Posted by Brandon Rink on August 25, 2009 under ACC Basketball | 
This is your brain on Duke Kool-Aid, sportswriters.
You assign a guy who knows nothing about the ACC, to write up a preseason power ranking for the basketball squads. Let’s focus on some of the more ridiculous statements(my statements will be in these things)…
2) Duke – The loss of Gerald Henderson to the NBA and the transfer of Elliot Williams to Memphis will keep the Blue Devils from being an elite team in the 2009-10 campaign(On the right track…). But that doesn’t mean they won’t be good(Okay). The lack of depth on the perimeter will force Duke to become more of a threat down low, where Miles Plumlee must develop into a significant contributor. Freshman point guard Andre Dawkins left high school a year early to enroll at Duke. His performance will be key(How, possibly, from all that, do you end up concluding they are the second best team in the ACC? Absolutely ridiculous).
3) Wake Forest – Jeff Teague and James Johnson are gone, so the Demon Deacons won’t be nearly as good as the squad that was ranked No. 1 for much of the 2008-09 season(What ACC basketball season was this guy watching?). But it’s not as if Wake Forest won’t be a threat(No, it is.). Al-Farooq Aminu is poised for a breakthrough year after bypassing the NBA to return for his sophomore season, and center Chas McFarland and Tony Woods provide an underrated presence down low. Ishmael Smith takes over for Teague at point guard..(Wake Forest could be solid, but 3rd? Not happening.)
6) Clemson – No team has underachieved the past two years as much as the Tigers, who have now lost back-to-back first-round games in the NCAA tourney(Right, I remember all those media outlets that were hailing them as being the ACC’s best preseason…it was everywhere…or not). It’s a shame because Oliver Purnell’s squad has been loaded with talent – and it will be once again in 2009-10(First part of sentence not totally correct, second part of sentence is true). Trevor Booker, a returning All-ACC selection, is a beast on the boards. Demontez Stitt returns at point guard while highly touted newcomer Noel Johnson will help ease the loss of sharpshooter Terrence Oglesby, who left school after two years to play overseas(Not really comparable players there).
8) Florida State – Standout guard Toney Douglas spearheaded a phenomenal season for the Seminoles a year ago. The question now is whether they can maintain the momentum. Douglas is gone, but head coach Leonard Hamilton says that Derwin Kitchen is more than capable of filling his role. No Seminole, though, is causing as much buzz as center Solomon Alabi, who could play his way into the NBA draft lottery with a successful season. Freshman Michael Snaer is one of the ACC’s most touted newcomers(Nice, appropriately positive piece on the ‘Noles, but 8th!? Are you serious? They will compete for the ACC this season).
10) Boston College – Even with four starters returning, B.C. may be in for a rebuilding year(Or you could have no idea what you are talking about). That’s how much departed star Tyrese Rice meant to the program(Uh, sure.). Rice averaged 16.9 points and 5.3 assists in leading the Eagles to a 22-12 record last season. Joe Trapani, Rakim Sanders and Cory Raji are back after combining to average 36.2 points and 17.1 rebounds last year, so the cupboard is far from bare. The Eagles, though, have only one senior (Tyler Roche) and no proven three-point threat(Which is actually a solid point–3 point threat is a necessity for any NCAAB team to succeed).
I only do this from time-to-time, but you have to hold these bigger media outlets to a high standard. This guy really does not give me any sense of expert-ness on ACC basketball. Sorry for the intrusion into football talk, ACC basketball will not be a topic for a couple months now unless another piece draws my ire.
Posted by Brandon Rink on August 24, 2009 under ACC Football |
Will Clemson be sacrificing the ACC at the alter of Howard's Rock this season? Eh, it could happen.
This is my Huffington Post‘ed’ recycling of a post earlier this year from my Sporting News fanblog with some repackaging and editing.
My piece on Virginia Tech got me thinking about Clemson this season. As far as I can see, Phil Steele is the only one of a select few picking them to win the Atlantic of the major media outlets. Today, let us examine how we were collectively a year ahead in our risky and creative pick of the Tigers last season(listed randomly as they came into my head).
1) New Coach and Scheme
Yes, we did see Coach Swinney for the last six games of the regular season + bowl game, but he took over mid-season. He is going to unveil a new scheme that utilizes the skill players that Clemson has. Dabo has went to Texas to study what Mack Brown is doing with his offense and Clemson could reap the benefits of that.
2) Lightning and More Lightning
The last couple years we have had Thunder and Lightning, but now we only have the visual element of the duo. I think C.J. Spiller is going to unleash this season with being the primary back for the Tigers. He has speed that almost no one can match, he is a lot stronger than people give him credit for, and he has a calm about him that aids in his preparation for games. I’m looking for him to be in the running for a trip to NY at the end of the regular season.
3) Defense Is Still a Strength
The defensive line will be the sickest in the ACC. The linebackers were young last year and now are experienced. The secondary could be reeling from losing its two starting safeties, but they return their top-of-the-line corners this season.
4) Atlantic Division Still Wide Open
The ACC Atlantic sent the whole division to postseason play and this season should not see a drop off. The winner of the division will probably have 2-3 losses by the end of the year in conference. In such a meat grinder, Clemson could take advantage of other’s misfortune as so many teams have at the Tigers’ expense the last few years.
5) Competition Breeds Winners
The QB competition between Will Korn and Kyle Parker and Tahj Boyd has been heated. They are all used to winning and being the man that the team looks to for leadership. Korn has still not recovered fully from last season’s injury according to reports and Parker has taken advantage. He is a great(edit: after his stretch of postseason, he’s good not great) baseball player and does not shy away from being the star. Boyd is looking to come in as a freshman and sit his colleagues on the bench for the rest of their careers at Clemson. When Kyle Parker starts the Middle Tennessee game, he will be playing for his job and that could spur him on to greatness(or something like that) as a QB.
I have them going 9-3 which is fairly positive in itself, but some like Phil Steele are saying this team still has the capability to take the ACC crown. I open the floor for sarcastic humiliation or kool-aid induced positivity for Clemson now…
Posted by Brandon Rink on August 21, 2009 under ACC Football |
Wear sweatshirts...and stop being mediocre!
We reach Friday once again and we are less than two weeks from football season! Here’s a little of what has caught my eye this week in the linkfest…
A pretty solid Clemson blog, CUOrange, that I have been reading recently offers a less than orange kool-aid fueled perspective on this season.
Good cop: Generic AP team preview of Hokies talks about the upcoming season and the expectations. Bad cop: HD laying the smackdown on the Hokies with labeling them “Team that will disappoint.”
The ole Independent Mail’s Brad Senkiw calls out not one ACC school, not two ACC schools, but three ACC schools and tags Maryland, Miami, and Virginia as mediocre programs who should consider firing their respective coaches.
Al Groh’s answer to his program’s mediocrity is simplicity.
From the awesome motivational sayings file, BC offers us “They have the power to succeed because they are convinced they can.” And the Hokies, College Game Balls and Gobbler Country, offered an added tagline here and here.
When HD isn’t raining on VT’s parade, she offers us five things to watch this ACC season(and guess what is at number one, Hokies fans!)
FTRS continues its going over the ACC schedule for Georgia Tech and apparently they will lose sometime…possibly…to somebody…maybe.
No matter when GT decides to lose, the AJC introduces the sick, but plausible idea of two 1,000 yard rushers for the Jackets.
Thanks for stopping by, the wait is almost over, just one CFB-less week left!
