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Quotes: Duke 70, Georgia Tech 56
1/14/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski
Opening Comment:
"We won a hard-fought game tonight. We knew coming in that Georgia Tech, for the first time this season, was close to being 100 percent. They didn't start the year with Clinch, then Miller was sick, and then Peacock was sick the last game, but they had everyone tonight. Obviously those guys will still get in better shape. As a result they can hit you with different lineups now. They can start that big lineup and they can bring Miller in, and you have Shumpert, Clinch and Miller with Peacock and Lawal - they are a good team, tough to score against. I thought our defense helped win the game for us. We played very well, defensively, in the second half. I thought we played the last 10 minutes of the first half well defensively but they kind of knocked us back and we didn't do what we wanted to do on the top ball screen. And they executed well. They are a very big team. Kyle [Singler] came up with some huge plays for us, especially on the defensive boards. And then G had a really good second half offensively. Both teams had trouble scoring because we are both pretty good defensive teams. We got a big boost in the first half from Paulus and Marty [Pocius]. Greg and Marty gave us a big boost, and then Dave [McClure] was terrific in the second half, defensively. He had two big blocks and was a heck of a defensive player. And we needed that. It was hard fought, and a good win for us. Hooray for me, I'm happy. When you win a game like this, it's not an easy game. They are good."
Comment on rebounding:
"Yeah, we had a couple more. But that fact that we weren't hit hard, a lot of it had to do with Kyle. Kyle had 14 rebounds. All of a sudden on some of those misses, you saw Kyle with two hands coming up and that gives you a possession. Neither team scored quickly, so when you got a possession it meant a little bit more in this game. Dave came up - his blocks were the main thing. And then trying to stay in front of Lawal was huge. Our post defense was a lot better in the second half."
Comment on Gerald Henderson coming up big in the second half:
"He's a good player, first of all. Their defense was taking away the drive. They were really playing like zoning up, and we ended up just kind of pounding the ball in the floor. I told him to either shoot it or pass it - don't just keep dribbling it. He wants to beat you, he's a good player. In the second half our offense had a little bit more movement and we put him in a couple different places so he could do it. He lost it a couple of times, but we went to both him and Kyle. We tried to run a bunch of things through those two kids."
Comment on big men going over top of the screens:
"I thought Kyle, in particular, defended that well. We're a very good defensive team. In the first half, we did not do that well. We started switching, and then our little guy went down, instead of the big guy staying and the little guy staying up on top, which is what we practiced. I felt like the father that tells their kid, and they say that they never heard you. Well I said it, I said it a bunch - I even called a timeout. In fact, you're even IN timeout right now. But that's what happens, and to our kids' credit, they got it straight after a while."
Comment on the league:
"I think our league is the best it's been for a long time. We've got four teams in the top-10. We just played Tech and Florida State, and they can play anybody that we've played. Our league is the best league. The fact that we have 12 teams shouldn't be discriminated against. Believe me, we don't want more - I don't want more. But we have a hell of a league. It's an older league and a bigger league. We have some big teams in our league - Tech and Florida State are two of the biggest teams in the country when you put those lineups out. We've been No. 1 in the RPI, We have had the best non-conference. I've always been a cheerleader for the ACC, but this year, even more because we have a lot of good teams. And always in the league, there are always two things that bring around the differential: an injury and close losses."
Comment on strategy on defending Lawal:
"We wanted to pressure the passer. I think we were the first team this year that pressured the high post instead of dropping off. We tried to stay where we were between him and the ball. Ball pressure is key - we wanted to pressure the passer (because) the passer can see more. But he's good. He's gotten really strong, and you can tell that kid's really worked. I don't think anybody that I've seen yet, and I know I haven't seen everybody, but I don't think anyone runs the floor quicker than Lawal. He goes from the defensive end to the offensive end real fast. He's a big time player and competitor.
Players Mentioned
G
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