2008 Woodie Awards
Clemson clutch in Charleston
Booker named tournament MVP.
By: Jason Patskoski
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The men's basketball team started their "We're not satisfied" campaign last Friday when they competed in the first games of the 2008-2009 season. Two days after signing three major recruits, the Tigers made the trip down I-26 to compete in the Charleston Classic to try to win their third regular season tournament in three years. Clemson opened both the tournament and the season against Hofstra. The game had some new looks that didn't include the new three-point line. Friday night was the Clemson debut for freshmen Bryan Narcisse, Tanner Smith and Andre Young. It was also the first look of the Tigers without Oliver Purnell's first recruiting class. The game started with Hofstra taking a 3-0 lead, but the Tigers answered right back with a 15-0 run led by Trevor Booker who had seven points including a three-pointer. The run was capped by Terrence Oglesby's back to back three-pointers. The Tigers never looked back.
One improvement was free-throw shooting. Clemson shot 75 percent in the second half hitting 18 of 24. The final score was 98-69 in favor of Clemson. The scoring was spread around with 12 of 14 Tigers adding to the point total including all three freshmen. Booker led the way with a double-double, and Smith looked impressive with 11 points.
The win against Hofstra set up a second round match with TCU. This game was played sloppily by both sides and was a defensive struggle throughout. Booker once again led the way but this time on defense with 12 rebounds and seven blocked shots. The teams traded the lead frequently during the game, and no team could really gain an advantage. In the second half, the Tigers showed why there are so many expectations this year by pulling away to win 70-58. The win sent Clemson to the tournament final to face Temple.
Temple fought the Tigers the entire 40 minutes. No matter how big of a lead Clemson would have, the Owls would find a way to climb back into the game. Before halftime the Tigers were up by 12, but Temple hit some major outside shots to cut the lead in half as the half closed. During the early stages of the second half, Clemson built up a comfortable lead of 14 and appeared to be pulling away. They maintained it until the final minutes of the game when Temple guard Lavory Allen scored eight points in two minutes to cut the lead down to two.
With only a little under three minutes left in the game, the outcome would be determined by the Tigers Achilles Heel, free throw shooting. Clemson showed however that they had improved once again in the area hitting all the necessary shots from the line to win the game 76-72 and take home the tournament trophy.
The championship game was against a quality opponent and probably closer than it should have been. Temple remained in the game thanks to the Tigers 22 turnovers, but Clemson overcame it. Good teams can make mistakes and still come out on top, and the Tigers showed that they are a very good team.
Trevor Booker was named tournament MVP as well as Co-ACC Player of the Week having a double-double in all three tournament games.
Clemson brought home its third regular season tournament championship in four years and will continue its pre-conference schedule with a road game in Charlotte on Saturday to take on the 49ers.
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