Clemson Basketball: Gabe DeVoe needs to get going

Clemson basketball is in an excellent position to make the Big Dance and do damage. In order for this to happen, though, Gabe DeVoe needs to get going.

The No. 18 Clemson Tigers are going to be in the NCAA Tournament. They have shocked the world by becoming a top-five ACC team. Now it is time for them to take the next step and acquire postseason success. Further integrating Gabe DeVoe into the offense will be a big step towards that success.

The Clemson Tigers are looking to secure a top-four seed in the ACC Tournament and build momentum heading into the NCAA Tournament. Per Basketball-Reference.com, Clemson is a bottom-five ACC team in terms of offensive efficiency but have fourth-best overall net-rating because of their stifling defense. Because defense travels well, I expect the Tigers to play in many close games at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

But points per game leader Marcquise Reed cannot be the sole source of offense if Clemson plans to win the whole thing. There was a two-game stretch where Clemson held two of the ACC’s better offenses in Duke and Virginia Tech to 65.5 ppg collectively. Clemson still lost both games, though, as they put up an abysmal 57.5 ppg. It comes as no surprise to me that their offense was so porous.

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The Tigers recently stopped a three-game losing streak with a victory against underwhelming Georgia Tech. They held the Yellow Jackets under 40% shooting from the field and DeVoe led the way with 25 points for Clemson. Out of DeVoe’s 25 points against Georgia Tech, 12 came on 3-pointers and seven came from the free throw line, a nice diversity in his scoring profile.

DeVoe and Reed combine to attempt 11.5 3-pointers per game. This is why Clemson is so hard to guard. Interchangeable guards who are equally adept at driving or pulling up for the jumper. The high number of attempts from deep means that opposing defenses have to play them tight. Playing tight man-to-man defense is what gives DeVoe the opportunity to collapse the defense and finish. If weakside help comes over to stop DeVoe, he could find Elijah Thomas at the rim.

It initially seems odd to call for more plays for Gabe DeVoe. After all, he is second on the team in shots per game, third in points and fourth in assists per game. But the best (true) indicator of a player’s involvement in the offense is usage percentage, in which DeVoe ranks sixth on the team (20.3 percent). This is not ideal for the Tigers.

DeVoe has an offensive rating of 110.6, only behind Reed among the healthy starters. Gabe DeVoe is second on Clemson in overall points produced. But his assist percentage and free throw rate have dropped a sizable amount in his senior year.

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He is one of the leaders on this team, and they need him to play well to finish the year strong. But as we get into conference tournament play, it is important to remember that all of these teams know each other extremely well. Making DeVoe the number one scoring option will be a (slightly) new wrinkle that could carry the Tigers to new heights.