Tag: Al-Amir Dawes

Clemson sidesteps unforced errors to rally past Wofford

Picking up where it left off, Clemson staved off Wofford for a 76-68 win Friday night at the Littlejohn Coliseum. Clemson fought its way back into a game it so needed to have, avoiding a potential letdown in the process, to win its second straight …

Picking up where it left off, Clemson staved off Wofford for a 76-68 win Friday night at the Littlejohn Coliseum.

Clemson fought its way back into a game it so needed to have, avoiding a potential letdown in the process, to win its second straight game of the season.

Al-Amir Dawes put the game on ice with a clutch corner 3-pointer to give Clemson a 6-point cushion.

The game got chippy at times, but Clemson somehow managed to keep its composure. Clemson led by as many as 14 during the game’s opening frame, but the Tigers allowed Wofford to hang around in a game they had mostly dominated in every facet 

In fact, Wofford took control of the game with just under 12 minutes to play. Keaton Turner executed a 3-point play to give the Terriers a 52-49 lead. Clemson didn’t panic, though. Coach Brad Brownell called a timeout and Nick Honor immediately answered with a clutch shot from beyond the arc. He celebrated empathetically and then, Clemson’s fortunes began to change.

With Hall absent, unforced turnovers and untimely scoring droughts gave way to Wofford making its run.

Hall’s effort in the first half was undeniable. Heading into the break, he had 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc, he also had five defensive rebounds.

It’s why his absence was so pivotal to Clemson losing control of Friday night’s game. The offense looked stagnant without him in there, even if he scored just five second-half points. His presence alone is pivotal for a Clemson team that struggled to find answers from its second unit.

His getting into foul trouble certainly underscored what Clemson was able to accomplish on both ends of the court. The junior forward picked up his fourth foul with just 5 minutes and 42 seconds remaining in the game.

While he spent much of the game’s final minutes on the bench, he checked back in during crunch time to help seal the win for Clemson.

He finished the game with 22 points and eight boards.

While the Tigers looked a bit sloppy and missed some open shots to start off the opening frame of play, Clemson was still able to jump out to a fast start, aided by a strong first-half defensive performance and the team’s offense running through the likes of Hall and David Collins.

That, of course, persisted in the second half, but Wofford was finally able to get shots to start falling. Clemson headed into the break with a 39-31 lead after dominating the first half. Though, it wouldn’t last long.

Clemson’s defensive effort in the first and down the stretch of Friday’s game can’t be overstated. It’s what allowed the Tigers to command a lead for much of the night, even with multiple scoring droughts throughout the course of the contest. Of course, Wofford was able to claw back and make Friday’s game interesting, especially for the majority of the second half, but that had more to do with Clemson’s self-inflicted wounds. 

The Tigers were plagued with some untimely fouls — they had 8 first-half team fouls — and nine turnovers. Wofford was able to score 11 points off those turnovers, which allowed the Terriers to hang around, for the most part.

Clemson turned the ball over 10 more times in the second half, for a total of 19 on the night.

Clemson crashed the boards with relative ease in the game’s first 20 minutes. The Tigers outrebounded Wofford 18-10 in the first half and finished the night with a 36-31 margin.

Speaking of defense, Clemson got a big boost from the defensive paralysis of junior guard Nick Honor. He had five steals on the night. Honor does a great job of getting his hands in passing lanes. He’s a tenacious defender, who can defend the length of the floor.

As for Collins, he looked exactly like the player Clemson thought it was getting, at least in the first half. The USF grad transfer not only showed off how physical he can be in the paint on both ends of the court but also just how good of a facilitator he can be.  

Collins’ physicality and court vision will be crucial to Clemson’s success throughout the season. It certainly proved to be pivotal as that aspect of Clemson’s game on both ends of the floor disappeared in the second half.

Even with Collins and Hall not adding much offensively in the game’s second frame, the Tigers relied on Dawes, Hunter Tyson and Nick Honor to carry them home to a victory on Friday.

The trio combined for 36 of Clemson’s 76 points.

Brownell yanked Dawes from the court just less than two minutes into Friday night’s contest. While he was the hero for the Tigers in Game 1, it didn’t take long for Clemson’s coach to pull the team’s starting guard. 

Dawes sat for a bit, while he watched senior guard Chase Hunter run with the 1s. After checking back in, Dawes immediately drilled a step-back 3-pointer from beyond the arc to give Clemson a 14-6 lead. 

While he wasn’t as effective offensively as he was in Clemson’s season-opening victory, Dawes drilled an important 3-pointer to give Clemson a 4-point lead and some breathing room with just over 5 minutes to play.

It was almost poetic. It was a minor rundown of how the game went. Clemson fought through unforced errors and adversity to come out on top, much like Dawes.

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Brownell’s primary takeaway from Clemson’s first two games

Brad Brownell has a sample size, though it’s a tiny one. Clemson’s men’s basketball season is officially 40 minutes old. The Tigers rallied from a couple of double-digit deficits to knock off Presbyterian in their season opener Tuesday, but it was …

Brad Brownell has a sample size, though it’s a tiny one.

Clemson’s men’s basketball season is officially 40 minutes old. The Tigers rallied from a couple of double-digit deficits to knock off Presbyterian in their season opener Tuesday, but it was the second extended look Clemson’s 12th-year coach got at his current team in game action. Clemson made easier work of Georgia Southwestern State, a Division II school, last week in an exhibition rout.

Through two games, what has Brownell learned about his team?

“I think we’ve got to continue to be better in our offensive execution,” Brownell said.

Clemson’s defense is ahead of the offense in the early going, and the possibility of it remaining that way can’t be ruled out. More often than not, Brownell’s teams have been known for their defense, and the Tigers returned seven players from a team that finished last season in the top 4 in the ACC in points allowed and field-goal percentage defense.

The offense has had its moments. Clemson (1-0) didn’t come across much resistance in its 26-point exhibition win, but much of that was because a physically inferior Georgia Southwestern State team had no answer down low for sophomore big PJ Hall, who had 23 points. Only one other player, freshman Ian Scheiffelin, reached double figures.

Once the games started for real — and the competition got a little tougher — it was difficult for anyone to get going. Clemson made just two of its first nine shots from the field Tuesday and went to the half trailing 32-24 because of 35% shooting from the field, 46% shooting from the free-throw line and seven turnovers.

“(Got to figure it out) playing against different defenses and that type of thing,” Brownell said. “Some of it is coaching. We’ve got to figure out a way to better utilize guys. Some of it our guys have got to make better decisions.”

The Tigers have two new starters — Hall and South Florida transfer guard David Collins — they’re trying to get integrated, but some of the decision-making also falls on players who’ve been in Brownell’s system for a while. Brownell used junior guard Al-Amir Dawes as an example.

Dawes eventually became the offensive spark for Clemson in its opening win, scoring 16 of his 21 points in the second half. He finished 7 of 16 shooting from the floor, including 4 of 9 from 3-point range, but there were times Dawes played outside the flow of the offense with ill-advised shots. Brownell said it’s a balancing act with players like that who can get streaky.

“Al’s kind of a wild-card player sometimes,” Brownell said. “You’ve got to kind of give him some rope and let him go because he’s going to make some shots, but then every once in a while, it’s, ‘What are you doing man? We can’t have that one. We don’t need that one right now.’ So it’s kind of, we’re all still kind of adjusting as you’ve got a guy where you’re trying to get him some baskets and some freedom.”

The Tigers also didn’t work the ball inside nearly as much to Hall, who had six points on just four shots after putting up 14 shots in the exhibition. Brownell said some of that had to do with the way Presbyterian was defending Hall, but there were also times when the 6-10, 240-pounder was open on the block only to never get an entry pass from the Tigers’ guards. Clemson had just 12 assists on 21 made baskets.

“Our guards have got to do a better job of post feeding, but their pressure bothered us at times,” Brownell said. “Sometimes it’s hard with a small big guy guarding you who’s moving around and you’re trying to feel him and find him. It’s the first game of the year and you’re a little antsy. He just didn’t have a good rhythm, and I think a lot of it was (Presbyterian). I thought they did a lot of really good things.”

It’s early, but there’s a ways for the Tigers to go offensively. Their next chance to work on it will come Friday when Clemson hosts Wofford at 7 p.m.

“We’ve got to figure that out as a coaching staff, how to utilize our offensive package a little bit better,” Brownell said.

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Brownell practicing some patience as Clemson embarks on new season

Roster turnover is commonplace in college basketball, but Clemson’s primary departures this offseason weren’t exactly insignificant. The Tigers are still getting used to life with Aamir Simms and Clyde Trapp, a pair of key contributors on Clemson’s …

Roster turnover is commonplace in college basketball, but Clemson’s primary departures this offseason weren’t exactly insignificant.

The Tigers are still getting used to life with Aamir Simms and Clyde Trapp, a pair of key contributors on Clemson’s latest NCAA Tournament team. Simms, a three-year starter in the frontcourt, finished his college career with 1,122 points before moving on to the professional ranks after last season. Meanwhile, Trapp, a veteran guard, started 50 games during his time with the Tigers, including all 24 last season, before transferring to Charlotte.

Clemson coach Brad Brownell knows those voids won’t be easy to fill, though there are no shortage of options. The Tigers have seven players back from a team that won 16 games amid a pandemic-shortened season, but with the same number of newcomers joining the fold, Brownell isn’t interested in rushing to find all the answers as the Tigers embark on a new campaign. That will officially start Tuesday when Presbyterian makes the trip to Littlejohn Coliseum for both teams’ opener.

“When you lose that kind of experience, you’ve got to have a little patience in terms of trying to figure it out,” Brownell said. “Your players are trying to figure it out as well. Some of them are trying to figure out their own games and what they can do consistently well.”

Clemson’s mix of old and new faces got a test run last week in the Tigers’ exhibition win over Georgia Southwestern State, which showed just how much work there is left for Brownell to do to tighten up his rotation. Fourteen players logged minutes with all but three playing at least 11 minutes.

Sophomore big PJ Hall, who is being counted on to replace some of Simm’s production, was the standout, finishing with 23 points on 11 of 14 shooting in just 19 minutes. Freshmen Ian Schieffelin (13 points) and Ben Middlebrooks could also help in the frontcourt along with Youngstate State transfer Naz Bohannon and senior forward Hunter Tyson, one of three returning starters.

Guards Nick Honor and Al-Amir Dawes, the Tigers’ top returning scorer at nine points per game last season, are the other two. They will likely be joined in the starting lineup Tuesday by another transfer, former South Florida guard David Collins, who had a solid Clemson debut playing off the ball with nine points, four rebounds and three assists in the exhibition.

Freshman Josh Beadle and sophomores Alex Hemenway and Chase Hunter are among the other options in the backcourt. Each played more than 10 minutes in the exhibition, though Beadle and Dawes each had four turnovers.

Even if he doesn’t reach quite as far as he did in the exhibition, Brownell said he still plans to go deep in his bench against Presbyterian and perhaps beyond. The substitutions may not always be based on performance.

“We’ve got 10 guys or 11 guys we’re trying to play, so sometimes it’s just giving other guys an opportunity,” Brownell said. “You’re not always coming out because of something you did. It might be that somebody else brings something different, a different set of skills that we want to see. Maybe it’s a different grouping of guys we want to see play together. It’s not always you get taken out for a mistake. It could be strategy. Maybe we’re downsizing. Maybe we’re upsizing. Whatever it may be.”

Ultimately, though, there’s only so much experimenting that Brownell is going to do now that the real games are here.

“You’ve got to understand that these games count now, so you can’t be so patient that guys don’t understand there’s a sense of urgency,” he said. “There’s a tremendous amount of urgency now that games count, and we’ve got to do a good job as a staff of trying to put our guys in a position to be successful.”

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Brownell: Clemson’s leadership will have to come by committee

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 …

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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