a few baskets in the first half. Everyone's gonna hit a few with that much space.
• It will be interesting to see what adjustments the coaching staff comes up with for the rematch in Tallahassee on Feb. 28th, should serve as a preview for the final game at Wake.