Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball versus #10 St. John's on March 27, 2026 at 7:10 p.m.
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7:10 p.m.
Men's Basketball
vs #10 St. John's
Quotes: Maryland 85, Duke 77
2/28/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski
Opening Statement:
“Maryland is playing lights-out basketball. They're really good. They played as well against us tonight as anybody has played against us all year. I think they could go against anybody. Their offense beat our defense. I thought their offense was very mature and our defense was very immature. We didn't communicate well and we didn't follow some of the things we would have liked to have done against their offense. We did not execute our game plan defensively. They were better and they deserved to win. I wish them luck. They can play. They showed what a veteran team looks like.”
On Maryland's guards:
“They really handle the ball well and they advance it so quickly because they are athletic at each position. There is nobody who is slow on their team. They have that nice combination. They handle the ball round and they rebound. When it's all going like that, they have it, and not many teams have all that. They're difficult to defend anyway. I admire what they're doing. I wish them the best. Gary [Williams] has done a great job with that team. Those guys are really playing well. I thought we came out wanting to win. We had that burst where we tied the score then made a couple fundamental errors on the offensive end of the court which turned into fast breaks. When you make a mistake against them, they can score on you real quick.”
On Maryland's shot-blocking:
“They shot block; that's what they do. When they do that, you have to go into them and try to get them into foul trouble or pass off. If the guy is coming over to block a shot, that means he's leaving his man. You just have to make the right play.”
On Maryland's offense:
“They didn't penetrate that much. They fast-broke and then they curled. It's the same thing they did against North Carolina where they scored a lot of points. The first six times they ran it, we fouled them and they scored every time. You have to take that away from them.”
On the ACC Tournament:
“We've been a league champion in [the regular season or tournament] or both for the last 10 years so it's just a different avenue. The ACC Tournament is important, as it always is for us, and the NCAA Tournament is more important. We just have to keep getting better. We're 22-8 and we have had as tough a schedule as anybody in the country. If you would look at on the road, Sundays and all that kind of stuff, this team has been put through a ringer and it's done a great job. My team has done a great job. It has a lot of life in it. Playing games like this will only make us better. We are only playing really good teams. After Maryland up there, a lot of people said we weren't going to make the NCAA Tournament, so our kids have done a great job. We just have to understand who we are and try to keep getting better and use this game as an example of not following a game plan. Maryland is playing as well as anybody so that's a good thing for us. If you do lose, you should lose to someone really good who has played well against you when you can learn from it.”
Maryland Coach Gary Williams
Opening Statement:
“When the season was going poorly for us and we were 2-5 in the league, it didn't really change anything in practice for us. I didn't have to come out and get on them to practice hard and I think that was the key to us being able to win some games here at the end - to not have to change anything, to not make guys work harder or anything like that. We just kept working. It turns out we had two freshmen guards we had to get into the mix and Bambale Osby inside and once we got a good rotation going you could see we could be okay. We just needed a couple wins to get some confidence and we got them and it's been good. There's a lot of season left - a lot of work to do - and we have to keep the same attitude. All the years Mike Krzyzewski has had championship teams and did not get the coach of the year award in the ACC - it usually goes to somebody else like the hot new guy or whatever - the job he's done this year with his team - with the young players out there that he has - it's outstanding. What you saw tonight - just how hard that game was and how hard that game was played - Duke's an extremely good team. We feel very fortunate to win that game.”
On Greivis Vasquez:
“I only killed him once tonight, it wasn't bad. First of all he knows the game - for a freshman he's advanced in terms of knowing the game. He's got a great feel of who should get the ball which really helps us. He's long and he's not real quick but he gets by you somehow - I don't know how that works. He creates situations where if you help he's a good enough passer to get the ball to the right guy. He's been doing that for awhile for us and he just plays with a great deal of confidence and both he and Eric Hayes have been key figures for us this year in the backcourt.”
On Maryland's shot-blocking and what it was able to do:
“We've been a good shot-blocking team. We've been fortunate to have some guys that can get up in the air with timing and block shots. Ekene Ibekwe is exceptional - he's been that way all year for us and James Gist can get up there pretty good. Bambale Osby - I don't know what he did tonight but he can do it. Bambale is typical of our bench - he had nine rebounds in the first half. We're not always going to do that but it's seems like we've been able to get somebody like Will Bowers or Bambale to step up and give us good numbers when we needed them.”
On what it said about Maryland to give up the lead in the second half and then finish the game:
“I don't think it was realistic to be up by 11. In other words I thought Duke was going to make a run - it was just a matter of time. We've played too many times. I told our players that - just stay tough. You hope you get a stop. I don't think they got the lead - I think they tied it up. Once they get the lead - especially here - that can be a very tough situation. We were good enough to win it down the stretch and that's why I'm proud of our guys. We played a Sunday game and we had to get down here and play at 9:00 p.m. and then we have to play Saturday at 3:30 p.m. so this is a tough week for us. We're really working hard to make sure the players' emotions are there each time we go out and play.”
On the importance of generating a transition game:
“That's our game. That wasn't a different game plan for Duke. We just try to play that way. We like to run when we get the ball with [D.J.] Strawberry, [Greivis] Vazquez, [Eric] Hayes in there at the same time - there's three point guards - D.J. played point guard for us all last year. We should be able to handle the ball and get a good shot in transition. Then of course with Mike Jones out there - he's the one guy you like in transition if he's open at the three-point line to let it go. Those four guys have been a pretty good combination for us in transition and with [Ekene] Ibekwe and James [Gist] they can really run. They're not the biggest people physically but they can really run the court for 6'-8”, 6'-9” guys.”
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