HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: #21 Clemson (11-3) At Virginia Tech (9-5) 7PM ESPN2

HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: #21 Clemson (11-3) At Virginia Tech (9-5) 7PM ESPN2

𝗙𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁, 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 😤🆚 Clemson🕖 7PM ET📺 ESPN2🤝 @GrandHomeFurn pic.twitter.com/5Q7zKiV9Sl— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) January 10, 2024

Clemson (11-3)
At Virginia Tech (9-4)
January 10th, 2024
Cassell Coliseum
7 p.m. ET
ESPN2
Virginia Tech Sports Network

ESPN2
Play-by-Play: Kevin Brown
Analyst: Debbie Antonelli

Local Radio
Virginia Tech Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Zach Mackey
Analyst: Mike Burnop

Current Spread: Clemson -1.5
Over/Under: -145.5

𝙊𝙁𝙁𝙄𝘾𝙄𝘼𝙇‼️We're sold out for the rest of our season in Cassell 🏰🔥🔊🔗 » https://t.co/Zbc4YTB66Z pic.twitter.com/gTZBIibHk5— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) January 9, 2024

Do we see a change?
The Hokies welcome #21 Clemson to a sold-out Cassell. The Hokies come home after inexplicitly losing in the final seconds against FSU. It was a crazy sequence that even saw them have an opportunity to reach overtime as the Hokies were dominated much of the game.

The Clemson Tigers squad comes in 11-3 losers of three of the last five after starting the season 10-0. This will be the 43rd meeting between the Hokies and Clemson. The Hokies are 23-19 overall against the Tigers. The Tigers notable wins are over a ranked Alabama, South Carolina, and TCU. Their losses are to all ranked opponents in Memphis, UNC and Miami.

The Tigers have been coached by Brad Brownell since 2002. He began his college coaching career at Evansville as an assistant coach in 1991. Clemson is his third college head coaching job, taking over the job in 2010.

Clemson got four transfers in guards Joe Girard from Syracuse and Jack Clark from NC State and forward Bas Lyete from Greensboro. The fourth transfer, Jake Heidbreder, decided to redshirt this season. Girard is a starter and Clark was through the first six games until a hip injury sidelined him indefinitely. Lyete as a reserve, has played in all fourteen games. The only freshman commit was Asa Thomas, a three-star Small Forward, who also appears to be redshirting.

The Tigers will be without two players due to injury. Clark was previously discussed but also missing will be guard Alex Hemenway who suffered a lower body injury either in practice or against Radford.

The starting five are PJ Hall, Joe Girard, Chase Hunter, Ian Schieffelin, and Chauncey Wiggins. All but Wiggins are on the court at least 25 minutes per game. Wiggins is only playing around 20 mpg. They only have two other players averaging more than 15 mpg. Very reliant on starters to carry the load.

Defensively, they play primarily man-to-man defense, varying their levels of pressure depending on personnel and their opponent, in terms or how hard they guard, how far they extend the court. An occasional zone but not the norm for the Tigers. Clemson usually wins the rebounding battle, allowing very few second chance points.

Offensively, Coach Brownell is running what he refers to as Gap Attack Zone Offense, a variable on Motion Offense, which puts an emphasis on dribble penetration to draw multiple defenders to create an open shooter, lead to defensive fouls or baskets at the rim. They will push the ball on misses and turnovers which leaves them vulnerable on extended missed shots. Brownell expects his team to constantly be in motion

Tigers Backcourt
Joseph Girard
11 SR G 6-1 195
15.0 Pts, 3.6 Reb, 3.6 Ast

Chase Hunter
1 SR G 6-3 204
11.8 Pts, 2.4 Reb, 3.1 Ast

Dillon Hunter
2 SO G 6-3.5 193
2.9 Pts, 2.6 Reb, 2.1 Ast

Joshua Beadle
0 SO G 6-3 170
3.0 Pts, 1.0 Reb, 0.5 Ast

Tigers Frontcourt
PJ Hall
24 SR F 6-10 235
19.5 Pts, 6.4 Reb, 2.0 Ast

Ian Schieffelin
4 JR F 6-8 225
9.1 Pts, 9.9 Reb, 2.1 Ast

Chauncey Wiggins
21 SO F 6-10 205
7.9 Pts, 2.7 Reb, 1.0 Ast

RJ Godfrey
10 SO F 6-7 225
7.2 Pts, 4.0 Reb, 0.9 Ast

What to expect from Clemson?
The Tigers will run primarily a two guard, three forward set focused more on getting the ball underneath to Hall using lob passes and screening action by Schieffelin at the top of the key. Having three players 6'9 or taller will be extremely difficult for the Hokies to handle. It will also all but eliminate their inside scoring. Opponents are only shooting 46% inside the perimeter.

The Tigers might have the most productive transfer in the ACC in Samuel Girard. He has shot 43% from three this season on almost seven attempts per contest. He is also shooting over 90% from the free throw line as Clemson's second leading scorer. Girard is the outside game.
Hall and Schieffelin are the inside game. Hall does the scoring while Schieffelin does the rebounding. Hall is shooting 64% inside and Schieffelin is hitting 57%. They combine for three blocks per game. Schieffelin grabs 9.9 rebounds per contest.

Chase Hunter is the facilitator between them, driving to the hoop to draw the defense, which is left with the choice of shift to him or play him straight up. If the defense shifts it either leaves Girard open outside or the forwards underneath. If they don't then he is just as capable of scoring.

Wiggins offensively tends to traverse the baseline looking for corner threes or to make a move to the basket. His overall contributions beyond that are very limited as he does not contribute much by way of assists or rebounding.

In their three losses, the Tigers went ice cold from outside against UNC, hitting only 1 of 18 shots. Miami was able to play physical inside against Clemson which freed the Hurricanes up outside. All five Miami starters finished in double-digits. The crazy part was Miami got no bench scoring in a 95-82 victory. The Memphis game was a back-and-forth affair and came down to the free throw line where Memphis prevailed.

The Hokies
Not sure whats more concerning with this team. Sporadic shooting outside or the lack of aggressive athleticism in the paint. Early in the season it really seemed like Kidd had figured things out. That has been missing in key games. In both of their recent ACC games they allowed Wake and FSU to dominate inside. FSU outscored the Hokies 42-22 in the paint.

The biggest concern though has to be turnovers. In their last two games, the Hokies have turned the ball over 34 times. The turnovers are concerning but the 17 points they gave up to Florida State off those turnovers really turned the game.

The Hokies showed resolve against Florida State though to climb back into the game, The outside shot nearly saved them as the Hokies went 11 for 23 while FSU only managed 3 for 15. Defense has not been lacking when they are set in the half court.

What adjustments to the lineup can we expect from Coach Young? If he stays the course with his normal starting five, Clemson is going to have a field day inside. We saw it against Auburn and Wake Forest that he failed to adjust his personnel and the results were ugly. Even the Florida State game in the paint was a bloodbath. They cant afford to let Clemson get out to a double-digit lead or the night will be over early. They are going to need Kidd to step up but also need real contributions from Poteat and Wessler. I don't expect this to happen though and expect that we will see more of the same. Maybe Poteat can have a big birthday game.

First bday of the New Year goes to MyMy 🎉Let's have a day! pic.twitter.com/foIGzdOilP— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) January 10, 2024

In Closing
The biggest difference between these two teams is that Clemson has the ability to create space thanks to the dribble penetration of Hunter. The Hokies lack that ball handler that can take a shot cleanly or finish at the rim if an open shooter or clean interior pass is not available.

Cassell will be sold out so that at least creates the big game atmosphere that keeps teams energized. Hall and Girard are kind of immune to that with their experience, but Schieffelin has shown cracks in his façade and can get a few quick fouls and force Brownell to move Wiggins inside and have the smaller Godfrey on the wing.