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Quotes: Blue-White Scrimmage
10/18/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski
On the team's performance:
“It was good for us. Unusual to have Blue-White the second day of practice, but I thought it was great. Having the football team there, christening the new scoreboard, the students, fans, it was a very exciting afternoon. Our kids played really hard. They could manage a game right now because of the really good work they've done, and that my assistants have done in the preseason. That was very good.”
On the White team's performance in the first half:
“It shows that the group can be very explosive, when Kyle [Singler], G (Gerald Henderson), and Jon [Scheyer] are playing at the top of their game. Those three kids are the guys that you try to build around. Miles [Plumlee] did a very good job on both teams. He protected the basket well.”
On the veteran group on the Blue team in the second half:
“Nolan [Smith] played really well throughout. I thought he complemented those three kids in the first period. In the second half, he stepped it up because he wasn't with them, and showed really good leadership and defense. Dave [McClure]'s defense on G in the second period was good.”
On Lance [Thomas]'s play:
“Lance played OK today, but he's played great in the practices so far. He needs to play both outside and inside. When he's in the game we need to pick up our pressure in the full court, because defensively he's outstanding. You have to give him the opportunity to use those talents when he is in there.”
On the learning curve of the freshmen:
“All the freshmen have a huge learning curve. It's the second day of practice. For a freshman, they come from different backgrounds of coaching and competition. Some of them are more ready than others, but it's a whole different level of physicality and intensity. They went through a practice yesterday that they've never been through before; it's the difference from high school to college basketball. It's a week-to-week thing.”
On the football team's walk through the stadium:
“Coach [David] Cutcliffe and I have a great relationship, and we're right there for them, whatever we can do to help them. The idea for the walk came when I was away. We were calling back and I said, ?Let's make sure we do the Blue-White where it's the best position to also do football. When the game time got set to 3:30 PM, we started saying that we could have it before and hopefully fill this place. Then I said, ?Why don't we have to football team come through?' Our promotions team has done an amazing job with football. It's like a new energy here. I thought that was cool.”
Junior Gerald Henderson
On the game overall:
“I thought it was a pretty competitive game. The first ?second half' I think it got away from the Blue team a little bit, but I think overall it was a pretty competitive game.”
“We've been playing against each other, banging against each other the last four or five months now, so I think guys are just ready to see somebody else so we can compete against some different faces.”
On the team's progression thus far:
“Everyone is playing well. [The fans and the media] got a good glimpse of what guys can do from play today. I think everyone played pretty decent today. Obviously there are areas where everybody can get better, but it's a long season and there's a lot of time to get better and I'm sure that'll happen.”
Sophomore Nolan Smith
On the game overall:
“It felt good to get out there in front of a crowd finally. After today, I hope the fans are excited. I know the coaches are excited, and I'm probably the most excited. This team is going to be great this year and hopefully can put another National Championship trophy up there on the wall. It's going to be a great team with a lot of weapons and a lot of great players.”
On the freshmen:
“The freshmen are maturing and are going to continue to mature as the year goes along. Today, coming into the locker room, they were like, ?Wow, I didn't know there were going to be that many people there.' And that's just against Duke. They're going to get better as the days go along. They're anxious and they're ready to learn. I look forward to seeing great things out of them this year.”
On playing against each other:
“Practices are very exciting - you never know what to expect. They're competitive ? you've got your individual battles, team battles. Whatever team coach puts out there in practice, it's going to be a fight. We're not literally fighting, but if you came in there and just heard the way we talk and yell at each other you'd think we're about to fight. It's the competitiveness that we have just to make each other the best that we can.”
On the success of the Duke football team:
“It's exciting to see the Duke football program really turning around and winning some games. The coach is a great coach. From what I hear he seems a lot like Coach K. That's exciting to hear. We have a great relationship with all of the football players, and we want them to win. We want this to be a school where people come watch a basketball game and then go straight to the football game and keep the same intensity. It's a great feeling and makes a great college atmosphere.”
Freshman Miles Plumlee
On the transition to college basketball:
“It's so competitive it just elevates everybody's level of play. Everybody pushes everybody, and you get at each other every day. It's a big step up from high school. For me, I know I have to really work on my defense. Being the big guy, you can kind of communicate to everyone, so I have to get a lot better on my communication and defense to help the team out. If I do that, I think my role is just going to be finishing plays because we've got a lot of other great guys that already know what they're doing so I'm just going to play off them.”
Junior Jon Scheyer
On the attitude of the team:
“[Having fun] is definitely something that we've been emphasizing. I think that what goes along with that is when you're winning, you're having fun. Obviously, if you play the right way ? if we move the ball and play tenacious defense ? it'll be a really fun year. It's not going to be fun if we just go out there and assume things are going to be handed to us. For us, as long as we work hard and do all the things we're supposed to do, it should be fun along the way.”
Players Mentioned
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