The Great Al Thornton

Among several other messages, scrawled in black marker, the one that stands out most on Al Thornton's sneaker is the simplest. Thornton wrote "Get It Done," on the outside of his white and maroon Nikes, and, of course, he has. The player who should have been ACC POY delivered in the first half of the opening ACC Tournament game, scoring 18 points on 6 of 8 shooting to go with six rebounds.

Thornton swooped everywhere on the floor, muscling Clemson inside and draining both of his 3-pointers. At one point, he attacked the hoop and collided with a defender and fell hard, bracing himself with his wrist. He grabbed his arm for the next few, but he showed he recovered when he popped a 3-pointer with three seconds left in the half, then sauntered into the locker room, nodding his head and clapping. Dude is on a mission.

By the way -- after struggling early with Clemson's full-court pressure, the Seminoles lead 38-36 at halftime. Very entertaining half, two athletic, skilled teams and, above all, Al Thornton is playing.