CLEMSON -- Maybe you can sum up Clemson basketball's recent losing trend by citing the according trends from 3-point range and leave it at that.
Over the past five games, the Tigers have attempted 115 shots from beyond the arc and made 31 for a 26.9-percent clip.
BECOME A SUBSCRIBER AT TIGERILLUSTRATED.com!
Meanwhile, opponents have made 57 of 131 shots from long range for a rate of 43.5 percent.
You win and lose basketball games by making or missing shots, just as you win and lose football games by scoring touchdowns or not scoring them.
ALSO SEE: Late-week Recruiting Insider | Friday Insider Recruiting Nuggets | Recruiting Big Board: Safety | Clemson's less than ideal situation at quarterback
So a lot of it is simple, sure. And a lot of the story is told by the above numbers.
But as this wounded team tries to gather itself for Saturday's visit to Florida State, there are so many things to wonder about.
We probably wouldn't be wondering about these same things had they made four or five 3-pointers against North Carolina instead of just one, or had they made one or two more the other night against Georgia Tech, or had they just played better defense on the Yellow Jackets inside the last two minutes of regulation.
But just as winning makes everything better, losing makes just about everything worse. And surely everyone within the program is jolted by more losing of late than anyone anticipated -- four losses in five games after a 12-1 start whose only blemish was a narrow defeat at Memphis that no one should've been ashamed about.
Seasons are long. Ruts happen.
Some teams succumb to these ruts. Others find out what they're made of and emerge from the low places better for it.
The jarring part of some recent events is how much they contradict some of the things we thought we knew about this team earlier in the season when everything was hunky-dory.
They were physically imposing. They were passing the ball at a high level, foregoing good shots for great ones. They were skilled and highly battle-hardened.
We've seen less of all this of late, and even the head coach has called some of the defensive stretches embarrassing.
Even when Boston College was missing its best player last weekend Clemson still scuffled around for a good portion before pulling away in the second half.
Back when all the vibes were good in mid-December as this team prepared for the trip to Memphis, Brad Brownell was concerned about the lack of depth given the prolonged absences of Jack Clark and Alex Hemenway.
Those fears have materialized: Tuesday night, Clemson's reserves scored eight points and Georgia Tech's totaled 33.
A new rotational strategy is probably at hand as Brownell and his staff lean toward trusting the bench more and "let them go at times," he told us Thursday in reference to RJ Godfrey, Dillon Hunter, Josh Beadle and Bas Leyte and now Clark.
"Being thin has been a little hard for us," Brownell said.
But here's the thing: The starting lineup contains three high-level offensive players that have to play well at the same time, and in concert with each other.
PJ Hall, Joe Girard and Chase Hunter combined for 60 points against Georgia Tech, led by Hall's 31.
On the surface that sounds pretty good, with Hunter scoring 18 and Girard 11.
But then you start to look at some of the fine print: Girard was 2-of-9 from the field. Hunter was 0-for-5 from 3 and missed a huge free throw that could've put the game away. Hall was 0-for-5 from 3 and missed nine of 15 shots from the field.
That's not good. Not from a trio that has shown us glimpses of great.
Brownell's current message to these three: You're going to take most of the shots. But if each of you takes two bad shots in a game that's six bad shots -- and enough, in a close game, to be the difference.
Join Tigerillustrated.com subscribers on The West Zone message board!
All that said, there weren't many bad shots among the 18 missed from 3-point range on 21 attempts against the Yellow Jackets. A total of 14 qualified as open, green-light shots according to the staff's account of it.
So where to go from here?
Do you just look at the recent raw numbers, for and against, and conclude that Clemson is eventually going to start shooting better and the opposition not as well?
That's one way to approach it. But with suddenly hot Florida State up next, it's got to go deeper than that and it will.
A lot of games indeed come down two or or three shots.
But this season will come down to whether this team can play better, and smarter, on both ends of the floor.
BIG JANUARY DEALS on officially-licensed Clemson apparel and gear at The Tiger Fan Shop HERE!
