Painter’s Preview: Tiger Basketball Week 9
The Clemson Men’s Basketball team was able to stay undefeated in ACC during their first week of basketball in the new year. The Tigers welcomed in two first year ACC opponents to Littlejohn and toppled them both. Clemson has continued to steadily regain their NET Ranking after the back-back losses to Memphis and South Carolina; however, they must continue taking care of business in this weaker ACC conference.
Key Tiger Takeaways from Last Week:
Unstoppable Offense: After a rough outing on offense against the Demon Deacons, Clemson put it together after 10 days off and light up Littlejohn. The Tigers scored at least 80 points in both contests while shooting a combined 55% from the floor (59-108). From behind the arc, they shot a combined 43% (16-37) which led to both victories. These two performances exemplify the best of the Tigers’ offense; however, the question stands on whether or not they perform like this on the road. In their last two road affairs, we have seen the complete opposite of performances. Against Miami, Clemson only put up 65 total points on 40% shooting from the field, and against South Carolina, Clemson put up 88 points in overtime shooting 47% from the field. Which team will the Tigers put on the road this week?
Chase is on the Case: Chase Hunter has been on a tear all season long, but he has been particularly great these past few games. Since Miami, Hunter has averaged 20 points/g, 2.7 asts/g, 2.5 rbs/g, and 1 stl/g while shooting a combined 49% from the field. He has been a different type of player since the NCAA Tournament run last season, and he may very well have a future at the next level thanks to his development. On pure road games, Hunter has averaged 25 points/g, and he will be the difference maker going forward for Clemson in ACC play. Chase Hunter looks primed to stay on the case for the Tigers as they hope for another deep NCAA Tournament run.
Valuable Viktor: Transfer Center Viktor Lakhin was tasked with replacing P.J. Hall at the beginning of the season, and while that task is near impossible, he has added to the team in his very own way. This past week Lakhin was struggling with illness, and he still decided to play against the Stanford Cardinals to start the week. He was an absolute monster within the paint recording 5 blocks, 3 steals, and 7 rebounds. He an become irreplaceable within the paint on defense, and his experience has greatly improved the Tigers. His presence was missed during the first half of the California game, and the Tigers struggled stopping drives to the paint. Clemson allowed 24 paint points during the first half which totaled 67% of the Golden Bears’ first half points. After seeing this, Lakhin decided to give it a go during the last 20 minutes and Clemson looked like a completely different roster. California finished the night only getting 10 more points within the paint, and the Tigers were able to pull away thanks to the added pressure on defense. Viktor Lakhin may have not lit up the stat sheet, but he finished the night with 2 blocks, 2 steals, 2 assists, and 2 rebounds.
Pick Pocket: As mentioned above, Viktor Lakhin has transformed the Clemson defense; however, they have also improved a ton in forcing turnovers off of steals. In the offseason, Coach Brownell decided to add the current active steal leader in the ACC in Jaeden Zackery, and it has paid off so far. Zackery already has 33 steals on the year so far and the pressure he puts on opposing players creates more opportunities for steals for other Tigers as well. Last season, our Tigers only averaged 4.6 steals per game. This season, with the added roster help and development, Clemson averages 7.9 steals per game which ranks 78th in the country (“TeamRankings.com: Sports Predictions, Rankings & Stats”). The Tigers have become excellent pick pocketers that have allowed for our fast start.
Clemson’s Upcoming Games:
On the Road at Louisville on Tuesday, January 7th, 2025
Clemson returns to road play in Kentucky against the Louisville Cardinals on January 7th. This will be the Tigers first road contest since December 17th where they lost to South Carolina in overtime 91-88. The Cardinals are coming off of an abysmal season in which they finished the year 8-24(3-17) in which they fired their second year Head Coach Kenny Payne (“Sports Reference | Sports Stats, Fast, Easy, and Up-To-Date | Sports-Reference.com”). Louisville hired former College of Charleston Head Coach Pat Kelsey and have started this season with more wins than last year already going 10-5(3-1). This season they have a completely new look as Kelsey has reconstructed their entire roster. Leading this squad is the former Wisconsin Badger Guard, Chucky Hepburn. The Senior has taken a huge step this season averaging his career high in almost every statistical category. Hepburn has averaged 15.5 pts/g, 5.5 asts/g, 3.3 rbs/g, and 2.5 stls/g. He is the current leader in steals in the ACC so far this season beating out one of our Tigers, Jaeden Zackery, this far into the season. Clemson has to maintain ball control to win this game or Hepburns’ fast paced defense will end up upsetting the Tigers. The Tigers has struggled with turnovers at times this season, but will need an “A” worthy performance to win on the road. Helping out Hepburn score the ball are fellow Senior Guards Terrence Edwards Jr. and Reyne Smith. Edwards is almost an everyday starter while Smith coming off the bench, both guys still average around 13-14 points/g (ESPN). Edwards is a former James Madison Duke who has taken a step back since last season; however, Reyne Smith followed his Head Coach and is taking another step up in his career. Due to an injury to starting Forward Kasean Pryor, a lot of the rebounding duties have fallen on the entire roster, but 6’6 Senior Guard J’Vonne Hadley has stepped up. Hadley averages 7.7 rebounds/g which leads the Cardinals, and since Pryor’s injury he has averaged almost 9 per game (ESPN). While Louisville has the height within the paint, they have struggled to have good consistent production from their big men this season. Senior Noah Waterman and Sophomore James Scott receive most of the minutes for the big men on the roster and while both guys are 6’11, neither player averages over 8 pts/g and 6 rbs/g (ESPN). If Viktor Lakhin is healthy, the Tigers need to attack the paint and control the boards against the struggling Cardinal big men. Clemson is going on the road for an expected let down spot this week against a battle tested Louisville team. The last time Clemson played a team with many dynamic Guards like the Cardinals they fell in overtime against Memphis at home. I think Louisville has played a lot of games against better talented teams that prepares them for this contest while the Tigers’ hot offense slows down a bit. Louisville will protect their home court because of Tiger turnovers and elite Cardinal Guard play. Clemson will lose 70-76 and add a Quad 1 loss to their resume.
At Home vs Florida State on Saturday, January 11th, 2025
Clemson returns home to Littlejohn Coliseum on a cold snow-expected Saturday in which they welcome in the Florida State Seminoles. Florida State looks to be improving after three straight disappointing under long term Head Coach Leonard Hamilton as they have started the year 10-4 (1-2). Before they play the Tigers, Florida State goes to Miami and they are most likely able to take advantage of the struggling Hurricanes making them 11-4 for their affair against Clemson. The Seminoles are led by returning 6’7 Senior Guard Jamir Watkins. Watkins is in his second season with Florida State and is almost averaging 20 points/g with 4.6 rbs/g (ESPN). He has significantly improved his abilities since his early days at VCU and has been a great addition by Coach Hamilton to the Seminoles’ roster. The other half of Florida State’s “Big Two” is 6’11 Forward Malique Ewin. The Junior is getting his first true opportunity on a college court after leaving the Ole Miss Rebels last season averaging 6 minutes per game. This year, he has started every game and averaged 13.3 pts/g and 7.3 rbs/g which leads Florida State (ESPN). Behind these two guys, the Seminoles produce by committee. Seven other players average over 10 minutes per game while five average over 6 points per game (ESPN). The X-Factor for Florida State coming off the the rest of their roster is True Freshman Daquan Davis. Davis has played in every contest so far and in his first career start against Syracuse, Davis led the Seminoles with 18 points. Davis succeeded in getting to the line consistently going 10-10 on free throws which helped push FSU to a 16 point win. Expect to see Davis in the starting line-up for Florida State throughout this week as they will analyze if he has what it takes to produce consistently. If the Tigers are careless when guarding the Freshman, his ability to get to the free throw line could haunt them. While the Florida State Seminoles looks much improved from their last season, they have still yet to play a lot of competition. They lost their only ranked match-up so far to Florida who is one of the best teams in the country; however, they also have losses to a struggling N.C. State and LSU. Clemson will get it done on Saturday as they return home because of Florida State’s lack of ability to shoot consistently and the Tigers star power. The Tigers win 68-62 despite the tough Seminole defense getting either a Quad 2 or 3 win depending on FSU’s rank during the game.
Sources:
“TeamRankings.com: Sports Predictions, Rankings & Stats.” Www.teamrankings.com, www.teamrankings.com/.
“Sports Reference | Sports Stats, Fast, Easy, and Up-To-Date | Sports-Reference.com.” Sports-Reference.com, 2019, www.sports-reference.com/.