Clemson will tip off the start of its 2021-22 men’s basketball season Monday against Presbertaryian College.
With that, head coach Brad Brownell held court with reporters during Wednesday’s media availability. He touched on a myriad of topics, but most importantly, talked about the team’s chemistry and leadership with some new additions in the fold.
Of course, Clemson has the unfortunate task of having to replace Aamir Simms, one of the better players in the history of the program. It won’t be easy, but Brownell and Co. are seemingly up for the challenge.
“Aamir was an outstanding everything,” Brownell said Wednesday. “He was an outstanding player. An incredible career in terms of points, rebounds, assists, all those things. But, equally as important as a leader and just a guy that you could really count on day to day in terms of practice habits and building team and caring about team and leadership.”
From a leadership standpoint, replacing Simms is going to have to be a group effort.
Brownell believes that returning senior Hunter Tyson has taken a big step forward, as far as the leadership role is considered. He’s developed into a good mentor, especially when bringing along Clemson’s two graduate transfers—David Collins (USF) and Naz Bohannon (Youngstown State).
“I think a lot of the guys on our team have a lot of respect for Hunter because of the way he’s developed through the program and kind of earned his spurs and by the way he’s started to play at times last year,” Brownell said. “I think he’s a good player, who’s gonna have a good senior year.”
Brownell indicated that Clemson is trying to get junior guards Al-Amir Dawes and Nick Honor, who the Tigers are counting on for a lot of productivity, to take a little more ownership in the leadership role, he said.
“It’s probably not as natural for them as some other guys, but they’ve got to come out of their shells a little bit and I think they’re starting to do that,” Brownell added. “ The two grad guys have got to help us in some ways with experience and just poise and leadership, really based on experience and having played at the level and been in difficult environments.”
Clemson’s coach has been pretty adamant that not one player on this roster is going to be able to fill Simms’ shoes on and off the court. It’s going to have to be a concerted group effort from returning players and those who have arrived via the transfer portal.
“I think it’s gonna be by committee and we’ve seen a lot of different guys step up in different ways throughout the course of the season,” he said.
Brownell again shifted the focus of Wednesday’s conversation towards Honor and Dawes, who he believes will play a key role in developing the chemistry of the team on both ends of the floor.
“I really believe that Nick and Al in some ways will determine a lot of our spirit,” Brownell said. “I think Aamir was kind of the guy that led our spirit last year and what I mean by that…your guards, the ball is always in their hands when you have it to start every possession and then they’re guarding it to start every possession.
“So, we need those two guys to be extremely active defensively and aggressive defensively, to set a tone initially for our defense. And, if those guys do a good job in that area, I think it really helps the other guys with how we want to play defensively.”
Essentially, Clemson will need Honor and Dawes to set the tone on both ends on the floor, but it seems like Brownell would like to get that spark going defensively. If Honor and Dawes can come out and be ball-hawking guards, who play with high energy and communicate effectively, the Tigers can consistently be disruptive on the opposing end this season.
Brownell wouldn’t say if he’s looking to start Honor and Dawes together, as the Tigers aren’t going to play their hand just yet. Still, he is looking for them to be a vital part of the team’s chemistry and leadership going forward.
Speaking of chemistry, Brownell was asked how he figures that out and how that plays into his selection of the team’s starting lineup and rotations.
“There are certain lineups that are sometimes better offensively and some lineups that are better defensively,” he said. “You’re working that through with your opponent and sometimes if you have depth, you have the ability to change sometimes and make some changes. And sometimes you like the way groups play together. Consistently, they perform well and you see some things that you really like or you like bringing a player off the bench because they give you something different.”
Brownell used junior guard Alex Hemenway as the perfect example. He’s a guy who can come off the bench and shoot. Other times, it’s a guy like Honor, who brings great energy and speed off the bench. There’s a lot of different factors that go into that, but chemistry is, obviously, a huge part of that.
Staying on the theme of chemistry, how have Clemson’s new additions, between Collins, Bohannon and the three true freshmen — Ian Schieffelin, Ben Middlebrooks and Josh Beadle — gelled with the Tigers’ returning players?
“Really good chemistry in terms of off the court and how we interact in practice, ” he said. “I think the guys genuinely like each other. I think the transfers have done a really good job of coming in and ‘Hey, how do I fit in? What’s my role? What’s my niche? What do you guys need me to do?’ I think the older guys have done a really good job of making those guys feel welcome and telling them how much we need them and are excited about having them here.
“And, I think everybody has tried to coach up the young guys. There’s just a lot.”
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