Feb. 2, 2011
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Opening statement:
"Just very disappointed. Overall in the game I didn't think we were playing with the energy necessary to play a team as good as Duke. Obviously they were going to come back from what happened up at St. Johns. They were one for their first 21 threes. I see they shot 10 for 23 or something like that tonight from the three-point line. Until I look at the tape I don't know how much is our defense and how much is they made shots.
"We did a very poor job defensively against a team on different things. [Kyle] Singler there in the second half really hurt us when he got loose and we had made a little bit of a run. It's a team thing. You have to get ready to play. You have to believe you can win that game and that's what we have to work on.
"In other words we're 4-4 in the league, we've played Duke twice and I don't think anybody else has yet. That's where we are. We've got eight league games left. We've got a chance to win those games. We're going to have to work really hard and do a better job of executing in the game. Along with that obviously I look at myself and see why we didn't do things a little bit better tonight, and we'll go from there. That's the next couple of days before we play Wake Forest Saturday."
On cutting the lead to five in the second half:
"If I look at the score we didn't respond well. It's hard coming back. You have to really dig down deep against a good team, and then when you do, to get over the top that's when it gets tough. I don't know what happened to tell you the truth. I'd have to look at that and see exactly what happened.
"You put yourself in that situation. That's the problem. We shouldn't be in that situation where we have to come back like that. We just couldn't do much early on in that game. That's what's most disappointing to me."
On not being able to convert after getting Duke into early foul trouble:
"Well we made a good run late in the first half. The last three minutes of the first half we got it down to seven. But before that we had our chances. Some guys are learning what that's like out there. Other guys have been through it and should be able to lead the team through those situations. So it's a combination of things."
On the lack of three-point shooting:
"Well the fact that they made theirs, if they don't make theirs then it's not a big issue. We didn't shoot the ball well from the three-point line or from inside the three-point line. We shot 20-50. That's not quite good enough to play those guys. You have to shoot the ball better no doubt about it. The fact that they made 10 [three-point shots] and we did what we did, that's the big difference in the game."
On the slow start:
"I don't know if we came out flat or it was more them hitting open shots. We weren't hitting shots and they were getting offensive rebounds in the beginning. We have to get more offensive rebounds and just go to the glass harder all around."
On Kyle Singler:
"He played well and hit shots. He is one of the best players in the country. That's what a player like that does in crunch time. He hits shots. I give him a lot of credit for the way he played tonight."
On cutting it to five in the second half:
"They got a rebound on a free throw. That goes along with us getting to the glass. They got the rebound and hit a three and that hit us hard."
On the comeback effort:
"I don't think it was a lack of effort. They are a good team. We were fighting. We could have just given up when we were down. We kept fighting and kept coming back. They did a good job of adjusting to our attack."
On the remainder of the season:
"We have to win games, that's the bottom line. We don't have a quality win under our belt. We beat some tough teams but we don't have a win against a ranked opponent. That's what we need to do to make the (NCAA) Tournament. We just have to keep moving forward and trying to improve."
On Duke's defense on him:
"I felt like they couldn't stop me without fouling me. That's why I tried to get the ball inside more. They did a good job of getting guys on me. We need to hit shots. I missed a couple of shots towards the end that I normally make. It's an all-around team effort."
On the defeat:
"They are the number five team in the country. They aren't a team that's not ranked. It's not like we just lost to a bad team. They are a very good team with a very good coach."
On the slow start:
"We just didn't play with the energy and effort that was needed. They came out aggressive and punched us and we didn't react as quickly as we should have."
On playing from behind against Duke:
"It's a lot tougher because of the way they spread the floor and use screen and rolls. They have two great players and a great team overall. They knock down shots. It's hard to come back on a team like that."
On the outside shooting:
"It is very important. If teams start sagging on us and we don't knock down shots they are going to keep sagging on us. They are going to double Jordan (Williams). If we don't knock down open shots it's going to hurt us."
On the slow start:
"That is something that needs to change. I don't have any explanation for that. We need to come out here and play better."
On the remaining league games:
"They are extremely important. I feel like we can go 8-0 in conference play the rest of the way. We need to keep working in practice and get better. These next eight games are very important in terms of our chances of getting to the tournament."
On matching up against Duke:
"Duke has a lot of three-point shooters. Everyone on the floor can hit the three. They know how to play and don't beat themselves up out there. It showed what they can do tonight when they can hit threes."
On the atmosphere:
"The atmosphere was amazing, maybe the best since I have been here. I wish we could have capitalized on it. The atmosphere was awesome and the fans came ready. I was excited."
Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski
Opening statement:
"We're obviously very pleased with our effort tonight. I think we played our best game since Kyrie [Irving] got hurt. I think we had to because Maryland was primed to play an outstanding game. They are coming off of three straight wins and their crowd is unbelievably good. It's a great atmosphere to play basketball, and our bench really contributed tonight when Kyle [Singler] and Nolan [Smith] were in foul trouble. Our bench really did a good job, and for Tyler [Thornton] to get his first start and do well and play tough in this environment. I thought it was Mason's [Plumlee] best game. When we had a five-point lead, that dunk along the baseline was huge. And Andre [Dawkins] hit two of the biggest shots of the game to give us a double figure lead when Maryland made their push. At the end, Nolan really handled everything well, and Kyle was really tough where he was just hitting everything. Overall, where we only turned the ball over eight times was the key stat."
On the play of the team:
"It's our best win. The atmosphere and the opponent, but we also had some adversity in there. Our bench did a good job. The Plumlees got some big offensive rebounds in the first half and kicked them out for threes. We made a lot of tough plays, and I think they did too. They played hard, and it was really a heck of a game. The score at the end doesn't indicate what type of game that was because they didn't hit anything in the last couple of minutes and we executed very well down the stretch."
On the performance after a tough loss:
"It shows a lot of character. The Sunday game was tough because sometimes no matter what you do, you just don't do it. You are just a little bit flat, and we were a lot flat, and they weren't. To come on the road three days later and win like this is really a huge thing for our kids. I'm proud of our guys because most teams wouldn't be able to do that. We grew up today and got a lot tougher."
On closing the season undefeated after Maryland last year:
"We aren't that good. We were very good tonight, but we have a lot of young guys, but with Kyrie [Irving] we are that good. Right now, we just have to keep developing as a team. We have no visions of grandeur. Right now we have to keep getting better and prepare for NC State."
On starting Tyler Thornton:
"He has been so tough. In our first Maryland game, he was the difference-maker in that game. We wanted to start the game where Nolan [Smith] could go everywhere and he obviously still has the ball, but we wanted to wear them out. They start those two freshmen who are very good for them, but you have to spend a lot of energy pressuring them or just trying to keep them in front of you. It took a lot of pressure off of Nolan tonight."
On taking Nolan Smith off the ball:
"It lets us position him in other spots. It produces a different dynamic that just keeping him up top and there are more opportunities for everyone to score. He played very well down the stretch, and he has done that all season long."
On preparing for Jordan Williams:
"We didn't attack him so much, but we wanted to go into Mason [Plumlee] right away. We wanted him to try to play Jordan Williams evenly, because Jordan is a great player. He needed to know that we had confidence in him, so the very first play we went right to him and he ended up scoring. I really think it was Mason's [Plumlee] best game at Duke, and he played well for 36 minutes."
On Nolan Smith's shooting:
"He hit some big shots in transition. He and Andre [Dawkins] were 5-for-9 from three, and those five were all big shots. Andre's two threes in the second half were unbelievably big, and they were probably the difference makers for us. Also, us only turning the ball over eight times was big. They didn't score off of their defense, and they do a tremendous job of that. They can really fast break, and they are as good as anyone in the league in the fast break."
Senior forward Kyle Singler
On what led to victory:
"I think just our offense. We got a lot more easy buckets and on the offensive end we rebounded well. On the defensive end we did play tough and we got some 50-50 balls which helped and we just made plays."
On playing Maryland:
"Maryland is a good team. We knew we weren't going to blow them out, but Andre [Dawkins] hit a couple threes with eight or nine minutes left in the game and that was big for us."
On moving past the loss to St. John's:
"It was important for us to play again. The last game we played was an embarrassing loss. To come on the road again and then win was a big thing for this team."
On scoring 11 straight points in the second half:
"I just got the ball in some good positions to score the ball. I just got into a little rhythm and just knocked down some shots and that's about it."
Senior guard Nolan Smith
On defending Jordan Williams:
"We were double teaming him and just trying to make it tough for him. He got some calls and went to the foul line, but our bigs did a good job on him overall throughout the whole game just making it hard for him."
On beating Maryland:
"We did a great job beating their press, just being poised. In this environment, for us to get this win was huge, for us just showing that we can get big wins on the road. This is one of the best atmospheres to get a win like this and we were poised. Kyle [Singler] did a great job taking the ball in and Mason [Plumlee] was just a receiver of all those passes looking over the top and he did a great job being poised and getting it back to a guard."
On the turning point in the game:
"There were a lot of turning points in this game. They made some big threes and our main thing was just to keep the crowd as quiet as possible. They got loud a couple times and then we were able to make our runs right back and get them back quiet. That was just something we had to do on the road."