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Quotes: Duke 92, Loyola 51
12/31/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski
Opening statement:
“I thought our team did a good job. It was a good crowd, and we're just trying to work ourselves back. We haven't played in a while. We had a six-day break, but overall we did well today. Their kids played hard. They have a number of ball handlers, which puts you in a position of having to defend the dribble quite a bit. We took away the sets that they run, so that was good.”
On Nolan Smith's injury:
“We won't know for sure until we get a thorough check ? an MRI. I don't think it's serious, but I don't know how hurt he is. We think it's just a bruise. He got hit on the knee. Last year he hyper-extended his knee, and really, in practice a couple days ago he hyper-extended the other one. We'll see. I tend to think he's going to be OK.”
On Gerald Henderson's energy:
“I think G now has put three really good games together. Right after exams ? the [UNC] Asheville game, even though we won big, he played really well. And the Xavier game he played well, and today he did another really good job, so that's good. We need him, we need him badly ? he and Jon [Scheyer] and Kyle [Singler], really, are the three guys that have to be there every day for us at a really high level.”
On entering ACC play against Virginia Tech:
“We're excited to get going. Hopefully some of the students are back Sunday night to create a really good atmosphere in here. Virginia Tech has played a very difficult schedule. In [A.D.] Vassallo, they have one of the top scorers in the league. They're a veteran team ? I think they're a really good basketball team. ... Each of the games [in ACC play] is going to be on someone's home court, either ours or theirs. In the pre-conference season, there are a lot of neutral games or times when you have an interruption to your schedule. Once you start ACC play, everything is kind of even. That's why you start 0-0 again.”
On the progress thus far:
“I'm not a person who predicts. I'm never where I want to be unless we've won a national championship. As a coach, I don't think you're ever 'where you want to be.' If you are, then someone's getting ahead of you.”
Duke Junior Jon Scheyer
“It was a good game today and a good win obviously. Heading into conference play, we wanted to have a good game and to come out and play well, and we did play well for most of the game. I thought our defense was really good. It was a good win for us.”
On Duke's poor shooting from beyond the arc and at the foul line:
“It's our first game in a little while. Always your first game back you get the rust off. We didn't shoot free throws very well, so hopefully we just got the rust off. Playing in games is different from practice, so I think we should be good to go.”
“In any situation if I need to play point guard, I feel very comfortable doing it. Today I felt fine doing it. It's something that, during a game, whoever is playing, if I need to do it for a minute, half the game, whatever it is I feel comfortable doing it. I don't think it's a big change for me.”
Duke Junior Brian Zoubek
“The guys on the team did a great job recognizing [the size advantage inside]. They were able to get me the ball and I was able to not only score but guys were able to play off of me. I think we ran the offense through that and it helped open everything up. Especially this game, I thought it was really important for me to assert myself in the post. Then they would double down and open everything up for the rest of the team. It was important for us to funnel a lot of the stuff through the post. Being more aggressive ? I think that's going to be more important come ACC [play], so this was a great game for me going into the ACC season.”
“The coaches are always working with me to be more efficient with the time that I play out there. Only playing 17 minutes, I think that I'm getting better at that. I'm just improving every week and I'm excited to have this game and then go right into ACC [play].”
“In terms of major injuries, I feel great. My foot feels 100%, and the footwork and conditioning ? everything is coming back, so I'm really comfortable with it.”
On the play of Gerald Henderson:
“It was huge. He had a couple of plays right in a row that really sparked the team. His energy and enthusiasm on defense really got us going and that was an important part of the game.”
Duke Sophomore Nolan Smith
“Going up for a rebound, I got hit on the way up. The doctors are telling me now it's just a bone bruise at the top of the knee, nothing too serious, so I should be 100% for Sunday [versus Virginia Tech]. They told me at halftime, but for precautionary reasons, they didn't want me to go back out there and risk getting hit again. I should be alright.”
“With this being a knee that I've already hurt, definitely I was scared at the first impact. I didn't know what had happened to it. Finding out from the doctors that it was just a bruise and it's going to be fine ? big sigh of relief.”
On the time off in December:
“We've had to practice hard. We've had to prepare for this game and for the rest of the season because now it's a game every two or three days. Practices are going to be shorter, keeping our bodies healthier, so we need to take advantage of that.”
Loyola Head Coach Jimmy Patsos
Opening comment:
“It's a real honor to be here. I'd like to thank Coach Krzyzewski and Mike Cragg for offering us this game. It's a TV game, and or Loyola of Maryland to be on national television, to have its name said for two days I owe Coach K big for that. Also I'd like to thank him for 10 years ago when I was at Maryland. If we didn't chase them we never would have won the national title. I mean that, it was like the space race. What he's done here with the Olympics, and the community and the basketball and to have us on TV, because I know a lot of people want to play this game, it's an honor to be here. We got to shoot in the Dean Dome, we played N.C. State to a two-point game, and we went to a Maryland Terrapins game this week. I tortured my kids this week, but for me it was a great vacation.”
On the team's stay:
“We were here for four days. We came in Sunday. We watched Rutgers vs. Carolina on TV and went to Maryland vs. Bryant on Saturday. Saturday we were at Maryland, Sunday we got down here, watched the game, on Monday we were at N.C. State and Tuesday practiced here and got in the Dean Dome for about 20 minutes after I called in about 90 favors. For our kids down the road, they'll never forget the experience. We try and play fast and I know we didn't do so well scoring, but that's as good as we're going to get practice wise going into our lead the MAAC, where Siena is really good and Niagara, they play fast.”
On what they tried to do on offense:
“We played our game. We tried to drive and stuff. I also thought we might be able to get guys cutting to the basket like Maryland did, I just don't have Maryland's players. We're young and I had a really good team the last few years we had 18 or 19 wins. But all of those kids were 23 or 24 years old and these kids are just 18 or 19. We wanted to get cutters to the basket, [Coach K] just plays such good pressure defense. The one thing he kind of lets you do is drive it and we did it okay at it. They're a top five team, a Final Four team. They have depth and they play really good defense, so they're really good.”
Players Mentioned
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