Tag: Nick Honor

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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