Clemson basketball needs to immediately improve backcourt woes

Picture from Ashleigh Snyder (The Tiger)

Clemson men’s basketball is now on a rough skid of two large losses — Virginia Tech and No. 3 Duke — after coming off a huge California road trip that initially bolstered the Tigers’ rankings.

The ACC losses have knocked Clemson out of the AP’s top-25 poll and removed the Tigers from a safe No. 5 or 6 seed in tournament projections. They now sit at No. 7 or 8.

The Tigers opened the second half against Duke extremely cold from the 3-point line, a trend evident from the first whistle to the final buzzer. They shot themselves in the foot, as the offensive showing highlighted coach Brad Brownell’s squad as potentially incapable of seizing big moments.

“We’re not as dynamic offensive(ly) as some other teams I had,” Brownell mused after the loss to Duke.

Besides just poor 3-point shooting overall, a metric where Clemson ranks No. 174 in the country with a 34.2 field goal percentage, one thing is abundantly clear about the shortcomings of this offense: the Tigers lack consistent and game-changing guard play.

When analyzing this deep Clemson team that Brownell has constructed, a gritty team is apparent. The team often struggles to put up big shooting numbers, but its consistent ability to get to the basket and earn points masks this. Clemson’s mantra is built around aggressiveness and toughness — something seen plainly by the fact that the frontcourt reliably shows up each night.

The leaders of this team, statistically and through the eye test, are forwards RJ Godfrey and Carter Welling. Godfrey is averaging a team-high 63.6% from the field and leads in points per game for the Tigers with 11.6. If he isn’t the star of the show each night based on points, he’s done enough on the court in his intangibles to make up for it. Welling is the team leader in rebounds per game with 5.7 and is second in points per game with 10.5. He is the embodiment of the grit that will define this squad by March.

When eyes move to the backcourt, the strategies of a tough, aggressive basketball team may not fondly rely on the guards. After all, they’re typically smaller, need to be good shooters and do not have to force their body into the paint or grab rebounds to make an effective addition to the team.

But guards who can make up their mind and find consistency, even just a little bit, can be a huge difference for these grittier, dark-horse teams in March. As for the Tigers, this past week showed that their guard duo of Jestin Porter and Dillon Hunter needs to step it up.

Porter and Hunter infamously combined for 8 points in Durham, North Carolina, and a combined 1 for 9, 3-point split, with Hunter credited for the lone make. Yes, the Clemson vs. Duke game was terrible on the 3-point end for the Tigers as a whole, but Hunter and Porter’s shooting specifically stood as a lowlight for the backcourt and its efficiency.

“Those guys, they’ll make some,” Brownell said. “They’re better shooters than they’ve had here this past week or two. I don’t know if we’re a little fatigued or not. I’ve got to do a few things to help them better, but they’ll be fine.”

Taking it back to the Virginia Tech game, Hunter and Porter once again put up horrendous numbers from the 3-point line with a combined 1-for-5 split, this time with Porter having the sole swish.

Beyond just these two losses, Hunter did not serve as a catalyst on the California road trip either, putting up 0 points in 16 minutes against Cal and only 2 points against Stanford. Yes, Hunter is putting up overall career highs in field goal percentage with 44.2%, 3-point percentage with 37.8% and points per game with 7.7, but that doesn’t excuse the back-and-forth guard play of a veteran.

Hunter has not cracked double-digit scoring since the Jan. 24 matchup against Georgia Tech.

Porter has a lot to make up for as well, posting a career low in field goal percentage with 36.1% on the season so far. He put up respectable percentages with two consecutive 40% 3-point games on the West Coast stretch, but followed it up with an abysmal 25% and 0% from the 3-point line in the Virginia Tech and Duke games, respectively.

Porter showed potential earlier in January, with a 21-point showing at Pitt on Jan. 3 and a 26-point outburst against Notre Dame on Jan. 10. Between those games, he had a 7-point performance on 16.7% total shooting against a ranked SMU team. After the Notre Dame win, he shot 22.2% and scored just 5 points against Boston College.

This Clemson team is founded on the idea that any player — from the starting point guard to benchwarmer center — can come into the game and contribute. It is a notion that many publications witnessed in season previews, an unusual mark for a usual Brownell squad.

“We have a lot of different players that can play,” Brownell said back before the Gardner-Webb game on Nov. 6. “So it’s really hard as a coach. Alright, who’s doing it tonight? Who’s playing well?”

Keep in mind that this seemingly “lost” and “incapable” Clemson squad only lost by 13 to Duke, despite the atrocious shooting numbers and total sloppy play from the entire roster. If the backcourt had contributed more meaningfully in that matchup, the loss may have looked much better for the Tigers’ resume, or better yet, the Tigers could’ve left Durham with a season-defining upset.

The only true share of consistency and promise in the guard play has come from freshman Ace Buckner, averaging a 45.3 field goal percentage and 7.8 points per game. In the Virginia Tech loss, he had 16 points off the bench on 66.7% shooting, following two consecutive double-digit scoring nights, in which his combined points against Stanford and Cal led the team, despite not starting. His bump in minutes per game is definitely a reward for his stronger, more consistent play, seeking to bring a spark to the backcourt.

In order for Clemson to prove itself as dynamic and capable of running deep into March, the guard play has to improve fast, or we might see another McNeese-level upset waiting in the Round of 64 this postseason. We’re running out of time to wait for Welling and Godfrey to become Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins.

STORY ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN CLEMSON UNIVERSITY'S STUDENT NEWSPAPER, THE TIGER.