Given the lull we now have before the Big Dance, I thought it would be a good time to start a discussion about next year's team. To summarize for those who don't want to read a long post, I'm glad Brownell has put together two really good back-to-back seasons because I think next year is going to be tough.
If you look back to this time last year, we were losing Hall and Girard but we still had two pieces of a four-headed monster returning in Ian and Chase. Having those two veteran leaders to build around, who had grown up in the program, was crucial. So Brownell made a couple of really savvy pickups in Zackery and Lahkin and here we are.
Next year, things look much different to me. Unless Zackery is able to get the extra year, our veterans are role players- D. Hunter, Wiggins and Heidbreder. Our two most experienced rebounders (replacing Schefflin) are Wiggins, who requires no further comment, and Reeves who is so limited by injury that one night after playing a season-high 13 minutes was apparently not good to go last night. Imo, there is just no reasonable way to count on him for next season, even as I do think he has shown improvement this year.
To make matters worse, we really don't have that many roster spots even if we can find transfers who add to the program. Between guys currently on the roster and high school signees, we have 11 of 13 roster spots taken at the moment. If Zackery does come back, that would be a huge lift for our guard rotation but it cuts us down to one remaining roster spot. Is Brownell going to actually ask players he has brought into his program to leave?
So here's what I see... among veterans, we don't have All-ACC caliber players waiting in the wings like we did after last season. Dillon Hunter has improved and will continue to do so but he's never going to be a big-time scorer for us. After three years of development, his percentages are still among the worst on the team. He's a solid third guard on a good team- nothing more. Counting on Wiggins at this point to become a top-of-the-scouting-report player is a ridiculous notion after seeing his lack of development this season. He's a complementary scorer at best and defensively he simply can't match up with good, physical players on other teams. Heidbreder should be playing at a lower level. If he can't get to the point where he's like Girard last year (meaning he hits open threes to the point that opposing defenses have to follow him all over the court, distorting their defense), then he just doesn't bring anything to the table. He's bad at defense and he has led directly to fast break opportunities for the other team in both games this weekend by being overly aggressive on offense leading to turnovers. I credit him for having the mindset to make something happen but he's just too limited physically.
I'm highest on Del Jones and think he will be a really fun player for us in the coming years but he needs a lot of physical development and is a bit undersized. It's asking a lot for him to step up next year and be the kind of guy who can give us 15 ppg. We have FIVE freshmen either redshirting or high school guys coming in and we all know that it takes time to learn Brownell's system to the point that you earn trust. But even so, there is a difference between freshmen playing and freshmen playing consistently winning basketball.
It looks to me like we need three pieces... and it goes without saying that they need to be culture fits. First we need another post presence like Lahkin, a big who can play defense and score (but everybody is looking for that so you do the math- we struck gold with Viktor this year). Imo, we also need another 6'7/6'8 type guy who can match up physically on defense and also provide some scoring- If Godfrey had stayed, that would have been his role which is why it was stupid for him to leave (I am aware others have mentioned he might come back to Clemson). Lastly, we really need a slasher at guard/wing who can get into the lane and get us a basket when it's crunch time. Chase has become that guy and he is ok at it but we really haven't had one of those 6'6 guys who could put the ball on the deck in... well... ages (KJ?).
And again, we only have two open roster spots. We have almost no scoring coming back, almost no rebounding coming back. So Brownell is going to have to find at least 2 and hopefully three guys (after tactfully clearing roster spots), who all perform up to expectations, bright enough to learn his system in one off-season, and not entitled enough that they are willing to put in the work and exhibit what has become Clemson's trademark- Grit. I just think that's gonna be a really tall order.
If you look back to this time last year, we were losing Hall and Girard but we still had two pieces of a four-headed monster returning in Ian and Chase. Having those two veteran leaders to build around, who had grown up in the program, was crucial. So Brownell made a couple of really savvy pickups in Zackery and Lahkin and here we are.
Next year, things look much different to me. Unless Zackery is able to get the extra year, our veterans are role players- D. Hunter, Wiggins and Heidbreder. Our two most experienced rebounders (replacing Schefflin) are Wiggins, who requires no further comment, and Reeves who is so limited by injury that one night after playing a season-high 13 minutes was apparently not good to go last night. Imo, there is just no reasonable way to count on him for next season, even as I do think he has shown improvement this year.
To make matters worse, we really don't have that many roster spots even if we can find transfers who add to the program. Between guys currently on the roster and high school signees, we have 11 of 13 roster spots taken at the moment. If Zackery does come back, that would be a huge lift for our guard rotation but it cuts us down to one remaining roster spot. Is Brownell going to actually ask players he has brought into his program to leave?
So here's what I see... among veterans, we don't have All-ACC caliber players waiting in the wings like we did after last season. Dillon Hunter has improved and will continue to do so but he's never going to be a big-time scorer for us. After three years of development, his percentages are still among the worst on the team. He's a solid third guard on a good team- nothing more. Counting on Wiggins at this point to become a top-of-the-scouting-report player is a ridiculous notion after seeing his lack of development this season. He's a complementary scorer at best and defensively he simply can't match up with good, physical players on other teams. Heidbreder should be playing at a lower level. If he can't get to the point where he's like Girard last year (meaning he hits open threes to the point that opposing defenses have to follow him all over the court, distorting their defense), then he just doesn't bring anything to the table. He's bad at defense and he has led directly to fast break opportunities for the other team in both games this weekend by being overly aggressive on offense leading to turnovers. I credit him for having the mindset to make something happen but he's just too limited physically.
I'm highest on Del Jones and think he will be a really fun player for us in the coming years but he needs a lot of physical development and is a bit undersized. It's asking a lot for him to step up next year and be the kind of guy who can give us 15 ppg. We have FIVE freshmen either redshirting or high school guys coming in and we all know that it takes time to learn Brownell's system to the point that you earn trust. But even so, there is a difference between freshmen playing and freshmen playing consistently winning basketball.
It looks to me like we need three pieces... and it goes without saying that they need to be culture fits. First we need another post presence like Lahkin, a big who can play defense and score (but everybody is looking for that so you do the math- we struck gold with Viktor this year). Imo, we also need another 6'7/6'8 type guy who can match up physically on defense and also provide some scoring- If Godfrey had stayed, that would have been his role which is why it was stupid for him to leave (I am aware others have mentioned he might come back to Clemson). Lastly, we really need a slasher at guard/wing who can get into the lane and get us a basket when it's crunch time. Chase has become that guy and he is ok at it but we really haven't had one of those 6'6 guys who could put the ball on the deck in... well... ages (KJ?).
And again, we only have two open roster spots. We have almost no scoring coming back, almost no rebounding coming back. So Brownell is going to have to find at least 2 and hopefully three guys (after tactfully clearing roster spots), who all perform up to expectations, bright enough to learn his system in one off-season, and not entitled enough that they are willing to put in the work and exhibit what has become Clemson's trademark- Grit. I just think that's gonna be a really tall order.
