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Men's Basketball
vs Countdown to Craziness
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Quotes: Duke 61, Gonzaga 54
12/21/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski
On tonight's game
“It is an honor to always be associated with a game in Madison Square Garden. It is an amazing place. I thought the two programs that played in that 9 o'clock game have some of the best kids in the country and some of the best players. Just two top quality programs. I thought our kids had to win because Gonzaga wasn't going to lose. (Greg) Paulus had the best game of his career. He played with such a burn. I thought we played really well in the first half, even offensively until we got to the shot. When we got to the shot we got a little bit nervous. I am not making an excuse, but I thought our guys were too far out. We use the three-point line as a reference for spacing but they were using the NBA three-point line. So we were too far out and that is why a few of our shots that we took in the first half were short. This is a young team. That sounds like it wouldn't happen but believe me those things happen. In the second half, we played much looser. Our defense was good throughout.”
More on tonight's game
“We played well defensively. (Gerald) Henderson made some really strong moves in the last four minutes to set up plays and get free-throws. (Josh) McRoberts was excellent throughout on defense and that pass he made to Greg (Paulus) put us up by six. I think it was with three seconds on the clock and that was a huge play. To make that pass and to show that poise, those kids did it. We had a little bit of adversity with DeMarcus' (Nelson) foul trouble. This was a really big win for us. I am proud of our guys.”
On the Duke and Gonzaga programs
“What you have is not two teams. You have two programs. We are going to play. That is just the commitment we have. If we play hard, good things are going to happen to us. Winning will take care of itself. Gonzaga has done that more in this decade. You have the two winningest programs in this decade, or this century, it is a short century. You get that by coming to play hard. We expected that. You never know with a young group and we took it up a notch. It was a big win.”
On team's defense
“The kids we recruit, all of them are good players, and some of them are a cut above. We got them because we already have seen them work hard. We don't get them at a point where they haven't worked hard. They come from good coaches, good families and good situations. They will react to that (working hard). We have built our program on defense because we feel it is the most consistent part of our game and the most selfless. You have to work at it to be good and that brings everyone together. Our defense has been really, really good throughout the season.”
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