Clemson vs. East Carolina Postgame Quotes

Jan. 3, 2009

Clemson Head Coach Oliver Purnell

On his general feelings of his team’s performance: “Obviously, we’re pleased to get to 14-0 against an ECU team that gave us problems, particularly shooting the three-ball. In the second half, we were able to get a few stops in a row and we got the lead out to a working margin. Then we were able to get the ball inside; we did a good job of that.”

On his bench players: “Jerai played well, Andre played well, Tanner played well, I thought Bobo [freshman center Catalin Baciu] played well for a short stretch there. It’s important because we want to play nine or 10 guys.”

On whether he felt his team took too many jump shots: “No, I don’t think so. I know we got the ball inside in the second half with regularity. As long as we’ve got balance with threes, free throws, and twos, that’s fine.”

On whether his team is ready for ACC play: “I think so. We’re playing an excellent Alabama team next. Steele and Gee are as good as we’ve faced. I’m not going to say we’re not ready. We’ve won on the road in the ACC, we’ve won on the road in the Big Ten, we’ve won on the road in the SEC, so I’m not worried about it.”

East Carolina Coach Mack McCarthy

Overall Thoughts: “I thought we did a lot of things better today, there are obviously some things we would like to improve on. We had a lot of choices to make in the first and were able to break the pressure which gave us some wide open shots.”

On the play of James Legan: “He did a good job and I thought he played well overall. His effort today was great.”

On Clemson’s team: “They have a lot of answers and the players complement each other really well. Rivers and Stitt are both good players and the post players are doing a great job. Purnell has done a great job of coaching and putting together a team that really balances each other out.”

On the play of his team: “Our rotation is not bad, we definitely miss Joyner. All of these guys are capable of coming in and playing.”

On Next Game (vs. Tulane): “They have some guys back and they seem to be getting better as the season goes on. It will be a big game for us and we have to be prepared for it.”