What Clemson HC Brad Brownell Said Ahead of Its ACC Tournament Campaign

It is championship week inside college basketball, and the Clemson Tigers will begin their quest for a deep run on Wednesday night in the second round of the ACC Tournament.

The 9:30 p.m. time schedule has been something head coach Brad Brownell hasn’t been able to avoid over the last few seasons, having that time slot in both games in last year’s tournament against SMU and Louisville. However, he spoke about some key things that Clemson will need to do if a deep run is imminent this weekend.

This is what the head coach touched on in Monday afternoon’s interview:

The Questionable Opponent

One of the quirks of conference tournament week is how awaiting teams won’t have much time to prepare for one singular team. For Clemson, it will be two teams: Virginia Tech and Wake Forest.

The interesting part about this is that the Tigers fell to both of these squads in February. Brownell spoke about the key factor in what went wrong in that game on Monday, and it will be an important fix.

“I don’t think we guarded as well as we needed to in either game, and certainly some of that’s a credit to them and the way those guys played,” he said on Monday. “I thought they played with great pace and got off to good starts in both games.”

While Wake Forest is safely off the bubble, Virginia Tech need at least two wins to consider itself a candidate to be selected on Sunday for the Big Dance. Whoever Clemson plays, which Brownell added that his coaching staff is split between both scouting reports, will need to win the late-game scenarios against teams that are “well-coached.”

“It just felt like we were stung a few times, late-game stuff, but they’re both very talented, well-coached and will be difficult matchups,” Brownell added.

Shooting, Especially By Guards

Clemson’s guards have struggled to shoot the ball as of late, which has led the Tigers to a 34.4% shooting clip in ACC play. That’s 11th in the conference in doing so.

However, Brownell talked about the good things the backcourt did, especially in its win over Georgia Tech this past weekend.

“Dillon [Hunter], five assists, not turnovers last game. [Ace] Buck had like five assists, one turnover; those are winning plays,” he said. “So yeah, we’ve talked about it all year. We’re a team that we need everybody.”

When it comes to shooting, some of it is about confidence. However, with some of the performances over the last three games, including that home win over No. 24 Louisville, it allowed some of those players to get the confidence back with shooting. Clemson’s loss at North Carolina showed similar things.

“As a coach, your job is to try to make sure that they’re taking the right shots and that you’re trying to create good shots for them,” Brownell said. But, some of it is they have to work thorugh some of it in terms of confidence, and sometimes they just need to see one go in.

It’s as simple as that, and I think our guys are fine.”

Late Tipoff

The 9:30 p.m. tipoff means that Clemson will finish its time in Charlotte over its first three games, if the Tigers get that far, after midnight.

Brownell is used to it, having to adjust the body clock for the West Coast trip and had multiple games at the 9 p.m. tip so far this season. However, it’s helpful that went the Tigers adjust, they’ll be playing at the same time each game.

Especially if Clemson gets that first win on Wednesday, it brings momentum, incredibly valuable in the spot, into the next day at the same time against the North Carolina Tar Heels.

“If you win a game, you’re at night at 9:30, you’re just trying to get your guys to bed, which is really difficult because everybody’s amped up because you won a game, and then you’ve got to try to cram the next morning as best as you can,” Brownell said.

“Let them sleep for a while, and then cram the next morning, early afternoon,” he added. “It’s just different routines.”

While Clemson looks for that momentum, it will look to stop the incoming momentum from the winner of Tuesday’s game between the Hokies and the Demon Deacons. Brownell says that the concept “has power behind it”, and the Tigers will need to be sharp to avoid that exit.

However, he also touched on how important it is to have a bye, which will give Clemson the advantage on that end of the floor in terms of fatigue.

“You get the advantage of not having to do it,” Brownell said. “You certainly want the bye in this tournament, so that you have a much better chance of winning the whole thing.”

The Tigers will hit the road on Tuesday, then begin their postseason campaign on Wednesday night with hopes to make a deep run to that similar of the one two years ago in the NCAA Tournament.