Clemson vs. North Carolina Central postgame quotes

Clemson Head Coach Brad Brownell

Opening statement:

“Very good opening night; I thought our guys were really locked in. I was proud of the way they played, the last couple of days of practice the guys were really locked in. They (North Carolina Central) run a lot of different things and they execute their offense well but we didn’t give them anything easy, we didn’t turn the ball over and offensively we executed well and got some easy baskets. They had to play our five on five, and that is pretty good when Landry (Nnoko) is in there blocking shots, JB (Jaron Blossomgame) is blocking shots. They didn’t shoot the ball well from the perimeter so that didn’t make things any easier. I thought we played really well, we only had six turnovers and made our free throws … so a really good first game.”

On a confidence booster:

“The Lenoir Rhyne game is a little different because you’re playing against four guys, sometimes five, that can make threes. It is so much different than what they practice against that it causes some problems, and we got into foul trouble and never had any rhythm and that is a credit to Lenoir Rhyne. We got a little tight, I thought our guys certainly were woken up a little bit by that to be reminded that when you don’t play well and the other team makes some shots, it can get hard real quick. But we never let that happen tonight.”

On Nnoko’s first few minutes providing a spark defensively:

“I have said all along that he is the quarterback of the defense. He is the guy that is our rim protector, he is a bright guy that has length to block shots, he is tough, smart and experienced so he knows what he is dealing with most nights. He is talking to the other guys about what he can see and that is what we should be doing. So that is what we expect out of Landry and that is what he does. There is tremendous value in that and that is what he brings to the paint.”

On the overall play of his defense:

“Well obviously it sparks you, the blocks you take and turn into transition offense, you get numbers, you get to run and get in a flow. Transitioning back (for the opponent) can be problematic. I thought we were good to work on some ball screening stuff in the middle of the court and our guys executed it well. I thought Jordan Roper made some good decisions in the middle of the floor, Donte (Grantham) made some good decisions, and we got JB the ball in the middle of the floor. We like 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. We handled a bunch of different defenses, 3-2 and 2-3 zones, soft presses and man to man, so i was proud of the way our guys played.”