Clemson vs. Florida State Postgame Coaches’ Quotes

Clemson Head Coach Brad BrownellOverall thoughts:“It was a frustrating loss for us tonight. I don’t know why but we have gotten off to a slow start at home in some of these games and it has really cost us. Give Florida State credit. They came in and made shots in the first half and shot better than they normally shoot. They got into a really good rhythm. It was hard for us to get transition baskets and advantage situations. It was a problem in the first half. Our pace was better offensively in the first half. We had opportunities to come back and steal one and we didn’t make baskets, didn’t execute, and got beat.”On the play down the stretch:“We executed the first of those three plays out of time outs. We had practiced it a lot. It was a look to K.J (McDaniels) or (Devin) Booker. We got to ball to K.J. right in the middle of the court, he drove, and then missed a layup. I think Book missed the tip. The next one, we were trying to get a shot up for Milton (Jennings), but they sniffed it out. They are so athletic and can switch up all kinds of positions. They make those situations a lot harder than a lot of teams do, because of their athleticism. They made it hard for Rod to be able to see to pass. The last one was something we tried to draw up and Jordan didn’t understand completely what to do.”On attacking more in the second half:“We tried to get better ball reversal and get a better pace. We were able to transition in to some things and that helped, but to be honest in the second half, we didn’t get as many stops as we needed. Our defense let us down a few times and our offense played better.”On Florida State’s wealth of open looks:“Some of it was in transition with the mistakes we made. With Florida State, they have four outstanding shooters, not including Okaro White, who is improved, and made three today. They put pressure on you. I told our guys in the first half that they were making every shot and we had to hang in there. They were going to miss some of those same shots in the second half, and they did. But, they made a few big shots when they needed to as well.”Florida State Head Coach Leonard HamiltonOpening statement:“This was another typical ACC blowout-a four- or five-point victory by one team or another. In the ACC, it seems as though we always have a lot of closely contested games with two teams closely battling each other. I thought both teams played extremely hard today. I thought the fact that we had not won here but once in ten or 11 years was a motivating factor for our team. We had a lot of things we pointed to with our youngsters. It has been very difficult to come in here and play with the emotion I thought our guys played with today. It’s been kind of an elusive mindset with our players. You can say it’s because they’re young and learning, but today, instead of looking like a team of seven first-year players, I thought we looked like a team. I was very proud of the effort that they gave.”On his team’s efforts defending Devin Booker:“We played our fannies off on Booker. We really held him down, to 19 points and 11 rebounds. Believe me, I was proud of the defensive effort that we gave. That just shows what kind of character he has and what kind of player he is. They do such a good job of getting him the ball in spots where he can be effective. He’s just a world-class guy.”On senior Michael Snaer’s leadership:“Michael Snaer took just one shot in the first half. It says a lot about him. He was giving us tremendous leadership. It wasn’t about him individually. It was about us as a team, and I think that says a lot about his unselfish spirit, just wanting to lead a team that’s been kind of up-and-down and inconsistent to victory. That says a lot about him and his character. That’s what he did today. This probably was his best game, and he didn’t score in double figures.”