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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

January 10, 2011

Brad Brownell

THE MODERATOR: We have Clemson head coach Brad Brownell. Coach, if you could, a few comments about your team and we'll open it up for questions.
COACH BROWNELL: Just proud of the way our guys played. We beat a very good Miami team on Saturday and had a bunch of guys step up and play well, notably Jerai Grant, Demontez Stitt, our two seniors. Andre Young had a couple good shots late. A big win for our guys moving forward. Now we play a talented Georgia Tech team, who can really score the ball.
THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up for questions.

Q. Coach, I guess with the winter weather on the ground, the tentative game plan is for tomorrow night.
COACH BROWNELL: I really don't know. I'm new to Clemson here. I guess this kind of weather hasn't really bothered my situation where we've been at Wright State, we haven't had to worry about these things. As far as I know, everything is still full go. We're going to have practice here shortly and try to prepare for Georgia Tech.

Q. A few thoughts on Georgia Tech, the challenges they'll present for you guys.
COACH BROWNELL: Really athletic group. Shumpert and Rice are two wings that make difficult shots. They shoot over the top of you. They'll be difficult matchups for us. Brian Oliver is a guy who is playing with a lot of confidence, shoots the ball from three. They've got a lot of different guys that can make threes and stretch their defense. Really score the ball pretty well.
Just watched the BC tape. It was a bit of a shootout. Both teams got into a roll, got comfortable offensively. We have to defend better maybe than we did a little bit against Miami if we're going to win.

Q. Could you talk a little bit about the play of Milton Jennings. He's been in double figures each of the last four games, and rebound games of 9 and 10.
COACH BROWNELL: Yeah, Milt, like most young big guys is still trying to feel his way at times. He and Devin have both taken turns, started some, all those different things. They play similar amounts of minutes, so I never really worry about who is starting, who is playing at what point in the game.
I think Milt has gotten comfortable here recently. Has made a few shots both from the perimeter and around the basket. He's got a good set of hands so he rebounds the ball pretty well when he gets his hands on it. I think he does a good job of securing balls and can sometimes even rebound a little out of his area.
He's playing with more confidence. Both those guys are young players that need to be confident to be successful. It's nice to see them have a little bit of success and try and gain in confidence so they continue to play aggressively.
But certainly when they play well, it gives us a much better chance to win. I think Milt is a guy that here recently has started to feel more comfortable in what we're trying to do. I think he has a pretty good understanding of some of our screening situations. As a result, he feels comfortable when he gets a shot, he's in a position and tries to take it and make it.

Q. Brad, Shumpert is having a tremendous overall season in Georgia Tech. He leads them in scoring, assists, steals, rebounding. How hard is it to prepare for a player that has so many aspects to his game that he can hurt you in so many different ways?
COACH BROWNELL: It's difficult because he can beat you in a lot of different ways, which is what you're asking. He can beat you by jumping up and shooting it. He can beat you by penetrating and pitching into a guy for another three, penetrating for help and dropping it into a big man. He can rebound the ball, bring the ball on the break quickly without an outlet pass, which puts more pressure on your defense. He certainly is a handful and he's confident. He's taking shots at the end of games and expecting them to go in and looks good doing it. You're more surprised when they don't go in than when they do.
He's a difficult matchup for us. He certainly is a tough matchup for a lot of people. He's a very talented guy that can do a lot of different things. I admire his versatility.

Q. They've also gone with a big lineup their last several games. What particular problems does that cause?
COACH BROWNELL: Well, it's more of a traditional lineup which maybe Paul has felt like he's needed rebounding or whatnot. It's hard to know. But the Holsey kid played great at BC, was like 8 for 10, finished plays around the basket. I'm sure he provided some size defensively to help a little bit.
It's more of a traditional lineup than when they play the smaller guys, Brian Oliver at the four. Certainly that presents problems because of his shooting ability. But there's some other things that they probably gain by going with a bigger lineup. But that's a little bit more traditional. He certainly is playing better.
I think the biggest thing is being able to add another guy that plays well for your team. If you find another guy that can get going, find a roll, get comfortable, I think we're all looking for that at this time of the year. You're trying to solidify eight or nine guys that you feel really good about. When you find a guy that maybe hasn't played as much, starts to play a little bit better, then you got to think about ways to get them more minutes. It seems that Holsey has done that.

Q. Coach, just wanted to ask you, how comfortable is your team having won seven straight?
COACH BROWNELL: We're better than we've been. But we should be. We've been practicing for a while. I don't know if we're where I want us to be. It was a great win for us against Miami. Keeps some momentum going for us. Certainly gives our guys some confidence to know they can make some plays at end of games and win a game scoring a ball like we did in that game as opposed to just stopping some which we've had to do in some previous games.
We're like most teams at this time: we're all still trying to tweak the way we play a little bit, figure a few things out. We have our formula for success, but it doesn't always work that way. Now you're trying to tinker with lineups and get guys to understand not only your system but how to play together.
I think as much as anything, we're beginning to understand better what each player does on our team better and how to help them be successful. I think that's what's helping us here a little bit in stretch.
THE MODERATOR: Coach, thanks for taking time being with us today.

End of FastScripts

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