NIT First Round: 3 Things to Look For When Oakland visits Clemson
By Eddie Becker
Tuesday night’s first round NIT match-up between Clemson and Oakland features two teams taking different trajectories to end at the same destination.
Oakland spent much of the second half of their season atop the Horizon League standings, eventually winning the regular season conference crown. But the Golden Grizzlies lost to 9th-seeded Youngstown State on a last-second shot. That ended their hopes of making the NCAA tournament.
Clemson started out the season strong, with wins over Georgia, Alabama, and in-state rival South Carolina. After winning their ACC opener on the road against Wake Forest, the Tigers went on to lose 13 of their last 19 games, 10 of those losses by 6 points or less. Another season of high expectations ruined by close losses.
While neither Oakland nor Clemson made the post-season tournament they wanted, both have a shot to win the NIT. For Tiger fans, here are three things to look for Tuesday night as Oakland visits Littlejohn:
Same NIT, new rules.
An intriguing component to the NIT this year is the implementation of some new rules. The two 20-minute halves will split into four 10-minute periods. Team fouls will reset at the 10-minute mark. Now instead of 7 fouls putting the other team in a “bonus” situation in a half, 4 fouls over 10 minutes will do so. Fouls will reset at the 10-minute mark. Also eliminated are one-and-ones, meaning once a team hits the bonus on fouls they’ll automatically get two free throws. The other rule change resets the shot clock to 20 seconds when the ball is inbounded in the front court. This will hopefully speed up games and increase scoring.
Who wants to win?
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- Clemson Men’s Basketball: Killing Clemson Basketball
- Clemson Men’s Basketball: It shouldn’t have been like this
- Clemson Men’s Basketball comes up short against Morehead State
It really comes down to coaching here, as neither team will be exceptionally motivated. But that’s especially true for Clemson, who is now entering their sixth consecutive post-season void of a NCAA tourney berth, and only making the NIT for the second time under Brad Brownell. Does winning a first round game against a mid-major prove anything for Brownell? He has to do a great job selling to not just his players, but to disgruntled (and worse, apathetic) fans who came into the season believing a ticket to the Big Dance was fully possible.
For Oakland, what is there to lose? Getting the opportunity to knock off an ACC team on the road is certainly appealing, and the Golden Grizzlies will come out swinging Tuesday night. They feature three players averaging over 13 points per game, not to mention freshman Isaiah Brock who ranks in the top 30 nationally in blocks and made the Horizon League All-Freshman Team and the All-Defensive Team. Oakland scored 80 or more in 14 games this season, so they’re plenty capable of getting baskets in bunches, and should be a fun team to watch in this NIT
The future is now.
When a major college football program has a disappointing season and makes a lower-tier bowl game, they can still use that time to get the players extra reps. Such is the case for Clemson entering the NIT. While the Tigers will lose All-ACC player Jaron Blossomgame to the NBA and rebounding leader Sidy Djitte to graduation, a bulk of this year’s playmakers will be back next season. Shelton Mitchell and Marcquise Reed, both averaging over 10 points per game, are only sophomores. Mitchell is hitting 44% of his three-pointers, and Reed is the second best free throw shooter in the ACC. Elijah Thomas also showed some flashes of being a solid front court player late in the season. Brownell needs to give maximum minutes to these guys, rather than showcasing Blossomgame more for NBA scouts. He’s proven himself enough already.