Scouting Report: Clemson Tigers
Aside from the Duke game, Kentucky has not really been tested this season. Wright State, Bucknell, Lipscomb, and Western Kentucky are all potential conference champions, but none are ranked in the Top 100 of the KenPom Ratings. However, beginning Tuesday night, the Wildcats play the toughest schedule in college basketball through the rest of the season. Buckle up, Big Blue Nation, this is about to get fun. #4 Kentucky will make their first of two road trips this week to take on the Clemson Tigers as part of the annual ACC/SEC Challenge. The game is set to tip-off from Littlejohn Coliseum at 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN.
Clemson, fresh off a 24-win season and trip to the Eilte Eight, is 7-1 to start the year. The Tigers fell at Boise State, but have quality neutral site wins recently over San Francisco and Penn State. Both of those games were played in Daytona Beach. Veteran head coach Brad Brownell has one of the best shooting teams in college basketball, spearheaded by Chase Hunter, along with a Top 25 defense. This matchup will feature two of the oldest teams in the country. Kentucky comes in fourth with an average of 3.28 years of Division I experience. Meanwhile, Clemson averages 2.91 years of Division I experience per player. It is going to be a fun battle on Tuesday evening.
As always, we have prepared a full, in-depth scouting report for Kentucky’s next opponent. We will take a deep dive into the Tigers’ personnel, break down their offensive and defensive schemes, and highlight the keys to the game for the ‘Cats. Let’s dive in and get to know more about the Clemson Tigers.
Clemson Tigers Personnel
Starters
#1 Chase Hunter: 6’4.5″ 202 lbs, Graduate Student Guard
16.4 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 2.4 apg
Primary ball handler and most aggressive offensive player. SHOOTER!!! NO 3’s!!! Shooting 20-43 (46.5%) from 3. You have to be tight to him at all times to take him away from 3. Get out and break his rhythm when he is bouncing it on the perimeter. Don’t let him reject ballscreens. Shoots a lot of pull-up 3’s off the bounce. Get OVER the ballscreens and handoffs. CHASE off of downscreens and get OVER the flares. He is a very good all-around shot-maker and playmaker, but we want to concentrate on taking him away from 3. You can’t relax when he gives it up. He is excellent at relocating and they will run him off a number of flare screens. Stay tight at all times. Absolutely no help off of him. Make him score contested, non-paint 2’s. No 3’s!
#11 Jaeden Zackery: 6’1″ 218 lbs, Graduate Student Guard
8.0 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 2.9 apg
Shares primary ball handling duty with #1 Hunter. Capable catch-and-shoot threat, but more aggressive as a right hand driver and playmaker. No right hand drives!!! You can hop UNDER the ballscreens and handoffs. We will adjust if he settles behind and makes a couple. Be there on the catch to take away the rhythm catch-and-shoot 3’s. Then, bounce back and be ready to guard the right hand drive. Tighten up to him as the ball is driven towards you. If you help off of him you need to either steal or foul. Don’t over help when he drives it. The deeper he drives it, especially going left, the more he is driving it to pass. Get your hands up and make him score contested, non-paint 2’s. Stay between him and the basket. No right hand drives. No catch-and-shoot 3’s.
#7 Chauncey Wiggins: 6’10.5″ 216 lbs, Junior Forward
9.8 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.0 apg
Long, athletic, mobile 3/4-man. Shooter!!! No catch-and-shoot 3’s! Half of his shots have been 3’s. Shooting 12-30 (40%) from 3. You need to be tight to him at all times in order to take away the catch-and-shoot 3’s. Stay with him when he lifts to the perimeter in their Motion offense. Get up and pressure him when he replaces the roll man. He likes to either catch-and-shoot or throw the high-low pass. Either way, pressuring him will help deter that. Once you take away the obvious catch-and-shoot he will look to drive it right. We would rather make him handle it. When he drives it right you can look for opportunities to come take it off of him. 8 assists, 12 turnovers. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. Be physical with him. Pressure on the perimeter. No catch-and-shoot 3’s.
#4 Ian Schieffelin: 6’8″ 240 lbs, Senior Forward
12.5 ppg, 11.6 rpg, 3.6 apg
Skilled 4-man. Handles the ball a lot. They will isolate him at the elbows and he will operate from there. He will pop for a catch after setting a flare screen. Have to be ready to guard him one-on-one and bring help. You need to be there to throw a hand up, but he is 4-18 from 3 this season. Much more dangerous and aggressive as a right hand driver. No right hand drives!!! He is an EXCELLENT passer. We need to go help when he drives it (not off of #1 Hunter, #2 Hunter, or #3 Heidbreder), but when you help you HAVE to either get the steal or foul. If you get caught in between he will pick us a part. Go AGGRESSIVELY. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. Very physical. Stay down on the fakes. Contest everything! Averages nearly 4 offensive rebounds per game!!! BOX OUT!!!
#0 Viktor Lakhin: 6’11” 245 lbs, Redshirt Senior Center
11.1 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 1.2 apg
Long, mobile 5-man. Moves very well for his size. He is primarily looking to ballscreen and roll. Give ground and stay lower than him on the roll. He wants deep post catches. Don’t get ducked in. Do your work early and get him off of the block. His percentages will go down the further off of the block you make him catch it. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. He does a very good job of sealing you as the ball is driven. Don’t get sealed off. When he lifts to the perimeter in their half court offense you can closeout short to stay between him and the basket. Stay down on the shot fakes. He wants to drive it right. No right hand drives. Be physical, stay down, and wall up. Very good offensive rebounder. Box out!!! No catches with two feet in the paint. Right hand!!!
Bench
#10 Del Jones: 6’2.5″ 187 lbs, Freshman Guard
5.5 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 1.2 apg
Backup point guard. He will be the primarily ball handler generally when he is in there. Capable catch-and-shoot threat, but more aggressive as a right hand driver and playmaker. No right hand drives!!! You can hop UNDER the ballscreens and handoffs. We will adjust if he settles behind and makes a couple. Be there on the catch to take away the rhythm catch-and-shoot 3’s. Then, bounce back and be ready to guard the right hand drive. Tighten up to him as the ball is driven towards you. If you help off of him you need to either steal or foul. Don’t over help when he drives it. The deeper he drives it, especially going left, the more he is driving it to pass. Get your hands up and make him score contested, non-paint 2’s. Stay between him and the basket. No right hand drives. No catch-and-shoot 3’s.
#2 Dillon Hunter: 6’3.5″ 192 lbs, Junior Guard
6.4 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 0.9 apg
Backup guard. SHOOTER!!! NO 3’s!!! 21 of 38 shots have been 3’s. Shooting a better percentage from 3 than he is from 2. You have to be tight to him at all times to take away the catch-and-shoot 3’s. Tighten up to him as the ball is driven towards you. Absolutely no help off of him. If he isn’t dribbling you aren’t close enough. We want to make him put the ball on the floor and play from inside the arc. Go OVER the ballscreens and handoffs. CHASE off of downscreens and get OVER the flares. We are chasing and going over in order to take him away from 3. Get out and break his rhythm on the perimeter when he bouncing it. Make him drive and score contested, non-paint 2’s. Don’t help off of him. No catch-and-shoot 3’s!
#14 Christian Reeves: 7’2″ 253 lbs, Redshirt Sophomore Center
1.9 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 0.3 apg
Backup 5-man. He is primarily looking to ballscreen and roll. Give ground and stay lower than him on the roll. He really wants deep post catches. Don’t get ducked in. Do your work early and get him off of the block. His percentages will go down the further off of the block you make him catch it. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. Be physical, stay down, and wall up. Make him score over you. We should be fine guarding him one-on-one in the post. Active offensive rebounder. Box out! No catches with two feet in the paint. All right hand!
#3 Jake Heidbreder: 6’5.5″ 180 lbs, Redshirt Junior Guard
3.7 ppg, 0.7 rpg, 0.7 apg
Backup guard. SHOOTER!!! NO 3’s!!! 13 of 16 shots have been 3’s. Shooting a much better percentage from 3 than he is from 2. 7-13 (53.8%) from 3. You have to be tight to him at all times to take away the catch-and-shoot 3’s. Tighten up to him as the ball is driven towards you. Absolutely no help off of him. If he isn’t dribbling you aren’t close enough. We want to make him put the ball on the floor and play from inside the arc. Go OVER the ballscreens and handoffs. CHASE off of downscreens and get OVER the flares. We are chasing and going over in order to take him away from 3. Get out and break his rhythm on the perimeter when he bouncing it. Make him drive and score contested, non-paint 2’s. Don’t help off of him. No catch-and-shoot 3’s!
#6 Myles Foster: 6’7″ 245 lbs, Graduate Student Forward
4.1 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 0.4 apg
Left-handed. Backup 4/5-man. Looking to score with his back to the basket. Wants deep post catches. Will duck you in. Do your work early and get him off of the block. His percentages will go down the further off of the block you make him catch it. Stay down, wall up, and make him score over you. Left hand, right shoulder in the post. Make him score over you. We should be fine guarding him one-on-one in the post. Active offensive rebounder. Box out! No catches with two feet in the paint. All left hand! Very physical inside. Not thinking about passing when he gets it. 3 assists, 8 turnovers. Pick your spots to come AGGRESSIVELY take it off of him. If you come you have to come with the intent to either steal it or foul. No left hand baskets.
Clemson Tigers Offense
First and foremost, the Clemson Tigers are going to look to attack in transition. They play very fast and won’t turn down any good looks. #1 Hunter is always a threat to simply dribble down and pull-up from deep. In the half court, you can expect to see a good deal of 4-around-1 Motion. They will generally lift their opposite big man so there are times where it look more like a continuity or 5-Out Motion. A lot of their set plays will be centered around getting the ball to #4 Schieffelin. Whether he gets his catch on the perimeter after setting a flare, when flashing to the elbow, or on the low block he is a very unique matchup. He is quick, physical, and an excellent passer. Getting the ball out of his hands, while not getting diced up by his passing, will be the challenge of the night.
This is a pretty typical offensive possession for the Clemson Tigers. They get the ball down into the scoring area very quickly and get right into Motion. #4 Schieffelin ghosts the ballscreen into a pop and looks for a catch around the elbow. He is an excellent playmaker from that spot. We should be strong enough taking away the right hand drive that we can sit on that spin back towards the midline a little bit. There always needs to be some semblance of a hard stunt, dig, or double when he puts the ball on the floor. #24 for Penn State should have cracked down off of #10 Jones and stole it on the spin. We DO NOT help off of #1, #2, or #3. Then, off the others, you either need to steal the ball or foul. Go AGGRESSIVELY against #4 Schieffelin.
Here is another look at Clemson’s half court Motion. With this lineup it does look and feel a bit more like 5-Out as #4 Schieffelin and #7 Wiggins essentially just roll and replace off of one another. Again, once he dribbles the ball, there always needs to be some semblance of a hard stunt, dig, or double. #4 for Penn State needed to be more aggressive off of #10 Jones (or not go at all). You cannot get caught in no man’s land. You have to be doing SOMETHING. Either stay home and at least take #10 Jones away, or, preferably, go much more aggressively on that second or third dribble. Go with the intent of either creating a turnover or fouling. When you get caught in between like you see here #4 Schieffelin will pick us apart as a passer.
#4 Schieffelin isn’t just a face-up 4-man. He is also a very physical interior presence that will duck you in hard as you in this clip. So much of the Clemson Tigers offense runs through him. Here the ball goes high-low from #0 Lakhin to #4 Schieffellin in the post. If you are guarding #0 Lakhin, or any of Clemson’s other big men, and the ball goes to #4 Schieffellin you should essentially just follow the ball for an all-out double team. We aren’t worried about him kicking it back out to #0 Lakhin. This is way too much help off of #11 Zackery as well. Again, you have to be doing SOMETHING. Either get all the way in there to steal the ball or stay home to take away the inside-out 3.
When #10 Jones comes in to run the point it allows #1 Hunter to play off of the ball. Here is a look at a baseline runner action that the Tigers will go to in order to get #1 Hunter a shot. This was a good job of chasing off of the baseline pindown and great help at the point of the screen, but Boise State ultimately needed to just switch this as #1 Hunter covered ground after the catch. Instead, because the help defender retreated to #14 Reeves before the primary defender recovered to #1 Hunter, it allowed an open pull-up jump shot. We are ALWAYS most concerned about contesting/taking away #1 Hunter.
#1 Hunter is one of the best three-point shooters in the country. He is especially good at creating his own looks and shooting off of the dribble. You have to close the space on the perimeter and break his rhythm. We would rather make him drive it and score contested, non-paint 2’s than give up rhythm 3’s off of the dribble. You have to go OVER the ballscreens and handoffs. No matter how deep he is you need to go OVER.
This is a good example of over helping for no reason on a drive. We don’t need to be that worried about #11 Zackery when he is driving it left. You especially shouldn’t help off of #7 Wiggins in this situation. Tighten up to him as the ball is driven towards you. Over helping for no reason and giving up open catch-and-shoot 3’s to 40% shooters will get us beat.
Clemson Tigers Defense
So far this season the Clemson Tigers have posted a Top 25 defense according to KenPom’s adjusted efficiency metric. They play almost exclusively man-to-man defense, but do extend pressure quick a bit. Per Synergy, the Tigers have pressed on nearly 17% of possessions this season. The full court pressure has led to them forcing a good number of turnovers. Their 21.9% turnover rate is 39th nationally. In the half court we will see drop coverage from the 5-man and a good deal of switching one through four. They do a good job of playing without fouling and limiting dribble penetration. However, they’ve been leaky in transition and give up a lot of looks from three-point range. Those are two strengths for us that we should be able to exploit.
Keys to the Game
- No 3’s for #1 Hunter, #2 Hunter, #3 Heidbreder, or #7 Wiggins. Stay tight to those guys. No help off of them. Tighten up as the ball comes towards you. Hold them to a five or fewer combined 3’s.
- Smart, aggressive help on #4 Schieffelin. Don’t help off of #1, #2, or #3, but be aggressive off of the other guys. Pick and choose your spots smartly. When you go you have to go HARD with intent to either steal the ball or get called for a foul. If you get caught in between he will pick us apart as a passer. More turnovers than assists for him.
- Control the glass. The Clemson Tigers have been a very good rebounding team this season ranking 35th in offensive rebounding percentage at 36.3%. Our defensive rebounding percentage of 77.2% is 15th nationally. We need to be 75% or better in this one.
- Shoot 75% or better at the free throw line.
