Fisch Tank: Carolina Basketball Hoopla

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This week’s edition of the Fisch Tank will take a look at the men’s college basketball landscape for Clemson, Coastal Carolina and South Carolina. All three teams are at, or near the midway point of their regular season, which allows me the opportunity to hand out mid-term report cards.

Clemson Tigers: Grade B Oliver Purnell has probably killed a bottle of Tums this week. Clemson took the number one ranked North Carolina Tar Heels to overtime and lost it on a Wayne Ellington three point buzzer beater. Distraught and hung over, the Tigers lost their next contest on their home court to 8-5 Charlotte. A game they didn’t even appear to show up for, as they found themselves down by 11 points at the half. Clemson is still in great shape for a tournament run at 12-3, but now the water is getting turbulent. The Tigers have hit the midway point of the season and all that is left on their schedule is their conference counterparts. For Purnell’s crew they’ll need to stick with the guys that are carrying the load. Trevor Booker has posted back to back double doubles and almost made it a trifecta against Alabama. K.C. Rivers, had his worst game of the season against the 49ers, but he’ll bounce back, and don’t forget freshman sniper Terrence Oglesby. If Clemson can get some bench help from their big men David Potter and Raymond Sykes, to accompany James Mays and Booker, look out. This team will either mature quickly over the next two months or it might just be another trip to the NIT.

South Carolina Gamecocks: Grade C- Dave Odom sounded like he was whining this week, when he said, “A family is built on love.” Yes we all know that, but was he referring to basketball or a show he saw on Lifetime. The problem with the Gamecocks is youth; they’ve got only three upper classman on the roster. Out of those three junior Zam Frederick is the only one producing, which leaves Devan Downey, Dominique Archie and Brandis Raley-Ross to carry the work load. Raley-Ross was leading the nation in three point percentage when he went down last week. Which inevitably bit the Gamecocks that live by the three pointer. The good thing is he returned a week early to play Vandy, despite being held scoreless. Lets be honest, USC wasn’t going to beat twelfth ranked Vanderbilt; although they had a good second half, and they are not going to beat the eighth ranked Vols. Therefore Raley-Rosses shooting touch would not have been that difficult to miss. If the Gamecocks can compete in the same fashion they displayed against the ‘Dores in the second half for the rest of the season they could be a Cinderella at best. Plus the dissension between the coaching staff and players could also mean time for a change on the bench. The underclassmen are showing promise and will more than likely continue to develop in SEC play. But I have the feeling the Gamecock nation will continue to live by the motto they’ve been hearing since Ronald Reagan was in office, wait till next year.


Coastal Carolina Chanticleers: Grade C+ Cliff Ellis is pulling out his musical talents and creating harmony amongst the Chanticleers. When Joe Harris went down with a thumb injury, he challenged his seniors to step up and take charge. Senior Forward Everage Richardson responded, going from averaging 9 points a game to 20. Problem is the bench is thin, Mario Sisinni has come into give Coastal solid minutes and freshman Anthony Breeze shows flashes hear and there. Yet when they tip off Big South play this week they will get pressed to turn to the bench. All Big South guard Jack Leasure is getting double teamed, while Logan Johnson is alternating positions and that leaves Richardson and Phil Wallace to try to lead by example. The Big South has turned out to be no joke, teams all through the conference have picked up big out of conference wins this year. The good thing is Coastal will start with Radford and VMI at home in Kimbell Arena, where the Chants are 7-0. It will be the road that will tell us if they are warriors or dogs.



If you have thoughts or questions please dive in and drop me a line, and if you have an argument I can’t wait to read it.

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