Brad Brownell was in a hurry to get started on watching UAB film after his press conference Sunday evening, but a question about Saturday's experience at the ACC Tournament brought back the unsettling experience.
Brownell was still mad. He just hates losing that much.
The NCAA Tournament news overshadowed Brownell's press conference pyrotechnics that followed the overtime loss to North Carolina, and it's worth revisiting and examining because it says something about Brownell and his willingness to stick up for Clemson.
The press conference, a replay of which you can view here, is must-see stuff for any Clemson fan.
None of the reporters openly questioned his decision not to call a timeout on the last possession of regulation, but Brownell stiff fumed as if he were getting blasted for it. He also noted the advantage North Carolina enjoys when it plays at Greensboro Coliseum, and he suggested that maybe the tournament should be staged in Greenville to give Clemson a similar advantage. He said he was sick and tired of reading about success stories at other ACC schools while seeing precious little written about the pretty remarkable progress his own team made this season.
Basically, Brownell wasn't taking any crap. He walked into that press conference ready to take on all challenges, even if no challenges were presented.
To the detached observer, it was probably a bit much. But to Clemson folks, it was perfect.
I wasn't around when Rick Barnes was here, but it's not hard to pick up the essence of his presence from all the anecdotes that have become legend. The man took on Dean Smith, and he had a chip on his shoulder. His actions basically said: "The rest of the ACC isn't going to walk all over us anymore. Not when I'm here."
Oliver Purnell was more passive during his tenure here. Off the top of my head, I can recall one time he boiled over and that was during and after a regular-season loss at Georgia Tech in 2007.
"At some point you have to fight for your team," he said then. "All we want for our ball club is to have a fair shake. It's a battle out here. I take nothing away from Georgia Tech, who won the basketball game and my hat goes off to them. But as we come down the stretch, I want everyone to understand that Clemson basketball deserves a fair shake."
Surely there were other times Purnell didn't like the officiating or wasn't happy about other circumstances. But invariably he had calmed down by the time he sat down for the press conferences and just preferred to let it go.
Brownell didn't think there was some conspiracy to get North Carolina into the title game (he thought the officiating was inconsistent). He didn't think the ACC Tournament needs to be moved away from Greensboro (he realizes that's the best place to stage it).
He was just mad. And he wasn't going to let anyone think of walking over his program.
The man fits in well here.
-- Last year when Clemson was conducting its coaching search to replace Purnell, a coach from UAB expressed interest in the job through an intermediary. His name was Mike Davis.
Clemson and Davis never spoke, in part because Clemson asked Bobby Knight about Davis.
Let's just say Knight didn't exactly give Davis a glowing recommendation.
-- I'm guessing the teams that are part of the "First Four" will see their results officially recorded as wins or losses in the NCAA Tournament.
But pardon me if I'm a bit slow to buy in.
If, say, Clemson and UAB are playing for the right to be a 12 seed, then how can these games be described as anything but play-in games?
The view from here is that an asterisk should accompany anything that happens in this weird setup.
-- And finally, some links to get you up to speed on tonight's game:
Here's a column on Mike Davis, with an unfortunate typo in the opening paragraph.
Mike Davis eased onto a coach in his hotel room Monday afternoon, kicking out his legs and extending his arms into a long, relaxed stretch.
-- Ron Green Jr. of The Charlotte Observer writes about Clemson's quick turnaround.
"It's strange, no doubt," Brownell said. "There's so much going on. It's not even like a regular fly up and play a game type of trip.
"There are so many other things going on, you really have to focus on why you're here. It happened so quickly and it felt like (Monday) was all about other things and very little about basketball."
-- In The Birmingham News, Brownell raves about UAB point guard Aaron Johnson.
"There aren't many teams that have a guy with that much pure speed, just pure open court speed. It's just that he can get past you, I think, before you even realize it. He's already in the paint."
-- Also in the Birmingham paper, this columnist takes grave offense to national pundits criticizing the inclusion of UAB in the tournament.
-- And here's a cool story on Brownell's homecoming.
LW
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