(M) Game #36 Clemson vs. Arizona (NCAA Tournament Sweet 16) (2023-2024)

[EastCoastCat]

This game is on the players not the coach.

Looking at Twitter and Facebook, you might be in the minority.

Who gives a shit? I don’t analyze how we perform based on stupid group think.

[KillerKlown]

You guys are idiots. Yes, we got back into the game getting to the hoop but then Clemson packed it in on defense - as they should have - and dared us to hit open shots which we couldn’t.

Easy knee jerk reaction to blame this on coaching but it was our top player like Love and Pelle that let us down.

And when we needed stops, we gave up easy layups.

And all of those players were in foul trouble, so they should have kept going at the rim regardless of how much they were packing it

So go force it in and hope for foul calls instead of shooting open shots. Great idea. And btw, how many bunnies did we miss?

This game is on the players not the coach.

I don't know why you're talking as if AZ wasn't getting anything in the paint. They were getting points inside. 40 points in the paint and 16 Off rebounds. Going to the paint wasn't the problem.

[EastCoastCat]

You guys are idiots. Yes, we got back into the game getting to the hoop but then Clemson packed it in on defense - as they should have - and dared us to hit open shots which we couldn’t.

Easy knee jerk reaction to blame this on coaching but it was our top player like Love and Pelle that let us down.

And when we needed stops, we gave up easy layups.

And all of those players were in foul trouble, so they should have kept going at the rim regardless of how much they were packing it

So go force it in and hope for foul calls instead of shooting open shots. Great idea. And btw, how many bunnies did we miss?

This game is on the players not the coach.

I don't know why you're talking as if AZ wasn't getting anything in the paint. They were getting points inside. 40 points in the paint and 16 Off rebounds. Going to the paint wasn't the problem.

When did I say they didn’t get points in the paint? They did their best work inside to get them back into the game. But if they were not going to make anything outside of 3 feet there is no way they were winning this game.

And I’m sure Lloyd told them to get it inside as much as possible, but also take good shots. No coach says “we can’t hit the broad side of a barn today so just drive to hoop even though you will run into a couple of defenders.”

[Postmaster]

One of the late layups was due to keshad and Pelle not communicating. Looked like Keshad switched and Pelle didn’t.



I felt Pelle hit a wall 6 weeks ago. Too many minutes? Too many times getting knocked around?
Idk, but he started missing layups and getting beat on D a lot.

[LuteIsGod]

This loss is on Tommy. KJ didn't get in until the under 12 min media timeout in the 2nd half. He was the reason we got back in the game in the 1st half along with Bradley.

Not playing KJ over Pelle and Bradley over Boz is coaching malpractice. Pelle is a 6th manz KJ will be a pro.

So disappointing, this was such a good draw for us and we have talent. At least Miller made elite 8's.

Agree that KJ should have subbed in sooner. He has elite talent, strength and focus.

Disagree that Sweatboy would have coached a better game. He wouldn’t have run the type of offense that would have allowed us to win during the season and give us a 2 seed

[Postmaster]

We don’t get to S16 without Love and Pelle. I think CTL might have overused them during regular season.

I’ve never been impressed with our strength and conditioning.

[MrKyle]

We don’t get to S16 without Love and Pelle. I think CTL might have overused them during regular season.

I’ve never been impressed with our strength and conditioning.

No doubt, that is the hard part - you know how much those guys contributed to the regular season and even a bit in the tourney. That is what makes tournament so rough, just takes 1 cold game from a player or two and that's it.

I really wished we could have mixed Muruaskas and Borovicanin in so we could 9-10 deep as well.

[LuteIsGod]

We don’t get to S16 without Love and Pelle. I think CTL might have overused them during regular season.

I’ve never been impressed with our strength and conditioning.

I see your point and agree Love was integral to our regular season success. I don’t agree that Abercrombie was a net positive. I think he is a low IQ player, but the coaching staff should have had him attacking the basket as his primary option at least a season ago.

[LuteIsGod]

We don’t get to S16 without Love and Pelle. I think CTL might have overused them during regular season.

I’ve never been impressed with our strength and conditioning.

I also wonder about the strength and conditioning. Didn’t Lute have the teams running a few miles every day while requiring a 6 minute pace?

[dmjcat]

We don’t get to S16 without Love and Pelle. I think CTL might have overused them during regular season.

I’ve never been impressed with our strength and conditioning.

Completely agree.

Normally, if one is going to make a run at a national title/FF4 you normally have to have 2/3 NBA level players (preferably guards) on your team. The UA did NOT have that. Love is a Euro league player at best, and Boswell will be lucky to make it in the Euro leagues. CTL did very well to win the Final P12 title and make it to the Sweet 16 with a flawed roster.

[HiCat]

Box score

Cats shot 17.9% from the arc. 5/28.. hit 2 more of those shots they win.
The first half was terrible. Too many turnovers early in the half. Once Clemson
got the lead, Cats were in trouble. There were too many missed shots at the basket..lost opportunities. When Arizona was in the bonus situation, why not drive to the hoop..instead of jacking up more 3's? Flowers to Bradley for an outstanding effort. Disappointing loss for sure.


https://www.google.com/search?client=sa ... fz;ms;fp;1;;;

[EastCoastCat]

I just hate the day after being knocked out.

BTW, I might be gone from this board awhile. After my “reactions” last night my family feels I should be institutionalized.

[Beachcat97]

I just hate the day after being knocked out.

BTW, I might be gone from this board awhile. After my “reactions” last night my family feels I should be institutionalized.

It’s just hard - and increasingly numbing - to see this happen again and again and again. We are officially the “Team That Can’t Win When It Matters in March,” and we maintain this reputation with maddening persistence.

I look at a team like UConn. Objectively, how much better are their players than ours? Clingan is a star, obviously, and he’d start on our team. But beyond him, I’m not sure the Huskies roster is really THAT much better or different from ours. And yet, look at the roll they’re on, dating back to last year. Reminds me of some of Wright’s Villanova teams. In March, they thrive, seemingly unfazed by the enormity of these moments.

Arizona, on the other hand, simply falls apart. And this has happened across multiple coaching tenures, with every conceivable blend of players. You want teams with great offense? We’ve had em. Defense? Yep. Size and athleticism? For sure. The overall talent on our roster does fluctuate, but in Miller’s best seasons, he had as much talent or more than anyone in the country. Lute had teams like this too, and then lost in the tournament.

When I say this has been numbing, I’m not exaggerating. Yesterday’s loss stings less than last year’s or the year prior. I am deeply habituated to disappointment this time of year, which is both helpful and pathetic.

[Djcat]

Miller’s teams get tight because he gets tight and too controlling.

Tommy’s teams get into a funk and are mentally fragile. A bit more control might actually help.

If we can fuse both coaches we might have that UConn winning formula

[pc in NM]

Miller’s teams get tight because he gets tight and too controlling.

Tommy’s teams get into a funk and are mentally fragile. A bit more control might actually help.

If we can fuse both coaches we might have that UConn winning formula

IMNSHO, we should remember the loss by 28-2 Arizona to Santa Clara in 1993, the fans despair at the time, and leave the door wide open to CTL just as it was justifiably left open for Lute then.

I support CTL 100%!

[AzCatFan2]

This team simply didn't have the mental fortitude to play a full 40 minutes at a top level. We saw it just about every game. Huge mental lapses when the team would play stretches of full dog shit basketball, smell and all. We saw it all the first half against Dayton. We were the best team in the country the first 16+ minutes. But after the under 4 TV T/O, stunk up the place. We we lucky we had built a big enough lead to be able to hold on until we found ourselves again.

But again Clemson? Started out dog shit. And never fully, truly recovered. Maybe had we kept the lead for more than 20 seconds, but have to give Clemson credit here. They didn't wilt and played well for 40 minutes.

I think CTL needs to be better able and willing to use the bench as a motivator. But to do that, we need to be more than 8 deep.

[Djcat]

Good take. Forgot about going up big and slacking.

Krivas lengthy arms were giving Hall and other Clemson players issues so not sure why he didn’t play more

[pc in NM]

Good take. Forgot about going up big and slacking.

Krivas lengthy arms were giving Hall and other Clemson players issues so not sure why he didn’t play more

One reason - Ballo, 15 rebounds/7 offensive; Johnson, 11 rebounds/5 offensive; Krivas, 3 rebounds/1offensive

[SCCats]

Box score

Cats shot 17.9% from the arc. 5/28.. hit 2 more of those shots they win.

That’s the story for me. We shot like 37/18/68. As you said, if we shoot more like 40/25/68, which is still pretty miserable, we win the game. But we just didn’t have it in us.

[Djcat]

Btw for the people at the game, did we have a strong crowd? Saw lots of empty seats on TV and tons of blue in the second game filling those up

[SCCats]

Btw for the people at the game, did we have a strong crowd? Saw lots of empty seats on TV and tons of blue in the second game filling those up

My feeling was we did not have a strong crowd. The AZ sections were basically full, but my feeling was we had less than we typically do for the rest of the crowd.

[UAEebs86]

Btw for the people at the game, did we have a strong crowd? Saw lots of empty seats on TV and tons of blue in the second game filling those up

That one empty section that showed up on TV I'm pretty sure was the Carolina fans that showed up late and didn't care about the first game. LA traffic and all that.

[Djcat]

Btw for the people at the game, did we have a strong crowd? Saw lots of empty seats on TV and tons of blue in the second game filling those up

My feeling was we did not have a strong crowd. The AZ sections were basically full, but my feeling was we had less than we typically do for the rest of the crowd.

Seems so on TV. The upper tiers were quite empty too. Surprised our fans didn’t show up in numbers.

[84Cat]

Aaron lays it out

[Djcat]

This Aaron person is spot on except for the part about Arizona matching up well with UConn and maybe having an easier path if they obtained the #1 seed. We got to play the 6 seed for a chance to EE, can’t get easier than that. Also, Alabama would have boat raced us to death

[pc in NM]

Aaron lays it out

Trite, shallow, hindsighted yelling of little substance - lacks one original or noteworthy observation.

I wouldn't follow this guy, let alone subscribe to his headache-inducing thing.

[Beachcat97]

This Aaron person is spot on except for the part about Arizona matching up well with UConn and maybe having an easier path if they obtained the #1 seed. We got to play the 6 seed for a chance to EE, can’t get easier than that. Also, Alabama would have boat raced us to death

Getting Clemson in the S16 was about as favorable of a draw as we could've hoped for. The Tigers played well yesterday, but they were lucky that we came out so flat and shaky.

The story of this season's team, imo, is their inconsistency. Someone else mentioned that we could look like the best team in the country for the first 16 minutes of any game, and then proceed to not only let the other team back in the game but virtually stop playing. This group didn't have a 40-minute solid effort in them, or if they did, it only happened a few times.

We need starters who treat each minute of the game like it's the final 60 seconds of the 2nd half.

[pc in NM]

This Aaron person is spot on except for the part about Arizona matching up well with UConn and maybe having an easier path if they obtained the #1 seed. We got to play the 6 seed for a chance to EE, can’t get easier than that. Also, Alabama would have boat raced us to death

Getting Clemson in the S16 was about as favorable of a draw as we could've hoped for. The Tigers played well yesterday, but they were lucky that we came out so flat and shaky.

The story of this season's team, imo, is their inconsistency. Someone else mentioned that we could look like the best team in the country for the first 16 minutes of any game, and then proceed to not only let the other team back in the game but virtually stop playing. This group didn't have a 40-minute solid effort in them, or if they did, it only happened a few times.

We need starters who treat each minute of the game like it's the final 60 seconds of the 2nd half.

In fact, Clemson was one of the favorite "sleepers" in the top half of the brackets this year...

I remember when KU thought that Arizona was an easy match-up in the Sweet 16 in 1997 (though, of course, Arizona had not performed nearly as strongly in its victories in the first two rounds that year as Clenson this year)

[dirtbags]

I remember when KU thought that Arizona was an easy match-up in the Sweet 16 in 1997 (though, of course, Arizona had not performed nearly as strongly in its victories in the first two rounds that year as Clenson this year)

idk why i always think of this, but i'll always remember digger phelps' little tirade right after the '97 selection show about how arizona was too soft and seeded way too high as a #4 going into the tournament. changed his tune pretty quickly after that s16 win over KU.

[pc in NM]

I remember when KU thought that Arizona was an easy match-up in the Sweet 16 in 1997 (though, of course, Arizona had not performed nearly as strongly in its victories in the first two rounds that year as Clenson this year)

idk why i always think of this, but i'll always remember digger phelps' little tirade right after the '97 selection show about how arizona was too soft and seeded way too high as a #4 going into the tournament. changed his tune pretty quickly after that s16 win over KU.

Ironically, he was probably correct on that Selection Sunday.

And, BTW, Arizona's two games the first weekend probably did nothing to make him, or many others, reconsider his statements.