Clemson at Louisville Postgame Quotes

Louisville Head Coach Chris Mack

(Opening statement) "We were really talking about playing with a ton more energy the last few days. I really thought our team played with tremendous energy, really throughout the game. We had a little bit of a lull on offense, which, which has happened to us down the stretch, you sort of get that weird feeling, but I really think the story of the game was our ability to play with that much energy for 40 minutes. We didn't play with Malik really much of the second half - on purpose. I thought Darius (Perry) had his best game since I've been coaching him, not just on offense… I think sometimes you equate the ball goes in, so you're doing everything right, but he's really been locked down on the defensive end the last three games. He's made a difference for our team. But it's really good to see a guy who puts in the time. He has confidence from three, he's a really good shooter. Sometimes you get perplexed why he goes 1-for-4 from three, but it was really good to see him knock down the shots that he did today. I thought we did a really good job on Aamir Simms, who I think is a very unique challenge at the five position. I give Steve (Enoch) a lot of credit, Malik (Williams) a lot of credit. Dwayne (Sutton) when he played the undersized five role and then we had different guys on him, because we switched at times, that had a battle in the post from our perimeter players and they did really good job. I think it starts with how he plays and what they run. And they love to slip ball screens. Coach Mike made a huge point to our team of not giving up any slips. There were a few games earlier in the year where they got six, seven, eight slips in the game for layups, and we didn't give up one today. I think when you do that you really show that you're paying attention to detail. So, you combine that with our energy on the way we shared a ball, and I thought that was a really good game for our team.

(They took over 60 percent of their shots from three. Was it a point of emphasis to keep them out of the lane?) "It always is. But, I would tell you is that they are a team that shoots an awful lot of them -38 I think is high for them. When you get down 15,18,20 points in the second half, I think you're going to take the cleanest, quickest look you can. We felt like because they shoot it from all five positions – Aamir Simms will shoot it from the five - it really starts with dribble penetration and not allowing the ball in the lane so that your defenders are a little bit better positioned to challenge shots or not allow them to get them off.

(What was working for Darius Perry today?) "I think if any player sees a couple go in, they gain a lot of confidence. But what I like is his last couple games he hasn't really tied his defensive energy and toughness and readiness to how the ball is going in or the amount of shots that he's getting, and that's a sign of a mature player - more mature than he was a year ago. But it's great, love to see that for a guy like DP knock one in after the other. He's a good shooter. I keep saying that and showed it tonight."

(It seemed like your team did an exceptional job, until that last flurry, of keeping Clemson off the offensive backboards. Is that conceptually what you want is to kind of force that tough shot and get the rebound?) "It's for anybody we play. Their field goal percentage as a team was awfully low. If you can limit them to getting one shot, that puts more pressure on their first shot. But you're right, we were a little bit smaller, because we didn't play Malik in the last 12 minutes of the game or so. We had Dwayne at the five for a long time. That presents challenges, because when Dwayne is guarding Aamir Simms and he goes dribble hand-off or ball-screen, we'll switch, and so now you have a smaller player that's guarding on a block-out out, their best offensive rebounder. So he didn't get them all, we didn't finish the job in that area, but again I gave Clemson a lot of credit. I told our guys at halftime that we are not playing a team that's going to fold its tent. That is not who Clemson is. They're very well coached, their kids play hard, and I was really excited to watch our guys come out of halftime knowing that, and actually increasing the lead in the first four minutes."

(On Samuell Williamson being more aggressive offensively) "I just think Sam's getting better. Defense prevented him from being on the floor in longer stretches earlier. I think he's regained his confidence on the offensive end. Tough moment for him there right there right at the end of the half, but, he's offensive rebounding, he's got a great pull-up game, he can finish around the rim, he hit that floater in the second half. We run some stuff for him, and he's just going to continue to get better and better. But what I'm most pleased about is where he's grown the defensive end, which he had no idea what he was doing when he got here.

(Was there anything he was doing technically that may have contributed to Darius Perry's low numbers earlier in the season?) "No, I don't think so. I think we have a team that has a lot of guys that are capable of doing things on the offensive end. Not every night is it going to be your night. Certain teams are going to take things away from our team. I do think that it's a little bit harder to get yourself going when you only maybe get three, four shot attempts in the game. So, that's sort of where Darius is at times. But tonight, our ability to pass and make the right play and the ball getting sprayed around was really fun to watch. We've got to continue that. And whether Darius becomes a recipient, or Jordan, or Dwayne, the teams that can really go far don't really care who gets the end reward. But, found Darius tonight, I was really happy to see him so confident and knocking shots down."

(On defending Aamir Simms) "I think we did it as a team. I think Steve (Enoch) started us off and took the personal challenge. You have to guard him just as effectively and as well around the basket as you do on the perimeter. I think that's hard for Steve. Basically, what he sees every game is a guy around the basket. Athough we try to simulate it, I thought Jae'Lyn Withers our redshirt freshman did a phenomenal job playing that role this week. There were a couple times where he was cooking a few of our guys in practice. It was good to see that Steve stepped up to the challenge. Anytime a guy doesn't have a great night I think it's a little bit of everything. He'd probably tell you, 'I didn't play very well.' I think our defense, primarily the guy guarding him, did a great job, but I also think we crowded him when he got the ball in the post. When he caught the ball on the perimeter, I thought our guys tightened the floor up on him."

(On Nwora's game in the post) "It's really important. A lot of teams are choosing to put a 6'2 guy on him. It's not just as simple as, 'Okay, we'll just put him under the basket.' People think that but that's not how Jordan has ever really played. We've really worked hard in the last few weeks, but we worked hard over the summer, getting him to slow down and getting him to his spot without pushing off with that off arm or hooking a guy. Being able to space the floor in a way that makes it very, very easy for him if he does get doubled or tripled. If teams are going to choose to do that, he's got to make them pay by getting to a spot and shooting over top of them and offensive rebounding. Which he did in the last game. He had three or four offensive rebounds, not so much tonight. We are going to use him in any way we can because he's such a threat."

Clemson Head Coach Brad Brownwell

(Opening Statement) "Congratulations to Louisville. I thought they played really well in the first half, especially. I think they probably didn't play as well in their last game and I'm sure they had some difficult conversations about that. They were more than ready and played at an extremely high level today. I didn't think our guys responded quite as well as we have been. We got punched in the mouth a little bit, and I thought we let our outside shooting woes really affect us defensively. Our defense in the first half was embarrassing. Second half, we did a little better, battled a little bit, but obviously it was just too much. They played really well today."

(Coach tough night for right night for Aamir Simms, Obviously, a lot of things, begin with him for you guys, he is a really good player. Was it more of him having an off night or was it something Louisville did specifically defensively?) "I think Louisville played very well defensively. I don't know, there's certainly some plays I think Aamir would like to have back. I've got to really watch Aamir. We asked him to do more than he should be asked to do at times, and I think there's times he might be fatigued. And he's playing tired out there. But all credit to Louisville I thought they played terrific defense today, and with great energy in organization and just, I thought they played outstanding personnel."

(You've seen several the good teams in the ACC. Do you think Louisville looks like the team to beat at this point?) "That's hard to say. I think they're as good as anybody. I mean Duke, Florida State, and Louisville have clearly separated themselves. We played all three and, they're all extremely talented and well coached. Some of it is just how you're playing that day. I think Louisville was really ready and played at a high level today, and if they made shots in the first half like today, they could beat a lot of teams. Some of that was us missing shots and then just not competing like we needed to. Chris does a great job and defensively they're extremely sound. They're difficult to get easy baskets against. And you're constantly having to run really good offense and, you saw when you have to make a lot of outside shots and, a lot of teams can't do that consistently enough to beat them, because they can score as well. Jordan Nwora didn't even have a great game for them, but Darius Perry makes five threes. You know that's a mark of a team that's got a chance to be good when you've got other guys. David Johnson all those guys can really play and again, Chris had them really set up well defensively, and they compete."

(I guess along that line how much was it a surprise that Perry was kind of an offensive guy instead of (Jordan) Nwora?) "A little bit. I mean, obviously we're putting a lot of attention on (Jordan) Nwora, and we're guarding Perry. He wasn't the number one guy on our scouting report but we know he's a good player and we recruited him. That's the hard part when you're playing teams of this amount of talent. It's hard to guard them all, obviously it's hard for us with (Steven) Enoch, (Steven) Enoch's a big guy and Aamir (Simms) is not quite as big, so we've got to do some things from some other areas to try and give him some help and attention. Today they were just really good."

(Coach it seemed like there was a lot of focus in the screen and roll game to keep David Johnson out of the lane, he was getting a lot of attention. Was that just part of the scouting, trying to keep him out of the lane?) "Yeah, I mean that's part of it. And that's part of it with a lot of guys. He's extremely talented, great with the ball, and he has size so if he does get in there, he's more difficult than some guys to guard just because of his size and athleticism. So certainly, yes that was part of it."

(Brad, you took 38 of your 61 field goal attempts from outside the 3-point point line, was that part of the plan, their defense dictated that, or because you fell behind?) "It wasn't. Would I have liked to have taken a few less sure, especially the way we were shooting, but, we're a smaller team that's going to have to spread the court. We're going to have to make some shots in a lot of games, especially against talented teams. 38 is probably a few too many, I would have liked to have gotten to the basket a few more times. The first half is hard when they're scoring every time and you're dealing with their set defense. It's not easy to then be able to get it inside there and do enough good things."

(When you were recruiting Perry, was he a different player than what we see now? This is a rare night for him, in terms of scoring.) "He's extremely competitive, a very good defender, especially on the ball. He's a tough, hard driving guard that gives a lot of people problems. Obviously, he's worked really hard to continue to improve his shooting, and when you make shots like today, he's an elite level player."

University of Louisville Athletics

Players Mentioned

David Johnson

Jordan Nwora

Darius Perry

Samuell Williamson

Jae'Lyn Withers

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