Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball versus Louisville on January 26, 2026 at 7 p.m.
Men's Basketball
vs Louisville
Quotes: Duke 101, Wake Forest 91
2/22/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski
Opening Statement:
“Wow, that was a great game. There were so many amazing performances tonight. That was as good a game as there's been in the ACC this year ? offensively, anyway. Our kids have been practicing real hard, and they played really hard tonight. [Gerald Henderson and Jon [Scheyer] had signature games. But, Elliot [Williams] gave us a verve right off the start. In the two games he's started, he's really given us a spirit out there. Again, a little bit of a turning point [on Wake's run] and we didn't know what to do to stop them. I mean, they are so good offensively ? so good. So we put, for a couple exchanges, Lance [Thomas] on [Ishmael] Smith so that hopefully Lance's length would keep him out a little bit. I don't know if that worked but they missed a couple. It was something a little different, we got the rebound. There were three critical exchanges ? one thing is we never lost the lead. I think it was 80-78 when Jon was smart enough to get fouled on a three pointer ? that was a huge play. It gave us a five-point lead. You lose the lead in a game like this and you might lose the game. Then, we had G and Jon hit threes at the end of the shot clock. Those three plays were fantastic and I thought for us were critical. It's a big win for us. It's a huge win.”
On his energy during introductions and the game's magnitude:
“The one thing I've tried not to do here is assume winning ? that you assume you're going to win. Tonight was a huge game for us. It was as big a game as we've had in three years, because we're 7-4 [in the ACC] and the way the schedule is in February and March, we're already going to end up playing a top schedule in the country and probably the toughest in the conference, and we're away, so you have to win this game. I know that, I know that. So, whatever you can do ethically, legally, and physically you got to try to do. It wasn't about us, it was about our kids. They responded to a lot of game pressure, hit big shots. Wake Forest is a very, very talented basketball team. We could not stop them, but they couldn't stop us either. It was one of those old-fashioned ACC basketball games. A lot of good basketball out there tonight. I'm really proud of my guys. I'm very happy.”
On trying to stop Wake's offense:
“Sometimes great offense just beats defense. They kept coming down on us where we're always retreating, playing off your heels. That's why I think Lance's length for a couple of exchanges helped a little. They're very talented, [James] Johnson and [Jeff] Teague are very talented and are going to play basketball for a long time in their lives. They're going to score a lot of points in college and in the pros. They're two really big-time players.”
On Elliot Williams' consecutive starts:
“Since the last Wake Forest game when we had a tough loss there, our pressure on the ball kind of went out the window. Our defense starts with disciplined pressure on the ball, not stealing. Elliot's been working really hard. [Assistant Coach] Nate [James] works with him after practice on offense and defense. He's been really good in practice, and always had a good attitude. We just felt we need a change. He came up big at St. John's. He hasn't played like a freshman. He's played at least 30 minutes in each of these games and had 11 points in both, but that's not where he's been the most important. He plays with a really good enthusiasm and confidence that you wouldn't think would be there for a kid who hadn't been playing. He's been a huge spark for us.”
On seeing a team a second time in a season:
“This is more like what you would see in a round robin. No question about that. Like how we are going to play a Maryland team again that was at their worst here, and they're at their best now. Each team in the league would like that opportunity for you to see them twice. If you only play them once, you never have to revisit that. That's another reason why this game was so important.”
On Jon Scheyer playing the point:
“I think it does help him, because once he gets rid of the ball then he's guarded by a point. That's something we looked at to get his offense going. He had one turnover tonight and I think none at St. John's. He's played two games, brought the ball up and has one turnover. That's pretty good. He doesn't have to make plays for anybody and then his offense has gotten better.”
On tonight as a must-win game:
“Instead of saying we had to win it, I told them we're going to win it. I think sometimes the anticipation of doing something should help more than the expectation of having to do it. It's a little like what we did with the Olympic team. We're going to win, not that we have to win. It's a subtle thing, but it's an important thing.”
Duke Junior Gerald Henderson
“It was a lot of fun. Cameron was really special today. I was just making reads. A lot of times my teammates were finding me in good spots where I could score the basketball. I shot a pretty good percentage today ? I don't want to say it was lucky, but I made a lot of my shots.”
“I was just seeing gaps in the defense. We put in a couple of new plays and I just saw some gaps. The last couple of games I've been shooting a lot of free throws and just trying to draw fouls. For me, that's a big thing ? if you want to have big games, you have to get to the free throw line. You have to be aggressive throughout the whole game. I kind of had the same mindset throughout the game, just to stay aggressive. But when you're up, it's easy to relax, so we just had to really get tough. It wasn't just on me ? Jon played a heck of a game and a lot of guys played well. So when it got to two, we just needed to get stops because we were getting what we wanted on offense. We were really in a good flow.”
“Offensively, we played a really good basketball game. They're a good team, but we felt like on the defensive end we didn't do as good a job on some of those guys. It's tough ? they have a lot of really good players, with [Jeff] Teague and [James] Johnson both having a really good game.”
On Coach K's intensity:
“Even yesterday and the last couple of days leading up to the game, you could tell his intensity level had risen a little bit. We want to win this league, and we're still fighting for first place. His intensity and his passion is something that leads us and we just followed his lead.”
“Starting the game, Elliot [Williams] was unbelievable. With his pressure he caused about three or four steals in the first 10 minutes. That's why he's in the lineup if anyone is wondering why we're starting a freshman. That's one of his strengths, really putting pressure on the ball and making opportunities for us.”
Duke Junior Jon Scheyer
On the new starting lineup:
“I don't think [it's a radical change]. I think it just puts us in different positions. I feel more of our strengths can be used with this lineup. We can create some mismatches and defensively we just need to stay big and stay in front of people and I think it can be a great lineup.”
“There is nobody in the country that can attack the rim like Gerald [Henderson] can. In the open court or the halfcourt, he is someone who can create his own shot or create shots for other people. I was very proud of him tonight ? he was great throughout the game. It started in warmups. He was the one getting everybody going in warmups today and making sure everybody was ready. That's just as big as all the points he scored today.”
“It wasn't like a must-win game for us but it definitely was a huge game for us because we did lose our last two ACC games. In this game we could've gone to sixth place or we could've gone to second place, and we knew how big of a game that was for us because we still want to be in the hunt for the ACC [regular season] title. We're still in it with that win. We don't need to worry about what everybody else is doing ? just keep playing our games and keep getting wins.”
On Elliot Williams:
“If you watched the game tonight, you wouldn't have guessed he was a freshman. He was on one of the best guards in the country [Jeff Teague] to start the game and he steals the ball from him a couple of times, gets right in his face, and that's the toughness we need. It gives the rest of us energy. He's been huge for us the last two games.”
Duke Freshman Elliot Williams
“We've been working so hard. The times I was on the bench just watching, cheering on my team, [Coach Mike Krzyzewski] told me to keep my head up and just keep playing. [And then recently] he told me, ?You're finally doing it, man. Just stay hungry.'”
“I've been working hard the whole season, but I had a lot to learn. Just watching guys like G, how he moves without the ball, and Jon, how he plays defense. I've always been pretty athletic, but there was a lot I had to learn on defense. Coach [Mike Krzyzewski] said he trusted me and when he played me in the St. Johns game, he liked the way I played so he kept rolling with me.”
On the pressure he applied to Jeff Teague:
“I think he was kind of relaxed at the beginning. In the last game [against Wake Forest], we didn't do that, so I wanted to make sure that he felt my presence at all times. He was a little relaxed out there at the beginning and I got a couple of steals on him. But he's a great player and he adjusted.”
Wake Forest Head Coach Dino Gaudio
Opening Statement:
“I thought it was a typical ACC basketball game late in the season. I will say this. If someone would have said we were going to score 91 points and we lose, I think I would have called them a liar. I thought it was really fast-paced, I thought it was really up-and-down. I thought our kids played very, very hard. They never dipped their heads one time. I think the difference in the game was in the first half we had too many turnovers. We talk a lot about no turnovers for touchdowns. The analogy I always give the kids is like a quarterback in football. He throws the ball out in the flat and he's running for a touchdown. That's what they did. They had several turnovers for touchdowns where we couldn't guard them. We turned it over too much, 16 turnovers in the first half, and that was a real big difference in the game. The other thing, and we have done very well at this, but we sent them to the free throw line too many times. When we shoot more free throws than our opponents we are 19-0. That wasn't the case tonight. I was proud of our kids. I thought they played hard and not once did they dip their heads during the game or timeouts so we just have to turn the page and move on to the next one.”
On whether they made any adjustments offensively in the second half:
“I think when you play these guys, I think if you just try to run your offense?and what I mean by that is guard the forward pass, reverse it through the post, swing it to the other side, that's not happening. They take you out of all of your stuff. Mike [Krzyzewski] knows, we try to spread them and we try to drive them. We try to put them in ball screen situations. Our guards are quick and we want to be in attack mode and that's what we did. I'm a little disappointed in our defense. It was lacking tonight and that's usually been our stronghold. I think before tonight we were No. 1 in the league in field goal percentage defense, I think we were No. 1 or No. 2 in the league in three-point field goal percentage defense. We're No.1 in the ACC in blocked shots. We're also No. 1 in field goal percentage offense and I think we'll stay there shooting 61 percent.”
On struggling defensively:
“You know what? They play really hard on offense. They really move well without the ball. I'll let Mike [Krzyzewski] speak to this, he knows his team better than I, but they started in the last three or four games. They are running more motion than they did before. They were running a lot of ball screen stuff early, but he's running a lot of motion now and they do a good job of it. They do a terrific job of it.”
On Gerald Henderson's play:
“He was really good tonight. The one shot he made, the one three as the shot clock was winding down. We are right in his face and that's all you can do without fouling him and big-time players make those shots. He's a pro and he made good shots. It's like when we went down to Miami a couple of weeks ago. Jack McClinton is just knocking them down. We watch the film after the game and I'm telling you guys are right in his face. We had three guys on the ball. If those guys do that, then they've done their job.”
On the difficulties of Jon Scheyer running the point:
“Jonathan [Scheyer] is good. We put L.D. [Williams] on him, so whether Jonathan played the one or the two we still put Williams on him. When Elliot [Williams] started we put Jeff Teague on him and L.D. is a really good defender.”
On going with a smaller lineup in the second half:
“I just thought the game was so incredibly fast, it wasn't a game for our big guys. It was just really fast paced. I think early in the game [Al-Farouq Aminu] needed to adjust to the pace of the game. He took the ball out a couple times, but he'll learn. He's just a freshman. Everybody canonize some of those kids when they come in, but he's a terrific player for us and I'm really glad we have him. It was a learning experience, a tough place to play of course.”
On Teague perhaps waiting too long for the game to come to him:
“I don't think he waited too late, he had 28 [points]. He wasn't forcing stuff and we put [Ishmael Smith] in the game early and they did a good job of trying to keep the ball out of Jeff's hands, but I'll take 28 out of him anytime. I thought he played really well on the offensive end. He only had two turnovers in 38 minutes. The kid is 10-for-16, 2-for-2, and 6-for-6 from the line. Like I said, early it wasn't our offense it was our turnovers.”
On whether he'd like to play Duke again in Atlanta:
“Not really. I think they're pretty good.”
On whether he thought comeback took too much energy out of the team:
“I really didn't. When they were sitting on the bench, I said ?Fellas, does anybody need a blow. If you're tired give the fist and we'll get you back in.' They all said, ?No coach, we're good.' Those young guys are tough kids. They have a lot of character. The places we've been and games we've won. At BYU, [Duke] and [North] Carolina at home, at Boston College, at Clemson when they were 16-0 and we were 15-0, those are really tough young guys. I really like my team.”
On what he said in the timeout after going down by 22 in the first half:
“Our mantra the second half of the season is we're just going to play in four-minute increments. Let's just go TV timeout to TV timeout. When I go in those huddles, one of my assistants tells me what the score was in those four minutes. I think the first four was 10-9, 10-8 we were up. In the second four we got beat 11-2. That's all I talk about. Let's go hard until the next TV timeout and when you're tired give the fist and come out.”
Players Mentioned
G
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