With basketball season just starting up let's take a quick look at each of the ACC teams while we're still full of optimism and explore what it will take for each team to reach it's full potential.
Boston College: Can Tyrese Rice get a little help…please?
The Boston College Eagles suffered one of their worst seasons in recent memory and the reason was pretty clear: their offense relied solely on superstar Tyrese Rice.
Rice is certainly a phenom and will make the first team All-ACC by year’s end, but the Eagles lacked the inside presence they had become accustomed to when Craig Smith and Jared Dudley ruled the paint.
The Eagles have talented sophomores at the three, four and five spot, but they need consistency. Rakim Sanders saw the most action and may be the top candidate to be the Robin to Rice’s Batman.
Still, a good Eagle team will need a strong rebounding presence as well. Rice is also the team’s leading rebounder which means the big men will have to fill the bigger roles they will assume.
An inside presence will make or break the Eagles this season.
Clemson: Will Clemson win the big game?
Oliver Purnell is one of the best coaches that no one ever talks about. The Tigers had always been nipping at the top of the ACC standings, but never seemed to be able to take out the big dogs like Duke and UNC.
The past two years Clemson has come out the gates blazing, but have still had to battle hard for every single conference win.
Last year, Clemson scored a big breakthrough win over Duke and had some incredible match-ups with the Tar Heels and yet they could not nail the finishing blow against Carolina.
The reason is pretty obvious: free throws.
I have never seen a school this talented be so atrocious at the line. Free throw shooting separates the contenders from the pretenders (just ask Memphis). It single-handedly allowed Virginia to overcome a 15-point deficit in 2007 and it hurt them again in the NCAA tournament.
Free throws are just part of the little things that you have to do to win the big games and it is something Clemson must learn.
The Tigers have big losses with Mays and Hammonds gone, but Oglesby and Rivers will shoulder the scoring load for a team that many predict can repeat their NCAA success.
However, if Clemson cannot make the clutch plays down the stretch, it will be yet another season of wondering what could have been?
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