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Iowa Basketball: Anthony Clemmons season review

By Kenny Levine

Mar 20, 2016; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Villanova Wildcats guard Jalen Brunson (right) battles for the loose ball with Iowa Hawkeyes guard Anthony Clemmons (left) during the first half in the second round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 20, 2016; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Villanova Wildcats guard Jalen Brunson (right) battles for the loose ball with Iowa Hawkeyes guard Anthony Clemmons (left) during the first half in the second round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports /
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Over the next couple weeks, Dear Old Gold will be giving player reviews from the 2015-16 Iowa basketball team.  We started with Ahmad Wagner, and now it’s time to take a look at Anthony Clemmons.

Anthony Clemmons #5
Senior Guard 2015-16 Stats: 33 GP, 29.6 MPG, 8.9 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 3.7 APG

Anthony Clemmons saved his most productive season for his last at Iowa.  Clemmons played and started in all 33 games for the Hawkeyes this season and was a very important piece to the success of Iowa.  Clemmons had always been an above average perimeter defender and again proved that this season.

He held high-school teammate and Michigan State sharpshooter Bryn Forbes to a combined 5 points and 1-10 shooting in two games, Maryland star point guard Melo Trimble shot just 2-7 against Iowa, and Northwestern point guard Bryant McIntosh was held to just 4 points in the meeting with Iowa.

All of those players were primarily being defended by Clemmons.  Though Clemmons was not recognized for his efforts, he was the best perimeter defender on an Iowa team that had its struggles defending the perimeter.

While Clemmons had always been a good defender, this season it was his offense that took a major step forward.  Previously, Clemmons best scoring season was his junior season when he averaged 4.8 points per game on 38.1% shooting in just under 20 minutes per game.

This season Clemmons averaged 8.9 points per game, and shot 43.5% from the field in just under 30 minutes per game.  After scoring in double figures just ten times in his first three seasons in Iowa City, Clemmons accomplished that feat seventeen times this season for the Hawkeyes.

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The breakout game for Clemmons this season was perhaps the game at Michigan State.  As mentioned earlier, Clemmons held Bryn Forbes to just 2 points in that game, frustrating the Spartans best shooter all game long.  On the offensive end, Clemmons sc0red 13 points on 4-8 shooting from the field and 2-5 from the 3-point line.

Clemmons had many more productive offensive performances, specifically the 20 points against Rutgers, a pair of productive games against Indiana (12 and 14 points, respectively) and 13 points in the regular season finale at Michigan.  In that game, Clemmons made a couple huge plays down the stretch, helping the team secure a much needed win.

Clemmons had a very productive senior year, though the one thing he did struggle with was free-throw shooting.  It got worse as the season progressed, and he was specifically poor late in games.  Against Indiana with the Hawkeyes trailing by two, Clemmons missed two free-throws with 1:05 remaining in a game Iowa would eventually lose by 3 points.

He finished the season at 60.5% at the line, a very low percentage for a point guard.  An increase in 3-point field goal attempts, also led to a lower percentage from behind the arc.  He finished 31% from three, the lowest in his career, but also attempted a career-high 87 threes this season.

Next: Ahmad Wagner season review

While Clemmons was improved on the offensive end, along with poor free throw shooting, he was still prone to the silly mistake.  Clemmons made a number of careless mistakes when he was the point guard while Mike Gesell was on the bench.

An especially glaring mistake he made was fouling Temple’s Quenton DeCosey with 2.3 seconds left while the team was nursing a 63-60 lead.  DeCosey made all three free-throws and the game would go into overtime.  Clemmons averaged 1.5 turnovers per game, which honestly seems a little low.

Overall, it was a very productive senior season from Anthony Clemmons.  While we do not know what the basketball future is for Clemmons, he gave Iowa four solid years of production.  Clemmons’ perimeter defense will be sorely missed next season.

Clemmons exceeded my expectation going into the season for him and became an important offensive producer and was often the third option offensively.  He gets a B in his senior year at Iowa.  Great defense and improved offense, however there were struggles with turnovers and free-throw shooting.

Final Grade: B

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