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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEFebruary 4, 2013Brad BrownellMIKE FINN: We're now joined by Clemson head coach Brad Brownell. We'll bring on coach, ask for a brief opening statement, then go to questions. COACH BROWNELL: Well, just coming off a disappointing loss at Boston College, thought they played very well, were very sharp. Defensively we were reasonably good for about 17 minutes, battled back, had a chance to win, couldn't get it done. Certainly have our hands full with a Virginia team that has played well this year, especially at home. MIKE FINN: Questions for coach. Q. Coach, Virginia statistically has been the best defensive team in the league. Is that stat something you believe is or is that a tempo‑based number that they're giving up less points than anybody? COACH BROWNELL: I think they're terrific defensively. Who is the best? I don't know about all those kinds of things. They're certainly as sound as anybody in our league defensively in terms of teams that don't make very many mistakes. They don't spread out very far, so they're close to each other. They help and recover well. I think they're attentive and alert. I just think Tony does a terrific job of coaching those guys, teaching them to play together, especially on the defensive end. Q. You had some success against them the first time you played. You won fairly handily. What did you do well that game? Can you transfer that into this one? COACH BROWNELL: Well, obviously that remains to be seen. We haven't been very good at times on the road. Like most teams, we've struggled in situations. But I don't know. We play better on offense at home. We have more rhythm, play with more confidence, make shots. I don't know that we're doing anything that's tremendously different. Having said that, I do think we did play very well in that game and moved the ball and had different guys playing confidently, something that really hasn't happened for us on the road on the offensive end. We need that to happen Thursday to have a chance to win. Q. Changing topics a little bit. Three games ago you played and beat Virginia Tech. I've been talking to people about Erick Green, the year he's been having. Can you tell me about the problems he presents, what you try to do defensively. COACH BROWNELL: I think he scored 25 against us. He did get some late, several baskets late, when they were coming back. But I remember looking at the stats. He had five assists, zero or one turnovers. I remember speaking to the media after the game emphasizing how effective I thought he was. When you do try to corral him with two players, do whatever you try to do with two players, he's good enough, he's tall enough, smart enough, that he can find open people, and he's unselfish enough to do so. He's terrific in transition. He's in an aggressive mode to go score and usually does or gets fouled. He's a guy who can make guarded shots. You can guard him as well as you can and he can still shoot over the top of you and score. He's a guy who has continued to improve his three‑point shooting. He's now making a good percentage of his threes. They run a lot of things for him. He's just a tough, tough matchup, great player. Q. In the history of ACC we've only picked one player from a second‑division team, with a losing ACC record, as Player of the Year. It's a long way to go this one, but could you see him in the discussion even if Virginia Tech continues to struggle as a team? COACH BROWNELL: That's a hard question. I generally lean on the side of rewarding guys on teams that have had more success. I don't think you have to win the league, but I do think your team has to be generally in the top. I think he certainly is in the discussion, all those kinds of things. That's more for you guys to figure out than for me. MIKE FINN: Coach, thanks for being with us today. We'll talk to you next Monday. COACH BROWNELL: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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