North Alabama Lions (2-2)
Conference: Atlantic Sun
Coach: Tony Pujol
KenPom Ranking: 249
Previous Game: 74-78 loss to Est Tennessee State
Game Location: Littlejohn Coliseum
Tip Time: 9 PM
TV: ACC Network
The vast majority of my previews
will focus on the opponent, but let’s be real, this game is more about Clemson than the North Alabama Lions. The Tigers are coming off a disappointing loss to Georgetown, where the offense struggled in the middle 20 minutes of the game and could summon up enough of a finishing kick to overtake the Hoyas in the home stretch. It’s time for Brad to get serious about figuring out his rotations and for leaders to emerge on the offensive side of the ball.
This is what I’ll be looking for tonight from the homestanding Tigers.
Brief Look at North Alabama
Corneilous Williams is the talent on this team. If the Tigers have issues, it’s because the 6’9”, 210 forward out of Mississippi caused them. He’s averaging a robust 16 points and 13 assists on the season, but here’s the thing…he put up 22 points on Lane College and 28 on Northwestern State. He put up eight on Mississippi State and seven against East Tennessee State. He’s not a threat to shoot, but he’s active on the glass. The Tigers, at minimum, will need to keep a body on him when a shot goes up.
When games like this get sticky for the favorite, it’s usually because someone on the other team got hot from deep. If someone on North Alabama is going to get hot, it’s probably going to be Kevin de Kovachich. He’s hitting 45% from deep on decent volume, and at 6’4”, he can get his shot off against most perimeter players. This seems like a job for Dillon Hunter.
Other than that, there’s not much to say. Clemson is the clearly superior team. They should come out and bully this team from the tip. Sometimes basketball is a simple game.
Let’s talk about what I want to see from Clemson
Time to Reevaluate the Starting Lineup?
Two of Clemson’s starters, RJ Godfrey and Jestin Porter, both played less than 20 minutes on Saturday. Some of that had to do with the matchup, and some of it had to do with Ace Buckner and Carter Welling playing significantly better than the starters. Then you have true freshman Zac Foster, who led the team in assists against Georgetown and leads the team in assists on the season.
Ace Buckner taking over for Jestin Porter in the starting lineup looks inevitable, but there’s a problem. Buckner was an unknown quantity entering the season, but through four games, he has been Clemson’s most productive guard …. with one small caveat … he can’t shoot. The freshman guard is 1 – 12 from behind the arc. Granted, he leads the team in two-point buckets and is tied for the lead in free throw makes, but when it comes to letting it fly from deep, Ace has come up short.
The obvious solution to this problem is for Ace Buckner to start hitting outside shots. He’s hitting 80% from the line, and his stroke looks fine, but I wonder if this isn’t a lingering effect from his shoulder issue last season. This could be a case of Ace needing to keep shooting until they start dropping. Even if that doesn’t happen, the Tigers may have enough shooting in the back court to play a non-shooter at guard.
This isn’t necessarily a critique of Porter. Brad Brownell brought him into Clemson to shoot the ball from deep, and he leads the team with 23 attempts. The problem is, he’s only hit eight of those 23 attempts. Watch for Ace to continue to eat into Porter’s minutes unless the transfer starts converting at a higher rate.
Maybe using him as a gunner off the bench to kickstart the offense when it falls into a lull is a better use of Porter’s skills? If Brad is going to shuffle the lineup, this seems like a good game to make the change.
Sorting Out the Front Court
As mentioned above, RJ started the game against Georgetown but only played a total of 12 minutes. Jake Wahlin appears to have a firm grasp on the small forward position, leaving RJ and Carter Welling to fight it out for minutes at power forward.
Another option is to slide Wahlin to power forward and play three guards. I don’t think you’ll see that all the time, but it looks like the coaching staff wants to find a way to get freshman Zac Foster on the floor. Rearranging the front court and playing three guards, at least when the game calls for it, is a nice option for Brad to have in his back pocket if Clemson’s big front court struggles with quicker teams.
Clemson needs RJ’s rebounding and inside strength to balance center Nick Davidson’s more perimeter-oriented game, but he’s got to show more on the offensive end and can’t be a total foul machine. Part of the reason behind his limited minutes against Georgetown is that he committed three fouls in those 12 minutes. The Hoyas feasted at the line down the stretch because the Tigers refused to stop fouling.
Overall
This should be a nice opportunity for the Tigers to lick their wounds after suffering their first defeat of the season. North Alabama isn’t the type of team that should pose a threat to a high-major opponent like Clemson, but I’ll give them credit. They hung around against Mississippi State in their season opener. They were within a point at halftime before the Bulldogs woke up and blew them out in the second half.
I’d like to see Clemson put them away early and spend the rest of the game working on problem areas that Georgetown exposed on Saturday.
Prediction
KenPom
Clemson: 85
North Alabama: 63
Drew
Clemson: 97
North Alabama: 72
It’s time for Clemson to flex their muscles again. They’ve dominated similar competition already his season. I see no reason for the Tigers not to do the same against the Lions. We are clearly the superior brand of large cat.
