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Quotes: Duke 90, UNC Greensboro 63
12/19/2011 10:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski
Opening Statement:
"I thought UNC Greensboro really played a heck of a first half against us. They took the fight to us and I thought their defense was physical and good. They were energized. I'm not sure our guys expected that, although they should. It's a really good thing for their team. I thought they really came ready to play and they played hard throughout. But then the last five minutes of the first half and all the second half I thought we played really hard and well. Our rebounding was key. Miles and Mason [Plumlee], I think both of them had 13 boards. Our two young kids, Quinn [Cook] and Mike [Gbinije], really had their best minutes. That was so good going into the break. We've come off of two really tough weeks with the academics, and we're taking a break. We talk about it all the time - you've got to be really ready, and I didn't think we were as ready as we needed to be, and we got ready. Again, if they don't show up to play, you don't look like you're not ready. But them coming in and playing so hard and well - I thought they were very well prepared. I thought they played really well against us. The second half, though, we held them in single digits for a long time. And then we executed our offense very well and a lot of guys got minutes and really good play. When you play against a team that plays that hard, those are good minutes. Those are good minutes to have."
On how his team responded to UNCG's fast start:
"I'm not sure when we had our attention. I was not very pleased with our team. You can make all kinds of excuses, and there just are no excuses. The person who makes excuses is looking for something easy. People are going to come after us hard, and we can't gauge how well we're supposed to play each night before we play. We've got to go out and play ... When you become really good at anything, you just show up all the time. And I didn't think we showed up with the intensity that we needed to have, and then they played really well. They played very well. Their coach will talk about their team, but they played better than they look on tape. They played with great intensity. We've had a couple kids injured this week. I don't put out a lot about injuries. I'm not a big believer in that because I think it lends to excuses. But obviously every team gets hurt and sick and whatever ... But Ryan [Kelly] hasn't practiced much because of that calf injury. He got hurt in the Washington game. And Seth [Curry] sprained his ankle pretty badly in the middle of the week, and so he's only had one really good practice. And you could tell. They weren't as sharp. Hopefully we'll get 100 percent during the break and get going again. I'm proud of our team, though. I thought they played real well. The crowd was great. A lot of people from all over the country here today. And our kids are 10-1, and I think did well academically. They certainly have done well basketball-wise, so it's a good time to take a break and then come back and get strong again."
On what defensive adjustments were made in the second half:
"We didn't spread our defense out. We just picked up at half court. We changed how we were doing ball screens. The first half, they just beat us down the court. They had a number of dunks. We didn't talk. But what we were doing in transition, it's the first time we've done that in a long time. Say I have you in the scouting report, but I'm on this side offensively and you're on that side. And now it changes. You go this side, whoever's on that side should take you - you don't cross. We were crossing, trying to get to our men. That shows a little bit of 'Whoa,' you're brain dead ... I can't even remember the last time they were doing that."
On the high number of turnovers:
"I thought we were weak with the ball, and they were strong. Every time we got a rebound, they had active hands. They were strong, trying to knock the ball away. And then they were jamming us a lot, and we weren't strong with our passes. We threw a lot of weak passes."
On UNCG Head Coach Wes Miller:
"I don't evaluate coaches ... I think a coach is somebody who builds a program and has his team show up every night and play hard. I'm sure he'll do a really good job there."
Duke Senior Miles Plumlee
"It was just one of those games where I was happy to impact it any way I could. I didn't get frustrated - I had two buckets I definitely should've finished, and I'm mad about that. But all in all, I was glad I was rebounding and playing defense. And guys stepped up, so it was a really good win."
On what lead to the poor first half performance:
"It's just one of those games. You've got to come ready to play. The other team's going to be ready to play and it just shows up. In terms of playing hard, they were hitting us first, getting the loose balls, boxing us out, and playing harder on defense."
On his rebounding performance:
"Overall, I just want to be more aggressive in any way I can, and tonight it wasn't offensively and it just translated into boards. I'm happy with how the game went, but I'm going to expect myself to be just as aggressive offensively and rebounding and defensively in the course of the games coming up."
Duke Junior Mason Plumlee
"I just don't think we were playing very hard. The coaches were on us about our energy and our effort, so it really wasn't an X's and O's thing. We just weren't where we were supposed to be and we weren't getting back on defense at all. They probably had seven or eight dunks. You can't give up easy layups and be a good defensive team. They were getting them off penetration and off the breaks. Once we got that corrected, we played very well. The good news is that we were able to turn it around in the game. I think it'd be more concerning if we were to go through a whole game with that as a problem. The second half was a different story, and that's the sign of a good team - if things aren't going your way, to be able to get out of a slump. We have to be able to do that to be a good team."
On the possibility that Duke took UNC Greensboro lightly tonight:
"Honestly I didn't even know their record. Records can be misleading - we always get teams' best games. I know they played Florida State close for about 30 minutes. We don't take anybody lightly. We just didn't come in ready to play."
On what Coach K said to the team at halftime:
"Our defense was terrible, we weren't getting back in transition, our rotations weren't there, and we were giving up way too many layups and dunks."
Duke Freshman Austin Rivers
On the team's second half performance:
"Coach K was just very angry in the locker room [at halftime], as he should've been. We played awful. And our whole thing before we went out in the second half was we don't want to go on a six-day break thinking about a loss or a bad win. We wanted to go on the break with good spirits, feeling like we played a great game. That's why we got it together and went out there and played hard and played unselfish. The main thing was we got after it on defense."
UNC Greensboro Head Coach Wes Miller
Opening Statement:
"We played ECU Friday night. I will say this again, I am tremendously proud of our guys. This has been a really rough week and a half on them. People keep asking me, 'man, I bet this has been tough'. No, it has been really tough on these kids to go through this. They just keep fighting. They had four great practices. We've had two games that maybe didn't turn out the way we wanted them to turn out, but they just keep fighting. I just couldn't be more proud of them and their character. I told them to not feel good about losing because it is never okay to feel good about it, but feel good about the fact that we know we got the guys in the room that we want to be with when things get tight. Those are the guys that I want to be with down the stretch in Southern Conference play, and I really learned that about them in tonight's game."
On team's energy level to start the game:
"Honestly, I don't think it is anything that I've done. Again, I just think their character has come out during this last week and a half. I've heard this statement before, and I want to make sure I say it right. Adversity doesn't build character. It reveals character. I think this situation has really revealed their character as young men. Again, I am just so proud of them and the way they came out to compete."
On the differences between competing as an opposing coach instead of as an opposing player:
"Different. It is a different role obviously. I told my guys before that if somebody asked me, 'what it was like to win in here? Is that what it is going to be like to play in here again?' Well, I won a couple of games in here. I just didn't have anything to do with it because I had a lot of guys around me that really had something to do with it. Tonight, I felt like I had more of a role on my back. Again, I think my kids tonight made it easier tonight than what it could have been."
On assuming the role of head coach:
"Sure. Everybody says it. This isn't an ideal situation to get put into a head coaching chair. Like I said before and I will just keep going back to it, when you have guys in a locker room that come together through adversity, it makes it easy on you as a coach, and I got guys that are coming together and staying together. I thought tonight was a really good testament of that in the second half. In the first half, we were playing well. When things are going good, it is easy to stick together and be bought in to what you are doing. Tonight in the second half, they played really well, and the game got away from us a little bit. What I really like was that they showed us that even when things weren't going well, they still fought with each other. They still stayed together, and we still remained a team. That is what is important to me."
Opening Statement:
"I thought UNC Greensboro really played a heck of a first half against us. They took the fight to us and I thought their defense was physical and good. They were energized. I'm not sure our guys expected that, although they should. It's a really good thing for their team. I thought they really came ready to play and they played hard throughout. But then the last five minutes of the first half and all the second half I thought we played really hard and well. Our rebounding was key. Miles and Mason [Plumlee], I think both of them had 13 boards. Our two young kids, Quinn [Cook] and Mike [Gbinije], really had their best minutes. That was so good going into the break. We've come off of two really tough weeks with the academics, and we're taking a break. We talk about it all the time - you've got to be really ready, and I didn't think we were as ready as we needed to be, and we got ready. Again, if they don't show up to play, you don't look like you're not ready. But them coming in and playing so hard and well - I thought they were very well prepared. I thought they played really well against us. The second half, though, we held them in single digits for a long time. And then we executed our offense very well and a lot of guys got minutes and really good play. When you play against a team that plays that hard, those are good minutes. Those are good minutes to have."
On how his team responded to UNCG's fast start:
"I'm not sure when we had our attention. I was not very pleased with our team. You can make all kinds of excuses, and there just are no excuses. The person who makes excuses is looking for something easy. People are going to come after us hard, and we can't gauge how well we're supposed to play each night before we play. We've got to go out and play ... When you become really good at anything, you just show up all the time. And I didn't think we showed up with the intensity that we needed to have, and then they played really well. They played very well. Their coach will talk about their team, but they played better than they look on tape. They played with great intensity. We've had a couple kids injured this week. I don't put out a lot about injuries. I'm not a big believer in that because I think it lends to excuses. But obviously every team gets hurt and sick and whatever ... But Ryan [Kelly] hasn't practiced much because of that calf injury. He got hurt in the Washington game. And Seth [Curry] sprained his ankle pretty badly in the middle of the week, and so he's only had one really good practice. And you could tell. They weren't as sharp. Hopefully we'll get 100 percent during the break and get going again. I'm proud of our team, though. I thought they played real well. The crowd was great. A lot of people from all over the country here today. And our kids are 10-1, and I think did well academically. They certainly have done well basketball-wise, so it's a good time to take a break and then come back and get strong again."
On what defensive adjustments were made in the second half:
"We didn't spread our defense out. We just picked up at half court. We changed how we were doing ball screens. The first half, they just beat us down the court. They had a number of dunks. We didn't talk. But what we were doing in transition, it's the first time we've done that in a long time. Say I have you in the scouting report, but I'm on this side offensively and you're on that side. And now it changes. You go this side, whoever's on that side should take you - you don't cross. We were crossing, trying to get to our men. That shows a little bit of 'Whoa,' you're brain dead ... I can't even remember the last time they were doing that."
On the high number of turnovers:
"I thought we were weak with the ball, and they were strong. Every time we got a rebound, they had active hands. They were strong, trying to knock the ball away. And then they were jamming us a lot, and we weren't strong with our passes. We threw a lot of weak passes."
On UNCG Head Coach Wes Miller:
"I don't evaluate coaches ... I think a coach is somebody who builds a program and has his team show up every night and play hard. I'm sure he'll do a really good job there."
Duke Senior Miles Plumlee
"It was just one of those games where I was happy to impact it any way I could. I didn't get frustrated - I had two buckets I definitely should've finished, and I'm mad about that. But all in all, I was glad I was rebounding and playing defense. And guys stepped up, so it was a really good win."
On what lead to the poor first half performance:
"It's just one of those games. You've got to come ready to play. The other team's going to be ready to play and it just shows up. In terms of playing hard, they were hitting us first, getting the loose balls, boxing us out, and playing harder on defense."
On his rebounding performance:
"Overall, I just want to be more aggressive in any way I can, and tonight it wasn't offensively and it just translated into boards. I'm happy with how the game went, but I'm going to expect myself to be just as aggressive offensively and rebounding and defensively in the course of the games coming up."
Duke Junior Mason Plumlee
"I just don't think we were playing very hard. The coaches were on us about our energy and our effort, so it really wasn't an X's and O's thing. We just weren't where we were supposed to be and we weren't getting back on defense at all. They probably had seven or eight dunks. You can't give up easy layups and be a good defensive team. They were getting them off penetration and off the breaks. Once we got that corrected, we played very well. The good news is that we were able to turn it around in the game. I think it'd be more concerning if we were to go through a whole game with that as a problem. The second half was a different story, and that's the sign of a good team - if things aren't going your way, to be able to get out of a slump. We have to be able to do that to be a good team."
On the possibility that Duke took UNC Greensboro lightly tonight:
"Honestly I didn't even know their record. Records can be misleading - we always get teams' best games. I know they played Florida State close for about 30 minutes. We don't take anybody lightly. We just didn't come in ready to play."
On what Coach K said to the team at halftime:
"Our defense was terrible, we weren't getting back in transition, our rotations weren't there, and we were giving up way too many layups and dunks."
Duke Freshman Austin Rivers
On the team's second half performance:
"Coach K was just very angry in the locker room [at halftime], as he should've been. We played awful. And our whole thing before we went out in the second half was we don't want to go on a six-day break thinking about a loss or a bad win. We wanted to go on the break with good spirits, feeling like we played a great game. That's why we got it together and went out there and played hard and played unselfish. The main thing was we got after it on defense."
UNC Greensboro Head Coach Wes Miller
Opening Statement:
"We played ECU Friday night. I will say this again, I am tremendously proud of our guys. This has been a really rough week and a half on them. People keep asking me, 'man, I bet this has been tough'. No, it has been really tough on these kids to go through this. They just keep fighting. They had four great practices. We've had two games that maybe didn't turn out the way we wanted them to turn out, but they just keep fighting. I just couldn't be more proud of them and their character. I told them to not feel good about losing because it is never okay to feel good about it, but feel good about the fact that we know we got the guys in the room that we want to be with when things get tight. Those are the guys that I want to be with down the stretch in Southern Conference play, and I really learned that about them in tonight's game."
On team's energy level to start the game:
"Honestly, I don't think it is anything that I've done. Again, I just think their character has come out during this last week and a half. I've heard this statement before, and I want to make sure I say it right. Adversity doesn't build character. It reveals character. I think this situation has really revealed their character as young men. Again, I am just so proud of them and the way they came out to compete."
On the differences between competing as an opposing coach instead of as an opposing player:
"Different. It is a different role obviously. I told my guys before that if somebody asked me, 'what it was like to win in here? Is that what it is going to be like to play in here again?' Well, I won a couple of games in here. I just didn't have anything to do with it because I had a lot of guys around me that really had something to do with it. Tonight, I felt like I had more of a role on my back. Again, I think my kids tonight made it easier tonight than what it could have been."
On assuming the role of head coach:
"Sure. Everybody says it. This isn't an ideal situation to get put into a head coaching chair. Like I said before and I will just keep going back to it, when you have guys in a locker room that come together through adversity, it makes it easy on you as a coach, and I got guys that are coming together and staying together. I thought tonight was a really good testament of that in the second half. In the first half, we were playing well. When things are going good, it is easy to stick together and be bought in to what you are doing. Tonight in the second half, they played really well, and the game got away from us a little bit. What I really like was that they showed us that even when things weren't going well, they still fought with each other. They still stayed together, and we still remained a team. That is what is important to me."
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