It was pretty obvious that something was bothering Landry Nnoko in Clemson’s 89-83 loss to Notre Dame this past Monday.
It seemed as if he was a step behind. He uncharacteristically was lagging behind on plays. He wasn’t where he was supposed to be when his teammates were looking for him underneath the basket and he was slow to get out and set screens.
On the defensive end of the court, he could not guard Notre Dame’s Zach Auguste, whom he dominated the year before.
“I was a little under the weather, but that’s no excuse for my performance,” Nnoko said on Friday as the Tigers get set to host Georgia Tech at Greenville’s Bon Secours Wellness Arena on Saturday.
The Clemson center finished the game with just three points and four rebounds and only took one shot all night, while Auguste dropped in a team-high 19 points on 8 of 12 shooting and added eight rebounds.
“I just didn’t feel right,” Nnoko said. “I did not have any energy or my effort. It was at a low level.”
Whatever it was, the Tigers cannot afford another effort like that from Nnoko the rest of the year, or their dreams for an NCAA Tournament bid will not come close to being true.
Clemson (14-10, 7-5 ACC) is in a situation where it needs to win at least five of its remaining six games. Though it is doable considering five of the final six opponents all have losing conference records, three of those games are on the road—at NC State (Feb. 20), at Georgia Tech (Feb. 23) and at Boston College (March 5)—and one of the three remaining home dates is against No. 7 Virginia (March 1) so there still isn’t much room for error.
It’s pretty much, “put up or shut up time,” for the Tigers.
“We all realize what’s at stake,” Nnoko said. “We try not to focus on that. We really just focus on one game at a time. We are looking to get a win against Georgia Tech. That’s it.
“We all know and realize we put ourselves in this position with all the things we accomplished this year, but we know in the back of our minds we have a chance, and that we have to take care of our business.”
As a senior, Nnoko has done his part to express how important each and every game is to him and fellow senior Jordan Roper. He also knows it’s important he plays with more consistency than he has been.
Before his poor showing against Notre Dame, Nnoko tallied 17 points and had 12 rebounds against Virginia Tech. That came after he scored two points and had two rebounds at Wake Forest. Before that he had just four points and one rebound against Florida State.
“I have to pace myself and not be so aggressive, especially when I pick up that first foul. I have to think about it and keep myself on the court,” he said. “As soon as I pick up that first foul, I know I have to be a little conservative because I know how well we play when I’m on the court.
“I don’t want to hurt the team by sitting on the bench most of the game.”
Nnoko says his inconsistency this year has been frustrating.
“It’s crazy. It is really about being consistent,” he said. “I feel like a lot of times it is about getting in rhythm and staying on the court. The last game, like I said, I did not have any energy. I was drained. For some reason I was not myself and I got in foul trouble, too. I was not on the court.
“I have to find ways to stay on the court. When I am on the court, we play well and I play well, too.”
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