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Coach K & Players Discuss Start Of Season Prior To First Practice
10/12/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
DURHAM, N.C. ? Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski and several players on the Blue Devils basketball team attended Friday's press conference to discuss the upcoming season and the team's first practice, which will begin tonight. Duke returns four starters and 10 letterwinners from last year's squad that finished 22-11 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 12th consecutive season.
Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski
On the outlook for the upcoming season
"We'll play a lot of people. We're looking to play more up-tempo than we did last year. I'm not saying more up-tempo than we ever did because we've been one of the nation's leaders in offense for most seasons. We'd like to push the ball little bit more and pick up a bit more defensively. Depth will help, because we've got a lot of depth on the perimeter. The three freshmen will all contribute. One or more will probably have to start, so that's good. There's a lot of competition."
On playing with a core of young players
"Age makes a difference and knowing how to play when you're tired. We've gone with six or seven guys in the past, but most were juniors or seniors. Those guys know how to play when they're tired. They don't go through the emotional highs and lows like the younger players. When you have real young team, it's better to have lot of depth when you want to run and press."
On whether coaching Team USA made him second guess his decision to remain at Duke
"I'm where I should be, where I want to be. And also coaching the Olympic team is where I want to be. I'm passionate about where I want to be and what I want to do. Really, it only helped me the last few summers as far as becoming better coach. No question about it. I'm fresh and ready to go."
On appointing DeMarcus Nelson as the only team captain
"I didn't name him, he was voted. I voted for him too. I think you get accustomed to doing certain things and you sometimes forget why you're doing them and the importance of what you're doing. I think the captaincy of our team wasn't elevated to the stature that it should be. It was diluted a little bit. So we decided that it was going to be one guy, but that doesn't mean that other guys can't help. It gives us a thing that is missing a lot in many places, and that's pinpoint responsibility. I think DeMarcus deserved it, and so far he's done a really good job. It's going to make him a better player."
On the incoming freshmen and what they will contribute
"Nolan Smith comes from Oak Hill, so he's played at a higher level of competition. He's ready to play and can really put the best pressure on the ball of all of our players. He's very athletic and that fits in well. Taylor King isn't a big guy or a little guy, but he can shoot the ball. He's not going to get as many shots, so it's about making the ones he gets. But he has a weapon already. Kyle Singler is really our most well-rounded player, even as a freshman. He's 6-9, 220 and he just knows how to play. He's a kid that if we started a game tonight, he would start for us and everybody on the team would say that's good. He's going to be a special player. We're going to get help, but all these other guys coming back should be better. That's exciting for me to see how much better they are going to be."
DeMarcus Nelson
On being named captain
“It's a prestigious honor to be named captain here. I'm going to do my best to live up to it. The most important thing is just winning and going out there and leading by example. I need to be a role model for the young guys coming up and use the experience that I have to make sure that everyone on the team is doing the right things; that we're working hard, practicing hard and getting better.”
On Gerald Henderson
“Gerald is a phenomenal athlete. He can do things on the court that nobody else can. He is real explosive and real strong. When he is playing well the level of our team really goes up. For us to be the championship caliber team that we know we can be then he has to play like that and he has to do that all the time. He has had a good summer and has really played well.”
Greg Paulus
On what he worked on over the summer
“The first thing was to get healthy. Right after the season I had the surgery and was out for a couple months--- about 12 weeks total--- where I really couldn't do anything. I kind of started all over again with getting the conditioning back, getting my foot stronger and then really just working on everything. I went up to the Steve Nash Camp for a few days and then just did summer school and worked some camps here in order to try to get myself in shape and ready go for the season.”
On team depth
“We feel like we have great depth on the team this year. We have a lot of guys that can play different position and multiple guys that can play multiple positions. We will be a little smaller than last year but we are confident that we can get up and down the court and play better and more consistent than last year.”
Jon Scheyer
On the freshmen
“They bring a lot to the table. The great thing about our team is that we only lost one guy, that being Josh [McRoberts], and we're bringing in three very talented guys with Nolan [Smith], Taylor [King] and Kyle [Singler]. Each of them can bring different things to the table. Kyle is an all-around great player, offensively and defensively, and can do a lot of different things. Taylor can really shoot the ball and gives us another dimension with that. Nolan, defensively, really puts a lot of pressure on the ball. He is really athletic and can do a lot of things with the ball too.
On Greg Paulus
“Greg can really shoot it; he's always been a good shooter. The big thing to me is that his passing is getting better and better. He's been passing the ball up the floor and hitting guys all over the floor and that's something we always knew he could do but he's really shown it a lot this year.”
Gerald Henderson
On getting the season started and his expectations for the season
“I'm really excited to start the season. It's been a whole five or six months since we've been on the court together so guys are ready to go. Our expectations are high for this season. We didn't have the season that we wanted to last year so we're going to use that as fuel to take us through this year. I'm very excited.”
On DeMarcus Nelson
“He's a great leader. This is his fourth year here, and he's been through it all. He knows what is expected and he can help out the younger guys and tell them what they're supposed to be doing. He's a great athlete and a great player so he'll help us out a lot.”
Martynas Pocius
On making the transition for a sophomore to a junior and taking on more of a leadership role
“It's definitely going to put more pressure on me in some ways. The freshmen are going to go through some things that they've never been through, and with me being one of the older guys it's going to be interesting but I think I'm ready. I think I've done a good job of keeping them [the freshmen] on the right track and making suggestions. Being a junior is totally new and is like a second part of being here at Duke.”
On his expectations for this team for the season
“I think this team is really, really good. I think our freshmen are ready to play this year so that's going to give us a head start right away. I think in terms of expectations we can be very good this year. I don't want to say how far we might go, but I think we can be really good this year.”
Brian Zoubek
On coming back from injury this offseason
“It's tough--- I felt really good going into the summer. Right before the injury I was playing the best I've ever played. It's been tough mentally and physically and there has been a lot of rehab involved. It just takes time and I have to keep playing and I'll get everything back.”
On helping to fill the void in the post position with the departure of Josh McRoberts
“Somebody's got to step up and I'm the only true big man on our team. That's the way I'm going to help people out. I'm going to help our team by being physical, by being a presence protecting the basket and just throwing in a new element.”
Lance Thomas
On freshman Kyle Singler and what he brings to the team
“He brings a lot to the team. He brings a lot of athleticism and he's a triple threat--- he can play on the perimeter, he can shoot and he can finish at the rim. Going at him every day has helped me a lot in the preseason. A guy like him is going to be very valuable to our team this year.”
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