Brad Brownell Notebook: Clemson 84, Auburn 53
***Note: These are unedited transcriptions from Brad Brownell's postgame press conference***
BRAD BROWNELL: Obviously, just so proud of my team to play as well as we did on this stage. Not surprising because we've played well here lately and we have good players. These guys have really done an unbelievable job all year of buying into what we're trying to do.
I just thought our focus and preparation the week leading into the ACC tournament and then this week has just been really, really good. Some of that's because we have older guys that really, you know, believe in what we're doing. We talked about that at the beginning of the year. I thought this team could be really, good; and the way we played out here in San Diego was extremely high level. Super happy for our team, our fans, and looking forward to our next game.
Q. What kind of statement do you think this makes about Clemson basketball and the direction of the program?
BRAD BROWNELL: Yeah, I don't know about, you know, a major statement or anything like that. I just think we have a good program. We have good players. We do things the right way. We have a first-class facility and we have great university.
It's an unbelievable statement I guess, if you will, to recruits and folks of that nature that maybe haven't examined us quite as well. But as much as anything I'm happy for our players. Our players, the amount of time they put in and certainly guys like Donte Grantham and Gabe DeVoe, two seniors that have been with me for so long. We've had to do some things. We were out of our building for 20 months and we had to make sacrifices to help get to this point. But I guess in some ways it does show that you can achieve big things at Clemson.
Q. What do you believe this win does for your team going forward in the Kansas match-up?
BRAD BROWNELL: It's playing well. Having confidence from playing well these two days out here. We've competed in an incredible league. All season long it hardens you. You see all kinds of coaching styles, different styles of play. So to come through that and to make an NCAA Tournament you feel prepared.
But then the last thing is really your guys gaining the confidence from playing out on the floor in one of these environments, the big stage, if you will, and playing well. Giving them confidence and this kind of environment that they can make big plays, make shots, defend at a high level and if you stick to plain that you can be successful.
Q. Just your thoughts on Gabe's performance tonight?
BRAD BROWNELL: Well, he was terrific. Got a little bit of a slow start, got a quick foul. Obviously Gabe doesn't like it when I take him out, so he wasn't happy with me early in the game when I took him out for a minute. He was outstanding, in the second half especially the way he shot the ball. He's done that several times this year, though. That's something he can do. He is a big, strong guy with great range, a quick trigger, and because, you know, of the way he plays, the confidence he plays with, it's a big part of our team. Certainly in today's game in the second half he was playing at an unbelievably high level.
Q. You guys went six years without making the NCAA Tournament. Did you feel any sort of added pressure on coming into this year that you felt like you really had to get it done?
BRAD BROWNELL: Yeah, a little bit, obviously. There was some challenging times last spring, but I had a lot of confidence in our team. I really did. I just felt like our team was going to be really good this year, and I knew our talent level. I thought the experience that guys like Marcquise and Elijah and Shelton got last year in our league was really good, and I knew they would elevate their play.
But then I also had a lot of faith in my seniors, Gabe and Donte, those two guys means the world to me because of everything we've been through together. They're both humble, young men that have kind of waited their turn in our program for a long time and have been good enough to probably do more at an earlier stage. I just knew we were going to be good this year. So I really was confident coming into the season and just thought if we could stay healthy that we would have a special year and have a year like this.
Now, when Donte got hurt, you know, that was challenging because we were playing great basketball. We had to make some adjustments, and it makes you do a few new things. But at the same time, our guys never really wavered. We just continued to do what we do. Try to do it a little better. It gave Aamir Simms more time. Gabe DeVoe stepped up his play. So that's why I'm so proud of this group. But I did feel like this team was going to be good back in the fall.
Q. Now you've got Self, Boeheim and Krzyzewski in your regional?
BRAD BROWNELL: Nobody is going to know who I am. It's like coaching the ACC. I don't look down at the other end when we're coaching. That's not good for my mental health. I don't worry about looking at Coach K. and Bill Self and Jim Boeheim and Roy Williams and everybody else that coaches in the ACC. If you do that that's not good for you.
Q. The second half of that first half how much, Brad, do you think that was your team's defense? You took a lot of jumpers. It wasn't a lot of threes.
BRAD BROWNELL: I think we had something to do with it. I do think we're a pretty good defensive team. Our guys understand that if you don't defend like that for me, I even got upset with the guy that I put in there with about 7 minutes to go, 6 minutes to go, when they gave up three scores in a row. But certainly there's part of Auburn missing shots. That's natural.
The one thing I always tell our team, though, is if you don't give guys easy looks to build rhythm and it goes longer in a game, I think sometimes you will get an open shot and a guy won't make it because he has no rhythm. You haven't given him anything easy early, and I think some of that happened because our guys were ready. Our team was unbelievably focused before the game. I asked my assistants, how do you feel about our guys, and they said, Coach, they're focused. They're ready to play.
And it was different than the New Mexico State game. The New Mexico State game we were almost giddy with excitement, our guys were bouncing off the walls, couldn't wait to get to the game and I don't know if it was the time because it was so late in the day. But I was a little concerned because we were much quieter. But our guys are mature. They're older. They're not afraid of the stage. They want to play. Again, playing in our league just helps put you in a good position to be ready for games like this.
Q. Brad, you said that you felt a little bit of pressure last spring. Was there anything that you said to your administration to try to persuade them to give you another year?
BRAD BROWNELL: It wasn't like I had to go in and convince them to keep me. It's a partnership. To be successful at this level in college basketball takes a partnership. Your administrators, your basketball coach, your president, they all have to be committed, your board, to what you're trying to do.
I think through that time that we weren't in the tournament there were a lot of people on our campus that recognized the positive things that were going on in our program, whether it was guys graduating, the fundraising that was going on, that we had done to help create the facility. Just our interaction as a basketball staff with our community and what we do in our community, what we do on our campus, how people on campus feel about us, the way we go about our job, the values that we instill in our players and how we go about our business created a lot of credibility.
Now on the outside there was a lot of noise. There were some things that needed to be changed or that I needed to address in my administrators and I met and we had great conversation. I knew I needed to win this year. That's okay. This is high-level basketball. You need to win. But I do feel like throughout this time that I've been at Clemson and I've had a couple of add electric directors now and a couple of presidents that I've felt a partnership. Because of that we have been able to have positive communication together. Talk about things that need to get done and because of that we're at this point. If we weren't working together like that it wouldn't have happened.