Brad Brownell discusses what motivates Clemson to bounce back from loss

The Clemson Tigers are going to need to bounce back from a tough loss to NC State quickly, and head coach Brad Brownell knows that a key part of doing that is going to come down to how the team is motivated.

Clemson will only have until Wednesday to figure out that motivation, but as Brownell explained, that can be difficult to do after a letdown.

“It’s not just playing a team that beat you,” Brad Brownell said. “Obviously, Georgia Tech had a nice win tonight, I guess. We want to win for us. These guys and how hard we all work, the amount of time that everybody puts into this. This is a disappointed locker room and there were so many good plays made by our players in this game.”

Ultimately, Brad Brownell explained that it’s emotional because of how much effort goes into each game, and when a team loses a heartbreaking loss, it can take time that basketball teams don’t have to bounce back.

“That’s why these games are so hard and so painful for coaches, players, fans, everybody. It’s with the players and coaches the amount of work that goes into getting ready for a game, the amount of film coaches watch, the amount of time players prepare to put in to get it, and then one or two plays doesn’t go your way, man, I tell you guys a lot it’s not easy to fill your tank back up and get ready to go again in 48 hours. That’s what’s hard, you know? It’s not football where you have a week. NC State did have a week. Maybe that helped them a little bit. We all kind of get a break like that sometimes. Sometimes you get an extra day and maybe somebody else doesn’t. It’s kind of just part of it.”

The game against NC State was a close one, with Clemson only losing by one point and with NC State scoring on their final possession to take the lead.

“But give those guys credit. They were really ready to play and juiced up and they played very well. And I thought we played well for most of the game. You’ve got to coach your guys, you’ve got to correct mistakes. There’s certainly things we’ve got to correct, but I’m proud of the way our guys competed and a lot of the playmaking and shot making and tough things they did.”

Wednesday’s game against Georgia Tech is Clemson’s second time playing the Yellow Jackets this season, having lost to Georgia Tech by three points in the middle of January.

Brad Brownell defends Clemson’s final play vs. NC State

The final play didn’t go how Brad Brownell and Clemson wanted. Still, Brownell defended the team’s final play after the game.

“If you go back and look at it, Chase [Hunter] is at the rim. Now, Chase should have dropped it off. Ian [Sieiffelin] is wide open on a drop off for a layup, but Chase made a great play. He got it in there with speed,” Brownell said.

“[NC State] did not do as good a job as Virginia did in the same scenario, and so, he got around him and got to the rim, and they came over and contested it hard. It was a good defensive play. You know, obviously, you’re taking it to draw a foul, get to the rim, make a play. You know, everybody wants to do that against Virginia. They were upset that we shoot a wide open three. Now, we’re going to second-guess a guy going to the rim?”