Clemson vs. Furman Postgame Coaches’ Quotes

Dec. 13, 2009

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Clemson Head Coach Oliver Purnell

On his team’s overall performance: “I was disappointed in the way we guarded the three-point shot. That was our emphasis because we knew Furman would need threes to beat us. But I liked our energy and effort coming out of exams. That showed a great deal of mental toughness from our guys.”

On the play of the Booker brothers: “Devin’s been coming. He continues to improve. I would like to see him play more physical on the defensive end, by boxing out and hitting the glass. Trevor hit the boards hard today. He’s our emotional and energetic leader. We’ve fed off of him for the last couple of years.”

On his team’s energy at the start of the second half: “As a team, we came out and played hard. We started with energy and finished with energy. That has only been a problem once that I can think of. Hopefully, we learned that lesson against Illinois.”

On the importance of this stretch for the freshmen: “It’s very important for us to integrate the young players into what we’re doing. We made a conscious effort to get those guys more minutes tonight. Obviously, you want to win every game you can, but this stretch is about getting those guys ready for ACC play.”

Furman Head Coach Jeff Jackson

Overall Thoughts: “We just did not do a good job. They did a great job today. The press got to us and they are just more physical than we are. Trevor (Booker) gave us issues inside. We just weren’t as tough with the ball as we wanted to be. We play games like this to help us improve. It is good to come into an environment like this and I hope that it prepares us for the next game.”

On Clemson scoring off of defense: “That is just how they play and that is how they want to play. They did a nice job of creating turnovers and scoring off of them.”

On competing early: “That’s what we have to do is get out early. We just didn’t do a good job of staying with it. Until you see the press and experience it, you can’t emulate it in practice so it is tough to play against. It is a great lesson for us.”

On the play of Colin Reddick: “He is a young guy, but he has the presence we need. We want to leave him out there and let him play and gain some more experience.”