North Carolina State University Athletics
Gary Hahn's Scouting Report: Clemson
2/15/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
CLEMSON (18-6, 6-4) at NC STATE (15-9, 4-6)
DATE: Saturday, February 16, 2008 @
TIME: Tip-off: 3:00 p.m. EST
RADIO: Wolfpack Sports Network
AIRTIME: 2:30 p.m. EST
TELEVISION: Raycom/Lincoln Financial Sports (ACC Network)
OPPONENT Tigers don’t mess around when they spot their prey. They attack and destroy. Thursday night, the Clemson Tigers pounced on Georgia Tech and the result was an 82-67 bug killing at Littlejohn Coliseum.
Cliff Hammonds swatted the Yellow Jackets with 22 points, including 4-of-6 shooting from 3-point range. Demontez Stitt added 13 points and James Mays 11 points and 8 rebounds for the Tigers who moved into third place in the ACC and improved their chances to make the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1998.
The Tigers scored the first eight points of the game and never trailed, quickly flushing away any hangover from a double-overtime loss Sunday at UNC. They led 43-31 at the break before going for the kill with an 18-8 run that opened the second half.
Georgia Tech outrebounded the Tigers 39-31, but Clemson overcame the deficit by shooting 51 percent (26-of-51) from the field and 7-of-16 (44 percent) on 3-pointers.
The Tigers also used a shocking display of free throw shooting to smack the Yellow Jackets. Clemson entered the game shooting only 62 percent from the foul line, but made 72 percent of its attempts (23-32) Thursday night. Tech was only 9-of-13 from the stripe.
Perimeter defense was also a key for the Tigers. Georgia Tech (11-2, 4-5) made only 2-of-15 three-point shots while losing on the road in the ACC for the first time in four games.
The Tigers can score, rebound and defend. They’re one of top-3 scoring teams in the ACC in league play (82.2). They are shooting 47 percent from the field and 40 percent from the 3-point line against conference foes.
Clemson’s offensive balance, 3-point shooting and ability to drive the ball to the hoop from at least three-to-four positions puts a lot of pressure on opposing defenses. The Tigers have five players with a scoring average in double figures. Four of them are shooting 41 percent or better from 3-point range.
In ACC games, K.C. Rivers leads the league in 3-point shooting at nearly 53 percent (30-57) while Hammonds (.425) and Terrence Oglesby (.416) are also deadly from beyond the arc. Clemson’s ability to shoot from long-range is better than any Tigers’ team in recent memory.
Few teams can match
Rivers and Hammonds have elevated their play. Rivers is ranked in the top-10 in the ACC in scoring in league games (15.8) while
Trevor Booker and Mays make a good inside tandem. Both are among the top-15 in rebounding in league games and Booker is one of the top-5 shot blockers in the conference. This season, they’ve combined for 22 points and 15 rebounds a game.
Demontez Stitt is has been a pleasant surprise at point guard while
Oglesby has added more long-range shooting to Clemson’s arsenal. Seventy-three percent of Oglesby’s shots come from 3-point range. He’s shooting nearly 42 percent from the arc and leads the team in 3-point field goals (62) and attempts (149).
The Tigers are athletic, fast and deep. Clemson has 10 players averaging at least 9 minutes a game led by
For the season, opponents are shooting only 43 percent from the field and 31 percent from the 3-point arc against the Tigers defense. Clemson’s ball pressure in the half court (and sometimes full court) has been very effective, causing an average of 17 turnovers per ACC game. The Tigers are No. 2 in the ACC in steals (9.5) in league play.
Booker and 6-9 reserve Raymond Sykes have combined to average 2.9 blocked shots per game.
When shots won’t go down, the Tigers do a terrific job crashing the offensive glass. Clemson gets back nearly 48 percent of its misses and averages 17 offensive rebounds a game.
As in past seasons, the Tigers can be spotty at the foul line (.630), but Oglesby and Stitt shoot 80 percent or better from the stripe.
State has won 8 of the last 11 games in the series, but has dropped the last two. Clemson beat the Pack on Jan. 15 at Littlejohn Coliseum 70-54. The Tigers shot 10-25 from 3-point range and scored 29 points off 23 NC State turnovers. The only bright light for State in that game was Courtney Fells who scored 19 points and connected on 5-of-8 shots from beyond the arc.
PROBABLE CLEMSON STARTERS
No. Name Pos. Ht. Class PPG RPG APG
02 Demontez Stitt G 6’2 Fr. 9.2 1.6 3.1
25 Cliff Hammonds G 6’3 Sr. 12.1 4.2 4.0
35 Trevor Booker C 6'7 So. 11.3 8.0 2.0*
40 James Mays F 6'7 Sr. 10.7 7.0 2.5
01 K.C. Rivers F 6'5 Jr. 15.5 6.7 1.9
TOP RESERVES:
22 Terrence Oglesby G 6’2 Fr. 11.0 1.8 1.5
15 David Potter G/F 6'6 So. 5.5 2.3 1.3
12 Raymond Sykes C/F 6'9 Jr. 4.7 2.3 0.9*
45 Jerai Grant F 6'8 Fr. 2.0 2.7 0.8*
32 Sam Perry F 6’5 Sr. 2.8 2.1 --
* Blocked shots per game
A WIN--Would snap a Wolfpack 2-game ACC losing streak and move State to within a game of .500 in the ACC. The Pack would improve to 16-9 overall and 5-6 in the league and keep hopes alive for at least an 8-8 conference record. State would earn a split with the Tigers in the regular season series and beat Clemson for the ninth time in the last 12 meetings. State wins at home in the ACC for the fourth time in five games and improves to 11-2 at the
A LOSS--Would send the Wolfpack to its third-straight defeat and longest losing streak of the season. State would drop to 15-10 overall and 4-7 in the ACC. The Pack would have to win 4 of its last 5 games to finish the ACC regular season at 8-8. Clemson would sweep the regular season series with State for just the second time since 2000 and beat the Pack for the third straight time in the overall series. The Tigers would improve to 19-6 overall and 7-4 in the ACC as they try to secure their first NCAA tournament bid since 1998. The Pack would lose for only the third time this season at the
A ROOKIE WHO IS ROCKIN’J.J. Hickson, who leads all ACC freshmen with 8 double-doubles, was chosen as the ACC Rookie of the Week for the third time on Jan. 28th after he averaged 14 points and 10 rebounds in games against Georgia Tech and FSU. In his last 3 games, the big center, who leads all ACC rookies in scoring, is averaging 18.3 points (55), 6.7 rebounds (20) and has two, 20-point performances. Hickson leads the Pack in scoring and rebounding and tops the ACC in field goal percentage (.606).
KNOCKED OFF THE BOARDS The Wolfpack has outrebounded only 3-of-10 ACC opponents. In the last 3 games, State has been outscored 33-18 on second chance points.
BRANDON MAY BE BACK Brandon Costner has struggled latelyboth physically and with his gamebut is showing signs of returning to form. At
HE LIKES THE LEAGUE Courtney Fells has scored in double-figures in 9-of-10 ACC games this season and is the team’s No.2 scorer in league games (14.1) while shooting 52-98 from the field (.531) and 28-56 from the 3-point arc (.500). His clutch 3-pointer with 18-seconds to play in overtime was a big part of State’s come-from-behind victory over
BULLS EYE After shooting only 9-of-27 (.333) from the 3-point arc in its first two ACC games, State has found the range. In its last 8 outings, the Pack has shot .421 from 3-point land (56-133).
ENEMY BOMBING ACC opponents have combined to shoot 41 percent from the 3-point arc against the Wolfpack this season (61-149).
STARTBetter starts in 6 of the last 8 games have been a key factor for the Wolfpack. State is 4-4 during that stretch. Slow starts were a major problem in early January. In four games from January 5th through January 15th, State averaged only 20.3 points (81) and shot 3-of-32 from the 3-point arc (.093).
FINISHState has won 3 ACC games this season after enjoying a halftime lead (
YOU FOUL, YOU PAY Free throw shooting has been a big weapon for the Wolfpack. State has made more free throws this season than its opponents have attempted (412-to-338). Overall, State is shooting 70 percent from the stripe. The Pack has outscored its opponents 395-to-231 at the foul line this season and 150-126 in ACC games.
SENIOR SUCCESSGavin Grant is State’s top scorer in ACC games (14.7) and after a slow start, he has elevated his play. In the last 8 games, the senior forward has averaged 16.0 points (128) while shooting 49 percent from the field (38-78). That includes a 26-point outing at Duke on Jan. 31. Three times this season, Grant’s heroics in the final seconds have won games for the Wolfpack. His steal and layup with 2.1 seconds left in overtime gave State a 79-77 victory over
THE POINT OF IT ALL Due to a season-ending knee injury to Farnold Degand on December 23rd, the Wolfpack has been forced to rotate two inexperienced point guards. Freshman Javier Gonzalez and sophomore transfer Marques Johnson are learning the hard wayon the job. Both have made significant progress. Although he was scoreless at
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