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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEMarch 11, 2013Brad BrownellCOACH BROWNELL: Well, certainly got a difficult matchup in Florida State. Seem to be playing really good basketball right now, having won three of their last four. Obviously two really good home wins in the last week against Virginia and N.C. State. We know we'll have our hands full. We had two very competitive games with those guys during the regular season. Hope to do the same at the tournament, just find a way to win one at the end. Q. Could you compare and contrast what both Paul and (inaudible) bring to the table and how happy you have been with the progression of those two guys over the course of the season in running your offense? COACH BROWNELL: Well, they both have been up‑and‑down to be honest with you and have been, you know, solid at times and done some good things for us, and then other times have not been as good. I think both of them are still learning how to play the position completely, but they are both very aggressive athletically, guys that can get by you and get to the basket and cause problems that way. I think defensively, they are both very solid. They both guard on the ball very well, do a good job of applying some pressure, but allowed to keep guys in front of them, and as young guards, still just trying to get comfortable with all of the decision making that's involved with running the team. Q. You talked about the two competitive games with them, how difficult is it to do against Florida State with Michael Snaer and his track record of deciding close games? COACH BROWNELL: Obviously it's very difficult. His ability to make shots at the end has been phenomenal really to be honest with you. He banked one in against us at the buzzer to beat us, and you know, we have watched him do it to other teams, as well. Watching Virginia film the other day, got them with a nice drive and I know did he it to Georgia Tech and I know he hit a three I think against Maryland and so that's four already this year. Certainly he's a guy who plays great at the end and plays with a lot of confidence. You know, that's what's allowed them to really win some difficult games, and both at home and on the road. I'm sure he'll approach the tournament with the same mentality of being aggressive. Q. Is there a reason why teams have so much trouble getting the ball out of his hands at the end of games? COACH BROWNELL: Well, they are usually screening for him in some way or another to make a play, and you know, he's a good athlete and he's a guy that knows how to do things. I don't think it's as easy as people think it is sometimes. You know, the other guys on the floor are guys that can make plays, too, so it's not like you're just going to I guess leave your other guys to go stop him all the time. I mean, he's made it in different ways against us. He made it kind of in transition and a long shot against Maryland. Somebody else was actually driving and they kicked it to him for a shot against Georgia Tech and against Virginia. He got the ball and made great individual plays.  So it has not been just one way. He's done it several different ways to beat teams. Q. You've had a tough stretch since the beginning of February. What do you do to get ready for the tournament? Are there specific things that you go in and fix or change or just fine tune or how do you approach this with the guys? COACH BROWNELL: Well, to be honest with you, if I had those answers, I would have done them all through February. You know, we are just a team that struggles to score. I don't know that those are situations you can fix as easily during the season or in a week. They are bigger problems that need to be worked on in the off‑season and things of that nature. We knew with injuries, long‑shooting would be difficult and it has been. I think we'll just keep working on what we're doing and try to get a little bit better, and just try to get into a mind‑set of being positive of things that we have done well and try to approach this in a way where we somehow try to shake some things off and feel good about ourselves heading into a tournament game that's like a second season of sorts. Q. I was going to ask, are the guys able to keep their spirits up, have you noticed any kind of drop‑off in practice at all in enthusiasm, that sort of thing? COACH BROWNELL: You know, not too bad really to be honest with you.  We have lost some games in a heartbreaking fashion, and that's the N.C. State game and the Miami game specifically. Even the Florida State game down at Florida State where we really probably controlled the game for a good part of it, and had chances. Then again, Michael Snaer made terrific plays and they made some other plays in the last couple minutes to help win the game. But we were right there probably in four or five games where we very easily could have won and a couple of them we should have won. Those losses I think did take a little bit of a toll on our guys but I do think they have approached practice well and we have come out and played pretty spirited, and all our games went down to Miami here in the last game of the regular season with not a lot on the line for us. We are tied at the half and playing them well, well into the middle of the second half, and they eventually pulled away. But I thought we showed some good fight and did some good things in the game to continue to compete, we just have not been quite good enough to figure out ways to win. We kind of go through some droughts offensively in scoring and it seems like those droughts and things get away from us. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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