Originally Posted by
CDu
This year's Clemson team is a very veteran squad, returning almost all of the players from last year's Sweet-16 team. It is not, however, all that similar to the team we faced in Clemson last year. The differences: that team didn't have their PG (Shelton Mitchell) available, and this team doesn't have their glue guy and #3 player (Gabe DeVoe). So I'm not sure how useful last year's data point will be. That being said, a lot of what Clemson does is similar to what they did when healthy last year. They play slow, they own the defensive glass, they score in the paint and defend around the rim well. They are also pretty good at forcing turnovers.
Despite this profile, the Tigers are 0-3 in Q1 games so far this year. So it has been an unquestionably disappointing start to the season. Their best wins to date are a neutral-site win over Georgia, a road win over South Carolina, and a home win over Lipscomb. So, they'll obviously be looking to improve their resume. The results so far simply haven't matched the talent. It's a good team, but one that just isn't performing up to par yet.
Centers: Elijah Thomas (6'9", 245lb fifth-year senior) is the man in the middle. Thomas is an extremely talented player who has never quite figured out how to stay out of foul trouble. He does pretty much everything you can ask for in a post player. Scores incredibly efficiently in the post, rebounds extraordinarily well on both ends, and (which is unusual) blocks shots and defensive rebounds at a fantastic rate. He is a bear inside, with great quickness/agility and explosive leaping ability along with strength and tenacity. The bugaboo for him is that he just can't avoid the fouls. He averages 3.2 per 24.2 mpg this year, and that's before getting to the tougher opponents on the schedule. Clemson NEEDS Thomas to stay on the floor, but he just hasn't been able to do so consistently enough in his career. If he can avoid foul trouble, he's a game changer. But odds are that he will not be able to avoid foul trouble. Javan White (6'10" 227lb grad transfer from Oral Roberts) is the backup center. He's a serviceable backup, but he's a HUGE step down from Thomas. The "break in case of emergency" center is Trey Jemison (7'0", 255lb freshman), a project at this point who is just minutes filler as needed.
Forwards: Aamir Simms (6'7", 250lb sophomore) is the starting PF for the Tigers. He's a really good athlete who also has tremendous strength as you might expect given his size. He does a lot of dirty work for the Tigers and fits in nicely on a blue-collar, defense-first type of team like Clemson. Interestingly, he appears to have improved as a perimeter shooter too, hitting 37% of his 3s on 4 attempts per game and 80% from the line albeit in few attempts. Simms will get the unenviable task of guarding Williamson, and in terms of size and athleticism it's not nearly the mismatch we typically see. Williamson is bigger, stronger, quicker, and more explosive, but Simms is one of few that checks in within shouting distance across all those areas. Should be fun, although it is a matchup I expect Williamson to win. Alongside Simms is David Skara (6'8", 215lb fifth-year senior). Skara is kind of like a very poor man's Kyle Singler. He's a rugged defender who can guard multiple spots adequately, and does a little of everything. He's not nearly as strong with the ball as Singler, which is where the comp really falls off and why he's a very poor man's Singler. But he's a nice role player who is versatile defensively, and has improved his outside shooting this year to stretch the floor a bit. These two guys will both start, with Skara able to swing between SF and PF when the team goes with three guards. Hunter Tyson (6'8", 205lb freshman) is the backup. He's used sparingly and is still a year or two away from ACC readiness.
Wings: Marcquise Reed (6'3", 190lb fifth-year senior) is the star of the team. He leads the Tigers in minutes, scoring, steals, and (currently, at least) assists. He's an All-ACC talent, and a real star. Oddly, he hasn't shot the ball very well from 3 this year, but historically he is a good 3pt shooter. I wouldn't consider his current 3pt% (29%) to be reflective of his threat as a shooter. Reed is also a good ballhandler, and serves as the backup PG as well. The other primary wing is Clyde Trapp (6'4, 195lb sophomore), who serves as the sixth man. Trapp is an athletic and pesky defender, who has a knack for getting steals. But offensively he's still fairly raw. John Newman III (6'5", 200lb freshman) is the backup, and he is sort of a freshman version of Trapp.
Guards: The point guard is Shelton Mitchell (6'4" 200lb fifth-year senior). Mitchell was, as noted above, absent from the matchup last year. He's a terrific, All-ACC caliber talent as well, although oddly he hasn't played as well so far this season. Like Reed, Mitchell hasn't shot as well as he has historically. So again, I'm not sure that his current percentage (29.5%) is reflective of his skill set. He's a bulldog of a PG, with tremendous size, strength, and savvy for the position. More of a scoring PG than a distributor, he's a defensive bulldog and with Reed is the heart and soul of the team. When Mitchell sits (which is rare against good teams), Reed will handle the PG duties.
Depth is a huge question for Clemson. They really have only 4 or 5 ACC-level players at this point. Trapp, White, Tyson, and Newman are only borderline ACC caliber at this point in their careers, and Skara is purely a role player at this level as well. And with Thomas struggling to stay on the floor, that puts real pressure on the team to stay competitive against good teams. Clemson will be well-organized and tenacious, and as such it should be a nice test of our team's development. Thankfully we kick off the season at home, because I think if this was in Clemson I'd be sweating a lot more. Still, it's a game that poses some threat due to the talent at the top for Clemson, but a game we should win at home.