Clemson Tiger Basketball Breakdown

Jan. 19, 2001

What Clemson has Done Well *Three-point Shooting–Clemson has averaged 8.2 three-point goals a game, a record pace for the program, and is hitting .361 on a percentage basis. Clemson has three players hitting at least 38 percent on three-point shots. Clemson is actually shooting 37.6 percent on three-point shots in ACC games, ahead of its overall figure.

*Free Throw Shooting–Clemson has made 69.8 percent of its free throws this year. No Clemson team has made 70 percent for a season since the 1986-87 season, Horace Grant’s senior season. Leading the way are guards Will Solomon and Tony Stockman.

*Defending the Three-Point Shot–Clemson opponents are shooting just 31.2 percent from three-point range this year. Clemson has made more three-point goals than its opponents while taking 41 fewer three-point goal attempts.

Where Clemson has Struggled *Rebounding–We say this in the comparative sense because Clemson has been so strong in rebounding for many years. Clemson has been first or second in the ACC in rebounding each of the last two years. The Tigers are outrebounding the opposition for the season, 40-39 (per game), but the opposition has 22 more offensive rebounds. The Tigers are limited in terms of post players due to the season ending injury to Chucky Gilmore and Adam Allenspach’s back problems.

*Assist/turnover ratio–Clemson has 248 assists and 277 turnovers so far this season. That includes a 45/73 assist/turnover ratio in four ACC games. Clemson committed 20 turnovers at North Carolina. The Tigers are averaging 16.3 turnovers per game and only NC State is committing more per game (16.5).

Clifton Showing Improvement After scoring just seven points in the first six games of the season, freshman forward Dwon Clifton has scored 58 in the last 10 games. That includes consecutive games of nine points. He had nine on 4-6 shooting in the win over NC State, then had nine points on 3-4 shooting at North Carolina. The native of Louisburg, NC has made 7 of his last 10 shots from the field, including each of his last two three-point goal attempts. Clifton has just two turnovers in his last 73 minutes of play.

Clifton had a highlight at the end of the North Carolina game when he had a rebound dunk after a running start from the foul line. The play was listed as the sixth best highlight of the day on ESPN/s SportsCenter.

Henderson Productive Rebounder Ray Henderson has stepped up his game of late, especially when it comes to rebounding. His playing time has increased due to the back problems that Adam Allenspach is dealing with at this time. The native of Charlotte, NC has collected 29 rebounds in his last three games, 9.7 per outing. He has collected 32 rebounds in four ACC games in just 79 minutes. That would pro rate to 16 rebounds per 40 minute game.

Henderson had a career high 13 rebounds at Duke in just 19 minutes, he followed that with 10 rebounds in the win over NC State. He added eight rebounds in just 23 minutes at North Carolina. For the year, Henderson averages 5.4 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. He is shooting 58 percent from the field for the season.

Allenspach Achieved Triple Leadership at South Carolina Adam Allenspach pulled off a rare achievement in Clemson’s loss to South Carolina in December. The 7-1 center led the Tigers in scoring (15), assists (4) and rebounding (15). Leading Clemson in scoring and rebounding is not an earth shattering accomplishment for Allenspach, but adding in assists makes it an unusual accomplishment. In fact, he also led Clemson in blocked shots in the game, meaning he led the Tigers in four important categories.

Leading Clemson in all three areas in the same game is rare. Below is a list of Clemson players who have done it in the last 31 years (since assists were kept as an official stat). Terrell McIntyre did it twice in his career. Allenspach was the first to do it as a center since Sharone Wright against UT Arlington in 1993-94. David Angel is the only other center to do it and he did it twice.

Hobbs Second Best Freshman Rebounder Clemson forward Chris Hobbs is a native of Chapel HIll, NC and a graduate of East Chapel Hill High. He returned to his hometown last Wednesday night to face the Tar Heels. He had eight rebounds and two points in 13 minutes of action.

It was actually the second time in 10 days he was playing near his home. He played at Cameron Indoor Stadium against Duke on January 7. Hobbs was one of the top players in North Carolina as a junior averaging 20 points and 12 rebounds per game. But, he suffered a torn ACL as a senior and played just two games.

Larry Shyatt stayed with the youngster and the faith in Hobbs is paying dividends. So far this year, Hobbs has averaged 5.9 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. He has already had four double-doubles, including his first conference game against Maryland on January 2 when he had 11 points and 10 rebounds. He had another double-double against NC State. Hobbs had 11 points and 15 rebounds in a victory over The Citadel on November 25, and had13 points and 10 rebounds in a win over Northwestern on November 28. Hobbs has four double doubles and has not played over 28 minutes in any of the games.

His first double-double came in just the third game of Hobbs career, the shortest time it has taken a Clemson freshman to record a double-double since Devin Gray had 26 points and 10 rebounds in his second career game in 1991-92. Tree Rollins and Elden Campbell actually had double-doubles in their first game at Clemson. In fact, Rollins, one of two Tigers to have his number retired, had 22 points, 20 rebounds and nine blocked shots against St. John’s in his first game, nearly a triple double. Rollins holds the school record for career double-doubles with 62. Dale Davis had 52.

Hobbs is shooting 53 percent from the field so far this year, second best on the Clemson team. His 74 percent free throw shooting accuracy is third behind guards Will Solomon and Tony Stockman, and his 6.0 rebound figure is second to starting center Adam Allenspach’s 7.1 per game.

His father, Greg Hobbs, is a videographer for Duke Medical Center. In his spare time, he has served as a videographer for Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s television show. Many times Chris tagged a long to watch the game. Both of his parents are North Carolina graduates.

Scott Running the Offense Clemson point guard Edward Scott has scored in double figures in two of his last three games and three of his last five. He has averaged 10 points a game during the five game stretch. He has a 6.6 career average. Scott has improved his offensive production of late, hitting 10 of his last 27 three-point goals (.370) after hitting just one of his first 19 threes to open the season.

Scott has done a good job running the Clemson offense. He has 77 assists and 42 turnovers. He has already surpassed his assist total for all of last year when he had 69 assists in 789 minutes. This year he has 77 assists in 554 minutes. Overall, Scott has five double figure scoring games this year, he had five all of last year.

The native of Eastover, SC (near Columbia) has improved his assist/turnover ratio from 1.30 to 1.83 so far this year. He has had more assists than turnovers in 14 of the 17 games. He has averaged a turnover every 13.2 minutes of play so far this year, a solid figure for a point guard who plays 32 minutes per game.

Solomon Productive in the Second Half Will Solomon still leads the ACC in scoring with a 21.6 average. He ranked 11th in the nation when this week began. He is also 11th in the country in three-point goals per game.

Solomon had a 29-point performance against NC State. He scored 25 points in the second half, the third highest half of his career. Solomon is a player who likes the second half. He has nine career games in which he has scored at least 20 points and all nine have been in the second half of games. Four times he has scored at least 20 points in a half this year. He had 24 in the second half against Seton Hall, 21 in the second half against Cincinnati and 20 in the second half against Washington.

This year, Solomon has averaged 9.0 points in the first half and 13.2 points in the second half. Last year he averaged 7.8 in the first half and 13.0 in the second half. His highest scoring half as a Tiger is 29, the total he had in the second half against Virginia last year when he scored 43, his career high. He scored 26 in the second half of a 37-point effort against Penn State last year.

Solomon is ahead of his national finishes of last year. As a sophomore, Solomon averaged 20.9 points a game, good enough for 16th in the nation. He was 17th in three-point goals per game last year with a 3.2 figure. Solomon’s scoring ranking of 16 last year was the best by a Clemson player since 1968-69 when Butch Zatezalo was 14th in the country with a 25.8 mark. The highest scoring ranking in history for a Clemson individual is fourth. The late Bill Yarborough was fourth in 1954-55 with a 28.3 figure.

Solomon Moving up Career Lists Will Solomon had two three-point goals in the win over NC State and moved into second place on the Clemson all-time list in the process. The Tiger junior has 172 for his career, including a league best 50 this year. Terrell McIntyre is the career leader with 259.

Solomon has made 53-138 three-point goals this year, 38 percent. He is now hitting 36.5 percent for his Clemson career in that area and has made at least three three-point goals in 12 of his 16 games so far this season. He had a season high seven three-point goals against Maryland in the ACC opener, one off the Clemson single game record. That is a record is he co-holds with Terrell McIntyre, Chris Whitney and David Young.

Solomon now has 1186 career points, 18th best in school history. He needs 45 points to move into 17th place ahead of Jim Sutherland. If Solomon averages 20 points a game over the course of the rest of the regular season he will move into the top 10 in Clemson history. With his recent six-game streak of 20-point games, he now has 25 for his career, ninth in Clemson history. Seven of those 25 games he has scored at least 30, including three times this year. His career high is 43 against Virginia at Littlejohn Coliseum last year.

Solomon Had 6 Straight 20-point Games Clemson guard Will Solomon scored at least 20 points in six consecutive games between December 20 to January 2. The junior from East Hartford, CT averaged 26.2 points a game during the six games. The streak was stopped at Duke when he was held to 13 points by 6-6 Blue Devil forward Nate James.

Solomon talled 32 points in two of the games in the streak, both against ranked opponents. He had 32 in an eight-point loss to 20th ranked Cincinnati and also had 32 in Clemson’s 12-point loss to 17th-ranked Maryland. Playing well against top opposition is nothing new for Solomon. Last year he had a higher scoring average in ACC games than in non-conference contests. In five games this year against ranked teams he has averaged 25 points per game.

Solomon’s streak of six consecutive 20-point games was the longest since Horace Grant had six straight during the 1986-87 season, the year he became Clemson’s only ACC MVP. Grant’s streak was stopped by North Carolina when he scored 19. The Clemson record for consecutive 20-point games is 19, held by the late Bill Yarborough. He scored at least 20 in the last three games of 1953-54 and the first 16 of the 1954-55 season. Yarborough averaged 28.3 points a game in 1954-55 and scored at least 20 in every game. His only non-20 point game was an 18-point outing.

Solomon has already established one Clemson streak record this year. He has scored in double figures in 46 straight games, every game last year and all 16 games he has played so far this season. The previous mark was by Vince Yockel, who had 36 in a row over two seasons in the 1950s. Solomon’s current 45-game streak is the longest active streak in the ACC. The ACC record book does not have a listing for consecutive games of double figure scoring. North Carolina’s Larry Miller had a 64-game streak in the 1960s.

Solomon Named to All-Tournament Team Junior guard Will Solomon scored 82 points in the three games in San Juan to be named to the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic All-Tournament Team. Solomon had 26 points in the Tigers lone win of the classic, a 94-81 decision over Florida Atlantic. He followed it up with a season-best 32 points in the 88-80 loss to #20 Cincinnati and 24 in the loss to Washington.

Solomon averaged 27.3 points per game, he shot 25-56 from the field, including 14-32 on three-point shots. He was 18 of 21 from the charity stripe (85.7 percent). Solomon also had nine assists, six steals and two blocks (both against Washington) in the three games.

Clemson Could Break Record for Ranked Opponents Clemson has played five top 20 opponents so far this year and Clemson is 0-5 in those games. But, the Tigers have played well in three of those games, having a chance to win each contest with under two minutes left. Clemson lost to 10th ranked Seton Hall 79-78 on November 21 in the second game of the season, then lost to 20th ranked Cincinnati by 88-80 on December 21 in San Juan. Maryland, ranked 17th at the time, downed the Tigers, 104-92 on January 2. Third ranked Duke defeated Clemson 115-74 on January 7. Clemson lost to sixth ranked North Carolina on January 17, by a 92-65 score.

Clemson had the ball for a final shot to beat Seton Hall. Clemson trailed by just two against Cincinnati with four minutes left, and by just six with two minutes left. Clemson trailed Maryland by just four (96-92) with two minutes remaining.

Playing against top flight competition will be the norm this year. The ACC is filled with top 20 teams and it appears Clemson will play at least 10 conference games against ranked teams. Combined with the two non-conference games against top 20 teams, Clemson should play 12 regular season games this year against top 20 teams. That would be a first in Clemson history if that happens.

Clemson has played 10 top 20 teams in a season four previous years. It first took place in 1979-80 when Clemson had a 6-4 record against top 20 teams on the way to a NCAA Final Eight finish. Clemson also played 10 top 20 teams in 1980-81, 1994-95 and 1996-97.

The record for most top 25 teams played in a season is 13, set in 1996-97. Clemson had a 5-8 record against ranked teams that year. That was Larry Shyatt’s last season as associate head coach at Clemson.

Clemson been known to upset ranked teams in the past. Clemson has 68 win over ranked teams (AP or USA Today/Coach’s), including at least one every year since 1986-87. Clemson had one win over a ranked team last year, a 59-42 win over 21st ranked NC State in a game played at Clemson.

Stockman Wins Paw Competition Clemson Head Coach Larry Shyatt has created an individual competition within his team that is geared toward improving the team’s overall performance. He has devised a system for earning “Tiger Paws” throughout the year. He has divided the season into three parts, pre-ACC, ACC regular season, and postseason.

Players can earn Tiger Paws by individual hustle plays, deflections, taking charges, reaching a minimum amount of rebounds, field goal shooting, three-point and free throw percentage minimums or making a game-winning play. Each member of the team receives a paw when certain team goals are reached within a game.

For the pre-ACC part of the schedule, the champion was Tony Stockman with 21 Tiger Paws. Will Solomon was second with 20, while Edward Scott had 18 and Adam Allenspach had 17. Everyone started fresh with the ACC regular season schedule.

Individual Goals in earning a Paw 1. Hustle Plays–must accumulate a total of 10 of the following in a game: first to the floor, charges taken, ball pressure deflection, steal or blocked shot. 2. Rebounding–Must have 8 rebounds for a forward or center, 4 rebounds for a wing or guard. 3. Assist/turnover ratio–Must have a 2/1 ratio for a forward or center, 3/1 for a guard or wing. 4. Shooting Percentages–Must shoot 50 percent field the field (min 4 attempts), 40 percent on three-point shots (min 3 attempts), 80 percent from the foul line (min of 3 attempts). 5. Cluch performance–Making a game winning play on offense or defense.

Stockman Scores 23, Nets ACC Honors Freshman guard Tony Stockman scored a season best 23 points in his first collegiate start on Dec. 16 against Wofford. The effort, which also included three rebounds, three assists and three steals, earned Stockman ACC Rookie of the Week honors on Dec. 18. Stockman connected on 9 of 17 shots from the field, including a 4 of 7 mark from long range. The 23 points were the most points by a Clemson freshman since Terrell McIntyre scored 29 points in a home win over Florida State on Feb. 17, 1996.

Stockman has shown an ability to score in the clutch. Against Charleston Southern, he scored 14 of the Tigers final 23 points, including six points in the final five minutes of play. Stockman ranks second on the Clemson team in that stat. In games decided by 10 points or less, he has scored a total of 17 points in the final five minutes of those games, second to Will Solomon’s 21.

For the year, Stockman is second on the team in scoring with a 12.2 average, even though he has played just 25.8 minutes per game. His 39 three-point goals rank second on the Clemson team and his 81 percent free throw shooting is best. Stockman is having the best season by a Clemson freshman guard since Terrell McIntyre in 1995-96. In some ways, Stockman’s stats are even better. And, he has averaged six less minutes per game than McIntrye played as a freshman. The following is a comparison:

Freshmen of Influence Clemson’s freshman class for the 2000-01 season was ranked among the best in the nation. It has certainly had an impact on this year’s team. Tony Stockman is second on the club in scoring with a 12.2 average, including a 22-point outing at Duke on January 7, his fourth game of at least 20 points this year. Stockman’s 12.2 average is best among freshmen in the ACC. Stockman has 39 three-point goals so far this season, already third best in history by a Clemson freshman. Andrius Jurkunas has the record with 51 in 1995-96.

Chris Hobbs has four double-doubles so far this year fifth in the ACC in that area. The freshman from Chapel Hill has averaged 6.0 rebounds per game, second in the league. Hobbs has averaged 5.9 points a game and his rebound average (6.0) is second best on the Clemson team behind Adam Allenspach. His .528 field goal percentage is also second on the team. He had a double-double in his first ACC game, 11 points and 10 rebounds against Maryland on January 2. He had another against an ACC opponent in the win over NC State on January 13. His 15 rebounds in the win over The Citadel were the most by a Clemson freshman since Tom Wideman had 17 at NC State in 1995-96.

Finally, Dwon Clifton, a freshman from Louisburg, NC, has moved into the starting lineup. He is averaging 3.8 points and 2.7 rebounds per game. He is a capable rebounder, as his 12 rebounds against Washington showed this year. He had a season high nine pointson 4-6 shooting in the win over NC State. He added nine points in the game at North Carolina.

Free Throw Shooting at a 14-year High One area of improvement for Clemson this year is free throw shooting. The Tigers have made 69.8 percent from the foul line this year. Clemson has not been a good free throw shooting team over the years. In fact, no Clemson team has bettered 70 percent over a season since 1986-87 when Horace Grant was a senior, helping the Tigers to a 71.6 percentage. The closest Clemson has come to a 70 percent season from the line was 1994-95 when the Tigers finished at .696. Clemson has made at least two thirds of its free throws just four of the last 13 seasons.

If the season ended today, Clemson’s .698 figure would be the best since the 1986-87 season and the ninth best in history. The Clemson record for free throw shooting took place in 1981-82 when Bill Foster’s Tigers made .734 of their free throws.

Clemson has had balance from the line this year. Tony Stockman leads the way with an 81 percent mark, while Will Solomon is at .802. Freshman center Chris Hobbs, who gets to the line often, has made .740 from the line. Edward Scott is at 76 percent. Center Adam Allenspach, a 74 percent shooter from the line last year, is a 66.1 so far this year.

Clemson ranks third in the ACC in free throw shooting. No Clemson team in history has ever led the ACC in free throw shooting.