It's that time of year
CLEMSON -- A one-point home loss to N.C. State wasn't the end of the world, but Brad Brownell sensed that it could be the end of some short fuses.
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As much as this season felt like a gleeful sprint to greatness back in November and December, reality later descended that it's much more of a marathon.
This season has contained plenty of high moments, and also some lulls. The challenge is to keep the long game in mind, and it shouldn't be a news flash that sometimes college kids are distracted from the big picture.
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Brownell felt such a distraction upon him in the angry aftermath of Clemson giving up a 12-point lead in the second half and losing by a point to the Wolfpack.
Yes, there was reason to gnash teeth at some outside forces after some questionable officiating.
But mostly, the coach felt it was time for an internal reset.
A reset that featured some not-so-flowery commentary about what would have to happen for this team to achieve what it desires.
"I really challenged them on Monday," Brownell said. "We had a very difficult film session. I challenged our older guys.
"It's such a long season, so long that it's hard to play well all the time. It's hard to not get distracted as players and teams, and to get down.
"I kind of really just tried to get our guys to think back to November and early December, and just remember the joy that we were playing with."
It's hard for any coach to find the right balance between the positive and the negative. Pump a team too full of the former, and then it might not be tough enough for the rough patches. Assail a group with too much of the latter, and you risk them being beaten down and bailing on you (whether on the season, or on the school itself, or both).
There was still plenty of big-picture positive even after DJ Horne roasted Clemson for 27 points in Littlejohn. The Tigers had just posted three consecutive victories, each impressive in its own way (including the triumph in Chapel Hill).
Yet this was also another squandered double-digit lead, and another loss at home.
You can talk all you want about a bad break here or there in close losses, or a bad run of shooting, or a few calls that don't go your way.
But the fact is that suffering a fourth home loss as of Feb. 17 leaves you feeling a bit uncomfortable.
With a mere six games left in the regular season, this was when Brownell saw fit to remind his team of both what they've been working for and striving to for so long, and what is upon them with tournament time around the corner.
From the beginning Wednesday night at Georgia Tech, this group seemed fully attuned to the focus and drive that was demanded of it.
Yes, a lot of winning and losing is determined by the shot going into the basket. And the fact that nine 3-pointers went through the net in the first 20 minutes (and 14 for the game) told a lot of the story.
But not all of it.
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If you're good defensively -- and Clemson has been just marginal there for most of the season -- you can overcome some off shooting.
Defense was a big part of Brownell's sermon Monday, and the Tigers delivered by holding Tech to 30.2 percent shooting for the game. The Jackets made just two more field goals (16) than Clemson had in 3-pointers alone.
The Tigers looked and played like a group that senses the moment coming, one that needed to hear what Brownell was saying two days after the loss to N.C. State.
"You just get a feel," he said. "You've been around your guys. And we had won three in a row leading into that game, so it wasn't like we were in a terrible place. But we've had a hard time just continuing to build and play at the level, and I think occasionally you get distracted and you lose a lead or two. And we've lost a couple of leads.
"I think just during a long season, guys get mad at different things. Guys get mad at the head coach. Guys have stuff going on in their lives. Guys are tired of practicing. I mean it's just a hard, long season and you're going to have ups and downs. And it's kind of reminding them that we're a lot closer to the end than you realize. And it's also reminding them that we aren't the 10-1 team; right now I guess we're 8-7 in the ACC. And you better stop believing you're the 10-1 team.
"We've got to get better, and we need to finish the ACC season the right way. We've got to play a little bit better in our league, and I think some of that is a credit to our league. I think our league is much better than people want to give it credit for. ... If you don't play really well for the full 40, you get beat. And we're a prime example of that."
Now they get to the task of being a prime example of a team in its prime.
It's that time of year.
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