GREENVILLE — There was a different tone to Brad Brownell’s post-game press conference on Friday night, after Clemson rolled past North Carolina Central, 74-40.
Just over a week earlier, Clemson needed two overtimes in an exhibition win over Lenoir-Rhyne. Brownell looked and sounded like a man feeling a number of different emotions: mad, relieved, sort of pleased his team found a way to win.
The Tigers were dominant in the season opener. They never trailed. Three starters reached double-digits, including Jaron Blossomgame who had a game-high 18.
The following is an edited transcript of Brownell’s post-game press conference:
Opening statement…
“I was proud of the way they focused the last couple of days of practice. This team, North Carolina Central runs a lot of different things and they execute their offense well, but we didn’t give them anything easy tonight. We didn’t turn the ball over. We were good, offensively, so we executed well, got some easy baskets, they constantly had to play on our 5-on-5 defense. That’s pretty good, especially when Landry is blocking some shots, J.B. is blocking some shots and they didn’t shoot the ball well from the perimeter, so that made it even tougher for them. I thought we played well tonight. We shared it, only had six turnovers, made our free-throws. It was a really good first game for our team.”
Turning defense into offense…
“Obviously, it sparks you. Some of those shot blocks you take and it turns into transition offense. You get numbers or you get the run. You get to flow into offense and get them transitioning back, and that can be problematic. I thought we were good. We worked on some ball-screen stuff in the middle of the court. I thought our guys executed it well. Jordan Roper made some good decisions in the middle of the floor. Donte made some good decisions. We got J.B. the ball in the middle of the floor, where we liked to get him the ball, and he made some plays, so I thought our guys really played well tonight. We executed defensively, especially, and that led to some good transition offense. And we handled a bunch of different defenses: 3-2s and 2-3s, soft presses, some man-to-man, so I was proud of the way our guys played.
On Blossomgame’s offensive play…
“He’s an improved player. One thing you love about him, he’s working on something to get better. He and I have talked a great deal that we know he’s a guy that’s a scorer and he can make plays. He’s got to do a good job making the right reads. He’s improved his 3-point shooting now that we want him shooting more 3s, but we don’t want him to be a fall in love 3-point shooter. That’s not what he is. He’s a guy that can play from all three levels. When he’s effective, that’s what he does. He scores around the rim. He makes a 3 and he drives the ball and gets fouled, and makes free-throws. Tonight, he did all three. He played at all three levels. He rebounded the ball well. Again, he’s a guy that we continue to work on now. As the season progresses, he’s going to have to develop his assist game. Guys are going to come to him and he’s going to get the ball and get other guys open shots, and increse his assist numbers. That’s something we’ve talked about as well, but I thought he was incredibly efficient and played outstanding tonight.”
On Avry Holmes…
“He’s competitive. It’s what I love about him. It’s what I loved about Rod. They’re competitive guys. They don’t shy away from playing their guy or the moment. They want to go compete. He’s still learning our offense. He’s still trying to get comfortable with a lot of different things that we’re throwing at him. He’s going to attack you in an aggressive way. I thought, early in the game, he was playing very well. He came off a couple of ball screens, made a runner, made the floater, got the and-1. He played well. Obviously, we know he’s a better shooter than his 1-for-5. He needs to make one more of those.”
On Sidy Djitte…
“Sidy has been a guy that we think has improved a lot throughout the course of the summer. He’s playing with more confidence. He’s finishing more plays around the rim. He’s still sore with the knee and maybe has lost a little bit of explosiveness. It will come back. It’s still sore, but he’s always been rugged. He’s always been physical. He’s worked on his game. He was 3-for-3 from the line, 3-for-3 from the field, finsihing plays at the rim. He’s always a good, solid player, in terms of physicality and rebounding and defending. Now his offensive game is starting to come, so it’s exciting to see.”