Clemson basketball practice gym was unusually quiet
Thursday. Instead of drills, walkthroughs and game preparation, the Tigers had a day off the floor, turning to video and recovery the day after a third consecutive loss at Wake Forest Wednesday.
“I just figured we don’t have great juice, maybe we just may not have had a nice drink and so Thursday we didn’t even go on the floor,” head coach Brad Brownell said after another 70-65 loss to Florida State at Littlejohn Coliseum Saturday. “We definitely spent a lot of time watching film, and tried to make sure we learned from Wake mistakes, and then obviously we introduced Florida State, but we typically did more walkthroughs and something like that. We just decided to get my guys out of the gym and to try to have some energy and I felt like we did.”
After last losing three straight games for the first time since January of 2023, Brownell knew things had to change for the Tigers’ (20-8, 10-5 ACC) pattern after they fell twice in a two-game stretch on the road. Veteran guard Dillon Hunter plus R.J. Godfrey, two of Clemson’s top three scorers on Saturday, agreed with their coach.
“Dillon’s good, especially since the Duke game,” Brownell said. “He and I met for an hour after the Duke game in my office as soon as we got off the bus. And I know he met with (assistant) Coach Donlan after Wake and he’s really been trying, he and R.J. (Godfrey) to just keep the spirit of morale for our team in a good place.”
The altered practice plan was in an effort to boost morale and vitality. Taking a day off from full practice is unusual, Brownell said, but it gave the Tigers an additional boost in the first half against Florida State, where Clemson’s defense allowed only 33 points. The defense dropped a bit in the second half, and the Tigers scored just 21 percent from beyond-the-arc, earning them their first loss to Florida State in six years.
For a team that began 20-4 and 10-1 in ACC play, the four-game skid represents a sharp turn away from early dominance. Clemson has not lost four consecutive games -- or two in a row -- at Littlejohn Coliseum since 2022, but success more recently has not come without its share of mistakes.
Prior to the Tigers’ advance to the Elite Eight Round of the NCAA Tournament in 2024, however, Clemson finished 3-5 overall in January, with three consecutive losses in a row contributing to a 38-point deficit. Yet Godfrey, Hunter and the Tigers finished 6-2 in February with a 24-12 record.
“My sophomore year, the Elite Eight team, we had a lot of adversity that season, and people don’t actually talk about the times we had that when we were losing that season,” Hunter said after a 13-point outing against the Seminoles. “Just showing (the younger guys) like, man, everything’s going to have ups and downs, you just got to stay level through everything and it’s part of life.”
Adversity is nothing new for Hunter this school year, who missed the NCAA Tournament last season largely because of an injury and was the only returner that made meaningful playing time last year. He led the Tigers against the Seminoles with three assists and three rebounds for a combined 5-of-9 shooting in five consecutive games the past month in this time. Hunter was not challenged by the energy issue.
For Brownell, Hunter and the Tigers, adversity is nothing new, nor is the slate going to get any easier after the fourth loss. The Tigers get to rest for a week before they face Louisville (19-7, 8-5 ACC) at Littlejohn Coliseum next Saturday. Brownell did not say whether the Tigers would take longer to adjust off the court, but the Tigers will have to find a spark for an elusive twenty-first win.