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Quotes: Duke 87, Colorado State 64
12/7/2011 9:59:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski
Opening Statement:
"I thought we beat a really good team tonight - well-coached, not conventional for our league in that you had times that five guys who could play guard out in the game. They came into the game, I think, leading the country or second in the country in three-point field goal percentage. In the last four games, we shot 52 percent from the three, so our goal was to try to take away the three as much as possible. Initially, we gave up a lot of layups but we were taking away the three and trying to get it to their wings a little bit. I thought the last seven minutes of the half we played great defense when we got that lead. And we didn't play very good defense for six minutes, and then the rest of the game we played well defensively. A lot of guys played. We shared the ball better than we've shared it at any game this year with 21 assists on 31 buckets with only nine turnovers, so that was the best we've done that. It's a tough game for our big guys to play because they've got to play out on the court so much. I thought the four big guys did a nice job. This is a tough week for our kids. A number of them have finals - final projects and final presentations today, a lot of them have them tomorrow. The week before exams, you can go a little brain-dead with all this stuff and I thought our guys were pretty good. We've got to carry that through to Saturday because we'll play against the most athletic team we've played against in Washington. But a good job by our team against a very good basketball team."
On Austin Rivers' assists and distribution of the ball:
"He's been a scorer so he'll continue to be a scorer and you get focused on that. You want him to be focused on the bucket. But when they come over so much, you do have good shooters and you kick it out really well. He'll keep getting better at that. But he had a good game tonight. I thought in the second half, when we weren't playing very well defensively, his offense kept that margin at 15 to 17 points. It was all on Austin, I thought, in that time to keep us ahead like that. And we're hoping that Andre [Dawkins]'s thing won't prevent him from playing Saturday. He tweaked his back before he went to the ground, a little bit earlier in the half. And then he had a back spasm. Backs are funny things. We're hoping that he'll be ready for Saturday. We'll let people know that. It's too early to say right now what will happen for Saturday."
On the decision to bring Andre Dawkins in off the bench:
"We keep looking for ways to get better ... a 23-point loss to Ohio State leads to a lot of things. It wasn't Andre's fault, it was our fault. But you look at other ways. We're still very much a developing team. We've had a very difficult schedule. It'll continue through Washington. That's how you learn about yourself, and you have to keep adjusting. Mason [Plumlee] played really well tonight. Especially in the first half, he was so dominant."
On having a full week of practice after the loss to Ohio State:
"To have practice was big, and the rest of this month will be very big. We have a great school, and a great school means that this week and next week are tough weeks if you want to do a good job academically. I'm anxious to make sure we do a good job there. Actually more important there than on the court, but if we can do it in both areas, it'd be terrific ... The more practice this team can get, the better."
On sharing Sports Illustrated's Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year distinction with Pat Summitt:
"Sports Illustrated did a great job. It was a big-time event. I don't usually like to leave my team. We practiced in the morning and then they came back and had a meeting at night and a little bit of shoot around that I couldn't attend. But Sports Illustrated did great. To share that award with Pat was special. For me as a fan, to see Wayne Gretzky, David Robinson is a good friend, Chris Evert, Sugar Ray Leonard - you try not to get in a fight with him [laughs] - and Big Papi was there representing the Red Sox. They just did fantastic. You have to pinch yourself and [say], 'How the heck could that happen?' What I mentioned was that my family and I have discussed it, and you think of since 1954 all these great athletes, which I'm not, and a few coaches. Imagine them all in one room, and I said, 'And we're in this little corner peeking. We're still here.' But recognizing the fact that it's an amazing award, just to get into the room with all those great competitors and the moments they've generated for our sports fans throughout the years. It's incredible. They did a great job last night. And Pat, who's a pioneer in women's basketball and just a great, really a good friend. It's good for college basketball, for the two of us, and in this time especially."
Duke Junior Mason Plumlee
"There's nothing better than playing in the games, so we practiced hard, we prepared well, and we were ready to play in a game. There were still some lapses defensively but overall I thought we played well."
On the long stretch between games since the game at Ohio State:
"The week was really getting back to details and the fundamentals of our defense, because when you have that stretch of games, you miss practice time and you just aren't as sharp on things. It was just basically about getting those back and working on those habits again."
Duke Junior Ryan Kelly
"That was the biggest thing we'd worked on these past few days - getting our defensive pressure, getting in the passing lanes, forcing turnovers. Duke defense is what we call it. All the Duke teams of the past have done that, so we really needed to pick up. And I think that came with the practice time as well, the opportunity to really work at it. It was intense, but we like to think that our practices are intense every day and every moment we're on the floor, and guys did that this past week and we have to continue to do that."
"[Colorado State] could send as many as five guys out there that could handle the ball. It was a good test for us, especially defensively, because their guys are quicker than you, and you've got to be able to stay in front of them. That's what makes playing a team like this a new challenge, and I think guys stepped up to the plate tonight."
Duke Freshman Austin Rivers
"Our main focus was taking away [Colorado State's] threes. What they do best is shoot the threes. If they can finish layups over our bigs guys - which they did - then so be it. They missed a lot as well. They can take those tough shots, but we're not just letting them fire those threes. We took them off the three pointer and they had trouble shooting threes. And I think that's why we won big."
"I just think everybody relaxed and everybody was calm. It was about 'us' instead of 'I', and when we run our stuff and everybody is just calm and collected, we usually play pretty well. The first thing is, when we get a rebound, we look for transition. If the transition isn't there we set it up and then we just run our offense and everybody is just making unselfish plays. When we do that, we're pretty tough to beat."
"I don't think people realize how big practice can be for a team. We were playing so many games, and I was having a great time - games are games and it's a lot more fun than practice. But sometimes when you go a long period of time without practice, you start to forget the fundamentals of what makes your team great. I'm not saying we did that, but I think practice just reiterates some things with our team. When we went back to practice, everybody started getting back to their roles and playing the way we know we can play, especially on the defensive end, and then we got that victory [tonight]."
Colorado State Head Coach Tim Miles
On the team's success off the dribble drive:
"Well, we didn't think they would give us any threes and many good looks at the three-point line. We felt like if the space was right and we could get the ball two feet in the paint, we were going to be alright."
On whether he saw it as vulnerability on their defense:
"Well, there is a tradeoff, right? Their pressure is really good. Any time you are tough on the ball and you are taken away from the three-point line, there is going to be something to give. He's got two physical kids in there - the Plumlees- that can block shots and can play physical that are fairly interchangeable, so why not? I think it is a tradeoff that they are pretty good at."
On being pretty even on the boards not having anyone over 6'6 tall:
"Well our kids were quick to the ball and we rebounded pretty well. Our leading rebounder is out. I was glad we stepped up. Some of our guards rebounded a little better. Rebounds are about willpower and a little bit of appeal getting your eyes up making an anticipation play on the ball. I thought our kids did a pretty decent job at that."
Opening Statement:
"I thought we beat a really good team tonight - well-coached, not conventional for our league in that you had times that five guys who could play guard out in the game. They came into the game, I think, leading the country or second in the country in three-point field goal percentage. In the last four games, we shot 52 percent from the three, so our goal was to try to take away the three as much as possible. Initially, we gave up a lot of layups but we were taking away the three and trying to get it to their wings a little bit. I thought the last seven minutes of the half we played great defense when we got that lead. And we didn't play very good defense for six minutes, and then the rest of the game we played well defensively. A lot of guys played. We shared the ball better than we've shared it at any game this year with 21 assists on 31 buckets with only nine turnovers, so that was the best we've done that. It's a tough game for our big guys to play because they've got to play out on the court so much. I thought the four big guys did a nice job. This is a tough week for our kids. A number of them have finals - final projects and final presentations today, a lot of them have them tomorrow. The week before exams, you can go a little brain-dead with all this stuff and I thought our guys were pretty good. We've got to carry that through to Saturday because we'll play against the most athletic team we've played against in Washington. But a good job by our team against a very good basketball team."
On Austin Rivers' assists and distribution of the ball:
"He's been a scorer so he'll continue to be a scorer and you get focused on that. You want him to be focused on the bucket. But when they come over so much, you do have good shooters and you kick it out really well. He'll keep getting better at that. But he had a good game tonight. I thought in the second half, when we weren't playing very well defensively, his offense kept that margin at 15 to 17 points. It was all on Austin, I thought, in that time to keep us ahead like that. And we're hoping that Andre [Dawkins]'s thing won't prevent him from playing Saturday. He tweaked his back before he went to the ground, a little bit earlier in the half. And then he had a back spasm. Backs are funny things. We're hoping that he'll be ready for Saturday. We'll let people know that. It's too early to say right now what will happen for Saturday."
On the decision to bring Andre Dawkins in off the bench:
"We keep looking for ways to get better ... a 23-point loss to Ohio State leads to a lot of things. It wasn't Andre's fault, it was our fault. But you look at other ways. We're still very much a developing team. We've had a very difficult schedule. It'll continue through Washington. That's how you learn about yourself, and you have to keep adjusting. Mason [Plumlee] played really well tonight. Especially in the first half, he was so dominant."
On having a full week of practice after the loss to Ohio State:
"To have practice was big, and the rest of this month will be very big. We have a great school, and a great school means that this week and next week are tough weeks if you want to do a good job academically. I'm anxious to make sure we do a good job there. Actually more important there than on the court, but if we can do it in both areas, it'd be terrific ... The more practice this team can get, the better."
On sharing Sports Illustrated's Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year distinction with Pat Summitt:
"Sports Illustrated did a great job. It was a big-time event. I don't usually like to leave my team. We practiced in the morning and then they came back and had a meeting at night and a little bit of shoot around that I couldn't attend. But Sports Illustrated did great. To share that award with Pat was special. For me as a fan, to see Wayne Gretzky, David Robinson is a good friend, Chris Evert, Sugar Ray Leonard - you try not to get in a fight with him [laughs] - and Big Papi was there representing the Red Sox. They just did fantastic. You have to pinch yourself and [say], 'How the heck could that happen?' What I mentioned was that my family and I have discussed it, and you think of since 1954 all these great athletes, which I'm not, and a few coaches. Imagine them all in one room, and I said, 'And we're in this little corner peeking. We're still here.' But recognizing the fact that it's an amazing award, just to get into the room with all those great competitors and the moments they've generated for our sports fans throughout the years. It's incredible. They did a great job last night. And Pat, who's a pioneer in women's basketball and just a great, really a good friend. It's good for college basketball, for the two of us, and in this time especially."
Duke Junior Mason Plumlee
"There's nothing better than playing in the games, so we practiced hard, we prepared well, and we were ready to play in a game. There were still some lapses defensively but overall I thought we played well."
On the long stretch between games since the game at Ohio State:
"The week was really getting back to details and the fundamentals of our defense, because when you have that stretch of games, you miss practice time and you just aren't as sharp on things. It was just basically about getting those back and working on those habits again."
Duke Junior Ryan Kelly
"That was the biggest thing we'd worked on these past few days - getting our defensive pressure, getting in the passing lanes, forcing turnovers. Duke defense is what we call it. All the Duke teams of the past have done that, so we really needed to pick up. And I think that came with the practice time as well, the opportunity to really work at it. It was intense, but we like to think that our practices are intense every day and every moment we're on the floor, and guys did that this past week and we have to continue to do that."
"[Colorado State] could send as many as five guys out there that could handle the ball. It was a good test for us, especially defensively, because their guys are quicker than you, and you've got to be able to stay in front of them. That's what makes playing a team like this a new challenge, and I think guys stepped up to the plate tonight."
Duke Freshman Austin Rivers
"Our main focus was taking away [Colorado State's] threes. What they do best is shoot the threes. If they can finish layups over our bigs guys - which they did - then so be it. They missed a lot as well. They can take those tough shots, but we're not just letting them fire those threes. We took them off the three pointer and they had trouble shooting threes. And I think that's why we won big."
"I just think everybody relaxed and everybody was calm. It was about 'us' instead of 'I', and when we run our stuff and everybody is just calm and collected, we usually play pretty well. The first thing is, when we get a rebound, we look for transition. If the transition isn't there we set it up and then we just run our offense and everybody is just making unselfish plays. When we do that, we're pretty tough to beat."
"I don't think people realize how big practice can be for a team. We were playing so many games, and I was having a great time - games are games and it's a lot more fun than practice. But sometimes when you go a long period of time without practice, you start to forget the fundamentals of what makes your team great. I'm not saying we did that, but I think practice just reiterates some things with our team. When we went back to practice, everybody started getting back to their roles and playing the way we know we can play, especially on the defensive end, and then we got that victory [tonight]."
Colorado State Head Coach Tim Miles
On the team's success off the dribble drive:
"Well, we didn't think they would give us any threes and many good looks at the three-point line. We felt like if the space was right and we could get the ball two feet in the paint, we were going to be alright."
On whether he saw it as vulnerability on their defense:
"Well, there is a tradeoff, right? Their pressure is really good. Any time you are tough on the ball and you are taken away from the three-point line, there is going to be something to give. He's got two physical kids in there - the Plumlees- that can block shots and can play physical that are fairly interchangeable, so why not? I think it is a tradeoff that they are pretty good at."
On being pretty even on the boards not having anyone over 6'6 tall:
"Well our kids were quick to the ball and we rebounded pretty well. Our leading rebounder is out. I was glad we stepped up. Some of our guards rebounded a little better. Rebounds are about willpower and a little bit of appeal getting your eyes up making an anticipation play on the ball. I thought our kids did a pretty decent job at that."
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