ACC basketball: Are the top teams contenders or pretenders?
By John Ryan
Clemson Tigers: 20-4 (9-3)
The #11 ranked Clemson Tigers are still one of the tougher teams to get a proper read on. On one hand, Virginia was able to hold them to just 36 points in their late-January matchup. On the other hand, Clemson was able to beat North Carolina, Louisville, Miami, and Ohio State in Columbus.
Clemson’s senior forward, Donte Grantham, tore his ACL on January 20th, forcing him to miss the remainder of the season. This loss could very well hinder their ability to make a deep run. Grantham was one of Clemson’s most talented and dependable players.
However, Clemson’s ability to play inside-out at a high-level makes them a threat to make a run in March. Elijah Thomas is an athletic big who anchors the team defensively. On offense he serves as a big body in the paint and helps open up the floor for the Tigers abundance of shooters.
Marcquise Reed continues to be the heartbeat of this Clemson offense and when he’s hot they are tough to beat. Point guard play often dominates in March, so it’s tough to count the Tigers out.
Verdict: Contenders
Duke Blue Devils: 20-5 (8-4)
This Duke roster has the talent to beat any team, anywhere, on any given night. They are versatile, have lottery picks scattered across the roster, and lead the nation in scoring (88.8 ppg).
In most cases this seems like the perfect argument to support Duke and their title odds. However, in this case it actually helps identify why they will not. Duke is young, inconsistent, and the also struggle for long periods on the defensive side of the ball.
Denying Duke’s talent level is impossible. But talent alone rarely produces results in a one-and-done style tournament like March Madness.