It was clearly a tough year for Clemson basketball. Brad Brownell's squad played scrappy and defended as well as any team in the country. The Tigers didn't look great offensively this season but managed to be very close time and time again to winning only to come up short.
The Seniors
It was a very disappointing season for seniors Devin Booker and Milton Jennings. But for Booker, he was named 3rd Team All-ACC. He elevated his play during conference play and the rest of the league noticed. When Book excelled individually it did necessarily result in wins for the Tigers as Clemson was 0-9 when he scored 16 points in a row. For an offensively challenged team like Clemson that is a stat that makes no sense. As for Jennings, he showed flashes of what most expected out of him 4 years ago. He shined bright and carried the Tigers to a when against an NCAA bubble team in Virginia scoring 28 points. But most of the year for Jennings was up and down and inconsistent.
The Rest
While the two seniors were heavily relied upon, sophomores and freshman made up the rest of the team. K.J. McDaniels is a budding star. It's obvious he has a knack for making highlight reel dunks but the rest of his game has taken shape. He was 2nd in the ACC in blocked shots and 2nd on the team in scoring. He developed some consistency with his outside shot and showed ability to dribble to the basket. Jordan Roper was the best freshman on the team. His ability to make threes helped the Tigers find some much needed offense. Roper was able to get off to hot starts but often went cold in the 2nd half. Rod Hall started nearly every game at point guard and though he is offensively challenged did well as the teams floor general. He was very good at protecting the ball and led Clemson in assist. Hall often guarded the opposing teams best offensive player and most of the time they couldn't reach their season scoring average against him. Adonis Filer was often the 6th man and came on to play the point. He did well at driving to the basket and resembles former Tiger Demontez Stitt. With more consistency he could become a star. Demarcus Harrison showed he had a good jump shot but, like most of the you Clemson players, didn't show the consistency to be successful.
The Future
Clemson's future success will ride heavily on the shoulders of 2 guys that were forced to sit out this season with injury; Devin Coleman andJaronBlossomgame. Coleman excelled as a scorer at the end of the 2011-2012 season was expected to be one of the go to scores but he tore his achilles over the summer. Coleman will be hungry to compete next year and will be relied upon heavily. Blossomgame fractured his leg in the offseason and has never seen the court in college. He will be expected to provide Clemson with some scoring power. He combined with Coleman could have bolstered the Tigers to 3-5 more wins this season. Landry Nnoko will have to step in at the center position and hopefully develop well through the offseason. Clemson fans should expect to see Brownell start 3 guards next season and play McDaniels at forward and the challenge of guarding power forwards. Most should expect Clemson to have a winning record next season and possibly make the NIT. It would be a stretch, though not impossible, for the Tigers to make the NCAA tournament in a revamped ACC next season.
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