Today is a bit of a hodge podge.  I caught some of the film last night, but I haven't been able to break it down yet.

Site Features

Updated the BlogPoll Ballot

I "front-paged" the Option defense post by truecolors.

We still need a basketball writer.

Press conference Audio is available at Seminoles.com.

Your Clempzon blogger is Dr. B from Clempsonfootball.  Get excited, this guy knows his stuff and is not your typical, run of the mill blogger.  The list of questions we exchanged is in the Clempzon questions section.

Outside Links

A really, really good article by Bob Thomas of the Jacksonville Sun Times on ACCSportsJournal regarding the failures of the once highly touted 2005 recruiting class.  Read that article, because I'll refer to it throughout the rest of the recruiting season.  I'm also in the process of asking some readers to do some writing about recruiting

Chantrant has a really nice update piece on Debrale Smiley, one of my favorite recruits ever.  Rich does a great job of finding these kids... I'm really not sure how he does it.  In any case, we need to get this kid in a Seminole Uniform (he's at JuCo).I dug up this video on the stud running back.  He is # 40.  This guy's youtube account has about 8 videos of the kid.  Enjoy.

Thomas County Central 300 Video (via ytsejam180)

More on Smiley?  This from user Chris:

As a nole fan and Thomas County Central fan (Debrale's HS), I got to watch this kid play a lot the last couple of years. He is truly a phenomenal back and the best HS RB I've ever seen. He broke a bunch of records at Thomas County including TDs and Rushing yards that were set by Joe Burns, who went to GT and then on to the NFL. He also set these records while not even playing in the second half of a lot of his teams games because they were blowouts. At 6-0 240 and faster than opposing teams CBs it really was not fair. The link I have is of a few of their games and only 5 plays of Debrale(#40), but the first play of the video is simply amazing. I hope he gets his grades up and comes to FSU. He really is a good kid, but the schools systems down here are pretty bad. 

We wish Debrale luck.  i want to see him in Garnet & Gold.

Scalpem get's their Q&A on with one of the premier Clemson blogs, Block-C.  Good read guys.

Noleinsider interviews Dabo Swinney.  It's a lot of Bowden stuff, but this was interesting:

Q: What is the primary reason for Cullen Harper's three interceptions against Boston College?

A: "Bad decisions. The first one, he just didn't go through his progression. The second, Tyler [Grisham] was a little tight on his alignment, and he was late on the throw. That one cost us. The first one didn't hurt us. The last one was play-action. I was probably more disappointed in that one. We've got to get [Harper] to check down. It's like I told him ... just drive the car, do what you're coached to do, and we'll be just fine. Those were three critical mistakes, but he made some big, big plays for us, too. He showed a lot of poise.''

Dinnich, with her ACC Previews

Clemson (4-4, 2-3) at Florida State (6-2, 3-2)
Both of these teams need to win all of their remaining ACC games in order to stay in the race. FSU is also still playing for bowl eligibility. Bowden will turn 79 on Saturday, and he is 3-1 on his birthday, with the lone loss coming in 2003 to his son, Tommy. Well, we all know that won't happen this year, as it's the first time in a decade Bowden won't face his son in this matchup. Florida State is trying to regroup after its heartbreaking, last-minute loss at Georgia Tech. The matchup to watch in this game is FSU offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher against Clemson defensive coordinator Vic Koenning, two veterans who have coached against each other before at other schools.

Rantings, Rankings, and Ravings

Interesting stuff here folks.  Most of the mainstream media that employ a "power poll sprinkled with fairness" put us in the low 20's.

The FEI is giving us some love now, and that's encouraging.  One interesting note: we have the 5th most difficult remaining schedule by their calculations.

Basketball Note

Begin to familiarize yourself with BasketballProspectus.com, as I will use their stuff extensively this year.

Ever heard of "tempo-free statistics"?  They isolate what you do well, regardless of how fast you play the game by looking at performance on a per possession basis.

A convenient glossary of terms can be found here., and the ratings are here.

Record vs. D-1: 19-14
Luck: -0.046  National Rank=260  (-1.5 wins)

Raw Tempo: 68.1 poss/40 min  National Rank=129
Adj Tempo: 66.6 poss/40 min  National Rank=170

Offense               Defense
Raw Efficiency :  103.9 (139)           98.8 ( 91)
Adj Efficiency :  109.1 ( 80)           92.5 ( 43)

Effective FG%  :   50.4 (144)           49.3 (144)
Turnover Pct.  :   21.8 (228)           22.6 ( 74)
Off. Rebound%  :   33.4 (147)           34.1 (227)
Free Throw Rate:   27.8 ( 76)           34.6 (133)

3-Point FG%    :   35.2 (158)           34.6 (140)
2-Point FG%    :   49.2 (134)           48.0 (141)
Free Throw Pct.:   77.3 (  5)           69.3 (172)
Block Pct.     :    9.0 (159)           10.4 ( 88)
Steal Pct.     :    8.7 ( 64)           12.3 ( 31)

3PA/FGA        :   34.9 (156)           34.7 (185)
A/FGM          :   44.4 (325)           52.6 (105)

The glaring weaknesses?

• Turning the ball over (228th in turnover per possession!)
  
• Allowing offensive rebounds an offensive rebound on 34% of shots!, and 
• Not passing well (325th in assists per field goal).  This is a flaw in Hamilton's coaching ability.  He can't teach it well and hasn't recruited the point position well either.  Disturbingly, our assists per field goal have gone down in EACH of the last 4 years: 255th (2005), 265th (2006), 321st (2007), and 325th (2008).  That's horrific. 
  

What we did well:

• Forcing turnovers on defense (74th);
• Scoring points via the free throw (though we need to get a lot more attempts)

If you have anything to add, throw it in the comment section and I will post it up.