Postgame Quotes: Duke 80, Virginia 66

Jan. 16, 2005

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Opening Statement
"Well, we're pleased with the win. For us, every game is monumental. Shelden [Williams] was great, almost had a triple-double, really gave us a presence inside--offensively and defensively--that was crucial for the game because I think Elton Brown is one of the better inside guys in the country. You're never going to completely stop him, but he did a good job on him. But he also helped our guys with the blocks. When we're small like that, people are going to go to the offensive boards hard, and Forbes was terrific for them with eight offensive rebounds. He gave them life, especially early on. I think out of their first 12 points he had seven or nine, and just posting, following, getting fouled; he was a very active player tonight. In saying that, our defense was really good in the last 30 minutes of the game. We held them to 35% shooting and didn't give up many open looks. They were great from the foul line, but I thought defensively we were very good. And then J.J. Redick got off, and Daniel [Ewing] had a gutty performance. He was in a lot of pain when we went over to see him, and then all of a sudden at halftime I see him running next to me into the locker room. I said, `Who put their hands on him?' And then he plays the whole second half, so it's a gutty performance. Our big three were big tonight. Our bench was good, but our big three won the ballgame, so I'm pleased with that. We've got to get going and we've got a huge week ahead of us with two road games."

On when he decided to let Shavlik play
"As soon as we knew that he could have contact. He's practiced with contact Friday and Saturday, but he's been conditioning since last Sunday. I didn't know when I was going to use him or how; I thought his five minutes were really good. They stayed small most of the game and in the second half, so I didn't bring him back in, but I'll use him more and more now. Hopefully in the next few weeks, he'll be able to get back to being closer to 100 percent. He came up with a big block, offensive board, and scored. So just to get back on the horse a little bit, that was good."

On whether this game was a complete performance by his team
"I don't think we've had a game yet where we've gotten everything that we can do, but the thing is the teams we play are either as good or some of them have a little bit more depth or talent as a result of that. And so, what we would like to do and what they let us do are two different things. I'd love for those big three to play like that and our bench to play like they played at NC State. We don't walk out on the court and we're a dominant talent. We walk out on the court and people think they can beat us. And they can, they're right."

On how Duke's defensive performance tonight compared to other games this season
"I thought at NC State was pretty good. Second half defense and second half offense has been better for us all year long. I don't know why. But it was hard for them to get a good look. We played well defensively, no question about it. Shelden got 9 blocks, that helps out a lot."

JUNIOR GUARD J.J. Redick
"Overall, I think we did a good job of just executing. I thought we started the game very casual. On offense, we were turning the ball over and weren't taking shots with a lot of confidence. Once we got going and got Shelden [Williams] and Daniel [Ewing] some touches, we really got going, and that opened things up for me."

"We're trying to find ways to win games, and we're playing tough, but, most importantly, we need to get better, and that comes with starting games off better."

"Tonight I just wanted to establish myself. I know UVA has a lot of trouble guarding people off screens, and they certainly did tonight. Once I got going, I felt like I could hit a lot of shots."

On the upcoming games against Miami and Florida State:
"We're excited about this trip to Florida. We play two really solid teams. Miami is having a great year, and it's going to be a big challenge and a big test for this team, so we're excited about it. They have a great perimeter in [Robert] Hite and [Guillermo] Diaz. Those two kids are as good as any perimeter in our league. So we know it's going to start with them, and we really have to weather whatever run they're going to make. Their crowd is going to be jumping because it's a sellout."

SENIOR GUARD Daniel Ewing
On the Duke's slow starts "That's been us so far for the season, even though that's not the way we want it to go, but so far we've had slow starts and strong finishes. Fortunately, we're a good enough team and we're playing good enough defense, and when it counts, we're making plays."

"We're undefeated still and everyone's contributing and that's when you have the most fun--when everyone is contributing and you feel like a team. I'm just trying to go out there and lead my team the best way I can, whether I put up a lot of points or not. As long as we get the `W' at the end, I'm satisfied."

JUNIOR FORWARD Shelden Williams
"One of the big concentrations that we were trying to do today was play better on the defensive end. We've kind of slipped the last couple of games, and we're tying to get back to our Duke defense. That's one of the things that I really embrace and try to go out and do that."

"Every win we have in the ACC is a big win for us. The ACC is really strong, and we have to keep coming out their every night and keep playing hard for 40 minutes. We've got to keep finding ways to win, and keep building with that."

"I think this is something like my seventh time playing [UVA], so I kind of know some of their moves and what they're going to do and some of their tendencies. That kind of worked out to my benefit."

VIRGINIA HEAD COACH PETE GILLEN

Opening Statement
"We're disappointed in losing the game, but I was very proud of our kids. I told them we played really hard and gave it what we had. We did a good job on [J.J.] Redick in the first half, but the second half, he went nuts. He's a great shooter, probably the best shooter in the country. Our kids, we attacked and we got in close to the basket. It was blocked sometimes and we got a little frustrated by them blocking the shots. I thought our kids played well. We took some steps forward. Now we got to play well and win. (Duke is) a great team, top five team in the country, and this is a tough place to play. I thought we did a good job. The beginning of the second half hurt us when we were down six and they spurted. That's happened to us a few times."

On Duke's play in the second half
"They spurted early in the second half and they turned up the juice a little bit. We got some point blank shots. We got some good shots, we just couldn't finish."

On Shelden Williams
"He just blocks a lot of shots; he's very physical. He's a very physical guy. This is a very physical league. He does a great job with that ... He throws his body around pretty good."

On Virginia's transition game
"We should have attacked a little more. We attacked early and we should have kept attacking more. I thought early in the second half we did, but we didn't finish things. In open court, we didn't go a good job. We threw an alley oop, which was misguided and a couple of turnovers. We should have converted better in the open court."

On shooting against ACC teams
"We got to do a better job. I thought we played hard defensively. I thought we did a pretty good job in that area. We got to shoot the ball a little better. We're a better shooting team than 34 percent. We've played four ACC games, three of them are top five teams [in the country]. Every game is a tough game. We got to do a better job shooting the ball and we got to defend a little better ... We got to play better for longer periods of time."