Malcolm Brogdon scored 20 points on 11 shots and Anthony Gill had four offensive boards, but Devon Hall and Isaiah Wilkins were the big story from last night.
We’ve needed the second year class to find their footing. Being able to count on some of those guys as consistent contributors would alleviate a lot of our stresses, but they hadn’t done it through the first half of this season. It’s not a question of talent — these are good players — but a question of when they’ll gain the confidence to step into the spotlight on occasion instead of hanging back in the chorus. It take time for players not rocketing toward the NBA, as we’ve even seen with London, who is much more assertive this season than in years one or two.
Last night’s game was still up for grabs at 37-35 almost five minutes into the second half. A 15-4 Virginia run over the next six and a half minutes would ultimately decide the game: Clemson scuffled to their points in a hail of turnovers and missed jumpers, while our offense was keyed almost entirely by the unlikely trio of Hall, Wilkins, and Mike Tobey, who either scored or assisted on 13 of the 15 points. Hall scored five and assisted on a jumper by Wilkins, who scored four and set up Tobey (who also scored four) for a dunk with a nifty shovel pass. This wasn’t only a big deal because the run gave us a lead we managed to not lose, it was a big deal because we put together a big run with minimal impact from Malcolm, Anthony Gill, or London Perrantes. If this becomes more of a regular occurrence than an isolated event, look out below. I’m not making guarantees or saying that a mid-January win over Clemson is a rite of passage, but I’m saying that it’s hard not to look at it as promising. Both Devon (11 points, two assists in 26 minutes) and Isaiah (10 points, two boards, two assists in 23) played with confidence when called upon.
I’ve been a big Hall fan for a long time. CTB likes to have three versatile and (almost) interchangeable guards roaming the wings, and Hall has the potential to be the Made for TV kitchen cut/dice/shred/pare/chop tool of Bennett guards. When he’s moving vertically with the ball instead of dribbling tentatively sideline to sideline (like he did against FSU), he comes a credible threat as a scorer (he showed some nice off the dribble game and that lefty stroke last night) that can still set up teammates with a little bit of flair. There will be mistakes made, but when he’s on like he was last night, the pluses make them worth it. With London pretty obviously our best shooter and Malcolm our go-to scorer, it doesn’t hurt to have someone else on the floor who can settle the offense and create. Out of the candidates to fill that wing role, Hall has potential to the best.
Back to the game itself. Clemson’s at their best when forcing foes to either become snared in their half court traps or funneling them toward the shot-repelling duo of Landry Nnoko and Jaron Blossomgame. Once you start wasting possessions, their offense slows the game down and limits the number of chances you get to redeem yourself, deliberately poking at your defense until they either find a three point look or free throws. If that doesn’t work, they turn to Blossomgame.
Other than the Blossomgame part, we did a decent job taking the Tigers out of their comfort zone last night. Our defense wasn’t suffocating by any stretch of the imagination (there’s a lot of reacting going on) and Clemson became our sixth straight ACC foe to break one point per possession, but we did some things right. Clemson took a lot of threes as they’re wont to do, and the looks were all pretty open. However, our defense pushed them progressively further from the basket, until they were firing from two or three feet behind the line midway through the second half. We stayed vertical (Clemson attempted just six free throws) and dominated the glass with a team effort. Clemson had two offensive rebounds — the fewest we’ve allowed since VT last year — and everyone who played grabbed at least one rebound, with four guys grabbing between four and six. Blossomgame got to the hoop at will against Gill and popped out for threes against Isaiah en route to his 23 and the much-improved Landry Nnoko chipped in 15, but their volume shooters did a lot of missing (4-18 for Avry Holmes, Donte Grantham, Jordan Roper, and Gabe Devoe). Clemson managed just nine assists on 24 baskets.
Offensively, Perrantes, Brogdon, Hall, and Wilkins combined for 12 of our 14 assists, which is one more reason why they’re a good group to have on the court together. There were stretches where things looked fluid, and others where we seemed to still be too deliberate for our own good. I’ll take 1.14 points per possession and more shots at the rim as a step in the right direction. Malcolm took a big one, getting his 20 efficiently and quietly. London was very quiet (so much so that CTB was asked about his health postgame), attempting only one three and going 2-7 from the line. With Tony reporting a clean bill of health, I’m assuming that he was merely waiting for a moment to take over that never ended up coming.
Syracuse is up next.
