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Quotes: Duke 79, North Carolina 73
2/9/2011 11:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski
Opening Statement:
“That was a heck of a performance by both teams. You talk about vintage Duke and North Carolina games, that was one of them. I want to thank our fans. They never let down on us and created an amazing atmosphere in here. Obviously it was a tale of two halves. They were just so fast in that first half I thought they knocked us back. We seemed scattered. We were ready to play and sometimes you get so ready to play that you go nuts. I just felt we were kind of nuts in the first half. Not for lack of effort or anything like that. At halftime – and I don't usually do this – I usually just say something to them and let them relax a little bit or get their thoughts together. I must have talked to them for about five minutes. We didn't yell or anything like that. We were just trying to say, 'settle down, settle down.' We're a lot better than that. They're really good, but we're better than what we've shown and if we just play four minutes at a time and let's execute. And I thought our offensive execution in the second half was outstanding and so were the performances of Nolan [Smith] and Seth [Curry]. Seth started the second half and both of those kids were sensational, and our defense picked up. They didn't get the fast breaks in the second half that they got in the first half. Part of that is because our shots were better and our shots were going in. They run so well off of missed shots and if you have a missed bad shot they are going to score on you. Our big guys played really well in that second half. They're an outstanding team. We beat an outstanding team tonight and we played a great, great second half. I'm proud of our guys. We grew up a lot tonight there is no question about it.”
On trusting the offense more:
“They usually do. I just thought they wanted to win so bad and then Carolina scored so quickly on us that we kind of individually attacked them. We haven't really done that. We're getting better because we need to run an offense. In the second half we just settled down and did that and got some great looks and knocked them down. Again, Nolan [Smith] and Seth [Curry] were … I mean Nolan's performance was off the charts. That was one heck of a performance by that kid.”
On the difference of Duke's big men in the second half:
“One, we didn't give them a run so they had a chance to actually get contact on somebody. Their bigs run so well. I think [John] Henson is as good a big guy as there is in the country. That kid is so unique and talented. And Zeller played … I think he had 13 [points] and nine [rebounds] or something like that in the first half. But our big guys matched them defensively in the second half and on the boards and that was huge for us.”
On Duke's offensive rebounds early in the second half:
“That's really a good point. We kept possessions alive. There was that one where we had two open threes and we missed them, but we knocked it out twice and our guys had the courage to take them and they were good shots and we just missed them. We kind of set a tone of attacking together instead of attacking individually and it worked out.”
On the adjustment at halftime:
“It wasn't and X and O adjustment. It was to calm them down. They were too excited. They were nuts is the word. What are you guys doing. It's not like 'You guys aren't playing hard.' They're playing hard. They're taking charges. When you go like that you're not coordinated and it was more to get a coordinated effort on the offensive and defensive ends.”
On what Seth Curry showed him tonight:
“He's pretty damn good. He had excellent quickness. The thing that he's learned to do is get his shot off quicker. When Kyrie and Nolan and Kyle were it you get just run to corner and people will play off of you and you have a chance to set for your shot. Now we can't do that and you have to come off screens. He was really coming off screens well and when he did he was going right into his shot. We have a set called flash and he came off a dribble handoff. That was as good as you could do that so he's getting his shot off quicker.”
On this win meaning more than the 32-point win in 2010:
“I'm just glad we won. I'm not going to compare wins. I thought he was pretty happy last year too. A win over an outstanding program is a treasured win no matter what the score was. Our team is growing and this was a really big night for us. I'm really proud of my team on how they responded in that second half. It was beautiful the way they fought and I'm very, very proud of them.”
On North Carolina being as good a team that Duke has played this season:
“They were as good a team as we've played there's no question about it. They have such good talent and Roy has them in a system that suits them so well. They run so well. Those two big guys, I mean [John] Henson has an impact that shows up in stats, but he has more of an impact than that. I think he's really good. I don't think there's a more unique guy than him and [Tyler] Zeller gives them that steadiness inside. They're all good kids and they play so hard and they play together and they're unselfish. They're really good and we were just a little bit better than them in the second half and thank goodness for us.”
Duke Senior Nolan Smith
On Seth Curry's performance:
“Seth knows he's a very good player, and he knows he can play in this league. And tonight he showed that – on the biggest stage. He showed up tonight, and he played the way we know he can.”
On his own second half performance:
“The second half adjustment I made was just to be aggressive and get everybody involved. When I started doing that, then things opened up a lot easier for me to either penetrate or hit an open three. I just wanted to be aggressive in the second half and do whatever it took not to let us lose.”
On the mood in the locker room at halftime:
“We weren't worried. We were just concerned with how we were playing. The coaches came in and told us what we had to do to win. They told us the adjustments we had to make – adjustments that were in the heart and in the head, just toughness and doing what we had to do offensively just to execute. And we did those.”
“The difference was playing tough. We played a very tough second half. Our big guys did a great job on [Tyler] Zeller and [John] Henson, forcing either a travel or a bad shot, and [our big men] were rebounding those shots. Guys just played tremendous basketball in the second half.”
On Carolina's recent turnaround and improvement:
“It shows that our league, once again, is very tough. When you have Carolina and Duke both as top teams playing great basketball, people can start to mention our conference with the best – even with just those two teams. It's very good for our league that they're playing the way they are.”
Duke Senior Kyle Singler
On the start to the game:
“It wasn't necessarily that we were tight. They just got easy buckets kind of and they got a lead. We didn't really play that well, but we weren't tight. They just came out and got some really quick baskets.”
“Just taking care of the ball was main focus of ours [in the first half]. And then coming out, Seth shot the ball really well and then Nolan was just really solid for us throughout the whole game.”
Duke Sophomore Seth Curry
“It was really fun out there. I got into a good rhythm in the second half, and my teammates got me open. We were just playing together out there and it was a lot of fun.”
On his first game against UNC:
“It was more than what I thought it would be. The atmosphere was crazy, just seeing all the people come back for Duke-Carolina that in previous games I watched them play. I was looking around before the game, and I was like, 'This is what I dreamed about growing up.' So just coming out, playing well, and getting that win just adds to that rivalry.”
On what was different in the second half versus the first half:
“Everything. The two things we said we didn't want to let them do was get out in transition and offensive rebound. And they did both of those in the first half. When we came in at halftime we had to change and we had to play a lot more together and run our sets on offense. We showed that in the second half.”
“We had to really face the facts and get real and know that we had to turn it around in the second half or we were going to get embarrassed out there. Everybody took that to heart and everybody came out with a different mindset in the second half. That's what makes a good team. That's one thing that Coach always does – he's honest with you. And if you're honest and you're able to set that and change, it going to make you a better player and a better team.”
“At times during the season I do stand around and watch Nolan [Smith] and Kyle [Singler]. But coming into tonight, I knew I had to be another punch out there for us. Nolan and I got going in the second half, and it felt like we were turning everything around. It was good to get that comeback.”
North Carolina Head Coach Roy Williams
Opening Statement:
“Well to say it's extremely disappointing would be an understatement to say the least. Very frustrating. They were just so much more aggressive on the offensive boards in the second half. Three straight possessions, missed shots, come off with the offensive rebound, score. We foul a guy on the three point shot, makes two free throws, misses the third, they come up with that ball, score two more free throws on that. Two free throws early in the second half, they miss. They get the offensive rebounds and score there. And then we were going down and turning it over early. And all of a sudden, whatever it was, halftime 14-oint lead, we got to a point that it was a one or two-possession game and then we even missed a couple of free throws; that didn't help us to say the least down the stretch. Seth Curry was big, to say the least. But we went two guards go flying up and not trying to black shots from the outside. Supposed to get a hand up, and stay in front and close out properly. We went flying through the air, and he made two baskets like that. And Nolan [Smith] was low driving us to the basket, getting in the lane and making plays. And look at…we're 0-6 from the three-point line second half. I've said it all year; it looks so much better when a ball goes in a basket. But we just gave them too many opportunities. I think they were so much more aggressive than we were the entire second half. And the aggressive team that plays with the most intensity can usually make up for a lot of deficits. And I thought they did that.”
On the play of Duke seniors Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith:
“You watch Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith play basketball, and it's a refreshing look to see two extremely talented seniors still playing college basketball. I didn't like watching them tonight. But we better enjoy those guys while we have them around, because that's not going to happen very much anymore. They're fantastic players. And then again, Seth Curry was big time for them.”
On the first half of the game:
“Well we attacked better. The first half they did a better job of not allowing us to attack; in the second half probably too. We missed some shots. I mean Kendall [Marshall] was 1-for-7 at half. You know, we don't want him to think that he's got to score. But he had some good shots…would have been good for some of them to go in there. But you know, we attacked, we did some nice things. But they missed some shots in the first half. They shoot 33 percent in the first half, 50 in the second half. They didn't miss some of the shots in the second half. But you can gain something from playing well at certain stretches, but I'm not really big into moral victories. We have to play a 40-minute game.”
On the difference between guarding Duke senior Nolan Smith in the first half versus second:
“Well you know, Dexter [Strickland]'s our best perimeter defender, and he got into foul trouble and that hurt us. I don't think he was as aggressive. Leslie [McDonald], Reggie [Bullock] and the other guys. But give Nolan [Smith] some credit. I think he was probably more aggressive in the second half, but you need to ask Mike [Krzyzewski] and Nolan that to find out for sure. But those guys, they keep coming at you, keep coming at you, keep coming at you, and you've got to keep coming back that them. You've got to keep coming back at them by scoring, not turning it over. But you're not going to beat somebody like Duke If you give them five, I think it was five, different opportunities in the first 10 possessions the second half to get second shots.
On Harrison Barnes defending Kyle Singler:
“You know, Harrison [Barnes] was on him, John [Henson] had him sometimes, Reggie [Bullock] had him a couple times. Harrison really worked really hard. You know, Kyle's not going to go 3-for-17 very often. You know with John and Z [Tyler Zeller] around the basket, they can bother some shots. We didn't give Kyle as many open ones as we gave Seth [Curry] and Nolan [Smith] and some of the other guys. We gave them more open shots. But you know, Kyle's a great player. Kyle and Nolan, you're looking at guys that I think are first team All-Americans, and again, I don't have to enjoy them the night we're playing them, but we should enjoy those kids. You don't have that happen very often.
On what happened when Duke took the lead:
“We attribute that to two bad shots in a row, the first time that they took the lead. We lost our poise. We took a, well two possessions in a row I know exactly what we did. We didn't get the shots we wanted. I've got to do a better job of getting the guys to be more poised.”
Opening Statement:
“That was a heck of a performance by both teams. You talk about vintage Duke and North Carolina games, that was one of them. I want to thank our fans. They never let down on us and created an amazing atmosphere in here. Obviously it was a tale of two halves. They were just so fast in that first half I thought they knocked us back. We seemed scattered. We were ready to play and sometimes you get so ready to play that you go nuts. I just felt we were kind of nuts in the first half. Not for lack of effort or anything like that. At halftime – and I don't usually do this – I usually just say something to them and let them relax a little bit or get their thoughts together. I must have talked to them for about five minutes. We didn't yell or anything like that. We were just trying to say, 'settle down, settle down.' We're a lot better than that. They're really good, but we're better than what we've shown and if we just play four minutes at a time and let's execute. And I thought our offensive execution in the second half was outstanding and so were the performances of Nolan [Smith] and Seth [Curry]. Seth started the second half and both of those kids were sensational, and our defense picked up. They didn't get the fast breaks in the second half that they got in the first half. Part of that is because our shots were better and our shots were going in. They run so well off of missed shots and if you have a missed bad shot they are going to score on you. Our big guys played really well in that second half. They're an outstanding team. We beat an outstanding team tonight and we played a great, great second half. I'm proud of our guys. We grew up a lot tonight there is no question about it.”
On trusting the offense more:
“They usually do. I just thought they wanted to win so bad and then Carolina scored so quickly on us that we kind of individually attacked them. We haven't really done that. We're getting better because we need to run an offense. In the second half we just settled down and did that and got some great looks and knocked them down. Again, Nolan [Smith] and Seth [Curry] were … I mean Nolan's performance was off the charts. That was one heck of a performance by that kid.”
On the difference of Duke's big men in the second half:
“One, we didn't give them a run so they had a chance to actually get contact on somebody. Their bigs run so well. I think [John] Henson is as good a big guy as there is in the country. That kid is so unique and talented. And Zeller played … I think he had 13 [points] and nine [rebounds] or something like that in the first half. But our big guys matched them defensively in the second half and on the boards and that was huge for us.”
On Duke's offensive rebounds early in the second half:
“That's really a good point. We kept possessions alive. There was that one where we had two open threes and we missed them, but we knocked it out twice and our guys had the courage to take them and they were good shots and we just missed them. We kind of set a tone of attacking together instead of attacking individually and it worked out.”
On the adjustment at halftime:
“It wasn't and X and O adjustment. It was to calm them down. They were too excited. They were nuts is the word. What are you guys doing. It's not like 'You guys aren't playing hard.' They're playing hard. They're taking charges. When you go like that you're not coordinated and it was more to get a coordinated effort on the offensive and defensive ends.”
On what Seth Curry showed him tonight:
“He's pretty damn good. He had excellent quickness. The thing that he's learned to do is get his shot off quicker. When Kyrie and Nolan and Kyle were it you get just run to corner and people will play off of you and you have a chance to set for your shot. Now we can't do that and you have to come off screens. He was really coming off screens well and when he did he was going right into his shot. We have a set called flash and he came off a dribble handoff. That was as good as you could do that so he's getting his shot off quicker.”
On this win meaning more than the 32-point win in 2010:
“I'm just glad we won. I'm not going to compare wins. I thought he was pretty happy last year too. A win over an outstanding program is a treasured win no matter what the score was. Our team is growing and this was a really big night for us. I'm really proud of my team on how they responded in that second half. It was beautiful the way they fought and I'm very, very proud of them.”
On North Carolina being as good a team that Duke has played this season:
“They were as good a team as we've played there's no question about it. They have such good talent and Roy has them in a system that suits them so well. They run so well. Those two big guys, I mean [John] Henson has an impact that shows up in stats, but he has more of an impact than that. I think he's really good. I don't think there's a more unique guy than him and [Tyler] Zeller gives them that steadiness inside. They're all good kids and they play so hard and they play together and they're unselfish. They're really good and we were just a little bit better than them in the second half and thank goodness for us.”
Duke Senior Nolan Smith
On Seth Curry's performance:
“Seth knows he's a very good player, and he knows he can play in this league. And tonight he showed that – on the biggest stage. He showed up tonight, and he played the way we know he can.”
On his own second half performance:
“The second half adjustment I made was just to be aggressive and get everybody involved. When I started doing that, then things opened up a lot easier for me to either penetrate or hit an open three. I just wanted to be aggressive in the second half and do whatever it took not to let us lose.”
On the mood in the locker room at halftime:
“We weren't worried. We were just concerned with how we were playing. The coaches came in and told us what we had to do to win. They told us the adjustments we had to make – adjustments that were in the heart and in the head, just toughness and doing what we had to do offensively just to execute. And we did those.”
“The difference was playing tough. We played a very tough second half. Our big guys did a great job on [Tyler] Zeller and [John] Henson, forcing either a travel or a bad shot, and [our big men] were rebounding those shots. Guys just played tremendous basketball in the second half.”
On Carolina's recent turnaround and improvement:
“It shows that our league, once again, is very tough. When you have Carolina and Duke both as top teams playing great basketball, people can start to mention our conference with the best – even with just those two teams. It's very good for our league that they're playing the way they are.”
Duke Senior Kyle Singler
On the start to the game:
“It wasn't necessarily that we were tight. They just got easy buckets kind of and they got a lead. We didn't really play that well, but we weren't tight. They just came out and got some really quick baskets.”
“Just taking care of the ball was main focus of ours [in the first half]. And then coming out, Seth shot the ball really well and then Nolan was just really solid for us throughout the whole game.”
Duke Sophomore Seth Curry
“It was really fun out there. I got into a good rhythm in the second half, and my teammates got me open. We were just playing together out there and it was a lot of fun.”
On his first game against UNC:
“It was more than what I thought it would be. The atmosphere was crazy, just seeing all the people come back for Duke-Carolina that in previous games I watched them play. I was looking around before the game, and I was like, 'This is what I dreamed about growing up.' So just coming out, playing well, and getting that win just adds to that rivalry.”
On what was different in the second half versus the first half:
“Everything. The two things we said we didn't want to let them do was get out in transition and offensive rebound. And they did both of those in the first half. When we came in at halftime we had to change and we had to play a lot more together and run our sets on offense. We showed that in the second half.”
“We had to really face the facts and get real and know that we had to turn it around in the second half or we were going to get embarrassed out there. Everybody took that to heart and everybody came out with a different mindset in the second half. That's what makes a good team. That's one thing that Coach always does – he's honest with you. And if you're honest and you're able to set that and change, it going to make you a better player and a better team.”
“At times during the season I do stand around and watch Nolan [Smith] and Kyle [Singler]. But coming into tonight, I knew I had to be another punch out there for us. Nolan and I got going in the second half, and it felt like we were turning everything around. It was good to get that comeback.”
North Carolina Head Coach Roy Williams
Opening Statement:
“Well to say it's extremely disappointing would be an understatement to say the least. Very frustrating. They were just so much more aggressive on the offensive boards in the second half. Three straight possessions, missed shots, come off with the offensive rebound, score. We foul a guy on the three point shot, makes two free throws, misses the third, they come up with that ball, score two more free throws on that. Two free throws early in the second half, they miss. They get the offensive rebounds and score there. And then we were going down and turning it over early. And all of a sudden, whatever it was, halftime 14-oint lead, we got to a point that it was a one or two-possession game and then we even missed a couple of free throws; that didn't help us to say the least down the stretch. Seth Curry was big, to say the least. But we went two guards go flying up and not trying to black shots from the outside. Supposed to get a hand up, and stay in front and close out properly. We went flying through the air, and he made two baskets like that. And Nolan [Smith] was low driving us to the basket, getting in the lane and making plays. And look at…we're 0-6 from the three-point line second half. I've said it all year; it looks so much better when a ball goes in a basket. But we just gave them too many opportunities. I think they were so much more aggressive than we were the entire second half. And the aggressive team that plays with the most intensity can usually make up for a lot of deficits. And I thought they did that.”
On the play of Duke seniors Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith:
“You watch Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith play basketball, and it's a refreshing look to see two extremely talented seniors still playing college basketball. I didn't like watching them tonight. But we better enjoy those guys while we have them around, because that's not going to happen very much anymore. They're fantastic players. And then again, Seth Curry was big time for them.”
On the first half of the game:
“Well we attacked better. The first half they did a better job of not allowing us to attack; in the second half probably too. We missed some shots. I mean Kendall [Marshall] was 1-for-7 at half. You know, we don't want him to think that he's got to score. But he had some good shots…would have been good for some of them to go in there. But you know, we attacked, we did some nice things. But they missed some shots in the first half. They shoot 33 percent in the first half, 50 in the second half. They didn't miss some of the shots in the second half. But you can gain something from playing well at certain stretches, but I'm not really big into moral victories. We have to play a 40-minute game.”
On the difference between guarding Duke senior Nolan Smith in the first half versus second:
“Well you know, Dexter [Strickland]'s our best perimeter defender, and he got into foul trouble and that hurt us. I don't think he was as aggressive. Leslie [McDonald], Reggie [Bullock] and the other guys. But give Nolan [Smith] some credit. I think he was probably more aggressive in the second half, but you need to ask Mike [Krzyzewski] and Nolan that to find out for sure. But those guys, they keep coming at you, keep coming at you, keep coming at you, and you've got to keep coming back that them. You've got to keep coming back at them by scoring, not turning it over. But you're not going to beat somebody like Duke If you give them five, I think it was five, different opportunities in the first 10 possessions the second half to get second shots.
On Harrison Barnes defending Kyle Singler:
“You know, Harrison [Barnes] was on him, John [Henson] had him sometimes, Reggie [Bullock] had him a couple times. Harrison really worked really hard. You know, Kyle's not going to go 3-for-17 very often. You know with John and Z [Tyler Zeller] around the basket, they can bother some shots. We didn't give Kyle as many open ones as we gave Seth [Curry] and Nolan [Smith] and some of the other guys. We gave them more open shots. But you know, Kyle's a great player. Kyle and Nolan, you're looking at guys that I think are first team All-Americans, and again, I don't have to enjoy them the night we're playing them, but we should enjoy those kids. You don't have that happen very often.
On what happened when Duke took the lead:
“We attribute that to two bad shots in a row, the first time that they took the lead. We lost our poise. We took a, well two possessions in a row I know exactly what we did. We didn't get the shots we wanted. I've got to do a better job of getting the guys to be more poised.”
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