By Will Vandervort.

By Will Vandervort

CLEMSON — Two years ago, Brad Brownell had Demontez Stitt running the show at point guard for his Clemson Tigers.

Stitt, one of Clemson’s all-time greatest players, is an emotional guy, who wears his heart on his sleeve. He was a scorer as he knew how to get to the basket and also when to pull up and shoot as well as pass it inside to his post players.  Stitt was also a vocal leader and helped the program advance to the NCAA Tournament four consecutive years—the only time that has happened in the program’s history.

Last year, Brownell had Tanner Smith. Though not a point guard, Smith demanded the respect of his teammates and he was never shy in telling them what they were doing right or wrong on the basketball court and in the locker room.

It’s the absence of that kind of vocal leadership that caused Brownell Monday to call this year’s team the least vocal one he has coached, and not just at Clemson.

“That’s counting any of my teams at Wright State or UNC-Wilmington,” he said. “Certainly having Demontez was a big part of our first year (at Clemson) in just being able to have a pulse and respect on our team. That helped.

“Last year, having Tanner, he always got information through to the team and I don’t think there was ever any miscommunication or any of that. This year’s team, there is time when it is hard to look out there and figure out exactly who is going to be the guy getting them together and orchestrating what we are trying to do.”

Brownell would like for point guard Rod Hall to be that guy, though being vocal isn’t exactly something the sophomore is comfortable doing.

“That’s hard for him. That’s not his way,” Brownell said. “He is more like Devin Booker. He wants to lead by the way he competes and the way he practices. He does all of those things well. He is a hard playing guy, but he really could provide more presence to our team if he would talk and communicate.”

Hall says he is working on being more vocal, though it’s not something he was really born with. But he understands it something he has to improve upon because his teammates need him.

“I’m not used to talking too much because that is how I grew up,” he said. “But now that I have to, I know it is the best way to lead the team. You play a big role when you are a point guard and everybody feeds off the point guard so I have to talk more.”

Talking more isn’t the only thing Hall has been working on. He is also trying to become more of a scorer, too. The 6-foot-1, 210-pound guard is averaging 3.7 assist per game, and though Brownell wants him to continue doing that, he also wants him to improve on his 6.3 points per game average.

“Coach gets mad at me sometimes when I pass up a shot because he feels like it is going to go in and I do too, but (Devin Booker) wants the ball too so I like mixing it up,” Hall said.

Hall was 4-for-4 from the field in last Saturday’s win over Virginia as a couple of times he slashed to the basket for layups and also pulled up for a 15-foot jumper. Those were decisions earlier in the season he likely would have passed on.

“His basketball skills have improved a lot,” Brownell said. “Here is a guy that was not a high school point guard, but he has the wherewithal to do it and I saw that in the recruiting of him. I saw that he had the passing skills and the vision to do some things to become a point guard and he has done a pretty good job of becoming a point guard in a couple of years.

“He just needs to be a little bit more of a scorer at times to put more pressure on the defense and keep them honest.”

Hall worked a lot in the off-season to become a better shooter. With the help of Brownell and position coach Earl Grant, he tweaked his jump shot and worked on his mechanics. This summer he spent hours in the gym working on his form shot, shooting hundreds and hundreds of jump shots as well as one-hand set shots to perfect his mechanics.

“The biggest thing is keeping the ball in front and following through every time,” he said. “That’s about the main thing we would do during the summer.”

So far it’s working. Hall has made 50 percent of his shots this season and is 7 of 12 from the field in ACC games. For his career, he is 5 of 6 from behind the arc.

“I think Rod has had a good year and he shoots a reasonable percentage,” Brownell said. “He shoots a lot of shots, but he needs to shoot some more. He does a good job of getting to the basket off penetration and he does a pretty good job of finding guys on extra passes.

“But he is a better shooter than he even realizes. It’s not a terrific looking shot or anything like that, but he actually makes more shots than you will realize in practice and in games.”