Walker Status: Game-Time Decision

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Ty Walker made the trip to Clemson and practiced on a limited basis today, but didn?t participate in any contact drills.

The medical staff will evaluate Walker Saturday morning to see if he has recovered sufficiently from the concussion sustained Wednesday against Florida State to return against the Tigers. Trainer Greg Collins said Thursday that only after the concussion symptoms are no longer detectable will Walker be given post-concusssion neuropsychological tests to determine Walker?s brain functions and memory.

Even if Walker is cleared, I?d be surprised to see him log the 32 minutes he played against N.C. State or even the 24 minutes he played at BC.

?We don?t want to return someone too soon because if their concussion symptoms return, that prolongs the length of the concussion and prolongs the recovery,?? Collins said. ?It?s something we take very seriously.??

Asked Thursday if sophomore Carson Desrosiers would start if Walker is not available, coach Jeff Bzdelik declined to say.

 

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Wake Forest vs. Clemson Preview




After the beating that Wake Forest took at home this week to Florida State, the Deacs look to get back on their feet as they travel to Death Valley to face the Clemson Tigers.

Clemson comes into the game with a 10-9 record overall, and 2-3 record in the ACC. They did, however, beat Florida State by 20 in their first ACC game of the year, and just snuck by Georgia Tech this past week.

Most betting sites have Clemson -11.5 (O/U 125.5), but if Ty Walker is healthy (which according to the latest Winston-Salem Journal article is still up in the air) then I would take the Deacs at the line.

In short, it will likely come down to how well Wake Forest can establish their offense against the defense of Clemson. Clemson is above average in defense (52nd overall @ .932 points per possession), and Wake Forest is well below average offensively (214th overall @ .978 points per possession). Obviously everything will change if Ty Walker is not available, even on the offensive end where he is not his strongest. Clemson is a pretty good team defensively, and have done extremely well in the Four Factors excluding eFG% (which they are still above average in). In the conference, the Clemson defense has forced the highest TO Rate @ 25.4% (every 4th possession is a turnover for their opponents). Wake Forest has struggled with protecting the ball as well (22% in-conference, 11th in the ACC).

The Clemson offense vs the Wake Forest defense is a much "better" matchup. Both teams are below average, but are within 10 spots of each other overall. The Tigers offense comes in at 1.004 points per possession (172nd overall), and the Deacons defense is at 1.013 PPP (182nd overall defensively). While the Clemson defense has been very good at forcing turnovers (best in the conference), the Wake Forest defense has been the opposite, forcing a turnover on just 1 out of every 6 opponent possessions (16%, worst in the ACC).

I think it's fair to say that the turnover battle will be one of the biggest factors in this game, especially as far as the Four Factors are concerned.

Overall Clemson has been up and down over the year. They have a couple of nice wins (the aforementioned FSU win by 20, as well as a 16 points win @Iowa in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge), but they also have some really bad losses (Coastal Carolina, College of Charleston, Hawaii, Boston College, South Carolina). This gives me hope that the Deacs will cover the 11.5 spread that bettors have listed.

They rely mostly on junior Milton Jennings when he is in the game (59.7% of minutes played), but other than that they have a balanced attack with what appears to be an 8 man rotation. Freshman Rod Hall has been a nice surprise for Brad Brownell, and has done it in ways that most 6'1 guards don't do it, from within the three point line. If Ty Walker is out, Devin Booker (younger brother of Trevor Booker) will be a force to be reckoned with for Carson and Nikita. He will be hard to keep off the boards as is, but if Walker is out, there could be some big problems for us inside.

I think if the Deacs come out and get into a flow offensively early (which is a HUGE if given the problems on offense recently), then Wake can hang around and make a game out of it. Clemson has shown to be vulnerable to weaker opponents, even at home, so that may give a team in Wake Forest that has actually played pretty well on the road, some hope that they probably shouldn't have.

--Blogger So Dear

 

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After week off, Clemson going for back-to-back ACC wins against Deacs
--The Clemson Sports Blog



In a jumbled middle of the pack in the ACC, Clemson has a chance to get back to even at home against Wake Forest.

The Tigers find themselves in a mess of four teams one game above or below the .500 mark in conference play, which includes Virginia (16-3, 3-2), Maryland (12-7, 2-3), Miami (11-7, 2-3) and Clemson (10-9, 2-3).

While the Deacs (11-9, 2-4) aren?t quite there, they have already matched their ACC win total from last season (2) by knocking off Virginia Tech (home) and Boston College (road) with an improved team in year No. 2 under Jeff Bzdelik.

Taking a closer look?

The Matchup

After a 9-4 start, the ACC competition has taken its toll on Wake Forest, losing its last three games by a 26 points per average (two of the three at home), but the Deacs did dominate their last road game, 71-56, at Boston College.

Two Demon Deacons make up the go-to options ? junior guard C.J. Harris and forward Travis McKie.

Harris has scored double-digits in every Wake Forest game this season, averaging a team-leading 17.2 points per game, and hitting 49.2 percent of 3-pointers and 81.3 percent of free throws.

Sophomore forward Travis McKie has been more inconsistent, posting 25 points and at least six rebounds in four games this season, but up-and-down more recently, scoring two and three points along with two double-double games in between.

Sophomore point guard Tony Chennault completes Wake?s trio of double-digit scorers (10.7 PPG).

Besides McKie, the Deacs frontcourt is something to watch Saturday, after 7-0 center Ty Walker suffered a concussion on Thursday against Florida State and his status for playing unclear. Walker is second to McKie in rebounds per game (5.6), but not as much of a scoring threat (4.6 PPG).

The Tigers triumphed in their last matchup with Wake Forest, holding them to 34 percent shooting in a 63-49 win last season. The Deacs have scored 55 points or less five times this season, while Clemson has stifled teams to that number or worse four times.

Clemson has to hope the week off doesn?t cool Andre Young after a career-high 29 points with seven 3-pointers in the 64-62 win over Georgia Tech last week. He has averaged 15.8 points with 13 3-pointers in ACC play (39.3 3-point percentage).

In the paint, Milton Jennings is the Tigers? most consistent threat through five games of ACC play, scoring 11.6 points and grabbing six rebounds per game. Devin Booker has posted most rebounds (6.2), but not double-figure scoring (8.4) and his rebound numbers are boosted by 13 in the 73-66 loss to Duke.

Stats to Watch

? Perimeter shooting ? Clemson?s ACC opponents have hit more 3-pointers than the Tigers in every game so far, and two have had players hit four or more (Miami?s Malcolm Grant and Duke?s Andre Dawkins).

? Points per possession ? One of the main characteristics to Clemson?s style is a slower pace, because they want to pass around in the motion offense to get the best shots possible ? valuing each possession. Through five ACC games, the Tigers fall third in the ACC in points per possession (1.008), and on the season, are holding opponents to 0.909 per (41st nationally). In conference play, Wake Forest hasn?t scored more than a point a possession yet, but are 5-1 when they reach the mark on the season. While they allowed above a point per in every ACC game, the Deacs are 8-1 when forcing sub-1.000 per possession (Clemson is 9-2).

? Free Throw Rate - Wake Forest shoots 71.9 percent from the line, and Clemson 67.7 overall on the season, but the Deacs tend to get to the line more. They have a 43.6 percent free throw rate to the Tigers? 33.6 of shots from the charity stripe to regular field goal attempts.