March 13, 2024 • 52 mins
The Tigers gear up to face down the Eagles in today's matchup! As always, John and Rich preview today's game, and set the scene with interviews, clips from the players, and more!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
W E. S. E FM. Greenville, Spartanburg, Andersen.
Time for the Ingles Countdown to tipOff Show, brought to you Pie Ingles
Markets, Low Prices, Love theSavings, Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative, Harley
Davidson of Greenville, Greer Flooring Center, the Surgery Center at Pella McGhee eating
an air hand by pal Meadow StateArmory. Now Here are your hosts,
(00:25):
John alism Ridgecumbe Weaver. Welcome into the Ingles Countdown to tip Off Show.
It is going to be a bigone tonight in the ACC. Is
your Clemson Tigers on the men's sideor back after it after a tough lost
in the regular season at wake Forest. Time to move on is Bill Pella
check Wi say we're on to DC. We are on to the tournament as
(00:48):
you've got a big, big gametonight between this Clemson Tiger team with twenty
one wins on the season and ofcourse always Peskey Boston College team. It's
Ingles Countdown to tip Off Show.I'm John Ellis. We've got Trey Falco
in the house in Richmond. Weaveris here as well as we are conducting
a little engineering science here. II think I blew your ears out headphones.
(01:11):
You did not blow my ears out. So we'll pull the curtains back
a little bit here in the studiotesting one too, because it's it's it's
late night for us, at leastfor me. No, you're night out.
No you're night owl. So yousay up really late. I do
not, So anyway, I havetwo sets of headphones here, and Okay,
(01:36):
I gotta get through this. Igotta get through this without laughing too
hard because I got two sets ofheadphones and I've got one and Trey,
mister producer extraordinaire, is asking methe volume is okay. I'm saying,
no, I can't hear anything.I can't hear anything. I've got headphones
(01:57):
that are not plugged into anything fromingles the headphones that are actually plugged in
to something. We're good times.I've done radio where I came in when
I used to I wear the bigcans again, like the old radio.
Yeah, I got the earbuds.I used to wear the buds too for
a while, and I would mistakemy air pods for the buds and I
would do the same thing. I'dstart the show and I'm all confused.
(02:21):
Anyway, we're here for the nexthour. Good to be with you,
rich is good to have you back. Man. You've been on assignment,
you've been traveling the US calling games. Yes, And I just want to
just say, first of all,what a show it was up at the
Ingles Soakon basketball championships. We hadan opportunity to call a little action there.
You all had a chance to broadcaston one to four nine Fox Sports
Upstate and shout out to the Ingles. But man, what a great job
(02:44):
you did up there, my friend. No, I greatly appreciate that,
and thank you to you guys forcovering while I was out on assignment,
so to speak, with all ofthose games and we take football for an
hour, but we got through it. That's okay, I get it.
Yes, I get it. They'restill football on people's minds. I know
that you will sorely mistrust me yourinsights and all that. We welcome them
(03:06):
back to my friend. Thank you. Seven games in two days is what
I did. That'll worry out.This ocon the Ingles Southern Conference Basketball Championships,
and it was absolutely fantastic. SoI say that with a lot of
gratitude and enthusiasm. Yes, twolong days, but I absolutely loved it
(03:27):
and saw some great basketball and thenightcap on Saturday with Furman in Western Carolina
and their rematch from last year,a game that went into overtime that Furman
ended up winning and then obviously advancingto the finals and would beat Chattanooga to
win their first Southern Conference Tournament championshipin forty three years. But then also
(03:49):
how they finished that game against WesternCarolina going into overtime once again and somehow
found a way to win, butobviously came up short in the semi finals
the fall Alloween Day against Samford,who would go on to win on the
men's side, and the first timethat they've won a conference championship now they
(04:09):
haven't been in the Southern Conference aslong as Furman, but it was the
first time now that they're going togo to the NCAA Tournament since two thousand.
So congratulations to Bucky McMillan and SamfordBulldogs there as they beat East Tennessee
State in a fard halt and ahard fought game. Yesul past English language
(04:31):
also, but this is why welove sports and why basketball and March madness.
You just don't know what's going tohappen. So in the semi finals
game with East Tennessee State against Chattanooga, Oh yeah, this is a game.
With fourteen minutes to go in thegame, East Tennessee State is shooting
(04:56):
twenty two percent from the field anddown by twenty points with fourteen minutes to
go in the second half. Theirtwo best players foul out with about six
minutes to go in the game,and somehow East Tennessee State comes back and
wins in overtime. That's unreal.It's amazing. March madness, March madness.
(05:19):
You have to love that type ofscenario and the effort that they had
even in the Monday night championship gameagainst Sanford where they gave Samford all they
could handle. In East Tennessee Statewas a number seven seed, so it
was a great opportunity. But itshowcases once again how hard it is to
win four games in four days.And so I know we'll talk about Clemson
(05:44):
in the ACC and having that scenarioplay out that were so close for Clemson
to get that double by and howcrucial that double bye is because even in
these mid major conferences, it's verydifficult to win four games in four days.
So even I believe harder in thesePower five conferences in terms of the
(06:04):
level of play. And also thoughas a crazy stat that East Tennessee State
had the women's side of the SouthernConference tournament, this is an even crazier
stat. So the Chattanooga women theywin the Southern Conference Tournament championship back to
(06:24):
back. They won last year andSean Poppy is the head coach. He
was a first year head coach atChattanooga last year wins the championship, so
he follows that up in his secondyear with a championship. And that's the
twentieth championship for Chattanooga women's basketball program. They've had basketball for fifty years there.
(06:47):
And now this is what makes itcrazy. They've been to the Southern
Conference finals twenty times and their twentythat'll do. They have never lost once
they have made it to the finals. That is one of the most impressive
stats cool that I've seen in along time in terms of it's one thing
(07:10):
to say you've been, you know, to a certain level and you are
twenty in zero right exactly. It'sdifferent when it's for a conference championship,
a title ring season all of that. So congratulations to the Chattanooga women's basketball
team and obviously punch their ticket tothe NCAA tournament. But I know we're
(07:32):
here to talk some Clemson basketball hereand the ACC tournament going on right now.
As we see in the second half, NC State up thirty five to
thirty four against Syracuse with about nineteenminutes to go, So uh it is
game on. Oh there we go. It's a nice punch, John Ellison,
game on. Well, you canhear the Richmond Weavers show three pm
(07:55):
on Fox Sports Upstead every weekday andthen game on with John Ellis four pm.
It's your lineup for the It's doonfor sports talk on Fox Sports Upstate.
Great segue as we get back intoClemson here. Obviously there's a lot
to monitor in the ACC. We'lltalk about some earlier scores here in this
tournament bracket that have some implications fora lot of teams. But you mentioned
the opportunity to get the double byand I want to talk about Senior Night
(08:18):
with you eventually here. But wegot to get to the ugly first,
and it was a they we gottasay, just not a good performance up
at wig Forest, a tough placeto play. You love Steve Forbes.
You've talked about this coach for along time, what he can do.
Eighty one seventy six, Clemson fallsand they finished the season eleven and nine
in conference, twenty one to tenoverall. And certainly, shooting is everything.
In the first half, he comeout, you shoot thirty seven percent
(08:41):
shot selection Richmond three of sixteen fromdowntown, right. Not a great start
for Clemson in that game. No, it was odd. And of all
things, you mentioned Steve Forbes,and I do like Steve Forbes. I've
had a chance to sit down withhim a couple of occasions, and he's
just a breadth of fresh air.He's a little quirky, but I like
that about Steve Forbes. And heis very familiar with the Southern Conference.
(09:03):
He was the head coach at EastTennessee State, and his protege, the
guy he mentored, Brook Savage,is now the head coach at East Tennessee
State in his first year. SoSteve Forbes was in attendance there at the
Southern Conference Tournament championship and it wasgreat to see him there supporting his protege
(09:24):
Brook Savage. Again, the headcoach of East Tennessee State. But this
was the opportunity that for Clemson toclose things out go on the road against
wake Forest to wake Forest had beenreeling a little bit, and you were
thinking that there was a scenario playingout that could Clemson go and steal a
victory on the road in the ACCWe know how difficult it is, and
(09:48):
that's one of the challenges. We'vetalked about it several times that regardless of
a team's record, when you havethat type of scenario play out, especially
what it was looked in terms ofwhat that game meant. This was an
opportunity Clemson. All you have todo you either beat Notre Dame on the
road or you beat Wake Forest onthe road and you're the number four seed
(10:09):
and you get the double by.And for Clemson, that first half is
what put them in the hole.They made a great second half run,
but just not enough because, likewe said, the poor shooting and how
many times have we talked about it, John with Clemson, if they can
have games where they're shooting or they'reattempting eighteen to twenty five three pointers,
(10:35):
yep, that's their sweet spot,it is, and we talked about that
for four years now on this show. That's a consistent theme here. And
when you're attempting sixteen in the firsthalf, that's not a good scenario for
Clemson. It's just not And you'retoo reliant on the three point shot at
that point, and I think youstart getting into the mindset of, oh,
(10:56):
I've got to hit a big threepointer. That's going to be the
momentum changer. But in basketball,teams can make runs without the three point
shot, and Clemson has the defenseto be able to do that and stop
people. But you just have toconvert. And I think sometimes Clemson settles
for three point shots when they don'tneed to. Yeah, it was an
interesting game, obviously. Ian Shefflinwill talk about senior night not as good
(11:18):
on this particular night at wake Forest. Only five points in this game,
six rebounds. Good job by wakeoverall, limiting some production from Ian Shefflin,
only twenty six minutes. PJ.Hall, you mentioned eighteen points,
and certainly we'll talk about some ofthe accolades handed out to these two young
men coming up here shortly on theshow. Chase Hunter had a pretty good
night again, five to ten fromthe field, seventeen points, five to
(11:41):
five, from the line, butagain nine to twenty six from downtown ain't
gonna cut it. Good run inthe second half. Every time I look
up the Clemson right up on thegames, and I certainly appreciate the work
their sid does and all their finefolks out there, Ross Taylor and company
putting together these press releases and recaps, But every time I see in a
game of run, and it reallyhas been that type of season for Clemson.
(12:03):
Every game has had those back andforth runs where the lead change.
In this game twelve different times,Clemson had an eight points scoring run at
one point. Wake went on thatnine point scoring run early in the second
half, but once again, justnot their best stuff from the field.
And that's what it comes down to. And again, when you give up
eighty one points, that's not brunellEsh defense. You want to hold that
team down on the seventies or maybeeven sixties. That's right, And we
(12:26):
have talked also about with Brad Burnell. He's going to try to slow things
down when he can. And ifyou're not playing defense, you are not
going to be out on the court. And that is right reality, and
knowing that Clemson is only able toscore twenty eight points there in the first
half and only gave up thirty four. So it wasn't like a poor defensive
(12:50):
effort there in the first half.It's just that when Clemson got hot in
the second half and was able tomake the runs, then all of a
sudden, the defense just disappeared,and you're questioning, like, what happened
to the defense there? And that'swhat's frustrating if you're a Clemson Tiger fan,
is that it's you need, it'sthe combination has to come together at
(13:13):
the same time. Yeah, andthere's been several games this season where the
defense has been there but no offense. And then another game, or another
half or another ten minutes, theoffense is there and no defense, and
you're questioning, can't you put thingstogether? Be more consistent? And that's
what the great teams, that's whatthey do. Same thing in football,
(13:37):
and we talk about this all thetime on the Engles Tailgate show Complimentary football.
The same sort of axium exists therein basketball. You have to have
all elements cooking at the same time. If your defense is sloppy or you've
got foul trouble and your offense isgreat, you can't put together complete game
what we did see though, andwhen we come back, we're going to
talk about this a little bit andcatch up with a good friend, Don
(13:58):
Munson from the Clemson Athletic Network.I'll check in with us. Is that
game that was very special to alot of people, including the seniors and
their family. Senior Night, bigwin against Syracuse rich and I will keep
you updated on current scores going onright now as we are live downtown Grievere
from the Ingles Studio is getting youready for Clemson Boston College. The ACC
Tournament is here and you got itlocked in on ninety two point five WSC
(14:22):
ninety two point five wd S isthe Upstates, new home for the Clemson
Tigers. Big night for the ClemsonTigers as they opened up ACC Tournament play
(14:43):
taken on Boston College. Been anup and down season for a lot of
teams in this conference. Very highexpectations for this Clemson team is March Madness
is officially underway. Tip off justafter nine pm. You've got the Ingles
Countdown, the tip Off Show,John Richmond Weaver, Trey Falco in the
house as well. We are broughtto you by your friends at Ingles low
(15:05):
prices, love the savings Ingles dashmarkets dot Com. Want to get him
around of applause for what a jobIngles did in conjunction with the Southern Conference
putting on the twenty twenty four InglesSoCon Basketball Championships. Had a great time
broadcasting live on our sister station oneO four point nine Fox Sports Upstate on
Friday. What a great time wehad up there, and a great championship
(15:28):
run for Sanford on the men's side. And certainly we want to thank our
friends at Ingles in the Southern Conferencefor their hospitality. Don't forget you can
catch the Richmond Weaver Show every singleweekday three pm, followed by Game On
with John Ellison Trey Falco four pmweekdays one O four point nine Fox Sports
Upstate. Without further Adude's time toturn to our special guest. He is
(15:48):
live from the ACC Tournament getting readyto call another big time game for Brad
Burnel's Clemson Tigers. It's Don Munsonfrom the Clemson Athletic Network. Don,
welcome to the show. Thanks youfor having me on, boys, so
that you're doing well getting ready forthe loops here in the DC. So
so we can get things done tonight. Yeah, big time game coming up
tonight. We think tip off shouldbe around nine point thirty ish, but
(16:11):
we'll stand by for more details onthat. And don I need to tell
you, look, this Clemson teamhas had quite a journey of the season.
Looking at the macro story of what'shappened, it's kind of been a
tale of three seasons almost where ifyou look at the non conference schedule that
was very well constructed and they hadgood success there, the early mid tenure
(16:33):
of the ACC schedule, which wasvery up and down, as you know,
and then down the back stretch wherethey made their hay and got to
twenty wins. Just an overall recap, don of what's been a very wild
season in which Clemson can now breathea little bit knowing the big dances ahead
for them. Yeah. Well,certainly the non conference part of the schedule
is what has earned them the factthat they can sit here even going into
(16:53):
this one tonight, and not haveto worry about making the NCAA tournament.
Obviously, the month of January wasnot good good, and then you know,
thank goodness, we finally got inthe month of February and rolled under
that and some things started happening ina positive vein for Clemson. So now
you get a Boston College team heretonight that you know, just took care
of business last night. I mean, Clinton post was unbelievable last night.
(17:15):
So you wonder how much are theygoing to have in the tank, particularly
when we get to the second half. But Earl Grant will have him ready,
that's for sure, to see ifthey can take out our tigers.
The season most improved player in theACC without a doubt by every metric,
including the eyeball test, was IanSheflin, and indeed that was the case.
Just a word on what's been aremarkable season, especially on senior night
(17:36):
a double double for Sheflin. Yeah, he, I mean Ian has been
probably one of the factors that youknow, the Clemson has done and what
they have done. I mean,really, he's I don't think that any
of us saw this coming. Imean, I'd raise your hand if you
saw this coming, because I don'tthink that anybody really did. We kind
of knew that the potential was there, but now potential has been realized and
(17:57):
so you know, he has hehas to come and play all tonight you
know, just because you know,all of all of yesterday's points, all
of yesterday's rebounds don't matter Hill tonight. He's got to come back, do
it again here tonight and get postseasonplays started off in a good way for
him and don talking about Ian Shefflinand PJ Hall. What have you seen
just in terms of the course ofthe season and the wear and tear on
(18:22):
these guys, and how Brad hashad to balance the long season, but
also these guys still playing at thehighest level that they can competitively, and
just you know, the the injuries, the nagging injuries, being sick,
and how important it is just atleast to get a little bit of rest
here at the end of the seasonheading into the NCAA tournament, obviously the
(18:45):
ACC tournament. Action tonight, Richard, there is no doubt that you could
see a point in time this yearwhere both of them were worn down.
And so he, you know,coach had to do some things, and
so he did it in practice.You know, he held amount of practice,
didn't let them, letting them dosome things, just trying to get
particularly their leggs back, and sobut I think they're in a good spot
(19:07):
right now. I mean, Ireally, dude, and seeing them play
here is Here's a blade. Ijust feel like that that chef has been
able to push through the wall.In particular, I think the PJ he's
not one hundred percent, but nobodyat this time really is is one hundred
percent. But I would say thatphysically he's probably in the best spot that
he's been in and in a while. But again, just you got to
go out there and play. Imean, you just got to go out
there. Forget all of that.No one's gonna cry. You know,
(19:30):
no one's gonna gonna give you anypity because of what has happened in the
past. This is this is allabout the day, and you got to
take care of today. Okay,Well, don The only thing that I
am still crying about, though isa tip off time maybe not even Hey,
listen, if you're gonna be afan, suck it up, big
boys. Stop you're complaining about it, and let's just play. You play.
(19:53):
I play them at two o'clock inthe morning. If that's what they
want to there, we matter.Okay, you just roll the ball out
then we're going to show up.Well that's what I needed to hear.
Mountain West Times going on here.These are the CBS Sports Network games got
going on. Don Muntz and TimBrady will be on the call tonight live
from the ACC Men's Basketball Championship.And of course, one player who was
(20:15):
instrumental in getting this team here,and I don't think we talk about him
enough as a senior, Jack Clark, the transfer who has just been so
great rich and I've been talking abouthim almost every week on the show.
Defensively, Brad Burnell has pointed outwhat a key cock he's been, and
he said, look, we've gotscores. We just need you to do
your bid, which is play somedefense. How instrumental has Jack Clark been
to this whole deal? Oh,he's He's been probably the most important piece
(20:37):
of it, to be honest.I mean just look at the record with
Jack starting and him not you know, not starting, or him even just
being available to play for Clemson andNavy. He certainly has been the biggest
key to it all. And Jackis one of those pieces that has got
to come in, but he needssome help the other But it's Jack.
The other four guys just don't needto Okay, Jack, go stop somebody.
(21:00):
It has to be the other fourguys that are all playing with him,
and you know it, and Ithink that I will tell you I
know for sure that's one of thethings that the coach bran All has been
after his club coming into this thinghere. He then Aiens said, you
know, boys, we need tosip up our defense. We need to
start playing you know, kind ofchampionship style of defense and winning defense.
So offwoot, we'll see that starthere tonight. Yeah, and don that
(21:22):
defense obviously is very important, butalso at the end of the day,
you can stop teams, but youalso are going to have to score.
And when Joseph Gerard the third andChase Hunter, when they're on together,
they are, in my opinion,one of the most underrated backcourts in all
of college basketball. Your thoughts onjust what the Clemson team looks like when
(21:45):
both of those guys are on well, when they're both on. Obviously,
offensively, they're tough to beach.They just they are They're just they're just
tough to be But then that's anotherfactor is that Clemson has to shoot the
ball well. Teams that are goingto win here in a tournament and any
tournament play are going to shoot theball well. Very often will you see
(22:06):
will you see teams you know thatshoot hundred forty win a tournament game.
It happens occasionally, but it doesn'thappen very often. So they need to
They need to be able to shootthe ball well, go take care of
it, rebound well, take careof things, you know, all those
all those lines that you hear everybodytalk about. They have to do because
that's what winning teams do. Thewinning teams do all those things. So
(22:30):
something if they want to advance heretonight, got to do it. They
want to advance to borrow, let'scome back and do it again and hopefully
they got four in them, becauseif they want to win their first ever
ACC championship, it's going to take. It's going to take that kind of
effort each and every time. DonMunson, Clemson Athletic Network, he'll be
on the call tonight with Jim Daviscoming up here shortly and Don look,
it's a basketball show, but it'sall encompassing because it is Clemson. Let's
(22:53):
talk a little football. Spring practicehas been underway, scrimmage is underway,
the spring game rhetoric around the corner, how excited are you to get back
after it on the gridiron. I'mreally excited about what I've seen so far
from Clemson here in the spring.It's been really exciting to watch what is
going on, and it's amazing justto see what maybe a couple of assistant
(23:15):
coaches and the differences they can makeand what they start putting in into kids'
minds, and how they all ofa sudden now the work ethic has changed
a little bit. Really excited aboutwhat's going to transpire the rest of the
spring, no doubt about it.You've got a spring game coming up,
a lot of excitement brewing down therein Death Valley for the upcoming season.
But it's basketball season right now,and Clemson has a very special opportunity here,
(23:40):
not only to make their way intothe NCAA Tournament, but hey,
while you're at it, let's gowin a conference championship. Don Munson's live
from the ACC Tournament right now,getting ready for Boston College Clemson tonight.
Keep it locked on ninety two pointfive WEC and the Clemson Athletic Network is
Don and Jim Davis are on thecall for this one. Don, Thank
you so much for your time.Safe try apples, bring home a win,
(24:00):
my friend. Thank guys. DonMunson of course, always kind enough
to join us here on Engles countat the tip off show, and he
and Jim Davis are on the calltonight. And I've been informed that instead
of Tim Burray, who is theencyclopedia of all things Clemson, Tim Bray,
as we know, works for NBCin the Golf Channel, and he's
(24:21):
got the best job on earth,and he's deserved because he does a little
bit of Clemson, a little bitof golf. He's down a TPC sawgrass.
What a cherry gig that is.But Jim Davis, and you know,
Jim a little bit rich capable shoestonight calling this game with Don Oh,
no question, Jim Davis is agreat guy. I've known him for
years, ever since I was atClemson when I was part of the men's
team and he was the head coachof the women's program there, and we've
(24:44):
obviously been able to stay in touch, and it's great when I get to
see him, and I've been doingsome halftime radio stuff and he's been there,
and it's just great when you getto be around those type of guys
who've been around that basketball for along time, and he had a lot
of success on the women's side withClemson. Absolutely speaking to the women's side,
(25:06):
we'd be remiss if we didn't givea hat tip to a man of
Butler with a job she did here. But obviously there's been some tough sailing
here of late in terms of production. They let a man of Butler go
this week, and it's always tough. We've seen this with the coaches like
Brandon Streeter with the football side andothers, even going back to Tommy Bowden.
When this happens. It's tough becauseit's a family down there at Clemson.
But best of luck to a manof Butler who obviously did the best
(25:26):
she could. Hear. Yeah,And I got to know her a little
bit doing some radio stuff and somepodcasts stuff with her, and one of
my podcast partners, Steffie Sorenson,played for her at Lada, so I
got to know her through that extensionof a friend. And it's one of
those things where I think I understand, you know, just because of the
(25:49):
dynamics of winning, but on apersonal level, it is tough. It
is tough because that you know theimpact and you know that person at a
different level, so it is tough, but I think I understand the reasoning
well. And again, congrats toa lot of those players who played for
MENA Butler. She raised a greatpack of players there in terms of being
(26:14):
under her tutelage. And obviously wegot to he have had tip to the
friends down in Columbia. Obviously therewas some controversy there here in Greenville,
but Don Staly's team perfect thirty twoand zero. They win the SEC women's
basketball tournament. It was a wildday at Bonds of course, well in
this arena, but that team isa machine. And on the men's side
La mont Paris don't sleep on themin this tournament. On the SEC side,
(26:36):
well, it was a wild ridestarting Saturday with South Carolina and Tennessee
with Carmela Cardoza hitting a bank threepointer with one second to go to have
South Carolina escape and survive in advancebasically against Tennessee. And then obviously the
fireworks were truly on Sunday with TimMulki was there. They got the Bayou
(26:59):
Bar and people jumping over the scorerstable coming out of the stands. I
mean, you had anything and everythingfrom basketball to boxing to wrestling. It
was all there in one game.But what Don Staley has done is quite
impressive. But here I give somemore stats. So it's interesting. Now,
(27:22):
this is the third team in thepast six years I think, no
excuse me, the past eight yearsthat has been undefeated going into the NCAA
tournament, and those three teams havelost. So now this will be the
fourth. So it'll be interesting tosee what happens because the pressure starts mounting
(27:45):
absolutely when you start. It's onething now to go win a national championship,
but most of the time it's ateam who has already suffered a loss
during the season. You want toget that loss out of the way where
it doesn't end your season because allthe pressure of now, oh, you
have to be undefeated, and obviouslyyou do have to be undefeated now if
(28:07):
you're going to championship. I knowthey weren't undefeated, but look at what
Virginia did a couple of years agowhen they went to the tournament and certainly
were favored by many to win thewhole thing, and they lose in the
first round to h It was aUMBC Maryland Baltimore County that was tough,
and you see this from time totime. It reminds me of the Patriots
a little bit when they went undefeatedin the regular season and they're the pressure
(28:29):
mounted up. It's the great thingthough about single elimination basketball, and certainly
on the men's side and the SEC. We'll turn back to the ACC at
a minute, a big time opportunityfor this South Carolina team with Lamont Paris
to hey, you know what,it's kind of like Clemson's attitude while we're
here. Let's go ahead and makea run and try to win this thing
because the ACC is wide open.The SEC, there's some avenues here for
(28:51):
South Carolina to make a run ofthis thing, oh, no question about
it. And South Carolina they weretied for second in the SEC, yes
they were. Now they drop downto the fifth seed just because of tie
breakers. And on Saturday, thelast Saturday of the regular season, if
Arkansas would have been able to holdon and beat Alabama, then that would
(29:12):
have put South Carolina as the numbertwo seed in the SEC tournament. And
that's a huge difference versus the numberfive seed because now also South Carolina is
in the same boat. There wouldhave to win four games in four days,
and they will play the winner ofthe Arkansas Vendorbilt game that is going
on. So it will be interestingto see. But there's a lot of
(29:34):
talk right now throughout the college basketballworld what school is the best basketball school
in the country. I like thisdebate. Is it Yukon or is it
South Carolina? Because you've got thedouble dip here, Yes, the double
dip men's and women's program. Whichone is the best? So it'll be
(29:56):
interesting to see how things shake out. And we saw the women Yukon team
when they're like one hundredth of BigEast Conference titles and I'm joking, you
know, it just keeps getting hejust keeps getting it done. Yes,
but it'll be interesting to see howthe men's side plays out. Obviously,
Yukon men are very good and wouldbe the front runner right now to win
(30:22):
a national championship. Shout out toour good buddy Mark Childress, who was
one fourth of the Ingles Tiger Tailgateshow with us during the football season and
does a tremendous job covering sports onthe play by place side. We've known
Mark. You've known Mark for along time. He's always told you,
you know what. I don't care. I don't want the game Cocks to
do well in anything. Personally,I'm kind of with you, and I
don't want to speak for you.I'd say this, if they're on opposite
(30:44):
sides of the bracket, let themboth advance the Sweet sixteen and let them
both get into the Elite eight,because that just increases the stakes for this
rivalry into the basketball arena. It'sgreat for the state of South Carolina.
It is, as long as theydon't be Clemson exactly. I've been saying
it for years, South Carol,go be good. Just don't be good
on that particular day when you're playingClemson's That's all I need. We got
(31:07):
some score updates for you. We'llcome back and give you those live action
in the ACC Tournament NC State rightnow, they're in a TV timeout coming
out of it right now, sixtyto forty six. They're on top of
Syracuse right now, fourteen point lead. They're about halfway through the second half
of of date. The rest ofthe scores so far in this tournament leading
up to the nine thirty ish tipoff between Boston College and Clemson tonight.
(31:29):
Right here on ninety two point fiveWSC ninety two point five. W e
SC is the Upstate's new home fora Clemson Tigers all the season starts mix
(32:00):
the Clemson Tigers twenty one to tenon the season, taking on an eighteen
and fourteen Boston College team live fromCapitol One Arena in Washington, DC.
You've got Don Munson and Jim Davison the call, as our good friend
Tim Burray is covering some golf thisweekend for the Golf Channel, So Jim
Davis capable hands and we talked toDon Munson here just a few short minutes
(32:21):
ago, looking forward to catching upwith him on the next episode. Here,
Rich big game and some big gameshappening right now. How about this
score? NC State has stretched theirlead to sixteen with eight and a half
left in regulation. Thoughts on thisone, because look, it's a ten
verse seven game. Obviously Syracuse wassomewhat favored, but State obviously they've had
(32:42):
an up and down year. Thenature of the ACC here we go,
Yes, there's always going to bea team that surprises somebody, and we
saw that several years ago. Itwas Virginia Tech that made their run and
ended up getting an ACC championship.So there are those type of scenarios that
play out. Do I think NCState has the team to be able to
do that, No, I donot. Can they make a little bit
(33:02):
of a run, Yes they can, and they're doing that right now.
And Syracuse is a team that's onthat bubble, that proverbial bubble in terms
of getting into the NCUBA tournament,And obviously I think with this loss it
would knock them out of any potentialbecause I think they're going to need a
little bit more work in the ACCtournament. But this is now an opportunity
(33:27):
for NC State just to create somehavoc, and I think that's part of
it, that, Hey, youstill have a shot to make the NCAA
tournament if you're an NC State team. And I'm not saying it at large
because you're gonna have to go winthe ACC tournament. But we've seen crazy
things can happen. Now. We'venever seen a team play from the opening
(33:50):
day and make it all the waytough to the championship rounds and the ultimately
win. That has never happened,and that's winning five in five days,
and that is absolutely brutal. Well, Kevin Keats is battling for his job.
Let's face if you're listening to sportstalk up there in Raleigh, in
the Triad area, you know thatthe fans are fed up right now.
(34:12):
There's been a lot of ups anddowns with that team, so every win
gives him an opportunity to keep thatmomentum going. Another action so far in
this championship, of course, thefirst round tipped off yesterday. No big
surprises, I would say Notre Dameobviously with a win over Georgia Tech.
Good to see Notre Dame advancing,but their gift was to play wake Forest
today and wake Forest obviously took careof Clemson last week. They take care
(34:35):
of Notre Dame seventy two to fiftynine. And the other first round games
here the aforementioned NC State Wolfpack,no big surprises. They take down Louisville.
What an awful season it's been forLouisville. Big changes on the way
you'd have to imagine for that program. Yes, Kenny Payne has been fired,
so they have moved on from KennyPayne after two years. And that's
a tough situation because Kenny Payne wasa part of the Louisville family. I
(34:58):
mean, he was an All Americanat louis and part of a national championship
team as a player under Denny Crumband all that he did for that program
as an assistant coach, and thenmoved on and was an assistant coach at
in our Trival though Kentucky. Buteverybody still embraced him and loved him coming
back. I just think it wasa tough timing scenario for Kenny Payne because
(35:22):
of the sanctions that Louisville was underand some of the uncertainty as far as
exactly what some of the punishment wasgoing to be from previous coaches. And
that's a tough spot because Kenny Paine'sa good guy. I did have the
opportunity to interview him at the ACCtip off media day a couple of times,
and it's again not that I knowhim that well, but you do.
(35:43):
When you spend oh we get tointerview people, you get a sense
of what they're all about, whyhe's a good coach. You don't get
to that level without that's only whatyou're doing. Circumstances are tough, and
now Louisville. This is what I'llsay about the the juxtaposition between what Louisville
faces now a former basketball powerhouse,maybe not a blue blood. I don't
want to be sacrilegious here, butone of those upper tiers below those tiers,
(36:04):
yes, and now you see,like Clemson fans in general, I
know they want more from this basketballprogram, and I feel you, guys,
but Brad Burnell has been under alot of scrutiny from a lot of
fans for a long time. Gettingto twenty wins like three out of four
years now is no easy tasks.So no, it's not stabilizing things obviously
moving forward. We'll talk more aboutClemson a minute. Just be happy you're
not the fifteenth seed in this conferenceright now and you've got something you can
(36:27):
rely on. This is a goodClemson team. How exciting is it that
you were that close to being oneof the top four seeds in the ACC
tournament and you know you're in theNCAA Tournament exactly. So I think that's
why their madness means a little bitmore when you know your team is going
to be in it. I regardlessif it's an at large bid or an
(36:49):
automatic bid by winning the conference tournament, but I do think there is the
I guess the fan base the thirstis there for a conference. Yeah,
tournament champion, you want to behungry for it. But I would say
that this if it's a one anddone in the ACC tournament and in the
(37:10):
Big Dance. I get you,I feel you, but I think give
Brunelle and his staff a chance andthis team mainly because it bleeds down to
them. This team deserves better interms of the screwtin Anyway, that's my
soapbox. I'm off it now.Boston College yesterday took down Miami, a
program with Jim Laernego, another guywe've talked to before. That team is
just falling on hard times right now. And now BC moves on to play
(37:30):
Clemson tonight. Okay, so thisis I'm going to go on a little
tangent. Let's do it. Okay, Soap Fox, here's my soapbox.
It's tangent Wednesday, because I definitelyI went on some tangents earlier today on
the Richmond Weavers show on our sisterstation, one of four nine Fox Sports
Upstate. So we've talked about niland oh these teams that are spending all
(37:58):
this money, they get all theseplayers, they're going to win everything.
We talked about it on the footballside with Texas A and m and Jimbo
Fisher and oh look at all thenil money that they have. The recruiting
class is the greatest recruiting class ever. Jimbo said that on our show uple
years ago. Oh I got thebest class ever. And did it manufacture
(38:21):
into wins or championships? No,and Miami all of that talk. I
know, Miami made their run,but guys coming back like Nigel Pack nor
Chad Omar coming back with nil moneyand people thinking, oh, yep,
they just the rich gets richer andthey're just going to continue to win.
(38:44):
Money doesn't solve everything, and itdoesn't mean that you're going to have a
winning program just because you have nilmoney and you can attract. Right now
with freely, there's a whole hostof teams out there excited. They just
bought themselves a playoff run. Andit never ceases to amaze me how many
times it doesn't work. It doesn'twork at the same translation here, No,
(39:04):
that's a great point, rich andI want this show to be called
The Rich Get Richer from that one. I like that starring Richard. That's
right, obviously, NC State.They are on top of Syracuse Now scoreboard
update here in a moment, thewinner of this game gets the uninivable task
of playing Duke tomorrow night. ADuke team that look. The Kyle Philipowski
thing look a Grayson Allen moment.You can say it was not a pretty
(39:25):
thing Philipowski. Also, with thecourt storming incident, it's been a weird
couple weeks for Duke. It's evenmore magnified because of the court storming at
wake Forest, that big victory thatthey had, and obviously Kyle Philipowski getting
injured and initially the way he's walkingoff, the way it looked is that
(39:50):
he was done for the season,that it was over. Yeah, that
it was going to be one ofthose monumental moments that we'd be talking about
for a long time. And wellhe played the next game. That news
cycle died out pretty quick, buthe was back on the court. He
was back on the court, andthen obviously against North Carolina the tripping scenario
(40:10):
that played out, and I meanit was obvious he tripped team. It
was an obvious tripping and it wasa bad look. It's a bad look,
and so it's even more magnified basedon the court storming situation and that
it was Kyle Philipowski and the factthat it's a duke player. Well,
you know, we've seen North Carolinaand Duke on collision courses before, namely
(40:34):
in coach K's last season. Maybethey're heading there again, either here or
in the Big Dance. But thewinner of this game happening now. And
now we've got a sixteen point leadthat's holding at five twenty seven left to
the second half, Richmond seventy tofifty four, Syracuse having a hell of
a time getting points on the boardhere at NC State, it looks increasingly
likely not only they'll get the upset, but this game will end on time
(40:54):
for us exactly. Yes. Andyou have to be very careful because we
can't speak too early. Just asthe same way bruns can happen, runs
can happen, they definitely can.And I go back to nineteen ninety four
and it was LSU in Kentucky ina game. Rick Patino was the head
coach of Kentucky. Dale Brown wasthe head coach at LSU, and with
(41:19):
fifteen minutes to go in the game, Kentucky was down by thirty one points
and they came back and won.So I know this is seventeen points.
Brown's not walking through the door pointsnow, Yes, exactly, that's right.
I get it. But hey,look, anything can happen. That's
the thing about this funny game.But we're going to hit a break here
(41:40):
and come back. We'll talk alittle bit if we have time about Senior
Day. What a great day wasSenior Night, I should say, where
so many of the seniors had abig role in the big win over Syracuse,
the home finale there. And we'lllook at this matchup between Clemson and
Boston College. What are the Eaglesall about? We'll give you an update
on that right here on the InglesCountdown to tip Off Show ninety two point
five WSC ninety two point five wE s E is the Upstates new home
(42:06):
for a Clemson Tigers shine will timejust time you'll get getting you primed and
(42:34):
ready for Clemson's postseason opener. Thistwenty twenty four calendar season. We're into
the middle of March. It's hardto believe and March Madis is in full
swing. Will Clemson finally be ableto advance into the ACC Men's basketball tournament
with some authority here and potentially challengefor a conference championship on the tournament side.
(42:55):
Obviously, they've got a lot oftalent to do, so we'll break
down the game they have. Thefirst step is obviously taking care of a
very dangerous Boston College team coming upat nine thirty pm. You can hear
it right here on ninety two pointfive WeSC. Standing by is our good
friend Don Munson along with Jim Davison the call tonight. You can catch
it here on WSC or anywhere yougo in the iHeartRadio apps A Richmond Right
(43:17):
now. We mentioned earlier Dale Brownmight not be walking through that. No,
yeah, that's right. Seventy fourto fifty seven. Obviously, you
know, a tough one for Syracusehere, do you think again? Catch
me up on bracketology, a littlebit of Syracuse in Are they bubble or
they were bubble? I think they'reout now. I think they're probably out
with it. I think they're outnow. And if they lose, in
fact, yes, they would haveto and they were probably going to have
(43:40):
to win two and maybe even threegames. They're in the a SEC tournament.
Because you're also looking at a Virginiateam who is third in the ACC,
and they're projected as a bubble team. So even if Virginia crazy loses,
there could be a scenario that Virginiais not in the NCAA tournament.
(44:02):
Yes, and I think that wouldsurprise a lot of people, just because
you're finishing third in the ACC.Now, the record was thirteen and seven,
so it's not when you look atit from a record standpoint, you're
like, oh, well it's thirteenand seven, but still the ACC.
I still don't understand how many peopleare down on the ACC as a conference.
(44:25):
You're you're well versed on this,probably more than anybody in this room.
But I followed this to a prettylarge degree. And these are some
good teams at the top half ofthat ACC. I know there's a lot
of bias to the Big twelve.There's a lot of bias of course to
the SEC. But look, theconference in general is very competitive. They
beat up on one another, andyou see teams in the middle pack like
(44:46):
wake Forest emerge. Even a Floridastate you could do damage on any given
night. And of course Clemson theycould have been the four seed. Now
they're all the way down there outsidethe four. I don't get it,
and Brenews talked about that all year. I mean he's kind of been,
you know, very vocal. Areother coaches kind of banging the drum with
brunell Ors. He been the loudestno yes in the ACC. Obviously they
have and I think there's some peoplenow are turning their attention that, Okay,
(45:10):
maybe the ACC is not as downas they had initially thought, because
I look at even Clemson. WhenClemson is clicking on all cylinders. Clemson
is a team that can beat anybodyin the country. Of course, and
I know you can say, waita second, no, they can they
beat Houston, Can they beat Yukon? Could they beat a Purdue? They
(45:32):
can? I promise you they canbecause they have an All American in PJ.
Hall, and he's first team AllACC most Ian Shefflin, the chef
in the ACC. And then you'vegot one of the best three point shooters
in the country in Joseph Gerard thethird and so, as we talked with
Don Munson earlier, when Clemson offense, when you have Chase Hunter and Gerard
(46:00):
at the same time, and thisis what we talked about, just being
consistent but when they're both playing attheir best basket with their best basketball,
and then you got PJ Hall,watch out, and then's going to give
you a double double. That's whathe is. That's what he double double
machine. See the fact that onsenior Night, and let's turn our attention
back to that game against Syracuse,the home finale not only for the season,
(46:22):
but for good for so many ofthese seniors, including Jack Clark,
including PJ Hall, and so manyothers. It was a guy that we
didn't expect to steal the show ina lot of ways, Ian Shefflin,
and it never count him out,but on Senior Night he steps in and
gives just sixteen points and sixteen rebounds. No, that was a work of
art. And the fact that thatteam on Senior Night dominated at the end
(46:43):
of the first half, closed itout strong, great energy at Little John
And that's a culture building type ofwin I think for a program that it
really still needs it. And Ilove the fact that in the postgame press
conference, Ian Shefflin and PJ Hallthere and waiting to answer questions, and
that's the moment when they're looking atthe stat sheet and PJ Hall realizes that
(47:08):
the chef had sixteen rebounds and hewhispers to him and says, dude,
you had sixteen rebounds, and Cheflinjust gives him a little grin, like,
yes, that is Luca Donkin's numbersis cutting up there. But yeah,
that was a big win and thatgave them I think, not that
it wasn't an uncertainty at that point, but the breathing room these last couple
(47:30):
of weeks have given them the bigwins they've had down the stretch to get
to twenty wins, and obviously thisbig one, a resounding ninety seventy five
win back on the fifth, Ithink that all but submitted it and it
got them in a good position herebracketology right now when you look at the
projections, where does Lonardy have usnow the fifth or six? Right now
I'm taking a look at the currentupdate. But they're fit. Actually they're
(47:52):
six seed right now projected out therein Boston on the East. But that
I think took a lot of thepressure off knowing and even Brenew talked about
this that, Okay, past coupleof years it's been touch and go.
Now we know we're in. Now, maybe we can go play loose.
I wouldn't worry too much of whathappened at Wake Forest. It's a competitive
environment. I think, go backand look and see what they've done since
(48:12):
they've been getting healthier because the practiceminutes have just not been there. That's
right, right, five or sixguys out there practice. Yeah, and
it's a tough It was a toughloss at Notre Dame, and then you
have the big victory at home seniornight as you talked about, and being
able to recognize not only PJ Hall, but Jack Clark and also Joseph Gerard
the third there and Chase Hunter,and then you lose to Wake Forest.
(48:38):
So now you have to regroup.But as Brad Brownell has also talked about,
I mean, this is a brandnew season. Now. It's a
completely everything is zero zero for theseteams. Because even these teams that you
think have no shot of making theNCAA Tournament, they actually have a shot
(48:59):
of making the NCAA Tournament if theywin their conference tournament. And so there
is that season now, this thirdseason, so to speak of hope that
teams can still get into the NCAATournament. And we know ultimately that's how
teams are measured. It is howmany NCUBA tournaments have you been to and
how far can you go in thetournament. It's gonna be fascinating in this
(49:22):
game tonight. Obviously you know alittle bit about this Boston College team that
we face here as Clemson looks toadvance past this round, keep battling what
sticks out We've seen this team thisyear already. When you look at Boston
College, what are the danger spotsfor Clemson and where do they have an
advantage? Well, the danger spotis Quinton Post, the big post player,
(49:43):
and yes, exactly, averaging seventeenpoints per game and had a nice
game there the other night or lastnight, i should say, and getting
the win for Boston College. Andso then you also look at Claudelle Harris
junior they transfer from Charleston Southern,who has played extremely well. And can
(50:07):
Clemson do the same thing that theywere able to do in that victory earlier
this year when they were able tobeat Boston College and eighty nine to seventy
eight. And so it's all aboutdefensive pressure. And then it's also about
you have to be able to getPJ. Hall involved in the games.
(50:28):
And I'm not saying that he hasto score twenty five points. We've seen
games where PJ. Hall does nothave to do that. But PJ.
Hall needs to touch the ball.He needs the offense to go through him.
He's such a good distributor of theball and can pass from the high
post. And especially when those scenariosare playing out, if the double team
(50:51):
is coming, then he is sogood at getting the ball out to the
open guy. But if the doubleteam doesn't come, he's even better that
he can go one on one againsta guy and make a big play.
Yeah, obviously, and that's goingto be big. And you look at
a guy like Jack Clark, andwe heard Don Munson talk about him,
I think he might be the mostimportant player on this team down the stretch
(51:14):
for the tournament. We know thescorers are there. Brenell talked about,
Hey Jack, we know what youcan do. We don't want you to
shoot fifteen times a game. Playdefense, handle the wing, and so
far he's done great. And that'sgoing to be so vital in this tournament
stretch. I think, oh,it definitely is. You got to have
a shutdown guy. But as DonMunson talked about earlier, is that you
also, you need help and that'sthe big part of it is we've seen
(51:37):
Chase Hunter be able to play defense. But can you get some defensive defense
out of Cheflin PJ. Hall withoutgetting into foul trouble. That's going to
be huge for the Tigers tonight isstay out of foul trouble because Quinton post.
He can still post you up,yes, and that is a pun
(51:57):
but he can step out beyond thethree point line also, but he's very
skilled at drawing fouls. Well,it should be interesting and rich I can
only say this, it's going tobe back with you live because this time
of year, tournament season is soexciting. You got a big one tonight.
Tigers fans, Boston College and theClemson Tigers tangling around nine thirty.
Coming up next, Don Munson JimDavis takeover on the Clemson Athletic Network Right
(52:21):
here on ninety two point five.WeSC for Trey Falco for Richmond Weaver.
I'm John Ellis, Thanks for beingwith us for another edition of the Engles
Countdown to tip Off Show. Enjoyanother night of Clemson men's basketball
W E. S. E FM. Greenville, Spartanburg, Andersen.
Time for the Ingles Countdown to tipOff Show, brought to you Pie Ingles
Markets, Low Prices, Love theSavings, Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative, Harley
Davidson of Greenville, Greer Flooring Center, the Surgery Center at Pella McGhee eating
an air hand by pal Meadow StateArmory. Now Here are your hosts,
(00:25):
John alism Ridgecumbe Weaver. Welcome into the Ingles Countdown to tip Off Show.
It is going to be a bigone tonight in the ACC. Is
your Clemson Tigers on the men's sideor back after it after a tough lost
in the regular season at wake Forest. Time to move on is Bill Pella
check Wi say we're on to DC. We are on to the tournament as
(00:48):
you've got a big, big gametonight between this Clemson Tiger team with twenty
one wins on the season and ofcourse always Peskey Boston College team. It's
Ingles Countdown to tip Off Show.I'm John Ellis. We've got Trey Falco
in the house in Richmond. Weaveris here as well as we are conducting
a little engineering science here. II think I blew your ears out headphones.
(01:11):
You did not blow my ears out. So we'll pull the curtains back
a little bit here in the studiotesting one too, because it's it's it's
late night for us, at leastfor me. No, you're night out.
No you're night owl. So yousay up really late. I do
not, So anyway, I havetwo sets of headphones here, and Okay,
(01:36):
I gotta get through this. Igotta get through this without laughing too
hard because I got two sets ofheadphones and I've got one and Trey,
mister producer extraordinaire, is asking methe volume is okay. I'm saying,
no, I can't hear anything.I can't hear anything. I've got headphones
(01:57):
that are not plugged into anything fromingles the headphones that are actually plugged in
to something. We're good times.I've done radio where I came in when
I used to I wear the bigcans again, like the old radio.
Yeah, I got the earbuds.I used to wear the buds too for
a while, and I would mistakemy air pods for the buds and I
would do the same thing. I'dstart the show and I'm all confused.
(02:21):
Anyway, we're here for the nexthour. Good to be with you,
rich is good to have you back. Man. You've been on assignment,
you've been traveling the US calling games. Yes, And I just want to
just say, first of all,what a show it was up at the
Ingles Soakon basketball championships. We hadan opportunity to call a little action there.
You all had a chance to broadcaston one to four nine Fox Sports
Upstate and shout out to the Ingles. But man, what a great job
(02:44):
you did up there, my friend. No, I greatly appreciate that,
and thank you to you guys forcovering while I was out on assignment,
so to speak, with all ofthose games and we take football for an
hour, but we got through it. That's okay, I get it.
Yes, I get it. They'restill football on people's minds. I know
that you will sorely mistrust me yourinsights and all that. We welcome them
(03:06):
back to my friend. Thank you. Seven games in two days is what
I did. That'll worry out.This ocon the Ingles Southern Conference Basketball Championships,
and it was absolutely fantastic. SoI say that with a lot of
gratitude and enthusiasm. Yes, twolong days, but I absolutely loved it
(03:27):
and saw some great basketball and thenightcap on Saturday with Furman in Western Carolina
and their rematch from last year,a game that went into overtime that Furman
ended up winning and then obviously advancingto the finals and would beat Chattanooga to
win their first Southern Conference Tournament championshipin forty three years. But then also
(03:49):
how they finished that game against WesternCarolina going into overtime once again and somehow
found a way to win, butobviously came up short in the semi finals
the fall Alloween Day against Samford,who would go on to win on the
men's side, and the first timethat they've won a conference championship now they
(04:09):
haven't been in the Southern Conference aslong as Furman, but it was the
first time now that they're going togo to the NCAA Tournament since two thousand.
So congratulations to Bucky McMillan and SamfordBulldogs there as they beat East Tennessee
State in a fard halt and ahard fought game. Yesul past English language
(04:31):
also, but this is why welove sports and why basketball and March madness.
You just don't know what's going tohappen. So in the semi finals
game with East Tennessee State against Chattanooga, Oh yeah, this is a game.
With fourteen minutes to go in thegame, East Tennessee State is shooting
(04:56):
twenty two percent from the field anddown by twenty points with fourteen minutes to
go in the second half. Theirtwo best players foul out with about six
minutes to go in the game,and somehow East Tennessee State comes back and
wins in overtime. That's unreal.It's amazing. March madness, March madness.
(05:19):
You have to love that type ofscenario and the effort that they had
even in the Monday night championship gameagainst Sanford where they gave Samford all they
could handle. In East Tennessee Statewas a number seven seed, so it
was a great opportunity. But itshowcases once again how hard it is to
win four games in four days.And so I know we'll talk about Clemson
(05:44):
in the ACC and having that scenarioplay out that were so close for Clemson
to get that double by and howcrucial that double bye is because even in
these mid major conferences, it's verydifficult to win four games in four days.
So even I believe harder in thesePower five conferences in terms of the
(06:04):
level of play. And also thoughas a crazy stat that East Tennessee State
had the women's side of the SouthernConference tournament, this is an even crazier
stat. So the Chattanooga women theywin the Southern Conference Tournament championship back to
(06:24):
back. They won last year andSean Poppy is the head coach. He
was a first year head coach atChattanooga last year wins the championship, so
he follows that up in his secondyear with a championship. And that's the
twentieth championship for Chattanooga women's basketball program. They've had basketball for fifty years there.
(06:47):
And now this is what makes itcrazy. They've been to the Southern
Conference finals twenty times and their twentythat'll do. They have never lost once
they have made it to the finals. That is one of the most impressive
stats cool that I've seen in along time in terms of it's one thing
(07:10):
to say you've been, you know, to a certain level and you are
twenty in zero right exactly. It'sdifferent when it's for a conference championship,
a title ring season all of that. So congratulations to the Chattanooga women's basketball
team and obviously punch their ticket tothe NCAA tournament. But I know we're
(07:32):
here to talk some Clemson basketball hereand the ACC tournament going on right now.
As we see in the second half, NC State up thirty five to
thirty four against Syracuse with about nineteenminutes to go, So uh it is
game on. Oh there we go. It's a nice punch, John Ellison,
game on. Well, you canhear the Richmond Weavers show three pm
(07:55):
on Fox Sports Upstead every weekday andthen game on with John Ellis four pm.
It's your lineup for the It's doonfor sports talk on Fox Sports Upstate.
Great segue as we get back intoClemson here. Obviously there's a lot
to monitor in the ACC. We'lltalk about some earlier scores here in this
tournament bracket that have some implications fora lot of teams. But you mentioned
the opportunity to get the double byand I want to talk about Senior Night
(08:18):
with you eventually here. But wegot to get to the ugly first,
and it was a they we gottasay, just not a good performance up
at wig Forest, a tough placeto play. You love Steve Forbes.
You've talked about this coach for along time, what he can do.
Eighty one seventy six, Clemson fallsand they finished the season eleven and nine
in conference, twenty one to tenoverall. And certainly, shooting is everything.
In the first half, he comeout, you shoot thirty seven percent
(08:41):
shot selection Richmond three of sixteen fromdowntown, right. Not a great start
for Clemson in that game. No, it was odd. And of all
things, you mentioned Steve Forbes,and I do like Steve Forbes. I've
had a chance to sit down withhim a couple of occasions, and he's
just a breadth of fresh air.He's a little quirky, but I like
that about Steve Forbes. And heis very familiar with the Southern Conference.
(09:03):
He was the head coach at EastTennessee State, and his protege, the
guy he mentored, Brook Savage,is now the head coach at East Tennessee
State in his first year. SoSteve Forbes was in attendance there at the
Southern Conference Tournament championship and it wasgreat to see him there supporting his protege
(09:24):
Brook Savage. Again, the headcoach of East Tennessee State. But this
was the opportunity that for Clemson toclose things out go on the road against
wake Forest to wake Forest had beenreeling a little bit, and you were
thinking that there was a scenario playingout that could Clemson go and steal a
victory on the road in the ACCWe know how difficult it is, and
(09:48):
that's one of the challenges. We'vetalked about it several times that regardless of
a team's record, when you havethat type of scenario play out, especially
what it was looked in terms ofwhat that game meant. This was an
opportunity Clemson. All you have todo you either beat Notre Dame on the
road or you beat Wake Forest onthe road and you're the number four seed
(10:09):
and you get the double by.And for Clemson, that first half is
what put them in the hole.They made a great second half run,
but just not enough because, likewe said, the poor shooting and how
many times have we talked about it, John with Clemson, if they can
have games where they're shooting or they'reattempting eighteen to twenty five three pointers,
(10:35):
yep, that's their sweet spot,it is, and we talked about that
for four years now on this show. That's a consistent theme here. And
when you're attempting sixteen in the firsthalf, that's not a good scenario for
Clemson. It's just not And you'retoo reliant on the three point shot at
that point, and I think youstart getting into the mindset of, oh,
(10:56):
I've got to hit a big threepointer. That's going to be the
momentum changer. But in basketball,teams can make runs without the three point
shot, and Clemson has the defenseto be able to do that and stop
people. But you just have toconvert. And I think sometimes Clemson settles
for three point shots when they don'tneed to. Yeah, it was an
interesting game, obviously. Ian Shefflinwill talk about senior night not as good
(11:18):
on this particular night at wake Forest. Only five points in this game,
six rebounds. Good job by wakeoverall, limiting some production from Ian Shefflin,
only twenty six minutes. PJ.Hall, you mentioned eighteen points,
and certainly we'll talk about some ofthe accolades handed out to these two young
men coming up here shortly on theshow. Chase Hunter had a pretty good
night again, five to ten fromthe field, seventeen points, five to
(11:41):
five, from the line, butagain nine to twenty six from downtown ain't
gonna cut it. Good run inthe second half. Every time I look
up the Clemson right up on thegames, and I certainly appreciate the work
their sid does and all their finefolks out there, Ross Taylor and company
putting together these press releases and recaps, But every time I see in a
game of run, and it reallyhas been that type of season for Clemson.
(12:03):
Every game has had those back andforth runs where the lead change.
In this game twelve different times,Clemson had an eight points scoring run at
one point. Wake went on thatnine point scoring run early in the second
half, but once again, justnot their best stuff from the field.
And that's what it comes down to. And again, when you give up
eighty one points, that's not brunellEsh defense. You want to hold that
team down on the seventies or maybeeven sixties. That's right, And we
(12:26):
have talked also about with Brad Burnell. He's going to try to slow things
down when he can. And ifyou're not playing defense, you are not
going to be out on the court. And that is right reality, and
knowing that Clemson is only able toscore twenty eight points there in the first
half and only gave up thirty four. So it wasn't like a poor defensive
(12:50):
effort there in the first half.It's just that when Clemson got hot in
the second half and was able tomake the runs, then all of a
sudden, the defense just disappeared,and you're questioning, like, what happened
to the defense there? And that'swhat's frustrating if you're a Clemson Tiger fan,
is that it's you need, it'sthe combination has to come together at
(13:13):
the same time. Yeah, andthere's been several games this season where the
defense has been there but no offense. And then another game, or another
half or another ten minutes, theoffense is there and no defense, and
you're questioning, can't you put thingstogether? Be more consistent? And that's
what the great teams, that's whatthey do. Same thing in football,
(13:37):
and we talk about this all thetime on the Engles Tailgate show Complimentary football.
The same sort of axium exists therein basketball. You have to have
all elements cooking at the same time. If your defense is sloppy or you've
got foul trouble and your offense isgreat, you can't put together complete game
what we did see though, andwhen we come back, we're going to
talk about this a little bit andcatch up with a good friend, Don
(13:58):
Munson from the Clemson Athletic Network.I'll check in with us. Is that
game that was very special to alot of people, including the seniors and
their family. Senior Night, bigwin against Syracuse rich and I will keep
you updated on current scores going onright now as we are live downtown Grievere
from the Ingles Studio is getting youready for Clemson Boston College. The ACC
Tournament is here and you got itlocked in on ninety two point five WSC
(14:22):
ninety two point five wd S isthe Upstates, new home for the Clemson
Tigers. Big night for the ClemsonTigers as they opened up ACC Tournament play
(14:43):
taken on Boston College. Been anup and down season for a lot of
teams in this conference. Very highexpectations for this Clemson team is March Madness
is officially underway. Tip off justafter nine pm. You've got the Ingles
Countdown, the tip Off Show,John Richmond Weaver, Trey Falco in the
house as well. We are broughtto you by your friends at Ingles low
(15:05):
prices, love the savings Ingles dashmarkets dot Com. Want to get him
around of applause for what a jobIngles did in conjunction with the Southern Conference
putting on the twenty twenty four InglesSoCon Basketball Championships. Had a great time
broadcasting live on our sister station oneO four point nine Fox Sports Upstate on
Friday. What a great time wehad up there, and a great championship
(15:28):
run for Sanford on the men's side. And certainly we want to thank our
friends at Ingles in the Southern Conferencefor their hospitality. Don't forget you can
catch the Richmond Weaver Show every singleweekday three pm, followed by Game On
with John Ellison Trey Falco four pmweekdays one O four point nine Fox Sports
Upstate. Without further Adude's time toturn to our special guest. He is
(15:48):
live from the ACC Tournament getting readyto call another big time game for Brad
Burnel's Clemson Tigers. It's Don Munsonfrom the Clemson Athletic Network. Don,
welcome to the show. Thanks youfor having me on, boys, so
that you're doing well getting ready forthe loops here in the DC. So
so we can get things done tonight. Yeah, big time game coming up
tonight. We think tip off shouldbe around nine point thirty ish, but
(16:11):
we'll stand by for more details onthat. And don I need to tell
you, look, this Clemson teamhas had quite a journey of the season.
Looking at the macro story of what'shappened, it's kind of been a
tale of three seasons almost where ifyou look at the non conference schedule that
was very well constructed and they hadgood success there, the early mid tenure
(16:33):
of the ACC schedule, which wasvery up and down, as you know,
and then down the back stretch wherethey made their hay and got to
twenty wins. Just an overall recap, don of what's been a very wild
season in which Clemson can now breathea little bit knowing the big dances ahead
for them. Yeah. Well,certainly the non conference part of the schedule
is what has earned them the factthat they can sit here even going into
(16:53):
this one tonight, and not haveto worry about making the NCAA tournament.
Obviously, the month of January wasnot good good, and then you know,
thank goodness, we finally got inthe month of February and rolled under
that and some things started happening ina positive vein for Clemson. So now
you get a Boston College team heretonight that you know, just took care
of business last night. I mean, Clinton post was unbelievable last night.
(17:15):
So you wonder how much are theygoing to have in the tank, particularly
when we get to the second half. But Earl Grant will have him ready,
that's for sure, to see ifthey can take out our tigers.
The season most improved player in theACC without a doubt by every metric,
including the eyeball test, was IanSheflin, and indeed that was the case.
Just a word on what's been aremarkable season, especially on senior night
(17:36):
a double double for Sheflin. Yeah, he, I mean Ian has been
probably one of the factors that youknow, the Clemson has done and what
they have done. I mean,really, he's I don't think that any
of us saw this coming. Imean, I'd raise your hand if you
saw this coming, because I don'tthink that anybody really did. We kind
of knew that the potential was there, but now potential has been realized and
(17:57):
so you know, he has hehas to come and play all tonight you
know, just because you know,all of all of yesterday's points, all
of yesterday's rebounds don't matter Hill tonight. He's got to come back, do
it again here tonight and get postseasonplays started off in a good way for
him and don talking about Ian Shefflinand PJ Hall. What have you seen
just in terms of the course ofthe season and the wear and tear on
(18:22):
these guys, and how Brad hashad to balance the long season, but
also these guys still playing at thehighest level that they can competitively, and
just you know, the the injuries, the nagging injuries, being sick,
and how important it is just atleast to get a little bit of rest
here at the end of the seasonheading into the NCAA tournament, obviously the
(18:45):
ACC tournament. Action tonight, Richard, there is no doubt that you could
see a point in time this yearwhere both of them were worn down.
And so he, you know,coach had to do some things, and
so he did it in practice.You know, he held amount of practice,
didn't let them, letting them dosome things, just trying to get
particularly their leggs back, and sobut I think they're in a good spot
(19:07):
right now. I mean, Ireally, dude, and seeing them play
here is Here's a blade. Ijust feel like that that chef has been
able to push through the wall.In particular, I think the PJ he's
not one hundred percent, but nobodyat this time really is is one hundred
percent. But I would say thatphysically he's probably in the best spot that
he's been in and in a while. But again, just you got to
go out there and play. Imean, you just got to go out
there. Forget all of that.No one's gonna cry. You know,
(19:30):
no one's gonna gonna give you anypity because of what has happened in the
past. This is this is allabout the day, and you got to
take care of today. Okay,Well, don The only thing that I
am still crying about, though isa tip off time maybe not even Hey,
listen, if you're gonna be afan, suck it up, big
boys. Stop you're complaining about it, and let's just play. You play.
(19:53):
I play them at two o'clock inthe morning. If that's what they
want to there, we matter.Okay, you just roll the ball out
then we're going to show up.Well that's what I needed to hear.
Mountain West Times going on here.These are the CBS Sports Network games got
going on. Don Muntz and TimBrady will be on the call tonight live
from the ACC Men's Basketball Championship.And of course, one player who was
(20:15):
instrumental in getting this team here,and I don't think we talk about him
enough as a senior, Jack Clark, the transfer who has just been so
great rich and I've been talking abouthim almost every week on the show.
Defensively, Brad Burnell has pointed outwhat a key cock he's been, and
he said, look, we've gotscores. We just need you to do
your bid, which is play somedefense. How instrumental has Jack Clark been
to this whole deal? Oh,he's He's been probably the most important piece
(20:37):
of it, to be honest.I mean just look at the record with
Jack starting and him not you know, not starting, or him even just
being available to play for Clemson andNavy. He certainly has been the biggest
key to it all. And Jackis one of those pieces that has got
to come in, but he needssome help the other But it's Jack.
The other four guys just don't needto Okay, Jack, go stop somebody.
(21:00):
It has to be the other fourguys that are all playing with him,
and you know it, and Ithink that I will tell you I
know for sure that's one of thethings that the coach bran All has been
after his club coming into this thinghere. He then Aiens said, you
know, boys, we need tosip up our defense. We need to
start playing you know, kind ofchampionship style of defense and winning defense.
So offwoot, we'll see that starthere tonight. Yeah, and don that
(21:22):
defense obviously is very important, butalso at the end of the day,
you can stop teams, but youalso are going to have to score.
And when Joseph Gerard the third andChase Hunter, when they're on together,
they are, in my opinion,one of the most underrated backcourts in all
of college basketball. Your thoughts onjust what the Clemson team looks like when
(21:45):
both of those guys are on well, when they're both on. Obviously,
offensively, they're tough to beach.They just they are They're just they're just
tough to be But then that's anotherfactor is that Clemson has to shoot the
ball well. Teams that are goingto win here in a tournament and any
tournament play are going to shoot theball well. Very often will you see
(22:06):
will you see teams you know thatshoot hundred forty win a tournament game.
It happens occasionally, but it doesn'thappen very often. So they need to
They need to be able to shootthe ball well, go take care of
it, rebound well, take careof things, you know, all those
all those lines that you hear everybodytalk about. They have to do because
that's what winning teams do. Thewinning teams do all those things. So
(22:30):
something if they want to advance heretonight, got to do it. They
want to advance to borrow, let'scome back and do it again and hopefully
they got four in them, becauseif they want to win their first ever
ACC championship, it's going to take. It's going to take that kind of
effort each and every time. DonMunson, Clemson Athletic Network, he'll be
on the call tonight with Jim Daviscoming up here shortly and Don look,
it's a basketball show, but it'sall encompassing because it is Clemson. Let's
(22:53):
talk a little football. Spring practicehas been underway, scrimmage is underway,
the spring game rhetoric around the corner, how excited are you to get back
after it on the gridiron. I'mreally excited about what I've seen so far
from Clemson here in the spring.It's been really exciting to watch what is
going on, and it's amazing justto see what maybe a couple of assistant
(23:15):
coaches and the differences they can makeand what they start putting in into kids'
minds, and how they all ofa sudden now the work ethic has changed
a little bit. Really excited aboutwhat's going to transpire the rest of the
spring, no doubt about it.You've got a spring game coming up,
a lot of excitement brewing down therein Death Valley for the upcoming season.
But it's basketball season right now,and Clemson has a very special opportunity here,
(23:40):
not only to make their way intothe NCAA Tournament, but hey,
while you're at it, let's gowin a conference championship. Don Munson's live
from the ACC Tournament right now,getting ready for Boston College Clemson tonight.
Keep it locked on ninety two pointfive WEC and the Clemson Athletic Network is
Don and Jim Davis are on thecall for this one. Don, Thank
you so much for your time.Safe try apples, bring home a win,
(24:00):
my friend. Thank guys. DonMunson of course, always kind enough
to join us here on Engles countat the tip off show, and he
and Jim Davis are on the calltonight. And I've been informed that instead
of Tim Burray, who is theencyclopedia of all things Clemson, Tim Bray,
as we know, works for NBCin the Golf Channel, and he's
(24:21):
got the best job on earth,and he's deserved because he does a little
bit of Clemson, a little bitof golf. He's down a TPC sawgrass.
What a cherry gig that is.But Jim Davis, and you know,
Jim a little bit rich capable shoestonight calling this game with Don Oh,
no question, Jim Davis is agreat guy. I've known him for
years, ever since I was atClemson when I was part of the men's
team and he was the head coachof the women's program there, and we've
(24:44):
obviously been able to stay in touch, and it's great when I get to
see him, and I've been doingsome halftime radio stuff and he's been there,
and it's just great when you getto be around those type of guys
who've been around that basketball for along time, and he had a lot
of success on the women's side withClemson. Absolutely speaking to the women's side,
(25:06):
we'd be remiss if we didn't givea hat tip to a man of
Butler with a job she did here. But obviously there's been some tough sailing
here of late in terms of production. They let a man of Butler go
this week, and it's always tough. We've seen this with the coaches like
Brandon Streeter with the football side andothers, even going back to Tommy Bowden.
When this happens. It's tough becauseit's a family down there at Clemson.
But best of luck to a manof Butler who obviously did the best
(25:26):
she could. Hear. Yeah,And I got to know her a little
bit doing some radio stuff and somepodcasts stuff with her, and one of
my podcast partners, Steffie Sorenson,played for her at Lada, so I
got to know her through that extensionof a friend. And it's one of
those things where I think I understand, you know, just because of the
(25:49):
dynamics of winning, but on apersonal level, it is tough. It
is tough because that you know theimpact and you know that person at a
different level, so it is tough, but I think I understand the reasoning
well. And again, congrats toa lot of those players who played for
MENA Butler. She raised a greatpack of players there in terms of being
(26:14):
under her tutelage. And obviously wegot to he have had tip to the
friends down in Columbia. Obviously therewas some controversy there here in Greenville,
but Don Staly's team perfect thirty twoand zero. They win the SEC women's
basketball tournament. It was a wildday at Bonds of course, well in
this arena, but that team isa machine. And on the men's side
La mont Paris don't sleep on themin this tournament. On the SEC side,
(26:36):
well, it was a wild ridestarting Saturday with South Carolina and Tennessee
with Carmela Cardoza hitting a bank threepointer with one second to go to have
South Carolina escape and survive in advancebasically against Tennessee. And then obviously the
fireworks were truly on Sunday with TimMulki was there. They got the Bayou
(26:59):
Bar and people jumping over the scorerstable coming out of the stands. I
mean, you had anything and everythingfrom basketball to boxing to wrestling. It
was all there in one game.But what Don Staley has done is quite
impressive. But here I give somemore stats. So it's interesting. Now,
(27:22):
this is the third team in thepast six years I think, no
excuse me, the past eight yearsthat has been undefeated going into the NCAA
tournament, and those three teams havelost. So now this will be the
fourth. So it'll be interesting tosee what happens because the pressure starts mounting
(27:45):
absolutely when you start. It's onething now to go win a national championship,
but most of the time it's ateam who has already suffered a loss
during the season. You want toget that loss out of the way where
it doesn't end your season because allthe pressure of now, oh, you
have to be undefeated, and obviouslyyou do have to be undefeated now if
(28:07):
you're going to championship. I knowthey weren't undefeated, but look at what
Virginia did a couple of years agowhen they went to the tournament and certainly
were favored by many to win thewhole thing, and they lose in the
first round to h It was aUMBC Maryland Baltimore County that was tough,
and you see this from time totime. It reminds me of the Patriots
a little bit when they went undefeatedin the regular season and they're the pressure
(28:29):
mounted up. It's the great thingthough about single elimination basketball, and certainly
on the men's side and the SEC. We'll turn back to the ACC at
a minute, a big time opportunityfor this South Carolina team with Lamont Paris
to hey, you know what,it's kind of like Clemson's attitude while we're
here. Let's go ahead and makea run and try to win this thing
because the ACC is wide open.The SEC, there's some avenues here for
(28:51):
South Carolina to make a run ofthis thing, oh, no question about
it. And South Carolina they weretied for second in the SEC, yes
they were. Now they drop downto the fifth seed just because of tie
breakers. And on Saturday, thelast Saturday of the regular season, if
Arkansas would have been able to holdon and beat Alabama, then that would
(29:12):
have put South Carolina as the numbertwo seed in the SEC tournament. And
that's a huge difference versus the numberfive seed because now also South Carolina is
in the same boat. There wouldhave to win four games in four days,
and they will play the winner ofthe Arkansas Vendorbilt game that is going
on. So it will be interestingto see. But there's a lot of
(29:34):
talk right now throughout the college basketballworld what school is the best basketball school
in the country. I like thisdebate. Is it Yukon or is it
South Carolina? Because you've got thedouble dip here, Yes, the double
dip men's and women's program. Whichone is the best? So it'll be
(29:56):
interesting to see how things shake out. And we saw the women Yukon team
when they're like one hundredth of BigEast Conference titles and I'm joking, you
know, it just keeps getting hejust keeps getting it done. Yes,
but it'll be interesting to see howthe men's side plays out. Obviously,
Yukon men are very good and wouldbe the front runner right now to win
(30:22):
a national championship. Shout out toour good buddy Mark Childress, who was
one fourth of the Ingles Tiger Tailgateshow with us during the football season and
does a tremendous job covering sports onthe play by place side. We've known
Mark. You've known Mark for along time. He's always told you,
you know what. I don't care. I don't want the game Cocks to
do well in anything. Personally,I'm kind of with you, and I
don't want to speak for you.I'd say this, if they're on opposite
(30:44):
sides of the bracket, let themboth advance the Sweet sixteen and let them
both get into the Elite eight,because that just increases the stakes for this
rivalry into the basketball arena. It'sgreat for the state of South Carolina.
It is, as long as theydon't be Clemson exactly. I've been saying
it for years, South Carol,go be good. Just don't be good
on that particular day when you're playingClemson's That's all I need. We got
(31:07):
some score updates for you. We'llcome back and give you those live action
in the ACC Tournament NC State rightnow, they're in a TV timeout coming
out of it right now, sixtyto forty six. They're on top of
Syracuse right now, fourteen point lead. They're about halfway through the second half
of of date. The rest ofthe scores so far in this tournament leading
up to the nine thirty ish tipoff between Boston College and Clemson tonight.
(31:29):
Right here on ninety two point fiveWSC ninety two point five. W e
SC is the Upstate's new home fora Clemson Tigers all the season starts mix
(32:00):
the Clemson Tigers twenty one to tenon the season, taking on an eighteen
and fourteen Boston College team live fromCapitol One Arena in Washington, DC.
You've got Don Munson and Jim Davison the call, as our good friend
Tim Burray is covering some golf thisweekend for the Golf Channel, So Jim
Davis capable hands and we talked toDon Munson here just a few short minutes
(32:21):
ago, looking forward to catching upwith him on the next episode. Here,
Rich big game and some big gameshappening right now. How about this
score? NC State has stretched theirlead to sixteen with eight and a half
left in regulation. Thoughts on thisone, because look, it's a ten
verse seven game. Obviously Syracuse wassomewhat favored, but State obviously they've had
(32:42):
an up and down year. Thenature of the ACC here we go,
Yes, there's always going to bea team that surprises somebody, and we
saw that several years ago. Itwas Virginia Tech that made their run and
ended up getting an ACC championship.So there are those type of scenarios that
play out. Do I think NCState has the team to be able to
do that, No, I donot. Can they make a little bit
(33:02):
of a run, Yes they can, and they're doing that right now.
And Syracuse is a team that's onthat bubble, that proverbial bubble in terms
of getting into the NCUBA tournament,And obviously I think with this loss it
would knock them out of any potentialbecause I think they're going to need a
little bit more work in the ACCtournament. But this is now an opportunity
(33:27):
for NC State just to create somehavoc, and I think that's part of
it, that, Hey, youstill have a shot to make the NCAA
tournament if you're an NC State team. And I'm not saying it at large
because you're gonna have to go winthe ACC tournament. But we've seen crazy
things can happen. Now. We'venever seen a team play from the opening
(33:50):
day and make it all the waytough to the championship rounds and the ultimately
win. That has never happened,and that's winning five in five days,
and that is absolutely brutal. Well, Kevin Keats is battling for his job.
Let's face if you're listening to sportstalk up there in Raleigh, in
the Triad area, you know thatthe fans are fed up right now.
(34:12):
There's been a lot of ups anddowns with that team, so every win
gives him an opportunity to keep thatmomentum going. Another action so far in
this championship, of course, thefirst round tipped off yesterday. No big
surprises, I would say Notre Dameobviously with a win over Georgia Tech.
Good to see Notre Dame advancing,but their gift was to play wake Forest
today and wake Forest obviously took careof Clemson last week. They take care
(34:35):
of Notre Dame seventy two to fiftynine. And the other first round games
here the aforementioned NC State Wolfpack,no big surprises. They take down Louisville.
What an awful season it's been forLouisville. Big changes on the way
you'd have to imagine for that program. Yes, Kenny Payne has been fired,
so they have moved on from KennyPayne after two years. And that's
a tough situation because Kenny Payne wasa part of the Louisville family. I
(34:58):
mean, he was an All Americanat louis and part of a national championship
team as a player under Denny Crumband all that he did for that program
as an assistant coach, and thenmoved on and was an assistant coach at
in our Trival though Kentucky. Buteverybody still embraced him and loved him coming
back. I just think it wasa tough timing scenario for Kenny Payne because
(35:22):
of the sanctions that Louisville was underand some of the uncertainty as far as
exactly what some of the punishment wasgoing to be from previous coaches. And
that's a tough spot because Kenny Paine'sa good guy. I did have the
opportunity to interview him at the ACCtip off media day a couple of times,
and it's again not that I knowhim that well, but you do.
(35:43):
When you spend oh we get tointerview people, you get a sense
of what they're all about, whyhe's a good coach. You don't get
to that level without that's only whatyou're doing. Circumstances are tough, and
now Louisville. This is what I'llsay about the the juxtaposition between what Louisville
faces now a former basketball powerhouse,maybe not a blue blood. I don't
want to be sacrilegious here, butone of those upper tiers below those tiers,
(36:04):
yes, and now you see,like Clemson fans in general, I
know they want more from this basketballprogram, and I feel you, guys,
but Brad Burnell has been under alot of scrutiny from a lot of
fans for a long time. Gettingto twenty wins like three out of four
years now is no easy tasks.So no, it's not stabilizing things obviously
moving forward. We'll talk more aboutClemson a minute. Just be happy you're
not the fifteenth seed in this conferenceright now and you've got something you can
(36:27):
rely on. This is a goodClemson team. How exciting is it that
you were that close to being oneof the top four seeds in the ACC
tournament and you know you're in theNCAA Tournament exactly. So I think that's
why their madness means a little bitmore when you know your team is going
to be in it. I regardlessif it's an at large bid or an
(36:49):
automatic bid by winning the conference tournament, but I do think there is the
I guess the fan base the thirstis there for a conference. Yeah,
tournament champion, you want to behungry for it. But I would say
that this if it's a one anddone in the ACC tournament and in the
(37:10):
Big Dance. I get you,I feel you, but I think give
Brunelle and his staff a chance andthis team mainly because it bleeds down to
them. This team deserves better interms of the screwtin Anyway, that's my
soapbox. I'm off it now.Boston College yesterday took down Miami, a
program with Jim Laernego, another guywe've talked to before. That team is
just falling on hard times right now. And now BC moves on to play
(37:30):
Clemson tonight. Okay, so thisis I'm going to go on a little
tangent. Let's do it. Okay, Soap Fox, here's my soapbox.
It's tangent Wednesday, because I definitelyI went on some tangents earlier today on
the Richmond Weavers show on our sisterstation, one of four nine Fox Sports
Upstate. So we've talked about niland oh these teams that are spending all
(37:58):
this money, they get all theseplayers, they're going to win everything.
We talked about it on the footballside with Texas A and m and Jimbo
Fisher and oh look at all thenil money that they have. The recruiting
class is the greatest recruiting class ever. Jimbo said that on our show uple
years ago. Oh I got thebest class ever. And did it manufacture
(38:21):
into wins or championships? No,and Miami all of that talk. I
know, Miami made their run,but guys coming back like Nigel Pack nor
Chad Omar coming back with nil moneyand people thinking, oh, yep,
they just the rich gets richer andthey're just going to continue to win.
(38:44):
Money doesn't solve everything, and itdoesn't mean that you're going to have a
winning program just because you have nilmoney and you can attract. Right now
with freely, there's a whole hostof teams out there excited. They just
bought themselves a playoff run. Andit never ceases to amaze me how many
times it doesn't work. It doesn'twork at the same translation here, No,
(39:04):
that's a great point, rich andI want this show to be called
The Rich Get Richer from that one. I like that starring Richard. That's
right, obviously, NC State.They are on top of Syracuse Now scoreboard
update here in a moment, thewinner of this game gets the uninivable task
of playing Duke tomorrow night. ADuke team that look. The Kyle Philipowski
thing look a Grayson Allen moment.You can say it was not a pretty
(39:25):
thing Philipowski. Also, with thecourt storming incident, it's been a weird
couple weeks for Duke. It's evenmore magnified because of the court storming at
wake Forest, that big victory thatthey had, and obviously Kyle Philipowski getting
injured and initially the way he's walkingoff, the way it looked is that
(39:50):
he was done for the season,that it was over. Yeah, that
it was going to be one ofthose monumental moments that we'd be talking about
for a long time. And wellhe played the next game. That news
cycle died out pretty quick, buthe was back on the court. He
was back on the court, andthen obviously against North Carolina the tripping scenario
(40:10):
that played out, and I meanit was obvious he tripped team. It
was an obvious tripping and it wasa bad look. It's a bad look,
and so it's even more magnified basedon the court storming situation and that
it was Kyle Philipowski and the factthat it's a duke player. Well,
you know, we've seen North Carolinaand Duke on collision courses before, namely
(40:34):
in coach K's last season. Maybethey're heading there again, either here or
in the Big Dance. But thewinner of this game happening now. And
now we've got a sixteen point leadthat's holding at five twenty seven left to
the second half, Richmond seventy tofifty four, Syracuse having a hell of
a time getting points on the boardhere at NC State, it looks increasingly
likely not only they'll get the upset, but this game will end on time
(40:54):
for us exactly. Yes. Andyou have to be very careful because we
can't speak too early. Just asthe same way bruns can happen, runs
can happen, they definitely can.And I go back to nineteen ninety four
and it was LSU in Kentucky ina game. Rick Patino was the head
coach of Kentucky. Dale Brown wasthe head coach at LSU, and with
(41:19):
fifteen minutes to go in the game, Kentucky was down by thirty one points
and they came back and won.So I know this is seventeen points.
Brown's not walking through the door pointsnow, Yes, exactly, that's right.
I get it. But hey,look, anything can happen. That's
the thing about this funny game.But we're going to hit a break here
(41:40):
and come back. We'll talk alittle bit if we have time about Senior
Day. What a great day wasSenior Night, I should say, where
so many of the seniors had abig role in the big win over Syracuse,
the home finale there. And we'lllook at this matchup between Clemson and
Boston College. What are the Eaglesall about? We'll give you an update
on that right here on the InglesCountdown to tip Off Show ninety two point
five WSC ninety two point five wE s E is the Upstates new home
(42:06):
for a Clemson Tigers shine will timejust time you'll get getting you primed and
(42:34):
ready for Clemson's postseason opener. Thistwenty twenty four calendar season. We're into
the middle of March. It's hardto believe and March Madis is in full
swing. Will Clemson finally be ableto advance into the ACC Men's basketball tournament
with some authority here and potentially challengefor a conference championship on the tournament side.
(42:55):
Obviously, they've got a lot oftalent to do, so we'll break
down the game they have. Thefirst step is obviously taking care of a
very dangerous Boston College team coming upat nine thirty pm. You can hear
it right here on ninety two pointfive WeSC. Standing by is our good
friend Don Munson along with Jim Davison the call tonight. You can catch
it here on WSC or anywhere yougo in the iHeartRadio apps A Richmond Right
(43:17):
now. We mentioned earlier Dale Brownmight not be walking through that. No,
yeah, that's right. Seventy fourto fifty seven. Obviously, you
know, a tough one for Syracusehere, do you think again? Catch
me up on bracketology, a littlebit of Syracuse in Are they bubble or
they were bubble? I think they'reout now. I think they're probably out
with it. I think they're outnow. And if they lose, in
fact, yes, they would haveto and they were probably going to have
(43:40):
to win two and maybe even threegames. They're in the a SEC tournament.
Because you're also looking at a Virginiateam who is third in the ACC,
and they're projected as a bubble team. So even if Virginia crazy loses,
there could be a scenario that Virginiais not in the NCAA tournament.
(44:02):
Yes, and I think that wouldsurprise a lot of people, just because
you're finishing third in the ACC.Now, the record was thirteen and seven,
so it's not when you look atit from a record standpoint, you're
like, oh, well it's thirteenand seven, but still the ACC.
I still don't understand how many peopleare down on the ACC as a conference.
(44:25):
You're you're well versed on this,probably more than anybody in this room.
But I followed this to a prettylarge degree. And these are some
good teams at the top half ofthat ACC. I know there's a lot
of bias to the Big twelve.There's a lot of bias of course to
the SEC. But look, theconference in general is very competitive. They
beat up on one another, andyou see teams in the middle pack like
(44:46):
wake Forest emerge. Even a Floridastate you could do damage on any given
night. And of course Clemson theycould have been the four seed. Now
they're all the way down there outsidethe four. I don't get it,
and Brenews talked about that all year. I mean he's kind of been,
you know, very vocal. Areother coaches kind of banging the drum with
brunell Ors. He been the loudestno yes in the ACC. Obviously they
have and I think there's some peoplenow are turning their attention that, Okay,
(45:10):
maybe the ACC is not as downas they had initially thought, because
I look at even Clemson. WhenClemson is clicking on all cylinders. Clemson
is a team that can beat anybodyin the country. Of course, and
I know you can say, waita second, no, they can they
beat Houston, Can they beat Yukon? Could they beat a Purdue? They
(45:32):
can? I promise you they canbecause they have an All American in PJ.
Hall, and he's first team AllACC most Ian Shefflin, the chef
in the ACC. And then you'vegot one of the best three point shooters
in the country in Joseph Gerard thethird and so, as we talked with
Don Munson earlier, when Clemson offense, when you have Chase Hunter and Gerard
(46:00):
at the same time, and thisis what we talked about, just being
consistent but when they're both playing attheir best basket with their best basketball,
and then you got PJ Hall,watch out, and then's going to give
you a double double. That's whathe is. That's what he double double
machine. See the fact that onsenior Night, and let's turn our attention
back to that game against Syracuse,the home finale not only for the season,
(46:22):
but for good for so many ofthese seniors, including Jack Clark,
including PJ Hall, and so manyothers. It was a guy that we
didn't expect to steal the show ina lot of ways, Ian Shefflin,
and it never count him out,but on Senior Night he steps in and
gives just sixteen points and sixteen rebounds. No, that was a work of
art. And the fact that thatteam on Senior Night dominated at the end
(46:43):
of the first half, closed itout strong, great energy at Little John
And that's a culture building type ofwin I think for a program that it
really still needs it. And Ilove the fact that in the postgame press
conference, Ian Shefflin and PJ Hallthere and waiting to answer questions, and
that's the moment when they're looking atthe stat sheet and PJ Hall realizes that
(47:08):
the chef had sixteen rebounds and hewhispers to him and says, dude,
you had sixteen rebounds, and Cheflinjust gives him a little grin, like,
yes, that is Luca Donkin's numbersis cutting up there. But yeah,
that was a big win and thatgave them I think, not that
it wasn't an uncertainty at that point, but the breathing room these last couple
(47:30):
of weeks have given them the bigwins they've had down the stretch to get
to twenty wins, and obviously thisbig one, a resounding ninety seventy five
win back on the fifth, Ithink that all but submitted it and it
got them in a good position herebracketology right now when you look at the
projections, where does Lonardy have usnow the fifth or six? Right now
I'm taking a look at the currentupdate. But they're fit. Actually they're
(47:52):
six seed right now projected out therein Boston on the East. But that
I think took a lot of thepressure off knowing and even Brenew talked about
this that, Okay, past coupleof years it's been touch and go.
Now we know we're in. Now, maybe we can go play loose.
I wouldn't worry too much of whathappened at Wake Forest. It's a competitive
environment. I think, go backand look and see what they've done since
(48:12):
they've been getting healthier because the practiceminutes have just not been there. That's
right, right, five or sixguys out there practice. Yeah, and
it's a tough It was a toughloss at Notre Dame, and then you
have the big victory at home seniornight as you talked about, and being
able to recognize not only PJ Hall, but Jack Clark and also Joseph Gerard
the third there and Chase Hunter,and then you lose to Wake Forest.
(48:38):
So now you have to regroup.But as Brad Brownell has also talked about,
I mean, this is a brandnew season. Now. It's a
completely everything is zero zero for theseteams. Because even these teams that you
think have no shot of making theNCAA Tournament, they actually have a shot
(48:59):
of making the NCAA Tournament if theywin their conference tournament. And so there
is that season now, this thirdseason, so to speak of hope that
teams can still get into the NCAATournament. And we know ultimately that's how
teams are measured. It is howmany NCUBA tournaments have you been to and
how far can you go in thetournament. It's gonna be fascinating in this
(49:22):
game tonight. Obviously you know alittle bit about this Boston College team that
we face here as Clemson looks toadvance past this round, keep battling what
sticks out We've seen this team thisyear already. When you look at Boston
College, what are the danger spotsfor Clemson and where do they have an
advantage? Well, the danger spotis Quinton Post, the big post player,
(49:43):
and yes, exactly, averaging seventeenpoints per game and had a nice
game there the other night or lastnight, i should say, and getting
the win for Boston College. Andso then you also look at Claudelle Harris
junior they transfer from Charleston Southern,who has played extremely well. And can
(50:07):
Clemson do the same thing that theywere able to do in that victory earlier
this year when they were able tobeat Boston College and eighty nine to seventy
eight. And so it's all aboutdefensive pressure. And then it's also about
you have to be able to getPJ. Hall involved in the games.
(50:28):
And I'm not saying that he hasto score twenty five points. We've seen
games where PJ. Hall does nothave to do that. But PJ.
Hall needs to touch the ball.He needs the offense to go through him.
He's such a good distributor of theball and can pass from the high
post. And especially when those scenariosare playing out, if the double team
(50:51):
is coming, then he is sogood at getting the ball out to the
open guy. But if the doubleteam doesn't come, he's even better that
he can go one on one againsta guy and make a big play.
Yeah, obviously, and that's goingto be big. And you look at
a guy like Jack Clark, andwe heard Don Munson talk about him,
I think he might be the mostimportant player on this team down the stretch
(51:14):
for the tournament. We know thescorers are there. Brenell talked about,
Hey Jack, we know what youcan do. We don't want you to
shoot fifteen times a game. Playdefense, handle the wing, and so
far he's done great. And that'sgoing to be so vital in this tournament
stretch. I think, oh,it definitely is. You got to have
a shutdown guy. But as DonMunson talked about earlier, is that you
also, you need help and that'sthe big part of it is we've seen
(51:37):
Chase Hunter be able to play defense. But can you get some defensive defense
out of Cheflin PJ. Hall withoutgetting into foul trouble. That's going to
be huge for the Tigers tonight isstay out of foul trouble because Quinton post.
He can still post you up,yes, and that is a pun
(51:57):
but he can step out beyond thethree point line also, but he's very
skilled at drawing fouls. Well,it should be interesting and rich I can
only say this, it's going tobe back with you live because this time
of year, tournament season is soexciting. You got a big one tonight.
Tigers fans, Boston College and theClemson Tigers tangling around nine thirty.
Coming up next, Don Munson JimDavis takeover on the Clemson Athletic Network Right
(52:21):
here on ninety two point five.WeSC for Trey Falco for Richmond Weaver.
I'm John Ellis, Thanks for beingwith us for another edition of the Engles
Countdown to tip Off Show. Enjoyanother night of Clemson men's basketball
Popular Podcasts
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.