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Men's Basketball
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Quotes: Duke 76, N.C. State 52
2/5/2011 8:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski
Opening Statement:
“I was pleased with our team. We came out and played a great first half. After the Maryland game, I thought we maintained that intensity. Then the second half, I thought State didn't give up. We probably had a little bit of an emotional letdown, but that's not taking away that State played well. I thought [NC State] just played better in the second half. Overall it was a big win for us, our eighth win in conference. I thought Mason [Plumlee] did a fabulous job tonight. [He] just played really well and goes 7-for-8 from the floor; that's a really big boost for us. [I'm] just happy that nobody got hurt and we won our eighth conference game.”
On Mason Plumlee's performance:
“Mason has led with his strengths during this last month, being a rebounder and a runner and a shot-blocker. He's helped us tremendously with that. We just felt that, along the way if you keep playing to your strengths, your scoring will come. That hasn't been a strength for him, but it'll come just like his free throw shooting will come at some time. Hopefully sooner than later, but the fact is he's getting to the line. It's just a process, but when you're going through that process, [he can't] forget about [his] strengths because he's been one of the really outstanding rebounders in the country and he's doing a heckuva job.”
On Tyler Thornton's progression:
“Really it started at the Maryland game here because he was a significant force in us winning that game. We had a chance to lose that game and Tyler was a big plus for us in that game. Since Kyrie [Irving]'s injury, he's gone from somebody who wouldn't have got much playing time at all to where he started the last two games. I don't know if there's a bigger jump that you can make than that. I'm proud of him because he never plays afraid. A couple of his turnovers are [because] I didn't think guys executed the offense. He's trying to get them there, but his defense is good and he gives us good energy. He just gives us really good energy. He's a real plus for us.”
On Duke defensive plan against Scott Wood:
“I thought our defense was very good. [Wood] is a point of emphasis. You have an awareness on him; you know where he's at all the time. We put Kyle [Singler] on him. That's a bigger guy, even is [Wood] has a little bit of room, there's a 6'8” guy putting a hand up. Kyle's an outstanding defender. When other guys went to him, he didn't get open looks. He's a threat. One of the reasons Brown can drive is because Wood stretches you. Even when Wood is not scoring, he still stretches you. It's bad if they stretch you and score from the outside, so they were stretching and weren't scoring there, they were scoring a little bit on us off of poor ball screen defense in the second half.”
On playing Nolan Smith and Tyler Thornton together:
“Tyler can put really good pressure on the ball and then I'm not wearing Nolan out. I can wear Tyler out and his mom said it was ok. In fact she said, 'wear him out every day.' Seth [Curry] comes in and Seth has become a pretty good on the ball defender. Our team's growing in that. We've got a little bit different look defensively, which may really help us down the road.”
On Kyrie Irving's injury:
“The main thing that we're optimistic about is that there's more healing. You can only get so much healing in a cast. Now for the next couple weeks, he goes through therapy. He'll have a CAT scan and an MRI in a couple weeks to see if that therapy has helped with the healing also, [and] it should. We still fell he's not going to play and we have to go forward with that. He's a long way from playing. Just because you're out of a cast, you have to be 100 percent before you come back and he's a ways from that. It's progressing well for his career. It's being done the right way and he's got to be honest with us about how he's doing.”
Duke Senior Nolan Smith
“[In the first half], we played the way we wanted to play. We came out, played defense, and we were playing together and hitting shots. It was just pretty much a near-perfect first half that we played. It was just fun playing. [In the second half], guys got comfortable. Of course we wanted to stay on them and keep playing, but we didn't. That's something we'll have to get better at and just grow up as a team.”
On his role and Kyle Singler's role as seniors:
“Just setting the tone offensively and defensively. If Kyle and I can put our mark on the game early on, our guys can follow from what we're doing.”
Duke Sophomore Mason Plumlee
“I thought I had a good offensive game against Maryland too, maybe not the same numbers, but [tonight] I just tried to keep that momentum going and just attack the basket. The biggest thing, before the game we talked about running the floor and getting out and running, and I got a couple of easy [baskets] like that.”
On his improved play lately:
“Honestly, I can't point to any one thing. I feel like I'm taking more shots and they're going for me. I'm not fading away as much, trying to attack the basket more. I feel like guys are looking for me more and I'm converting. If you convert, they'll keep looking for you.”
On the use of the jump shot tonight:
“It's a shot we work on a lot with Coach [Steve Wojciechowski]. It's a strong shot. They're always talking about, 'Let's take strong shots.' They aren't going to get on you for missing, but if you're fading away or not taking a strong shot, they'll get on you. It fell for me tonight so it felt good.”
On the upcoming matchup with North Carolina:
“We're thinking about them now. We'll go over the feedback [from this game], but then it's on to Carolina.”
Duke Senior Kyle Singler
On the absence of C.J. Leslie from the NC State lineup:
“It wasn't really a focus of ours – we didn't worry about who was on the floor for them. We just wanted to attack them, and we did a great job of that in the first half. But in the second half it was different. We lost our edge. We just have to realize that we have to play 40 minutes of basketball. It's a learned habit to play when you have the lead like that. For this team, we haven't learned that yet, and I think this was a good learning game for that.”
On the play of Mason Plumlee:
“He's been playing really well for us. The last couple of games, he's had to go up against some really good post players, and I think that's raised his competitiveness and just his game. When you're going up against [Jordan] Williams from Maryland and [Tracy] Smith, I think that helps him get into a different mode. If he can keep that going, it'll be good for our team.”
“Coach [Mike Krzyzewski] was happy. The main thing that he really took away from the game that we need to do better is shoot our free throws. We didn't shoot or free throws that well, so he wasn't happy with that.”
N.C. State Head Coach Sidney Lowe
Opening Statement:
“Obviously we dug ourselves a big hole early. That was a result of a couple of things, I thought we took a couple of bad shots, some one-pass shots, and then some no-pass shots where we dribbled around and shot some floaters. We worked on and talked about in the locker room and on the board that we can't have those one-pass and no-pass shots against a team like this because it's like a turnover and they're coming back at you. However, I was very, very encouraged with our team in the second half, I was encouraged with our young guys. We're a young team and I was encouraged that they didn't stop. I thought Lorenzo Brown, Richard [Howell], DeShawn [Painter] and Jordan [Vandenberg] came in and played well for us. A gutsy effort by Ryan trying to do what he could, 19 percent they shot in the second half. You don't do that too often against a team like Duke, whether they relaxed or not, I don't know, but I thought we played pretty good defense in the second half.”
On Tracy Smith's knee:
“His knee is bothering him; it has been for a while now. He's having trouble, and I think this break that we have is going to be very good for him. A couple of our guys are banged up, but Tracy in particular this is going to really help to rest his knees.”
On N.C. State's current situation:
“The way we've started the games, I'm not going to say it's rock bottom, but it's not good. I'm very disappointed in our starts the last four games. That's really been a problem, we've gotten ourselves in a hole so fast and it's an uphill battle, but I'm not going to say it's rock bottom. There's still a lot to play for, and I think our kids showed that in the second half. We need to be able to do that early in a game. You hate playing the way we are right now in the first half of most games, but there is still a lot to play for. That was encouraging to see our kids continue to play as hard as they did in the second half. We had a very spirited practice the day before yesterday, and good focus yesterday in practice and what we were going to do. It's taking it to the court now, being patient with it, really playing the game the right way, realizing the things you can't do against any team, but certainly against a team like this or a team on the road. We've talked about not taking a one pass shot, and we can't do that. Even though you feel some pressure, you have to be able to keep your composure.”
On Duke's lineup change and different matchups:
“[Kyle] Singler's a tough matchup anywhere, but we came out okay. We took a couple of questionable shots and then we turned the ball over. They made a lot of shots, they hit shots in the first half, they were knocking down threes and then they had some transition baskets. [Singler's] a tough matchup wherever you put him, three or four, because he's smart, obviously he's talented. He knows how to play, if he gets a big guy on him he knows how to keep him moving, if he gets a smaller guy he's going to pound you in the post and I mean that literally. He's on offense but he pounds you. He's a very good basketball player.”
On Ryan Howell's performance:
“I was very pleased and impressed with his grit and his guts, and him just trying to do it. He wasn't feeling 100% but he knew we needed another ball handler and he gave it a shot. I told him when we walked off the court that I was very proud of him. I checked with him in the locker room and he is fine. This week off he'll get some more rest and he'll be ready to go.”
On facing Duke while struggling:
I think any team that gives that kind of effort [is hard to play], but their best players are their hardest workers, [Nolan] Smith and Singler. When you're best player is your hardest worker you have something special because they are never going to allow the other guys to not come out and work, it's just not going to happen. So from that standpoint, yeah, because they have something in mind that they want to do, and they're at home and going to try to come out and do it. While it's a tough team to get something going [against], it's a great team [to play] if you can play well and make it happen. Those two guys are good. I don't mean just talent wise but their attitude, approach, and leadership. When you're best players are your hardest workers it makes things a lot easier.”
Opening Statement:
“I was pleased with our team. We came out and played a great first half. After the Maryland game, I thought we maintained that intensity. Then the second half, I thought State didn't give up. We probably had a little bit of an emotional letdown, but that's not taking away that State played well. I thought [NC State] just played better in the second half. Overall it was a big win for us, our eighth win in conference. I thought Mason [Plumlee] did a fabulous job tonight. [He] just played really well and goes 7-for-8 from the floor; that's a really big boost for us. [I'm] just happy that nobody got hurt and we won our eighth conference game.”
On Mason Plumlee's performance:
“Mason has led with his strengths during this last month, being a rebounder and a runner and a shot-blocker. He's helped us tremendously with that. We just felt that, along the way if you keep playing to your strengths, your scoring will come. That hasn't been a strength for him, but it'll come just like his free throw shooting will come at some time. Hopefully sooner than later, but the fact is he's getting to the line. It's just a process, but when you're going through that process, [he can't] forget about [his] strengths because he's been one of the really outstanding rebounders in the country and he's doing a heckuva job.”
On Tyler Thornton's progression:
“Really it started at the Maryland game here because he was a significant force in us winning that game. We had a chance to lose that game and Tyler was a big plus for us in that game. Since Kyrie [Irving]'s injury, he's gone from somebody who wouldn't have got much playing time at all to where he started the last two games. I don't know if there's a bigger jump that you can make than that. I'm proud of him because he never plays afraid. A couple of his turnovers are [because] I didn't think guys executed the offense. He's trying to get them there, but his defense is good and he gives us good energy. He just gives us really good energy. He's a real plus for us.”
On Duke defensive plan against Scott Wood:
“I thought our defense was very good. [Wood] is a point of emphasis. You have an awareness on him; you know where he's at all the time. We put Kyle [Singler] on him. That's a bigger guy, even is [Wood] has a little bit of room, there's a 6'8” guy putting a hand up. Kyle's an outstanding defender. When other guys went to him, he didn't get open looks. He's a threat. One of the reasons Brown can drive is because Wood stretches you. Even when Wood is not scoring, he still stretches you. It's bad if they stretch you and score from the outside, so they were stretching and weren't scoring there, they were scoring a little bit on us off of poor ball screen defense in the second half.”
On playing Nolan Smith and Tyler Thornton together:
“Tyler can put really good pressure on the ball and then I'm not wearing Nolan out. I can wear Tyler out and his mom said it was ok. In fact she said, 'wear him out every day.' Seth [Curry] comes in and Seth has become a pretty good on the ball defender. Our team's growing in that. We've got a little bit different look defensively, which may really help us down the road.”
On Kyrie Irving's injury:
“The main thing that we're optimistic about is that there's more healing. You can only get so much healing in a cast. Now for the next couple weeks, he goes through therapy. He'll have a CAT scan and an MRI in a couple weeks to see if that therapy has helped with the healing also, [and] it should. We still fell he's not going to play and we have to go forward with that. He's a long way from playing. Just because you're out of a cast, you have to be 100 percent before you come back and he's a ways from that. It's progressing well for his career. It's being done the right way and he's got to be honest with us about how he's doing.”
Duke Senior Nolan Smith
“[In the first half], we played the way we wanted to play. We came out, played defense, and we were playing together and hitting shots. It was just pretty much a near-perfect first half that we played. It was just fun playing. [In the second half], guys got comfortable. Of course we wanted to stay on them and keep playing, but we didn't. That's something we'll have to get better at and just grow up as a team.”
On his role and Kyle Singler's role as seniors:
“Just setting the tone offensively and defensively. If Kyle and I can put our mark on the game early on, our guys can follow from what we're doing.”
Duke Sophomore Mason Plumlee
“I thought I had a good offensive game against Maryland too, maybe not the same numbers, but [tonight] I just tried to keep that momentum going and just attack the basket. The biggest thing, before the game we talked about running the floor and getting out and running, and I got a couple of easy [baskets] like that.”
On his improved play lately:
“Honestly, I can't point to any one thing. I feel like I'm taking more shots and they're going for me. I'm not fading away as much, trying to attack the basket more. I feel like guys are looking for me more and I'm converting. If you convert, they'll keep looking for you.”
On the use of the jump shot tonight:
“It's a shot we work on a lot with Coach [Steve Wojciechowski]. It's a strong shot. They're always talking about, 'Let's take strong shots.' They aren't going to get on you for missing, but if you're fading away or not taking a strong shot, they'll get on you. It fell for me tonight so it felt good.”
On the upcoming matchup with North Carolina:
“We're thinking about them now. We'll go over the feedback [from this game], but then it's on to Carolina.”
Duke Senior Kyle Singler
On the absence of C.J. Leslie from the NC State lineup:
“It wasn't really a focus of ours – we didn't worry about who was on the floor for them. We just wanted to attack them, and we did a great job of that in the first half. But in the second half it was different. We lost our edge. We just have to realize that we have to play 40 minutes of basketball. It's a learned habit to play when you have the lead like that. For this team, we haven't learned that yet, and I think this was a good learning game for that.”
On the play of Mason Plumlee:
“He's been playing really well for us. The last couple of games, he's had to go up against some really good post players, and I think that's raised his competitiveness and just his game. When you're going up against [Jordan] Williams from Maryland and [Tracy] Smith, I think that helps him get into a different mode. If he can keep that going, it'll be good for our team.”
“Coach [Mike Krzyzewski] was happy. The main thing that he really took away from the game that we need to do better is shoot our free throws. We didn't shoot or free throws that well, so he wasn't happy with that.”
N.C. State Head Coach Sidney Lowe
Opening Statement:
“Obviously we dug ourselves a big hole early. That was a result of a couple of things, I thought we took a couple of bad shots, some one-pass shots, and then some no-pass shots where we dribbled around and shot some floaters. We worked on and talked about in the locker room and on the board that we can't have those one-pass and no-pass shots against a team like this because it's like a turnover and they're coming back at you. However, I was very, very encouraged with our team in the second half, I was encouraged with our young guys. We're a young team and I was encouraged that they didn't stop. I thought Lorenzo Brown, Richard [Howell], DeShawn [Painter] and Jordan [Vandenberg] came in and played well for us. A gutsy effort by Ryan trying to do what he could, 19 percent they shot in the second half. You don't do that too often against a team like Duke, whether they relaxed or not, I don't know, but I thought we played pretty good defense in the second half.”
On Tracy Smith's knee:
“His knee is bothering him; it has been for a while now. He's having trouble, and I think this break that we have is going to be very good for him. A couple of our guys are banged up, but Tracy in particular this is going to really help to rest his knees.”
On N.C. State's current situation:
“The way we've started the games, I'm not going to say it's rock bottom, but it's not good. I'm very disappointed in our starts the last four games. That's really been a problem, we've gotten ourselves in a hole so fast and it's an uphill battle, but I'm not going to say it's rock bottom. There's still a lot to play for, and I think our kids showed that in the second half. We need to be able to do that early in a game. You hate playing the way we are right now in the first half of most games, but there is still a lot to play for. That was encouraging to see our kids continue to play as hard as they did in the second half. We had a very spirited practice the day before yesterday, and good focus yesterday in practice and what we were going to do. It's taking it to the court now, being patient with it, really playing the game the right way, realizing the things you can't do against any team, but certainly against a team like this or a team on the road. We've talked about not taking a one pass shot, and we can't do that. Even though you feel some pressure, you have to be able to keep your composure.”
On Duke's lineup change and different matchups:
“[Kyle] Singler's a tough matchup anywhere, but we came out okay. We took a couple of questionable shots and then we turned the ball over. They made a lot of shots, they hit shots in the first half, they were knocking down threes and then they had some transition baskets. [Singler's] a tough matchup wherever you put him, three or four, because he's smart, obviously he's talented. He knows how to play, if he gets a big guy on him he knows how to keep him moving, if he gets a smaller guy he's going to pound you in the post and I mean that literally. He's on offense but he pounds you. He's a very good basketball player.”
On Ryan Howell's performance:
“I was very pleased and impressed with his grit and his guts, and him just trying to do it. He wasn't feeling 100% but he knew we needed another ball handler and he gave it a shot. I told him when we walked off the court that I was very proud of him. I checked with him in the locker room and he is fine. This week off he'll get some more rest and he'll be ready to go.”
On facing Duke while struggling:
I think any team that gives that kind of effort [is hard to play], but their best players are their hardest workers, [Nolan] Smith and Singler. When you're best player is your hardest worker you have something special because they are never going to allow the other guys to not come out and work, it's just not going to happen. So from that standpoint, yeah, because they have something in mind that they want to do, and they're at home and going to try to come out and do it. While it's a tough team to get something going [against], it's a great team [to play] if you can play well and make it happen. Those two guys are good. I don't mean just talent wise but their attitude, approach, and leadership. When you're best players are your hardest workers it makes things a lot easier.”
Players Mentioned
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Wednesday, September 24
Jon 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
