The Clemson Tigers will be starting two seniors at the guard spots this season. That sounds like good news. Of course their only backups are freshmen. That’s not good news.
PLAYER: Tanner Smith
POSITION: Shooting Guard
TEAM: Clemson
YEAR: Senior
TAPE: 6-5, 210
2010-11 STATS: 7.8 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 2.8 apg (.411/.728/.333)
DEEP THOUGHTS:
Whenever a new coach takes over a program, there are always going to be bumps along the road. This is especially true when recruiting. For Clemson head coach Brad Brownell, this was a particularly harsh reality since Oliver Purnell left the cupboard completely bare (is that how you say that?).
Brownell attempted to salvage the 2010 class by bringing in Corey Stanton, but the point guard abandoned him after just one season.
This season the coach was able to convince five kids to join the program, including two point guards and shooting guard, Devin Coleman.
Why is all this relevant?
It’s relevant because for the second straight season, the Tigers will need to start Tanner Smith at the two-spot and that is never a good thing.
Smith was supposed to be the Tigers three-point specialist, but that hasn’t panned out. In fact, the more he plays in any given season, the wort his stats become. Last season he played five more minutes per game than his sophomore season, but his points per game averaged fell.
Now his shooting percentage and three-point percentage did go up (.411/.333), but that’s just because they were so bad the year before (.401/.275). To date, his best shooting year was his first, when he hit nearly 36-percent of his threes in just over 13 minutes per game.
Now maybe I’m focusing too much on one aspect of his game by just talking about his three-point shooting numbers, but that’s really all he delivers. He’s not quick, he’s not that athletic, although I wouldn’t call him un-athletic. He’s not going to penetrate with any authority and he struggles to stay in front of quicker guards on the defensive end.
At best he’s a role player, who should be seeing no more than 10-13 minutes of action per game. However, since the only backup guards on the bench are freshmen (low-end freshmen at that), then Smith will continue to see 25+ minutes per game.
Good luck Clemson. You’re going to need it.
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