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Men's Basketball
at Army West Point
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Quotes: Duke 90, Wake Forest 70
1/17/2010 11:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski
Opening Statement:
“That was a big time game tonight. That was ACC basketball at its toughest and best. I thought both teams played their hearts out. The rebounding was tenacious by both teams. At halftime I think we had 16 offensive boards and they had 13 or 14 and our three perimeter guys were 5-for-28 and we were up by eight. The second half we were up by 12 and they tied the game. [Ishmael] Smith is so difficult to defend, he's such a good player. And [Al-Farouq] Aminu is a great player. Kyle [Singler] hit the biggest shot of the game with the three. It wasn't off of anything. He saw an opportunity and then we were able to make a stop and then Jon [Scheyer] did the same thing. In transition he was able to create a three-point play opportunity. Right after that I thought we played sensational basketball for the rest of the game. We executed well and obviously the score is not indicative of the game that it was. We're concerned about Kyle with his wrist. I did see the play and he didn't fall where he supported himself with his wrist, he fell straight out. Right now it's not sore to touch, but it's stiff. So we're looking at it tonight and we'll look at it tomorrow and hopefully there is nothing in there that will stop him from playing. I thought one of the truly great moments was when he airballed that first [free throw] and wanted to stay in and he swishes the next one. He ends up with 21 [points] and 15 [rebounds]. Miles [Plumlee] played his best game at Duke with 19 [points] and 14 [rebounds]. Just some big-time performances tonight by kids from both teams. I'm proud of my team. We won a really hard-fought game. It's the hardest game we've played this year. That was a hard fought game and the crowd was great. Sometimes with Sunday night games you worry about stuff like that but the crowd was sensational. And they obviously were part of the pretty neat experience here in Cameron.”
On what he learned about his team's toughness:
“We have a tough team. With the schedule we play. We get people's best shots. Tonight, I thought Wake was really ready to play. I thought Wake played well. I thought they played winning basketball so when you win a game when the other team was also probably was in a position where they could be deserving to win that makes it a better win.”
On the attention Singler, Smith and Scheyer draw on defense and the influence it has on offensive rebounding:
“There is no question about that. People have to look to stop those three guys. Just like with [Ishmael] Smith. You never play him with just one guy. And then a kid like [Ari] Stewart is going to get some shots. What [Wake Forest] was doing was switching ball screens so that meant the little guy was going on a big guy. We didn't get to post that much, but when a shot was taken they didn't have a chance to block out our big with a big, so I think that was the reason we got the rebounds we did in the first half.”
On the physical level of the game:
“It was really physical. I don't think that's the way games are always played. We're both 2-1 coming into the game. Both of us had good rests. Just the nature of something like that takes it up a notch or two. I don't think that game is indicative of how all of the games are played, but certain games are played at a higher level and tonight was one of them.”
On the final 14 minutes of the game, outscoring Wake Forest 35-15:
“We executed very well. I thought our defensive rebounding picked up. Also down the stretch Singler was outstanding. We used him at the four also because of some of the foul trouble. They missed some shots and we made ours and once we got that double digit lead and we didn't miss free throws. We put a lot of points up and in the last five minutes it was kind of flawless the way our guys were executing the half court offense. When you get that you're going to be really tired at the end of that game. And if you have to play defense for about 25 or 30 seconds and that team scores that takes something out of you going down the other end and it gives a big boost to the new defensive team. That type of dynamic just kind of worked out that way.”
On Mason and Miles Plumlee's play in the first half:
“I talked about Miles, but Mason played very well also. We were in so much foul trouble and those two guys were very aggressive and got points for us. We got what I would call some garbage points on offensive rebounds. That kept us in the ball game because we're 5-for-28 with the three kids that we want to shoot 28 times. We just hope they hit about 15 or 16 of them and not five.”
Sophomore Miles Plumlee
On the physical nature of the game:
“Obviously it was real physical, I mean that was a tough ACC game. It was great that me and Mason [Plumlee] came out and rebounded hard, played hard and it went really well for us.”
On adding a dimension to the team:
“Yeah, I think that makes us a complete team. Our perimeter has been there and they are always going to be there for us. Now we got a real strong inside game. I mean there are not many people that can stop that.”
On final ten minutes of the game:
“Once again, just like Boston College, our defense came out and made stops. That is how you pull away.”
On Mason Plumlee's reverse dunk:
“It was fun, it was unbelievable. I was a little mad; I want to be the first to get [a reverse dunk]. It was great. I just hope no one got hurt too bad so we can come back tomorrow and get ready for the next game.”
Senior Jon Scheyer
On how tough the game was:
“I don't know if I would call it a 10, but it was close. It was a real tough game and it was a game where one or two plays changed the whole game around. I thought we did a good job of being tough and playing through contact. We had so many different guys step up tonight, which was great.”
Freshman Mason Plumlee
On playing with foul trouble:
“No. As a matter of fact, Coach said at halftime, he said, 'You guys are in foul trouble, don't play like you are.' I think that is why we came out just as strong in the second half. The good thing is that we have depth at our position, so foul trouble doesn't hurt us as much, even though we were all in foul trouble. I think tonight was as bad as it's been in terms of foul trouble. We will be alright.”
On how he felt physically after taking a big fall:
“I'm fine. It was tight, but I feel fine.”
On a lot of dunks in the game:
“Both teams were athletic on the floor tonight. I know [Al-Farouq] Aminu had some good dunks tonight. Those are statement plays. When you get a chance, you have to take advantage of it.”
Junior Nolan Smith
On the physical play in the paint, watching it as a guard:
“It was [incredible to watch]. They have Aminu, [Chas] McFarland, our Plumlees and [Brian] Zoubek, it was just a fight in the paint. I went in there a couple times and I was like 'Nah, let me get out of here.' It was too physical down there for me … no, but it was definitely a war for 40 minutes, those guys probably have to get in the ice bath right now, after a game like that. Our guys kept fighting, and I think they were able to wear [Wake Forest's] guys down.”
Wake Forest Head Coach Dino Gaudio
Opening statement:
“I want to congratulate Mike [Krzyzewski] and his kids. I thought they played very well, especially in the second half. I thought it was a really physical game. I think that little sequence in the second half, when it was 55 apiece, and Nolan [Smith] made a three and Kyle [Singler] made a conventional three-point play, then all of a sudden it goes from 55 to them being up six and then of course they went on a little 13-0 run there. I thought our kids played hard. I think we struggled a little bit on the offensive end, but we just have to play better in the half court. [Ishmael Smith] plays as hard as humanly possible, but we just have to do a better job on the offensive end.”
On the physicality of the game:
“On both sides now, our kids and their kids; it was a football game. I think Coach Williams said, maybe a couple weeks ago, the game is getting incredibly physical. It's unbelievable, and like I said, my kids and the other team as well. The game is just so physical, it's unbelievable. I don't know, and I've been to see a couple NBA games, if it's that physical inside in the league. [Duke] has big kids, strong kids and we have big, strong kids. I think they both played very, very hard and they got the better of us tonight.”
On Ishmael Smith's intentional foul:
“I thought, and believe you me I'm losing all of my senses, my hearing, my sight, my smell, my taste, but maybe when we look at the replay … we had a great officiating crew. Those guys, Ray Natili and Joe Lindsay and Teddy Valentine, you can't ask for a better crew than that. I just think now, they said if it looks excessive, and maybe when I watch the tape maybe [Ishmael Smith] killed the kid, but he'll go up there and block shots. Maybe when kids are up in the air, just let him go then if they're going to call that call, but that had nothing to do with the game. We had great officials.”
On the play of Wake Forest's Al-Farouq Aminu and Duke's Kyle Singler:
“I think they're really good offensive players, both kids. I think Kyle has a tad more skill level to his game and I think Farouq has a little bit more athleticism to his game. I think early in the first half, when we came out switching ball screens, which has been successful for us against Duke in the past. And what happened was, when they missed shots, our little guys were on their big guys. So now we're having a harder time boxing them out. We had Ish [Smith] trying to box out Zoubek. We had C.J. Harris trying to box out the Plumlee brothers, so in the second half, we just started to play the ball screens hard. And we did a pretty good job of that and we had our bigs on their bigs. When the shot went up, it was a little bit of an even fist fight.”
On the play of Duke's Jon Scheyer:
“I thought he had a really good second half. When we went in at halftime, one guy was two-for-10, one guy was one-for-seven, their big three, Smith, Scheyer and Singler. And then you look at the box score at the end of the game and Kyle has 21 and Nolan has 20, I don't think we did a good job on those kids in the second half. Coach K does a great job when they have the lead of running the clock down and then they're just going to take you off the bounce. You have to guard the ball one-on-one. We're guarding them for 30 seconds of the shot clock or 28, they're going to drive the ball because when they're in the bonus, they're going to get to the foul line. We didn't do a good enough job of guarding the ball.”
On the play of Wake's Chas McFarland:
“As we all know, he's a tough kid. I think he' tempered some of his emotion this year, which has manifested itself in him being a better player. He was huge for us in the first half, getting those put-backs and stuff. Seventeen-and-10, that's what we thought he could give us all year. He didn't play well at the beginning of the year and I brought our three big guys in after the Miami game. Chas at the time was 0-for-5 against Xavier and 0-for-5 against Miami. He's 0-for-10 in two games and David Weaver was rebounding the ball real well. I thought he played hard tonight. I thought Tony Woods, for the second game in a row, has really given us a lot of energy. He's a tough kid he plays with a lot of energy and I was pleased with his play tonight.”
On the play of Ishmael Smith:
“I think [Duke] did a great job on him. I mean, usually he hits those floaters and of course when you're playing these guys, we work on it for the few days of preparation, you have to pull up because they're going to take charges. You can intimidate shooters in a couple ways when they get into the paint. You can intimidate them with shot blockers or you can intimidate them with guys taking charges, and I think Duke does the latter. You've got to be cognizant of that. We drilled that, pulling up, and we had a little walk-on standing in the lane at practice. But you've got to be able to go in there and pull up, but he likes the runner a little bit. You know what, that kid, man he plays hard. I don't have any problems with his numbers because that kid plays with a big heart.”
Opening Statement:
“That was a big time game tonight. That was ACC basketball at its toughest and best. I thought both teams played their hearts out. The rebounding was tenacious by both teams. At halftime I think we had 16 offensive boards and they had 13 or 14 and our three perimeter guys were 5-for-28 and we were up by eight. The second half we were up by 12 and they tied the game. [Ishmael] Smith is so difficult to defend, he's such a good player. And [Al-Farouq] Aminu is a great player. Kyle [Singler] hit the biggest shot of the game with the three. It wasn't off of anything. He saw an opportunity and then we were able to make a stop and then Jon [Scheyer] did the same thing. In transition he was able to create a three-point play opportunity. Right after that I thought we played sensational basketball for the rest of the game. We executed well and obviously the score is not indicative of the game that it was. We're concerned about Kyle with his wrist. I did see the play and he didn't fall where he supported himself with his wrist, he fell straight out. Right now it's not sore to touch, but it's stiff. So we're looking at it tonight and we'll look at it tomorrow and hopefully there is nothing in there that will stop him from playing. I thought one of the truly great moments was when he airballed that first [free throw] and wanted to stay in and he swishes the next one. He ends up with 21 [points] and 15 [rebounds]. Miles [Plumlee] played his best game at Duke with 19 [points] and 14 [rebounds]. Just some big-time performances tonight by kids from both teams. I'm proud of my team. We won a really hard-fought game. It's the hardest game we've played this year. That was a hard fought game and the crowd was great. Sometimes with Sunday night games you worry about stuff like that but the crowd was sensational. And they obviously were part of the pretty neat experience here in Cameron.”
On what he learned about his team's toughness:
“We have a tough team. With the schedule we play. We get people's best shots. Tonight, I thought Wake was really ready to play. I thought Wake played well. I thought they played winning basketball so when you win a game when the other team was also probably was in a position where they could be deserving to win that makes it a better win.”
On the attention Singler, Smith and Scheyer draw on defense and the influence it has on offensive rebounding:
“There is no question about that. People have to look to stop those three guys. Just like with [Ishmael] Smith. You never play him with just one guy. And then a kid like [Ari] Stewart is going to get some shots. What [Wake Forest] was doing was switching ball screens so that meant the little guy was going on a big guy. We didn't get to post that much, but when a shot was taken they didn't have a chance to block out our big with a big, so I think that was the reason we got the rebounds we did in the first half.”
On the physical level of the game:
“It was really physical. I don't think that's the way games are always played. We're both 2-1 coming into the game. Both of us had good rests. Just the nature of something like that takes it up a notch or two. I don't think that game is indicative of how all of the games are played, but certain games are played at a higher level and tonight was one of them.”
On the final 14 minutes of the game, outscoring Wake Forest 35-15:
“We executed very well. I thought our defensive rebounding picked up. Also down the stretch Singler was outstanding. We used him at the four also because of some of the foul trouble. They missed some shots and we made ours and once we got that double digit lead and we didn't miss free throws. We put a lot of points up and in the last five minutes it was kind of flawless the way our guys were executing the half court offense. When you get that you're going to be really tired at the end of that game. And if you have to play defense for about 25 or 30 seconds and that team scores that takes something out of you going down the other end and it gives a big boost to the new defensive team. That type of dynamic just kind of worked out that way.”
On Mason and Miles Plumlee's play in the first half:
“I talked about Miles, but Mason played very well also. We were in so much foul trouble and those two guys were very aggressive and got points for us. We got what I would call some garbage points on offensive rebounds. That kept us in the ball game because we're 5-for-28 with the three kids that we want to shoot 28 times. We just hope they hit about 15 or 16 of them and not five.”
Sophomore Miles Plumlee
On the physical nature of the game:
“Obviously it was real physical, I mean that was a tough ACC game. It was great that me and Mason [Plumlee] came out and rebounded hard, played hard and it went really well for us.”
On adding a dimension to the team:
“Yeah, I think that makes us a complete team. Our perimeter has been there and they are always going to be there for us. Now we got a real strong inside game. I mean there are not many people that can stop that.”
On final ten minutes of the game:
“Once again, just like Boston College, our defense came out and made stops. That is how you pull away.”
On Mason Plumlee's reverse dunk:
“It was fun, it was unbelievable. I was a little mad; I want to be the first to get [a reverse dunk]. It was great. I just hope no one got hurt too bad so we can come back tomorrow and get ready for the next game.”
Senior Jon Scheyer
On how tough the game was:
“I don't know if I would call it a 10, but it was close. It was a real tough game and it was a game where one or two plays changed the whole game around. I thought we did a good job of being tough and playing through contact. We had so many different guys step up tonight, which was great.”
Freshman Mason Plumlee
On playing with foul trouble:
“No. As a matter of fact, Coach said at halftime, he said, 'You guys are in foul trouble, don't play like you are.' I think that is why we came out just as strong in the second half. The good thing is that we have depth at our position, so foul trouble doesn't hurt us as much, even though we were all in foul trouble. I think tonight was as bad as it's been in terms of foul trouble. We will be alright.”
On how he felt physically after taking a big fall:
“I'm fine. It was tight, but I feel fine.”
On a lot of dunks in the game:
“Both teams were athletic on the floor tonight. I know [Al-Farouq] Aminu had some good dunks tonight. Those are statement plays. When you get a chance, you have to take advantage of it.”
Junior Nolan Smith
On the physical play in the paint, watching it as a guard:
“It was [incredible to watch]. They have Aminu, [Chas] McFarland, our Plumlees and [Brian] Zoubek, it was just a fight in the paint. I went in there a couple times and I was like 'Nah, let me get out of here.' It was too physical down there for me … no, but it was definitely a war for 40 minutes, those guys probably have to get in the ice bath right now, after a game like that. Our guys kept fighting, and I think they were able to wear [Wake Forest's] guys down.”
Wake Forest Head Coach Dino Gaudio
Opening statement:
“I want to congratulate Mike [Krzyzewski] and his kids. I thought they played very well, especially in the second half. I thought it was a really physical game. I think that little sequence in the second half, when it was 55 apiece, and Nolan [Smith] made a three and Kyle [Singler] made a conventional three-point play, then all of a sudden it goes from 55 to them being up six and then of course they went on a little 13-0 run there. I thought our kids played hard. I think we struggled a little bit on the offensive end, but we just have to play better in the half court. [Ishmael Smith] plays as hard as humanly possible, but we just have to do a better job on the offensive end.”
On the physicality of the game:
“On both sides now, our kids and their kids; it was a football game. I think Coach Williams said, maybe a couple weeks ago, the game is getting incredibly physical. It's unbelievable, and like I said, my kids and the other team as well. The game is just so physical, it's unbelievable. I don't know, and I've been to see a couple NBA games, if it's that physical inside in the league. [Duke] has big kids, strong kids and we have big, strong kids. I think they both played very, very hard and they got the better of us tonight.”
On Ishmael Smith's intentional foul:
“I thought, and believe you me I'm losing all of my senses, my hearing, my sight, my smell, my taste, but maybe when we look at the replay … we had a great officiating crew. Those guys, Ray Natili and Joe Lindsay and Teddy Valentine, you can't ask for a better crew than that. I just think now, they said if it looks excessive, and maybe when I watch the tape maybe [Ishmael Smith] killed the kid, but he'll go up there and block shots. Maybe when kids are up in the air, just let him go then if they're going to call that call, but that had nothing to do with the game. We had great officials.”
On the play of Wake Forest's Al-Farouq Aminu and Duke's Kyle Singler:
“I think they're really good offensive players, both kids. I think Kyle has a tad more skill level to his game and I think Farouq has a little bit more athleticism to his game. I think early in the first half, when we came out switching ball screens, which has been successful for us against Duke in the past. And what happened was, when they missed shots, our little guys were on their big guys. So now we're having a harder time boxing them out. We had Ish [Smith] trying to box out Zoubek. We had C.J. Harris trying to box out the Plumlee brothers, so in the second half, we just started to play the ball screens hard. And we did a pretty good job of that and we had our bigs on their bigs. When the shot went up, it was a little bit of an even fist fight.”
On the play of Duke's Jon Scheyer:
“I thought he had a really good second half. When we went in at halftime, one guy was two-for-10, one guy was one-for-seven, their big three, Smith, Scheyer and Singler. And then you look at the box score at the end of the game and Kyle has 21 and Nolan has 20, I don't think we did a good job on those kids in the second half. Coach K does a great job when they have the lead of running the clock down and then they're just going to take you off the bounce. You have to guard the ball one-on-one. We're guarding them for 30 seconds of the shot clock or 28, they're going to drive the ball because when they're in the bonus, they're going to get to the foul line. We didn't do a good enough job of guarding the ball.”
On the play of Wake's Chas McFarland:
“As we all know, he's a tough kid. I think he' tempered some of his emotion this year, which has manifested itself in him being a better player. He was huge for us in the first half, getting those put-backs and stuff. Seventeen-and-10, that's what we thought he could give us all year. He didn't play well at the beginning of the year and I brought our three big guys in after the Miami game. Chas at the time was 0-for-5 against Xavier and 0-for-5 against Miami. He's 0-for-10 in two games and David Weaver was rebounding the ball real well. I thought he played hard tonight. I thought Tony Woods, for the second game in a row, has really given us a lot of energy. He's a tough kid he plays with a lot of energy and I was pleased with his play tonight.”
On the play of Ishmael Smith:
“I think [Duke] did a great job on him. I mean, usually he hits those floaters and of course when you're playing these guys, we work on it for the few days of preparation, you have to pull up because they're going to take charges. You can intimidate shooters in a couple ways when they get into the paint. You can intimidate them with shot blockers or you can intimidate them with guys taking charges, and I think Duke does the latter. You've got to be cognizant of that. We drilled that, pulling up, and we had a little walk-on standing in the lane at practice. But you've got to be able to go in there and pull up, but he likes the runner a little bit. You know what, that kid, man he plays hard. I don't have any problems with his numbers because that kid plays with a big heart.”
Players Mentioned
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