Mike Brey Notebook: Clemson
Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey spoke following Notre Dame’s 67-58 loss at Clemson, which was his team’s fourth-straight loss.
On the loss:
"Give credit to Clemson. I thought they made big shots and big plays in a good game. I loved our fight. We kept trying to comeback, but Sims three in the corner was a backbreaker. I didn’t know he was a three-point shooter.
"I’m impressed with Clemson. A really gifted offensive team. They have the look this year.
"Our group is a little wounded. We have to keep scratching and clawing. We have a bye week now. Hopefully, it gives us a chance to get Matt Farrell 100 percent and in shape and to also rest some guys."
On dealing with injuries:
“We keep slapping stuff together on the fly. I thought (John) Mooney took another step forward for us in a big game and tough atmosphere. Defensively, we’re doing the job, and we’re rebounding the ball. We’ve done that because that’s out of survival.
“We can’t score enough and find an offensive rhythm to beat good teams. This darn league has all good teams.
On big shots from Clemson:
“We couldn’t get over the hump. We had some good looks from the three-point line, and we’ll have to shoot it well to beat anyone in the league. Clemson’s size and length around the bucket made it hard to drive. It was hard for Martinas Geben to score in the post, so you have to make some jump shots over the top.
“We made a few to make it interesting, but to steal a win, you have to make more.”
On his team:
“I love our group. We’re giving ourselves a chance. I told them my dream for the bye week was to be 4-3, and that was as good as it was going to get for us. We’re 3-4. We’re not dead in the water, but we’re searching. We’re trying to figure out where we can get another league win.
“We have a lot of basketball to play. We can get rested and healthier by next Saturday with this bye week.”
On the team not giving up:
“I think because of our senior class, and because they’re stable, we only have the one freshman. It’s an older group. They will continue to come out and do their thing. I would be really disappointed if we changed that way.
“The seniors have set a great tone. What they have been talking about since we lost Bonzie has been good stuff. It doesn’t get any easier in this league, and no one feels sorry for you. We certainly understand that, so we’ll get away from the game for a couple of days and get back into a good practice routine to see if we can scratch one out against Virginia Tech to get to 4-4. 4-4 would feel like 8-0 for our group right now.”
On rebounding:
“We’ve been doing that. One of the things we needed to do when Bonzie went down was really being on the backboard, especially the offensive backboard. We have to get second chances.
“We’re not as good of a first shot making team as we have been historically. Rotating the big guys and telling them to climb the backboard is helping us. It gives us other possessions, and that’s a necessity.”
On Matt Farrell:
“Everyone comes after him and really doubles him and takes him away. They exhausted him. We have to get him in better shape. We played him on fumes the last two games. He’s given us everything he has, but I think he will continue to see double teams, ball screens, big guys and length on him.”