For Brad Brownell's Tigers, the worst of the bumpy ride may be yet to come

The Clemson basketball team is a work in progress.

We all knew it would be, and there has been ample evidence since Nov. 11 that the development of Brad Brownell’s second Clemson team may turn out to be a later-rather-than-sooner proposition.

Clemson’s performance at the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii brought into sharper focus just how far the Tigers have to go.

Matched against three low ‘mid-majors’ – Texas El Paso is ranked 214th of 345 Division 1 teams by ‘Real Time RPI,’ while Hawaii is rated No. 288 and Southern Illinois No. 328 – the Tigers lost two of three games.

They avoided a tournament sweep only by the margin of a gritty last-second drive to the basket by freshman guard Rod Hall (which precipitated an ill-advised response by a Southern Illinois defender) for a game-extending three-point play that set the stage for a middle-game victory.

They endured double-digit without-a-basket streaks against both UTEP and Southern Illinois, and they allowed Hawaii to shoot 60 percent in a decisive second half that dropped them into sixth place in the eight-team tournament.

Clemson’s own ‘Real Time RPI?’

223rd, which, for context, ranks behind Wofford, Furman, SC State, Elon, UNC-Asheville, USC-Upstate and Charleston Southern, among many others.

The Tigers currently rank 11th on the ACC’s RPI list, ahead only of Boston College, and have already endured enough ‘bad losses’ to preclude an extension of their record streak of NCAA tournament appearances, barring a dramatic turnaround and ACC miracle.

Youth is part of the Tigers’ problem – five of the Clemson’s 11 scholarship players are first-year freshmen, and their performance has been, as is to be expected, spotty.

The best of the bunch, so far, has been Hall, who has pretty much taken over as point guard and is growing steadily in confidence and effectiveness. Hall, however, is not a particularly good outside shooter, and that limits Brownell’s lineup options, and at times keeps Bryan Narcisse on the bench when his energy and athleticism and rebounding ability might otherwise positively affect the game.

During the Tigers’ first 13 games, most of their losses resulted from an inability to make open, well-created shots. That’s excruciatingly frustrating to Brownell, who watches his team play hard, defend with intensity and attention to detail, and then run its motion offense effectively, only to come away with nothing.

The matter of putting the ball in the hoop stands firmly between this team and any chance of consistent success. Andre Young is pressing, struggling against taller defenders and defensive game plans designed to ‘mark’ him of the game. Neither Devin Booker nor Milton Jennings has stepped up to the challenge of providing the consistent scoring that Demontez Stitt and Jerai Grant gave the Tigers last season.

Tanner Smith has been the wild card, doing what he’s done for four years, and on occasion stepping up as the team’s principal scorer. So far, it’s rarely been enough to carry the load.

The Tigers have a chance to play better, even as the competition steps up a notch in coming weeks: Florida State, Boston College, Duke and Miami are up first on the ACC schedule.

Freshmen T.J. Sapp and K.J. McDaniels continue to show flashes, and Bernard Sullivan is playing more effective minutes than he was a month ago.

But it’s Booker and Jennings who hold the key. As Brownell has stated repeatedly, it’s going to be hard for the Tigers to win over the long haul without 12-14 points a game from both junior big men.

Booker has done his bit in three of the last four games. His numbers for the past seven contests, ending with the Christmas Day loss to Hawaii: 6, 9, 9, 13, 5, 16, 13.

Jennings’ numbers for the same period: 7-4-0-12-12-3-0.

Jennings was suspended for the Hawaii game, as punishment for his nationally-televised tantrum during a timeout in the game against Southern Illinois. Needless to say, the Tigers missed him against Hawaii.

So stay tuned.

It’s going to get better. But it may take some time. And the worst of the bumpy ride may still be yet to come.