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Men's Basketball
vs Countdown to Craziness
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Quotes: Duke 73, Temple 55
1/2/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski:
Opening Statement:
“This was a good win for us. Fran [Dunphy]'s team is well-coached and they go to their strengths with [Dustin] Salisbery, [Dionte] Christmas and [Mark] Tyndale. Two of the things we wanted to do tonight were to limit their three-point shooting and keep Salisbery and Tyndale off the free throw line because they're aggressive with the ball. We didn't start the game that well in doing that but then I think our kids adjusted. We tried to play more open on the help side when those two kids got the ball so they wouldn't see as much real estate and then our guys on the ball wouldn't be tempted to slap at it. It was a little bit different defense than we've been playing and we finally adjusted to that. Josh [McRoberts] did a great job. He is becoming as unique a player as there is in the country. He's playing with great passion and he's getting double-doubles and passing and blocking. He's a real presence and I'm really proud of where he's at right now and he can take a few more steps. He's still very much a developing player. Greg [Paulus'] play and the play of our team in the last four minutes of the first half was key. [Brian] Zoubek gave us great minutes in the first half and Greg's three in the last 40 seconds of the half was probably the big shot of the game. Our rebounding was also a big factor. We're pleased that we played really well the last 30 minutes of the game and now we have to get ready for the ACC.”
On the team's play in the beginning of the game:
“We weren't playing poorly; we were rushing. We were trying to score when there was nothing there. I had a long talk with Bobby Knight yesterday. First I was telling him how perfect yesterday was; not just for him but for all his former players and also for basketball. One of the things we were talking about is the fact that kids don't know time and score very well now. We're trying to get them to understand the score and the time and to be smart and to execute. It wasn't that we were doing badly; we were trying to do well too quick.”
On Josh McRoberts' passing game:
“He's a great passer. He's not a great passing big man, he's a great passer. You can put him anywhere. Josh wants to pass. It's almost like you have to make him score. He sees things like a point guard but he's like a point guard on stilts. He has a different vision so he sees more. His pass to Jon [Scheyer] was a great, great play. He's just going to keep getting better. He's really a good player, and he wants to be good. He's grown up so much in his desire to become a special player. He's just been a joy to coach. He's come in every day and is the first one to get here and the first one to leave. His leadership has been spectacular for our basketball team. He's doing that kind of stuff like a really good senior.”
On the offense:
“We have not had a comfortable offensive performance yet. In the last 30 minutes, it seemed much better. We've been playing well in spurts offensively, we haven't been turning it over as much and we're getting good shots. The thing we're not doing right now is finishing. We may have had close to 10 shots close to the basket where we didn't get anything. It wasn't because of a call or no call and part of it was because Temple wasn't giving up, but if we're in that spot we should get points. With a young team we have to get them to not shoot the ball, but score the ball. There's a big difference. The more mature the older players get, they score the ball in those situations. That's where we can make a big jump, if we can become more mature in scoring the ball.”
Sophomore Josh McRoberts
On the team's improved consistency following the holiday break:
“I think so. I think we're getting more consistent as a team. That's going to have to improve even more and keep getting better every game as we start the ACC [season.]”
On trying to hit double-doubles each game:
“That's always my goal is to try to do that. I want to rebound like I can and rebound for our team. That's obviously a goal that I have going into games.”
Sophomore David McClure
On the slow start and Temple's early lead:
“They're a very talented, perimeter-oriented team. They came out and they were letting their shots fly. They're good players, they were taking tough shots, and they were making tough shots. I think it kind of took us back a little bit. We were expecting to play good “D.” I think we were trying to, but when they started hitting some of those shots we were a little mesmerized. But once we settled down, got under control, and really made them attack our half-court defense, we started playing defense again.”
On his first start of the season:
“It's a nice honor. Coach knows what he's doing, so I'm just doing whatever he tells me to do, whether it's to come off the bench or to start or whatever. I think that's what everybody sees, and that makes it good because there's not that much pressure to start.”
Junior DeMarcus Nelson
On Josh McRoberts:
“He's really coming into his own right now. He's taking his game to the next level and playing with a whole lot of confidence. He's making a lot of plays for us. His play has been vital to our success and I can only expect him to get better as the season progresses.”
On the team's improvement:
“It's that time. The ACC starts Saturday so it's that time of year for us to get better.”
Temple Head Coach Fran Dunphy:
On the first ten minutes of the game:
“We've had a pretty successful run of trying to get out of the gate for the most part I thought. We've done that a number of times. You don't think you necessarily can come here and do that because of how good of a defensive basketball team they are. We did make some shots early and that certainly helped us. I thought we ran our offense pretty good. As evidenced by their defensive numbers, they are obviously a very good defensive team and that is going to catch up to you. Later on we had some opportunities to finish at the basket, we just couldn't do it for whatever reason; the size or our impatience or what have you. For the most part it was a great start for us, we just couldn't sustain it.”
On the stretch in the first half where Duke came back:
“They are such a terrific defensive team, and their help-side defense is great. You know that's always going to be there so getting to the basket is hard. We did have some looks, we just didn't knock them down. At the other end there were a couple of big plays that they had that really hurt us. I thought (Greg) Paulus' jumper at the end of the half hurt us badly. There's going to be runs and stretches where they're going to play very good defense and they did that, and we just needed to weather the storm and we didn't do it so well.”
On Chris Clark's play:
“I thought Chris played great. He came in and made it all the way to the basket the one time and made some things happen for us. He played very well I thought and that's good to see.”
On what his team will take from the game:
“We take a lot of positives out of it. We got to the rim, we just couldn't finish a number of times because of the size or our impatience. It's interesting, I think Xavier is a terrific defensive basketball team too. We watched the Illinois game the other night, and it was just tremendous defense by both teams. We got a picture tonight of a really good defensive team that we're going to face on Saturday as well. I'm encouraged by what I see: the guys are working hard, they're doing what they need to do, and it's a great group of people. Hopefully we're learning each and every game we play in. This is a tremendous experience for us.”
On defensive struggles for the team and problems created by Brian Zoubek:
“It's hard. We needed to get some help and we didn't do quite as good of a job on our help-side defense as we could. Whether we're in man or zone, you still need that help-side defense to take shape. We did a poor job of that a couple of times. Zoubek is a big, big kid and we watched him play a lot in high school. He's a talented kid and he'll get better and better as his years go on here.”
Players Mentioned
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