Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball versus Countdown to Craziness on October 3, 2025 at 7 p.m.
/
7 p.m.
Men's Basketball
vs Countdown to Craziness
.png&width=24&height=24&type=webp)
Quotes: Duke 74, Miami 63
1/2/2011 10:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski
Opening Statement:
“It's a really good win over I think a very good Miami team. Those two guards from Miami are big time guards, Durand Scott and Malcolm Grant. They can play with anybody and better than most and we did an okay job on them. They can dominate a game, they are that good. And Reggie Johnson obviously is so good, very athletic, well coached, you know this is a big win for us. The obvious thing is Nolan [Smith]'s play. Nolan was spectacular tonight. He has been really good all season but tonight in ACC he was a difference-maker. I thought our bigs did a great job of helping with ball screens, really stepping in well, and playing good defense. Those three kids, it's the ACC and they have to do it now, you know they did a great job, Mason and Miles Plumlee and Ryan Kelly. Andre Dawkins played well defensively, but then he hit big shots for us, made some big plays. One of the biggest exchanges of the game were Miles' two free throws when he got elbowed, and to go up there nine points ahead and hit those two free throws, those are big plays. So I was pleased with our performance. It's a very tough game against a really good team, and I thought our kids did a nice job against them.”
On the way the offense played in the first half after missing five or six shots:
“I thought we had good shots. When our shooters have good shots, they should shoot. The score didn't seem to move for both teams for a long time. I thought the quality of shots were good, and then Nolan started driving the ball then and his ability. If you are not hitting a three then you have to mix it up a little bit, and he did and really gave us a spark to take a double-digit lead at halftime and then he just kept it going. At the end of the ballgame he was in control. He did a marvelous job tonight. Nolan was an old really good ACC guard tonight, a really good one.”
On the confidence the younger players gain from a tough opponent:
“It's good. We've got a lot of experience we've got to get. This is different team; it's not a well-oiled machine, but it's a good team, and it's a team that will hopefully get better if we stay healthy through these experiences. You know, we're not a dominant team or anything, I think we are good, we've just got to get more experience especially with Kyrie [Irving] out. This is the kind of game that we need and will have now. All of them will be like this including the game Wednesday night because they're [Alabama Birmingham] really good.”
On Nolan drawing contact that seemed to spark his game:
“He took contact. and I thought he played with a verve after that. I thought he got a little angry or more determined and we certainly benefitted from it. He is being a great leader. Kyle [Singler] played real well. Shots that he usually hits weren't going down for him tonight, but he still did a really good job defensively.”
On Andre's development as a player:
“You know Nate James and Chris Collins are working with him. The fact that he is a high percentage three-point shooter so people fly out at him and we want him to take the three point shot but you know him going in for the dunk, although he rimmed it, hitting a 14-footer, those are things that he has really worked hard on in practice with the coaches.”
On the approach taken entering ACC play:
“The realization of that you are 0-0. We try to impress on our guys that it's their turn to try and do something in the ACC. The night before the game we had them come into Cameron and take a look at the banners. From 1997-2006, we won both or one of the championships in our conference, that's 10 straight years. 2007 and 2008 we missed and then 2009 and 2010 there's a banner up there. So 12 out of the last 14 years is pretty good, and now it's your turn and you don't win one of those without showing up every day in our conference, it's just different. You don't play for your total record, you play for your ACC record. That's the way we have approached it, especially since the mid- 90's, and I think we get better as a result of doing that. There is just a different level of intensity by everybody you know, it means a lot.”
Duke Senior Nolan Smith
On his play after the charging foul in the first half:
“There's always something that I try and do to click in my head to attack and get mad. Sometimes, you can see it in my face. I get a good grit in my face where I get mad and I get going. It might've been that [charge].”
“I think at times, offensively, we were taking quick shots and not as aggressive and in an aggressive mindset. So whenever anybody was coming off aggressive and shooting strong shots, we were making them. So if we can put stretches together doing that we'll be very good offensively.”
On the challenge of facing a high caliber team without Kyrie Irving:
“The first thing we learned is that we're still a very good team. Guys are still looking to step up. Andre [Dawkins] and Seth [Curry] did a great job tonight defensively on one of the hottest players coming into the game in Malcolm Grant. Our defense was there all night, and going forward that's going to be our identity.”
On facing Malcolm Grant and Durand Scott:
“We're going to play against great guards like that all year in this conference. There are a lot of other great guards like those two, so for us to do that shows that we can defend. And our big guys also did a good job of helping us in defending them and talking to us and being the voice in the back of our defense. Going forward, we've got to continue to do that and continue to keep guards like that out of our paint.”
Duke Sophomore Andre Dawkins
“When you have guards like they have, we have to have really good help because they're going to beat us sometimes. Our help defense was really good, and our big men really had our back tonight.”
On the start of ACC league play:
“We approach it as if it were a new season. That first part of the season is in the past, and right now we're 1-0. Now we just have to keep moving forward. It's important for our confidence and for our team moving forward. We made some steps in the right direction today, and we've just got to get back to work and keep moving forward tomorrow.”
On the play of Nolan Smith:
“Nolan is playing great right now. Throughout this game, he really carried us on the offensive and defensive end. He has to play the whole game and play arguably one of the best guards in the ACC. He played with a lot of passion and a lot of heart. He never gets tired out there, and he has one of the toughest assignments on the team, night in and night out. He really gives us a lift.”
Duke Sophomore Ryan Kelly
“We've definitely been working on our free throws, and a big thing for us is just concentration and we did a good job tonight.”
“We need to win with defense and rebounding, and that's what's going to win in the ACC. When we get better at those things, that's when we're going to be the team we really can be.”
On defending Miami's Reggie Johnson:
“We were trying to keep him out of the paint as much as possible obviously. We knew that he was really good at getting his own shots up and then offensive rebounding. Today he didn't miss too many shots to have to offensive rebound. We were trying to double-team him in the post a little bit. But he had an awesome game. We're going to continue to get better at defending a guy of his caliber.”
“In the ACC, the level of intensity steps up. The intensity is unbelievable in the gym and guys are playing like it's the last game of the season every game. That was something last year I didn't really appreciate and understand yet. I think I'm getting to understand that and I think it's going to continue to help me get into the flow of the game. But you know, we go out there and do the same thing – we're playing as hard as we can every play and if it comes out like it did today, that will be a good thing.”
Miami Head Coach Frank Haith
On getting the ball down low and getting penetration:
“Yeah and then we did miss some bunnies too during that stretch too. I think we missed some easy shots. There were contested layups but I mean, we have to make those.”
On Reggie's foul on the perimeter:
“Bad foul. Those are the fouls he doesn't need to get because he's going to get other fouls called on him, so he needs to not have a foul 35-40 feet away from the basket. It's not a good play. He knows that.”
On guards trying to take away the game from Duke:
“I think Duke did a great job defensively on both those guys. I think Malcolm [Grant] and Durand [Scott], they just didn't have their best game. There's no question about it. And they'll be better. Those guys are good. They're good players. They're going to help us win some games.”
On what the team will take away from this game:
“Well, I told the guys after the game, I thought we competed hard. And you want to be able to do that night in night out. I think we fought, you know, we can learn from this game. There's no question about it, this league is a marathon. It's not a hundred yard dash. So we have to take some positives from this game in terms of how hard we competed, and get ready for Clemson.”
On how he takes the loss in conference play when it was a dead even ball game:
“Well Duke's the number one team in the country. I think you come here and you play them. They're the consensus number one team in the country. Hopefully I think our guys will take some positives from this game, because we competed, we were right there. There's some plays here and there that we have to get better at. Like I said, I think when we're able to keep Reggie on the floor, you know I don't know how many minutes he played totally but, 23 minutes, we want Reggie playing 30-30 plus minutes. And when we're able to do that and he's not in foul trouble, I like our chances to be competitive in this league.”
On the possibility of exhaustion with Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith playing the full game:
“Well one timeout I did say, well after the half, both those guys played the full 20 minutes and they didn't come off the court the first half. And I just told our guys to keep competing, keep driving. But I think those guys have done that before. You know, they're seasoned players. But I wanted our guys to just keep pushing it. We just need to get consecutive stops. And for the most part, you look at Duke's averaging 90 points a game. I mean our defense was good. And we changed defenses on them. For the most part, our goal was to make them contested shots. We didn't want to give them any open looks whether we're in man or zone. And I think for the most part we did a good job of that. They hurt us with the offensive rebound in the early part of the game. They got a couple stick backs. But, I thought our defense was really good I mean to a team that's been pretty lethal offensively all year.”
Miami Sophomore Reggie Johnson
On his plan against the Duke defense:
“Be aggressive. Coming into the game Coach told me to be aggressive. I mean, if I get a foul called, I get a foul called. I was just being aggressive with it. That's about it.”
On sitting for a good number of minutes:
“It was tough. It was real tough. Obviously Julian [Gamble] and Rafael [Akpejiori] came in and gave great minutes. But it was tough not being on the floor with my team here in Cameron Indoor and the team fighting, it was tough.”
Opening Statement:
“It's a really good win over I think a very good Miami team. Those two guards from Miami are big time guards, Durand Scott and Malcolm Grant. They can play with anybody and better than most and we did an okay job on them. They can dominate a game, they are that good. And Reggie Johnson obviously is so good, very athletic, well coached, you know this is a big win for us. The obvious thing is Nolan [Smith]'s play. Nolan was spectacular tonight. He has been really good all season but tonight in ACC he was a difference-maker. I thought our bigs did a great job of helping with ball screens, really stepping in well, and playing good defense. Those three kids, it's the ACC and they have to do it now, you know they did a great job, Mason and Miles Plumlee and Ryan Kelly. Andre Dawkins played well defensively, but then he hit big shots for us, made some big plays. One of the biggest exchanges of the game were Miles' two free throws when he got elbowed, and to go up there nine points ahead and hit those two free throws, those are big plays. So I was pleased with our performance. It's a very tough game against a really good team, and I thought our kids did a nice job against them.”
On the way the offense played in the first half after missing five or six shots:
“I thought we had good shots. When our shooters have good shots, they should shoot. The score didn't seem to move for both teams for a long time. I thought the quality of shots were good, and then Nolan started driving the ball then and his ability. If you are not hitting a three then you have to mix it up a little bit, and he did and really gave us a spark to take a double-digit lead at halftime and then he just kept it going. At the end of the ballgame he was in control. He did a marvelous job tonight. Nolan was an old really good ACC guard tonight, a really good one.”
On the confidence the younger players gain from a tough opponent:
“It's good. We've got a lot of experience we've got to get. This is different team; it's not a well-oiled machine, but it's a good team, and it's a team that will hopefully get better if we stay healthy through these experiences. You know, we're not a dominant team or anything, I think we are good, we've just got to get more experience especially with Kyrie [Irving] out. This is the kind of game that we need and will have now. All of them will be like this including the game Wednesday night because they're [Alabama Birmingham] really good.”
On Nolan drawing contact that seemed to spark his game:
“He took contact. and I thought he played with a verve after that. I thought he got a little angry or more determined and we certainly benefitted from it. He is being a great leader. Kyle [Singler] played real well. Shots that he usually hits weren't going down for him tonight, but he still did a really good job defensively.”
On Andre's development as a player:
“You know Nate James and Chris Collins are working with him. The fact that he is a high percentage three-point shooter so people fly out at him and we want him to take the three point shot but you know him going in for the dunk, although he rimmed it, hitting a 14-footer, those are things that he has really worked hard on in practice with the coaches.”
On the approach taken entering ACC play:
“The realization of that you are 0-0. We try to impress on our guys that it's their turn to try and do something in the ACC. The night before the game we had them come into Cameron and take a look at the banners. From 1997-2006, we won both or one of the championships in our conference, that's 10 straight years. 2007 and 2008 we missed and then 2009 and 2010 there's a banner up there. So 12 out of the last 14 years is pretty good, and now it's your turn and you don't win one of those without showing up every day in our conference, it's just different. You don't play for your total record, you play for your ACC record. That's the way we have approached it, especially since the mid- 90's, and I think we get better as a result of doing that. There is just a different level of intensity by everybody you know, it means a lot.”
Duke Senior Nolan Smith
On his play after the charging foul in the first half:
“There's always something that I try and do to click in my head to attack and get mad. Sometimes, you can see it in my face. I get a good grit in my face where I get mad and I get going. It might've been that [charge].”
“I think at times, offensively, we were taking quick shots and not as aggressive and in an aggressive mindset. So whenever anybody was coming off aggressive and shooting strong shots, we were making them. So if we can put stretches together doing that we'll be very good offensively.”
On the challenge of facing a high caliber team without Kyrie Irving:
“The first thing we learned is that we're still a very good team. Guys are still looking to step up. Andre [Dawkins] and Seth [Curry] did a great job tonight defensively on one of the hottest players coming into the game in Malcolm Grant. Our defense was there all night, and going forward that's going to be our identity.”
On facing Malcolm Grant and Durand Scott:
“We're going to play against great guards like that all year in this conference. There are a lot of other great guards like those two, so for us to do that shows that we can defend. And our big guys also did a good job of helping us in defending them and talking to us and being the voice in the back of our defense. Going forward, we've got to continue to do that and continue to keep guards like that out of our paint.”
Duke Sophomore Andre Dawkins
“When you have guards like they have, we have to have really good help because they're going to beat us sometimes. Our help defense was really good, and our big men really had our back tonight.”
On the start of ACC league play:
“We approach it as if it were a new season. That first part of the season is in the past, and right now we're 1-0. Now we just have to keep moving forward. It's important for our confidence and for our team moving forward. We made some steps in the right direction today, and we've just got to get back to work and keep moving forward tomorrow.”
On the play of Nolan Smith:
“Nolan is playing great right now. Throughout this game, he really carried us on the offensive and defensive end. He has to play the whole game and play arguably one of the best guards in the ACC. He played with a lot of passion and a lot of heart. He never gets tired out there, and he has one of the toughest assignments on the team, night in and night out. He really gives us a lift.”
Duke Sophomore Ryan Kelly
“We've definitely been working on our free throws, and a big thing for us is just concentration and we did a good job tonight.”
“We need to win with defense and rebounding, and that's what's going to win in the ACC. When we get better at those things, that's when we're going to be the team we really can be.”
On defending Miami's Reggie Johnson:
“We were trying to keep him out of the paint as much as possible obviously. We knew that he was really good at getting his own shots up and then offensive rebounding. Today he didn't miss too many shots to have to offensive rebound. We were trying to double-team him in the post a little bit. But he had an awesome game. We're going to continue to get better at defending a guy of his caliber.”
“In the ACC, the level of intensity steps up. The intensity is unbelievable in the gym and guys are playing like it's the last game of the season every game. That was something last year I didn't really appreciate and understand yet. I think I'm getting to understand that and I think it's going to continue to help me get into the flow of the game. But you know, we go out there and do the same thing – we're playing as hard as we can every play and if it comes out like it did today, that will be a good thing.”
Miami Head Coach Frank Haith
On getting the ball down low and getting penetration:
“Yeah and then we did miss some bunnies too during that stretch too. I think we missed some easy shots. There were contested layups but I mean, we have to make those.”
On Reggie's foul on the perimeter:
“Bad foul. Those are the fouls he doesn't need to get because he's going to get other fouls called on him, so he needs to not have a foul 35-40 feet away from the basket. It's not a good play. He knows that.”
On guards trying to take away the game from Duke:
“I think Duke did a great job defensively on both those guys. I think Malcolm [Grant] and Durand [Scott], they just didn't have their best game. There's no question about it. And they'll be better. Those guys are good. They're good players. They're going to help us win some games.”
On what the team will take away from this game:
“Well, I told the guys after the game, I thought we competed hard. And you want to be able to do that night in night out. I think we fought, you know, we can learn from this game. There's no question about it, this league is a marathon. It's not a hundred yard dash. So we have to take some positives from this game in terms of how hard we competed, and get ready for Clemson.”
On how he takes the loss in conference play when it was a dead even ball game:
“Well Duke's the number one team in the country. I think you come here and you play them. They're the consensus number one team in the country. Hopefully I think our guys will take some positives from this game, because we competed, we were right there. There's some plays here and there that we have to get better at. Like I said, I think when we're able to keep Reggie on the floor, you know I don't know how many minutes he played totally but, 23 minutes, we want Reggie playing 30-30 plus minutes. And when we're able to do that and he's not in foul trouble, I like our chances to be competitive in this league.”
On the possibility of exhaustion with Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith playing the full game:
“Well one timeout I did say, well after the half, both those guys played the full 20 minutes and they didn't come off the court the first half. And I just told our guys to keep competing, keep driving. But I think those guys have done that before. You know, they're seasoned players. But I wanted our guys to just keep pushing it. We just need to get consecutive stops. And for the most part, you look at Duke's averaging 90 points a game. I mean our defense was good. And we changed defenses on them. For the most part, our goal was to make them contested shots. We didn't want to give them any open looks whether we're in man or zone. And I think for the most part we did a good job of that. They hurt us with the offensive rebound in the early part of the game. They got a couple stick backs. But, I thought our defense was really good I mean to a team that's been pretty lethal offensively all year.”
Miami Sophomore Reggie Johnson
On his plan against the Duke defense:
“Be aggressive. Coming into the game Coach told me to be aggressive. I mean, if I get a foul called, I get a foul called. I was just being aggressive with it. That's about it.”
On sitting for a good number of minutes:
“It was tough. It was real tough. Obviously Julian [Gamble] and Rafael [Akpejiori] came in and gave great minutes. But it was tough not being on the floor with my team here in Cameron Indoor and the team fighting, it was tough.”
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballJon Scheyer Press Conference: Summer 2025
Tuesday, July 08
Duke vs Houston: Press Conference
Sunday, April 06
Duke vs Alabama: East Region Champions Press Conference
Wednesday, April 02
Duke vs Arizona: Duke Press Conference
Friday, March 28
