Behind Enemy Lines: Clemson Guard Tanner Smith

The hits just keep on coming. I have it on good authority that there's plenty more BSD goodness coming down the pike soon, but I decided for my part to do another Behind Enemy Lines piece.

Last time I talked about a big man, so this time I'll talk about a guard: Tanner Smith. Now, the good news is Smith is nowhere near the nightmare Mike Scott is.

The bad news is that he's still a heck of a player, and one the Deacs absolutely need to watch for. We got torched by a different Clemson guard last time (Andre Young) but we can't sleep on this one either.

Find out more about this senior after the jump...

For a guard, he's a big dude. That makes him more difficult to match up with and helps his rebounding numbers.

PPG: 10.9

I honestly figured Price scored more than that, especially since he always seems to make wacky threes. Still, it's double digits as an average, so he's absolutely a scoring threat.

eFG%: 51%

Compared to Mike Scott this is a breath of fresh air, especially considering he shoots from deep (an average of 1-4 times per game), but still nothing to scoff at.

FREE THROWS: 70% (on 2-3 attempts per game)

Honestly, not great, especially for a guard. I think most of our bigs shoot free throws better than that, let alone somebody like CJ.

RPG: 5.4

For a guard, he hits the glass hard. I'm wary of his ability to exploit our smaller guards going for rebounds.

SPG: 1.6

This is actually pretty impressive. Not great, but you have to be cognizant of him, or he will pick your pocket. This is especially scary considering there are times when we can be loose with the ball.

THREE POINT SHOOTING: 36%

This one honestly threw me. I could've sworn he shot the three better than that. Maybe it's because he always seems to make wacky threes, like I said.

APG: 4.0 (to 2.2 turnovers)

This is where he's probably most dangerous. He's only shooting 43% from the field, 36% from 3, but he's at least CAPABLE as a scorer, which opens up his assist numbers. As a point of contrast, Tony Chennault averages a full assist per game less and turns the ball over basically the same amount (2.3 times per game).

Frankly, I'd call Tanner Smith the sort of player I hope Tony Chennault eventually becomes. He's a jack of all trades, master of none sort of player, but he impacts the game in a number of ways and, as a result, you can't really ignore him, or he'll make you pay in some way or another. We need to try and contain his ability to rebound. I think that's the place he's most capable of hurting the Deacs.

I don't really have the heart to predict this one, but Clemson beat us by 11 in their house. If we come out mad like we should, I think we can handle them, but I'm certainly not holding my breath.

As always, comments appreciated. Go Deacs.

--SF