Brownell analyzes three-game skid, answers going into FSU game

Brownell says Chase Hunter is fine and working on a offensive slump right now.

Brandon Rink - Assoc. Editor / Staff Writer - Monday, February 13 2023

The Clemson men’s basketball team entered a three-game run with Boston College (road), Miami (home) and UNC (road) holding a 1.5-game lead in the ACC standings after a 10-1 conference start.

Three consecutive losses later, Brad Brownell’s Tigers (18-7, 10-4 ACC) sit just a half-game up on NC State (20-6, 10-5) for the last bye to the ACC Tournament quarterfinals before the Wolfpack head to Syracuse on Tuesday and Clemson hosts Florida State (8-18, 6-9) on Wednesday (7 p.m./RSN).

So, what happened?

“I don’t think that it’s been any one thing,” Brownell said Monday on a ACC coaches Zoom conference. “I mean, North Carolina played great on Saturday. Caleb Love was phenomenal, some of the shot making. We actually played OK for about the first 25 minutes. I think the game was probably closer than it felt most of the time. You know, we played pretty well against Miami. We really did. Offensively we played very well. They made some tough shots and some big shots late in the game. Made some winning plays. And we just didn’t play very well at Boston College. I thought Boston College played well. We actually started the game good there.

“All three games we’ve had the lead at the beginning of the game, first 10 minutes we’re leading and we just kinda given it away a little bit and got out-played in the second half.”

Identifying issues on Clemson’s end, Brownell is looking to composure on offense and in the transition game.

“When things have gone bad a little bit on offense – at BC and Carolina I thought we got a little too individualistic in our play and tried to do a little too much one-on-one,” said Brownell. “We didn’t stay with things in our offense well enough. We didn’t show enough poise. We were terrible the another night in transition. We got killed in transition. I think we had seven turnovers in transition on offense for us. So, we’ve got to do better with that, and then our transition defense wasn’t great either. So we’ve got to be better in those areas.”

Brownell and the coaching staff says they are evaluating the lineup, which has featured experienced guards Chase Hunter and Brevin Galloway in the backcourt primarily (Galloway missed the BC game due to injury) and a three-forward look of Hunter Tyson, Ian Schieffelin and PJ Hall, but he maintains starts haven’t been the issue.

“The hard part is, we’ve gotten off to good starts in every game,” Brownell said. “We were ahead at Boston College. We were ahead against Miami and we were ahead against North Carolina. I think it was 10-4 just on Saturday. Six minutes we’re playing really well, and to be honest with you, we just watched it again this morning – we were getting much better shots the first seven minutes of the game. But then when it started going bad a little bit, we weren’t able to sustain. They did a nice job of getting some offensive rebounds and they did a nice job in transition. And we did a terrible job in transition, so we were constantly playing 5-on-5 and that became problematic.

“The game flipped when Caleb Love made two 3s back-to-back and we were up 17-16 and it went the other way and from there we didn’t respond very well…We’re looking at it, but to be honest with you, getting off to positive starts hasn’t been a problem.”

Brownell was asked about his starting point guard Hunter specifically, who scored 26 and the go-ahead bucket at Florida State in his Jan. 28 return from injury (foot/ankle) but has shot 10-of-42 in the last three with one 3-point make in 16 tries.

“He’s fine. I think he’s pressing a little when we get behind,” Brownell said. “And he takes a few that are a little quick and at times there a few at the end of the shot clock every once in a while that your numbers get skewed a bit that way. He’s obviously not shooting the ball as well recently, but I’m not worried about it. He’s going to keep shooting. He’s the guy who won the game for us at Pitt and won the game for us at Florida State. There are times that guys go through little slumps. He’s probably in a little bit of one, but he’s in the gym right now working.

“So, got a lot of confidence in Chase. He’s a really good player. We’ve got to make sure that he’s shooting the right shots. There are times that he’s shooting a few tough ones so that’s always going to make his percentage go down.”

Clemson has slipped to 77th in the NET NCAA resume ranking and dropped from the ‘Last Four In’ to not even in the ‘First Four Out’ in CBS Sports’ latest projection after Saturday's 91-71 loss at UNC.