TPI Quotes from Clemson 95, Davidson 78

2016 Tire Pros Invitational, Thursday, November 17, 2016

Post-Game Quotes – Clemson 95, Davidson 78 – http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/recap?gameId=400915239

Clemson Head Coach Brad Brownell – “I thought our defense at the end of the first half was really good. We got a lot of deflections and got some steals and those led to some easy transition points.

“Bob McKillop teams are always going to make a run. They play the same whether they’re up 15 or down 15 so they were putting their down and made it tough for us in the second half. Gibbs and Aldridge are extremely talented guys. We knew they were going to take some 3s, they took a bunch and we didn’t rebound quite as well as I would have liked but I’m really pleased with the way the guys shared the ball offensively.

“We got some easy baskets in the first half and that helped jump-start us. Then we shot the ball pretty well. We ended up making nine 3s and you have to make free throws to (reach 95 points). We thought we had advantages to drive them and we tried to put our head down and especially when we’re in the bonus and try to attack.

“We don’t have a long bench right now, we’ve got a couple guys out so we kind of got to a few minutes there where we needed to slow the game down and kind of catch our breath. If you let Davidson keep playing they’ll play really fast.

“I think we have more balance than we’ve had in several years. I’ve told people all year that it will be hard for Jaron (Blossomgame) to average the same amount of points this year because I don’t know if he’ll get as many shots. Last year we had to go through him on so many opportunities, about every other possession. This year we have other guys who can just do more things.

“We have some guys who have gained confidence like Gabe DeVoe. Avry Holmes is another year older, Donte Grantham another year older, experienced player who now feel good about their games. Then a guy like Marcquise Reed who can put it on the ground and make some shots. We just have more balance and because of that we‘re a little bit tougher matchup. It was evident today by five guys in double figures.

(On only eight turnovers) “Taking care of the ball, valuing the ball, basketball sureness are all things we talk about every day in practice. It certainly is really good. We’re a little bit older and I hope that means we’re a little bit smarter but it’s certainly something we talk about in practice.”

Davidson Head Coach Bob McKillop – “Two clear statistics that jump out, 21-4 points off turnovers and 38-24 points in the paint. The defense Clemson played harassed us and forced us into being individuals instead of being a team and credit them with that defense because that was the catalyst for their offense.

“You start out making 3s and all of a sudden it’s like a poison because now you think you can make 3s. I think we made five of our first six and it looked as though we tried to shoot every other shot as a 3 instead of go inside-out. The demon of making those early 3s hung around our head quite a bit.

“We did a good job of getting pretty good looks throughout the game but they were premature looks. When you make a 3, you’re tempted to take another one and when you get a deficit you try to hurry up to catch up which leads to impatience and a quick 3. The fact they got the lead was what really put us in the mode of shooting a quick 3.”

Davidson guard Jack Gibbs – “I know I have to go out there and be a leader and do a better job of getting our team to do the things we do in practice and if it doesn’t start with me and Peyton (Aldridge) there’s no one else on our team that’s going to start it. Going forward we have to set the tone early and we’ll get better as the season goes on.’

Davidson forward Peyton Aldridge – “They were pretty patient with the ball and made sure they were getting good looks and partially that’s on us. We’ve got to make sure we’re putting pressure on the ball, trying to cause those turnoverts so they don’t get easy looks like they did. They shot the ball decently so they got some pretty open looks and we need to make sure we force that hand by putting pressure on the ball.”