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Quotes: Florida State 68, Duke 67
2/4/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski
Opening Statement
“It was as hard a loss as you can get. The kids were so ready to play and we started off great then we got all those fouls. It was two different 10 minutes because there were two different teams on the court because of all the fouls. I thought Brian [Zoubek] did a good job of helping us to still have the lead at halftime. It was a really tough loss; our kids came ready to play. Florida State is a really good team. I thought we did a good job on [Al] Thornton; he's an All-American and one of the best players in the country. Their kids were tough and they made big shots. I thought Greg [Paulus] was magnificent. I thought he carried us. I couldn't ask more of my team than what they did. They put themselves in a position to win. The game is very difficult. We've won a number of games over the years in that situation and the exhilaration of winning I'm not sure matches the despair of not winning in those situations. There's just such a wide spectrum of emotion on one play and that's what makes this a great sport. I feel badly for our team. We've lost three very difficult games in conference, two in overtime and this one. They're playing well, they're fighting and they just have to keep doing that. It's not going to come easy. It's not because of lack of effort or preparation; these kids are playing their hearts out.”
On the reaction of the Florida State players after the game
“I wasn't watching anybody; I was trying to console our players. They should be happy. With that ball bouncing around, when you see that, you think you're going to lose. Then when it doesn't go in and you've won, the emotion that comes out is so extreme. I was trying to console our guys because they had made valiant efforts.”
On the last 30 seconds of the game
“We were trying to drive the ball and get to the foul line. I thought we had a good thing. I thought we had Greg [Paulus] going where he might get fouled. You have to sell it better. We were looking for a lay-up or a foul with Greg, and we were going to bring Jon [Scheyer] right after him if he wasn't open. We had the arrow and I thought we ran the play well, got it and put it up strong. It just didn't go in. It is what it is. We have to get ready for the next game. We get to play another number of games so let's play them. We can't feel sorry for ourselves. You can't do that and we won't because I won't allow that.”
On Florida State's run in the first half
“When two good teams play, if one team spurts a little bit, usually the other team will spurt back. We played better than them for eight minutes and then they played better than us for eight minutes. You're just playing a game. I thought we were young in our aggressiveness. Josh [McRoberts'] two fouls changed the complexion of the game. We're not that deep or that good where you can do those types of things.”
On looking towards North Carolina
“We should go on to the next play no matter what. Every game for us is a big game. Every game for us is as big as the North Carolina game is for the public. Wednesday's game will not be any different than this game. This was a huge game for us, as was Virginia, Boston College and every one. The making of a team does not happen as a result of one game, it happens as a result of a series of games and how you play them. That's what we're trying to do is become a really good team.”
Florida State Coach Leonard Hamilton
Opening Statement
“At the beginning of the game I thought that Duke was having their way with us - more mental than anything else. I thought we were very anxious and had good looks. Defensively they did a very good job of taking us off the dribble and drawing fouls--- they kind of backed us up a little bit. They got a lot of offensive rebounds in the first half and beat us to a lot of loose balls. I was very proud of the fact that even though we were down 17 points I saw a calmness and a confident attitude with our players and we felt very fortunate when we fought back that we put ourselves in a position to win. In the beginning of the first half when they made that run on us, our players came back and showed a lot more confidence. Down the stretch I think the most important thing was that we got some defensive stops and we made one or two more baskets than them. I think we both probably had the same kind of looks - we were very fortunate that a couple of ours went in. We were very fortunate that a couple of their good shots didn't go in.”
On what this win means to the program
“It meant an awful lot to our players and to our program because Duke has set a benchmark - they set the bar awful high. All the teams - especially the ones that are trying to become programs of significance or a program that is competitive year in and year out in the ACC - Duke has set a standard by which most of us are being judged by. To get a win here against a very good Duke team that's nationally ranked does a lot for your player's confidence and the morale of your program. From a coaching standpoint, in order for this to be meaningful, we need to continue to keep winning games. Unfortunately five wins in the ACC won't be enough. In order for this game to be meaningful, we need to continue to play well enough to win more basketball games so that at the end of the season we'll be able to measure what this win really meant.”
On Florida St.'s players having words with Duke's players
“I think that was unfortunate. That was not good judgment on their part. Obviously when you haven't won in a place for 15 years and you really are excited, I think that was youngsters being a little overzealous. When you look back at our program since we've been there, we haven't had any issues - all our kids graduate, they conduct themselves like gentlemen on and off the court, and they apologized to me in the locker room for their behavior. There's no excuse when you don't handle things the right way and we need to have more big games like this on the road so we become accustomed to winning and not getting overzealous like I'm sure that we did today.”
On message to players during last timeout of game:
“We just had to get stops and we had to play good defense without fouling. We told them that we put Al [Thornton] in the game because we knew they had a little smaller lineup on the floor and we were going to have to switch every screen. I thought we had a big rebound there and they tied it up at the end - I guess that's what happened. The game could have gone either way. We were very fortunate that we got the stops and they missed three good opportunities in there. We've had enough happen to us this year with the loss at Clemson, the loss at Boston College - this is just our time for something good to fall our way.”
On what calmed team down in the first half
“It meant an awful lot to our team - this particular team - to be successful on the road. The fact that it was Duke - a team that we have a tremendous amount of respect for - and I think a lot of it is because of the respect that we have for their program. I told our players before the game that in the five years I've been at Florida St., I actually enjoy watching this Duke team play from a technical standpoint - how they execute, defend, move the ball, make the extra pass, how they double up people in the post, and do a lot of things the right way. I was so impressed with how Coach [Mike] Krzyzewski has utilized this team to play within themselves to the best of their ability. I knew that in regards to what happened that we were going to have to fight and scrap and play exceptionally well to win the game. I think that maybe we were so anxious and excited about the opportunity that we pressured too much and made some silly fouls early, we missed some really, really easy shots, and shot very poorly at the beginning of the game. Once we settled down, I thought we relaxed and executed and got into our system pretty well.”
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