On Sunday afternoon, ESPN welcomed in Clemson center PJ Hall to the broadcast following a great week for Clemson basketball.
Over the past week, the Tigers have won their two games: a come-from-behind victory over their in-state rival and then-undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks on Wednesday night and a standout win over the TCU Horned Frogs in Toronto on Saturday night. Hall and his team’s efforts have given the Tigers the honor of the No. 13 team in the country, the highest that the Tigers have found themselves since 1996.
Despite the difference in team performance, the star center has seen the same things in this team than in teams in seasons past.
“There’s some differences, but I think there are a lot of similarities too in terms of chemistry and how these guys get along,” Hall said during his time with the broadcast. “We are just one big group that likes to have a lot of fun, and we play like that. ”
Notable analyst Seth Greenberg proceeded to call him “one of the most complete frontcourt players in college basketball”, and the numbers do not lie. Hall averages 20.1 points per game, which is third in the ACC at the moment. He also adds on 7.4 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game, which is also seventh and second in the conference, respectively.
“One thing that I think I pride myself with a lot on is being able to stretch the defense and bring energy to the floor.” Hall explained. “I love getting into it with the crowd, so that’s one thing I have done since high school.”
The ESPN panel brought up Clemson’s missed berth in the NCAA Tournament last season, where the Tigers fell just short of a bubble team appearance following a phenomenal second half to their season. Despite the outcome still being recent, the senior center does not allow that to plague his gameplay, as well as his team’s.
“As we are preparing for the beginning of the year, especially leading up to that first game. . . the biggest message was ‘don’t leave any doubt on the court’,” Hall said about the ending to last season. “Everytime you step on the court, you make sure you’re going out there and not leaving any doubt and just producing with what you have out there.”
As the Tigers get ready for a road trip to Memphis, Tennessee, to face another Tiger team in Memphis, Hall learned from Clemson’s win on Nov. 28 over the then-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide, where the Tigers took an eight-point win in Tuscaloosa to stay undefeated.
“We learned that we play great whenever we play our kind of game,” the center said. “One thing we wanted to do was make them play our game. 80% of their shots were within the first six-to-eight seconds of the shot clock, so we were just wanting to make them play our game. Going down there and forcing them to play Clemson Tiger basketball was the biggest thing we learned that was going to help us.”
Clemson will be back in action on Saturday, Dec. 16, where Hall and his squad will hope to move to 10-0 to begin the season for the first time since the 2008-2009 season, where they began the season 16-0.
