A college game may last 40 minutes, but the Clemson Tigers only have the last six in mind.
"Six-minute game"-repeated during conditioning drills and preseason scrimmages-has become the team's mantra, reminding the players to close out the end of games.
Of course, the focus on late-game execution is not that surprising considering the team's struggles last year. Eight of Clemson's 13 losses came by six points or fewer, and another was in double overtime.
"Part of maturing as a team and as a program is learning to finish off games," head coach Oliver Purnell said. "There were 105 games in our league last year that were decided by five points or less. So if you finish off close games, you have a chance to really move up in this league."
Even with the number of tight losses, the Tigers were able to post their best record since 1997 at 19-13. And they believe with Vernon Hamilton and Cliff Hammonds-who make up one of the most experienced guard duos in the ACC-they have the answer to close out those tight games and get over the NCAA Tournament hump.
"Now, there is no excuse," Hammonds said. "Vernon is a senior and I'm a junior-we're one of the veteran backcourts in the conference. So in those late-game situations, we should be able to control the team and pull out a win."
A major part of the Tigers' late-game improvement will be their progress from the free-throw line. Clemson ranked worst in the league in free-throw percentage last year, hitting on just 61.7 percent of its attempts.
The foul-shooting woes were a huge obstacle in protecting late leads-the Tigers had three starters who shot below 60 percent-and may very well have cost them a marquee win that did not go down to the wire. In its 10-point home loss to No. 1 Duke, Clemson shot a horrendous 6-for-21 from the charity stripe.
"We've been shooting them at 6:30 in the morning, after practice, before practice," Hamilton said. "We have different free-throw games to make it competitive, where the loser has to run. I think also, Coach just wants us to go to the line without thoughts of last year."
The Tigers have plenty of reasons to think they will make everyone forget what could have been last season. They return four starters and welcome back forward James Mays, who averaged 9.2 points and 7.6 rebounds per game in Clemson's first 11 contests last season before having to leave the team because of academic ineligibility.
"Right now, our mentality is we can win every game. We should win every game. It's not just good to be in games," Hammonds said. "I think last year, some of our players felt that way, but everyone feels that way now."
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