Clemson basketball update: Tigers going into final stretch, ACC strength woes

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Brad Brownell’s group is surging as March approaches.

With four games remaining in the regular season, plenty is still out there before the postseason begins.

Brownell spoke with the media for his ACC coaches call Monday, addressing Christian Reeves’ status moving forward, a potential merger between the Big East and ACC, and his group’s focus for the next few weeks.

*On the state of the ACC entering the postseason

It is no secret that this year hasn’t been kind to the ACC.

Compared to the SEC, the disparity in teams making the postseason is incredibly drastic, sparking debate among fans.

Brownell weighed in on the state of things, as well as potential fixes to the solution when it comes to the issue.

“It's disappointing, obviously,” Brownell said. “I mean, I understand a lot of our teams, maybe didn't perform as well in the non-conference, and that's probably a big reason why we are where we are. Some of the same things were said last year and that's what's frustrating. We finished, tied for fifth in the ACC last year, and went to the elite eight. Kevin's team was in the play-in game. They were like 10th in our league and went to the Final Four. So I do think our league is better than it usually gets credit for, and probably the same a little bit this year. Teams get better over the year. I don't know that that really matters. Once you kind of get locked in, I think it becomes very difficult for things to change. I think that's been a problem, and I've talked about whether we should be playing more non-conference games in January and February and things like that, but based on the way things have always been, I'm not surprised that that's what the brackets look like right now.”

*On Christian Reeves’ status

The former Duke Blue Devil Reeves missed Saturday’s win over SMU with an ankle injury, providing a test to Clemson’s rotation when its size is challenged.

Brownell couldn’t provide a concrete answer on Reeves' status ahead of Wednesday's matchup with Notre Dame but laced his answer with slight optimism.

“No, not really,” Brownell said. “I know he had treatment yesterday, treatment this morning. I’m optimistic, but I have no real idea whether he'd be available or not.”

*On the focus for the final four regular season games

Clemson’s invitation to the Big Dance is virtually set, and has been for some time. We asked Brownell about the challenge of staying focused with the postseason ahead, and he provided insight as to what makes this team unique.

“Just that we're trying to prepare to play our best basketball, and you got to continue to have great practices,” Brownell said. “You got to build really good habits through practice and your play. We've got a game against Notre Dame here on Wednesday, a team that beat us last year. We had a hard time guarding Marcus Burton and Tae Davis. Both guys were a problem, so we certainly have our full attention on Notre Dame and what we have in front of us this week, but I think our guys have done a good job for the most part with that. We have an older group. As you mentioned, there is a lot of talking in the community about the excitement of the ACC and NCAA tournaments. That's to be expected, but we still are trying to compete for an ACC regular season championship. We talked about it a while back. Obviously, we need some help from Duke, but I think our guys are still motivated and hungry to do the best they can each time out.”

*On the idea of a Big East/ACC merger

Conference ideas continue to float.

Rick Pitino and Dan Hurley floated the idea of the Big East and ACC merging over the weekend, and Brownell got to provide his opinion on how such an idea could work.

“Man, this is the first I've heard of it,” Brownell said. “I guess either I've been in a bunker, or I don't know how long this has been out, but I certainly haven't heard anything about it, so I have to see details before I really make any kind of comments. It would be great to play some of their teams in terms of games. It would be phenomenal matchups and some great venues, all that kind of stuff. We would have a 29-team league, but I don't know how many teams are in their league. I think it's 11, so you won't play everybody, and I don't know. I mean, it's so far out there right now that I don't know that I have any great answers to it, but certainly, I can understand the excitement of playing some of those teams.”

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