21-11; 11-9, Fifth in the Atlantic Coast Conference
Clemson has been Clemsoning for as long as most fans can remember. Head coach Brad Brownell’s tenure has been largely successful but also, often, highly frustrating. He has overseen plenty of winning teams who fell agonizingly short of qualifying for the NCAA Tournament, and fans have learned caution when setting expectations. This year, the Tigers will Dance.
For how long? Comes the obvious question.
If the regular season is an indicator, these Tigers may stay awhile, actually. This winter, Clemson has been one of those interesting teams which has found much of its greatest success while playing away from home. Additionally, these Tigers are an experienced outfit, and hungry both as individuals and a collective to throw off a reputation for being good, but ultimately not good enough.
In an age of measuring the quality of a team’s resume, the NET ratings have become widely accepted as defining well the comparative achievements of contending teams. By such metrics, Clemson has had a pretty doggone good year, as Dabo Swinney might put it. The Tigers own five Quadrant 1 victories – and a couple of them are truly impressive Q1A (the most difficult of games) road wins against the likes of North Carolina and Alabama. On the court, Clemson can show off an impressive repertoire, as well. The Tigers boast a trio of fifth-year stars, multipurpose veterans, and some youngsters who have been too good to keep deeper on the bench.
OT’s (Original Tigers) PJ Hall and Chase Hunter have been joined by former ACC foe Joseph Girard III to form the all-conference backbone of the Tigers. Hall, a finalist for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award and First-team All-ACC selection, is one of the best scoring bigs in the nation. He’s developed a finely crafted game which relies upon deep range on his smooth face-up jumper, deft footwork inside, and a silky touch around the basket. It’s not his main attribute, but Hall has also blended some meaningful physicality into his approach. Hall is a genuine go-to guy, and it’s off of his threat that the Tigers mold the rest of their attack. He’s scored 20+ points in 13 games, and Hall has only failed to score in double digits once all year. He’s racked up seven double-doubles to go with his 46 made triples, and Hall ranks seventh in the ACC in free throw attempts and makes.
Hunter and Girard are each quality scorers and quality distributors, and they’ve proved an efficient and proficient pairing to key the Clemson offense. Though he spent four very productive seasons at Syracuse, in many ways Girard has been better than ever since arriving in Clemson. Long regarded as a fantastic shooter, he’s made career-best percentages from all over the floor while cutting his turnovers, and Girard has remained one of the ACC’s highest-scoring guards despite taking just over ten shots per game. Part of the reason why? Girard has made 109 free throws at a 95.6% rate: the second-best mark in America. After breaking out in a big way last winter, Chase Hunter has proven that it was no fluke. He’s committed just 54 turnovers in 32 games played while sharing point duties with Girard, knocking down 42 treys of his own and making 87.2% of his freebies. As a team, the Tigers have made 79.0% of their free throw attempts this year – the ninth-best mark in all the land.
Supporting their trio of reliable scorers, Clemson has one of the best and gluiest glue guys in the country. Ian Schieffelin is a tough customer who does absolutely anything Brownell or his teammates need done; and this winter, the no-frills forward has stepped into something of a feature role, as well. In addition to duking it out with Miami (FL)’s Norchad Omier for the ACC lead in double-doubles (Schieffelin has nine, the second-most), Schieffelin has posted at least ten boards in a game 15 times, and the slick passer has handed out at least four assists in ten different contests. You won’t find many players who work as hard as Schieffelin on the boards, setting screens, or defensively than the Clemson junior, and his buddies wouldn’t trade Schieffelin’s steady play for anything.
RJ Godfrey and Chauncey are contrasting young forwards who have made significant contributions. Godfrey is a bruising and athletic guy whose energy inside and on the offensive glass. Meanwhile, at a long 6’10”, Wiggins has a nearly unblockable jumper which he’s used to hit multiple triples in a game a half dozen times. Veteran swingman Jack Clark brings more good size and experience plus terrific rebounding and defense. Though he’s battled a lingering leg injury much of the year, Clark is hoping to finish his varied career on his own terms. Brownell also has Joshua Beadle and Dillon Hunter – Chase’s younger brother – to bring in when the veteran guards need a breather. Each youngster moves the ball efficiently, and Dillon Hunter may be Clemson’s heir at the point.
Clemson is very strong on the defensive glass; they rank 39th in the country in cleaning up opposing misses, but even with Schieffelin’s 92 reloads (second in the conference), they rank among the country’s bottom hundred teams in tracking down friendly misses. In addition, they don’t get to the foul line all that often as a group; Clemson is more about running clean offense, getting a quality shot the first time, and then getting back on defense. Unfortunately, the Tigers have conceded nearly as many three-balls as they have splashed. Brownell’s teams are rarely in a hurry (Clemson ranks about 250th in the country in Adjusted Tempo), and thus can struggle when the other team is hot from the outside – and/or earns extra possessions with which to launch. The Tigers don’t overly concern themselves with pressuring the other team defensively and come up with very few steals or other open-court plays. Clemson is willing to bet that they will make a higher percentage of their shots than the other team, and generally wait out the hardwood chess match with stoic confidence. And hey, when all else fails, Hall & Girard can generally make something happen in a pinch.
Add it all up, and Clemson has every right to expect a successful run deep into the most wonderful time of the year. Just, please, for the sake of any Tiger fans you care about…don’t declare such things too loudly.
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