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Quotes: Duke 79, Florida State 69
3/15/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
2009 ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
POST-GAME QUOTES
Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski:
Opening statement
“We're ecstatic about being ACC champs and really happy for these guys, especially the guys in our junior class. These guys have had to go through a couple of years where they didn't have any upperclassmen. I'm really pleased for them to win their championship, their first championship.
“Our kids played really hard for three days. Florida State's so good. Douglas is as good a player as there is in the United States. We got a few hot streaks with our three-point shooting, one in the first half, and that was impressive. There were two junctures in the game, which I thought were really critical ? one, in the first half we had that lead, and we stopped scoring, and then Nolan (Smith) made two big-time plays for us going to the basket. Then, in the second half, just before the 12-minute TV timeout, we called a timeout, and they had cut it to six. Our guys went on a streak there. I'm really proud of them, because you're a little bit tired, they're coming on, and all of a sudden, our guys just turned it on. Down the stretch, it's a matter of not screwing up. We didn't make mistakes. Kyle inbounded the ball really well throughout. For us to finish a game like that with only four turnovers shows a lot of poise for my kids. We won a championship in a league that has been a tremendous league.”
You talked before the season about living in the moment more this season. Is that how you handled things after BC and after Clemson, and does it change your appreciation of today?
“The kids would tell you that they and our whole staff have been energized the entire time, and just enjoying it, but working hard. Our guys are doing that. We have a good group. I love this group. My staff, the guys on the team, the managers, everybody involved, we have a good group. I think that's why we were put in a position to win.”
It's been nine games since you made the switch and put Jon Scheyer at point guard, and he's had just 10 turnover during that stretch and averaged about 20 points. How much has he exceeded your expectations in handling the role?
“I knew he would handle it. He's such a good player that, placed in that level of responsibility, somebody who is really good will show you even better things. So I'm not into expecting, I'm into seeing. And what I'm seeing is magnificent play. He's done such a good job because he values the ball. We're not going to make highlight tapes of him leading the fast break, but he's done a great, great job.”
You've been getting contributions from different guys on your bench throughout the tournament.
“We talked to Brian (Zoubek) last night and again this morning about the fact that yesterday's game against Maryland was a tough game for him. Their center was shooting threes. But the last time that we played Florida State, Brian did a great job on Alabi. We just told him to be ready. We're going to use you, and he came through. McClure has done so well. These guys like him because he doesn't take any of their shots. But we're glad he hit a couple yesterday. I didn't know coming into this tournament how much (Nolan Smith) would play, maybe 10-12 minutes per game, and maybe we would play three games. He's exceeded that. He's played great. The boost that Elliot gave us (earlier), Nolan has given us.”
Do you think you deserve a number one seed?
“I think it'll all play out. We'll get a great seed, and we deserve a great seed whether that's one or two. This is a great year for college basketball. Whatever happens happens. I do believe we earned location through being ACC champions. Whatever seed will be appropriate. I think the NCAA committee does a great job.
Duke Players:
After the West Virginia game last year, several of their players said the Duke mystique had faded. Does this help restore it?
Scheyer: “To be honest with you, I have no idea what other people think about us. For us, it's not like we're an intimidating team. It's not like I walk out there, and teams are all of sudden scared to go up against me. I think we just play hard, and we don't really worry how other people feel about that. The only thing we can do is to keep winning.”
Henderson: “We can only control the things that we do, regardless of how people think of us. We just need to come out and handle our business.”
On the building process to win a championship.
Henderson: “It's a long time in coming. We've put a lot of work into building our team into what it is today. Winning this championship is an accomplishment, because we've waited a long time for it. It feels good.”
Krzyzewski: “I'm very proud. This class is a special class for me, because they helped build a championship. They won 50 games their first two year, so it's not like they're bad. They've won 28 now going into the NCAA Tournament. They've done a great job. This is a class that I'll always remember in my coaching career.”
On how tough was it to guard Toney Douglas:
Krzyzewski: “He's a great player. He's my favorite non-Duke player in the country. I love that guy. I talk about him a lot to our guys. They're probably mad at me. He's as good as there is in college. He's as good as there in college. (statement was repeated) He's a kid I'd love to coach, no question about it. He was hard to stop, because he is hard to stop.”
Scheyer: “He can do some many things. One thing we knew he can do is, when we did get a lead, put his team on his back. When we played them at home, he had some big threes to keep them in the game. He was doing the same thing tonight. When you're playing a player like him, you can never let up because at time he can go off.”
To Henderson about his success against Florida State this season:
“They do try get on me and make me drive. At the same, we ended up using a lot of ball screens with Alabi to try to make him guard off of it also. Today, specifically I was able to get my jumpshot off of that, and shots were falling.
Kyle Singler
On today's game:
“We started off well with Jon and Gerald. They set the tone for the team and we fed off each other. As long as we stayed aggressive on the offensive end we were felt like we were going to be alright and we played some good defense in the second half.”
Greg Paulus
On winning this as a senior:
“It's awesome. It is great to share it with the other seniors and the younger guys. It's interesting because whenever people ask me what are my favorite memories are I always tell them winning the ACC Championship as a freshmen. To get a chance to pass that down and now they can have that story to pass down to their teammates is great.”
Players Mentioned
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