Clemson’s men’s basketball team made easy work of Georgia Southwestern State in an 77-51 exhibition win Monday at Littlejohn Coliseum. Here are some observations from the Tigers’ tuneup for their season opener against Presbyterian on Nov. 9.
Hall dominates
With Aamir Simms opting not to return for another season, Clemson coach Brad Brownell has singled out sophomore big PJ Hall as a player the Tigers need to take a sizable step with his development in the frontcourt if they’re going to have any chance of getting back to the NCAA Tournament this season.
It was an exhibition against a Division II school, but the former four-star signee teased coaches and fans with a dominant performance.
Hall started the scoring for the Tigers with a dropstep hook over his right shoulder and continued to pour in the points. He made 11 of his first 12 shots and had 21 points before the first half was over, but it wasn’t just in the paint where the 6-foot-10, 240-pounder got buckets. He stepped out and sank a pick-and-pop 3-pointer in the first half, too. He finished with 23 points on 11 of 14 shooting.
He also had two blocks and affected more of GSWSU’s shots at the rim with his length. He had just four rebounds in 19 minutes, so his physicality and footwork still need some work on the defensive end. But Monday was a good indication of what the Spartanburg native is capable of — and what the Tigers will need once the games start counting.
“There’s no question he’s on the uptick,” Brownell said. “He just needs to show it consistently.”
Freshman impresses
Ian Schieffelin was the standout in his first game in a Clemson uniform.
Schieffelin was just as efficient as Hall, shooting 6 of 7 from the field for 13 points in just 12 minutes. He also grabbed three rebounds. Yet Hall said the newcomer didn’t even get much of a chance to show off the best facet of his game.
“Ian’s probably the best passer on our team,” Hall said. “He’s ridiculous.”
As for the Tigers’ other two freshmen, guard Josh Beadle had two points, three rebounds and four turnovers in 11 minutes. Center Ben Middlebrooks didn’t score in 11 minutes. He had four rebounds and three fouls.
Transfers have mixed results
Clemson added a pair of transfers this offseason in former South Florida guard David Collins and forward Naz Bohannon, a 1,200-point scorer at Youngstown State.
Collins got the start off the ball and finished with nine points, four rebounds and three assists in 19 minutes. He showed off touch from the outside, sinking two of his three 3-pointers.
It wasn’t quite as fast of a start for Bohannon, who got off just one shot (which he made) in 20 minutes off the bench. The 6-foot-6, 232-pounder finished with six points and four rebounds.
Defense picks up where it left off
Last season was another strong one on the defensive end for Clemson, which finished in the top 4 in the ACC in points allowed and field-goal percentage.
The Tigers were stingy once again to start the new campaign.
Clemson held GSWSU to 29.5% shooting from the field, including a 33% clip from 3-point range. The Tigers racked up 10 steals and forced 20 turnovers, scoring 28 points off those takeaways.
Clemson also cleaned up on the defensive glass. They outrebounded GSWSU 46-34 with 36 of those boards coming on the defensive end. Hunter Tyson led the way with seven rebounds.
Brownell gets a look at everybody
Exhibitions are used in part to get some feedback about who’s ready to contribute and who’s not. So while Clemson won’t be using a 14-man rotation once the regular season begins, Brownell emptied his bench to get a look at everybody.
Point guard Nick Honor, who had four points and a game-high seven assists in 27 minutes, led 11 Clemson players who played double-digit minutes. Al-Amir Dawes also logged 22 minutes at the point. All but three players played at least 11 minutes.
Brownell went as low as eight and as high as 11 when describing what he’s looking for in terms of the size of his rotation, though it may take some time to whittle it down.
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