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Men's Basketball
at California
Quotes: Florida State 76, Duke 73
1/21/2012 7:27:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski
Opening Statement:
"A big-time game, I mean big-time game. Obviously a tough loss for us. It would have been a tough loss for either team today because neither team played losing basketball. I thought each possession was hard-fought. Our guys fought the entire game. I thought their guys fought the entire game. Inside, they hurt us a lot the second half. They did a good job of getting their big guys the ball. I thought we did a decent job of defending the perimeter. Again, there's not one play or anything like that. Obviously the two plays at the end of the half ... this one, [Michael Snaer] hit a beautiful shot. I thought we played good defense. They just get the ball down the court quickly, and our guys executed a lot, we scored. They're a veteran team. They're a very confident team and they executed that extremely well. So congratulations to them. Those games are what make the ACC a great conference - a game like that. I'm just disappointed for my players. It's a tough loss, a very difficult loss."
On getting out to a 58-50 lead before Florida State got back in it:
"They're not going to go away. They're a very old team. You have six seniors, two graduate students - you're just older. They're men and they play together. [Head coach] Leonard [Hamilton] and his staff have done a great job with them. Since [Ian] Miller's been back, I think eight or nine games now, they keep improving because they bring really a quality scorer off the bench now. They're really good. It's no question about that. We knew it coming in and we know it going out, even if we had won - they're really good. They're not really good because they beat us, they're just really good. They can play with anybody."
On the back-and-forth nature of the game:
"I don't think it was a game where anybody pulled away ... You miss and they hit, and there isn't one. That's the way a game goes, and that's what makes it a great game is that there aren't any runs. There were no runs. Runs being you get 10, 12 points and you let up. You execute and they execute. Sometimes there's not a lot of explanation. That's the way the game is played. I don't find any fault in our guys for trying to stop them and for what we did."
On the program's first home loss in three years:
"We've done a pretty damn good job, haven't we? ... You just go on. I think Duke fans take it for granted, probably. I'm not knocking them. I just think they take it for granted. It's not unusual for our program. We're very proud of that. We play a high level of teams in here. And to win that much is a testimony to how hard our guys work, every game, every year. I didn't think we'd keep going, somehow. Not that I have a negative attitude that we were going to lose, but it's a tremendous feat to win that many games in a row. And there was no pressure - we never talk about that."
On what changed between halves inside:
"I think both teams played better offensively in the second half. So I don't know what changed except the offenses on both teams played better. They scored more and so did we. We had some open looks that we just missed or else we would have scored a little bit more. I thought it showed how strong people were trying to execute against strong defenses."
On how hard his team played defensively:
"That's what you need to do. You have to assume the other team is going to play hard, and when they're as athletic and they're men like that, that's just a very tough game. Today is a very, very tough game. And we had a chance to win it. And we lost it in the fact that we played that way in this game, I'm really good about that because we can get a lot better. And we'll only get better by being in games like this. So having it take something out of you and then having to execute is part of how you win championships. The only way you do that is to get the experience of being in these games."
On whether he saw any of players separate themselves near the end of the game:
"I thought the kids who played played well. It was an older guys' game than a younger guys' game, although I thought Austin [Rivers] did a good job, did a really good job. That bucket he got right at the end, it's something I don't know if he would have scored three weeks ago because he had to really be determined to get in there and make the decision as to whether to shoot it, which was a good decision, or kick it for a potential three and a winning shot. I mean, that's what we set up. We got something good. We tied it and they hit a shot at the buzzer."
Duke Junior Ryan Kelly
On the point in the second half went Duke went up by eight points:
"It was a tough part of the game because we felt like we could've really stretched it out if we were a little sharper on offense and made some stops on defense. But give them credit. They battled through it, and it's very tough in Cameron to be down eight in that position and to fight back."
On the effect of Mason Plumlee's foul trouble:
"Mason's obviously a huge player for us. He rebounds the basketball and he makes plays on the offensive end. But we've got to fight through that and that's part of the game. We're just disappointed. Both teams fought hard and to be at home and lose is very disappointing."
Duke Junior Seth Curry
"It's disappointing. We scored and we each had to match up quick. It was a scramble situation, and I guess we didn't find one man. He got a good look and knocked it down."
"We're hurting right now. It's disappointing to lose, especially on your home court. We just have to bounce back tomorrow, learn from it, and just get better."
When asked if it's more disappointing because the home win streak came to an end:
"Not really. I'm not really worried about the record. We just want to win every game. When you don't do that, especially when you have a chance and have control of the game, or most of it, that's the most disappointing part."
"Whenever we got up seven or eight points, they always made a run and got back into the game or tied it up. We could never really get over the hump of making that extra run to put them away. They just kept fighting. We fought hard the whole game. It was just two good teams."
Duke Freshman Austin Rivers
"I like the way our team attacked. Everybody was aggressive, and I think we played well with each other. [Michael Snaer] hit a shot. He hit a great shot. That's what makes the ACC great - playing against teams like that. Florida State is one of the top teams in the country, no matter what people want to think. They're a new team, underrated team, and they're old. They're the oldest team in the ACC, and you can see it on the floor. If that's a young team, when we went up by eight in the second half, they fall apart. A veteran team like that, they stick together and they keep coming after you. It's a learning lesson for us just to keep attacking. I really feel like our team played great, and they just hit that shot that kind of killed the spirit."
Florida State Head Coach Leonard Hamilton
Opening Statement:
"Obviously going into this game, we knew it was going to be a very hard fought game. We thought the game was kind of slipping away from us there in the first half. Because of the importance of the game to us and the respect we have for Duke, how well they are always prepared, and how well they play, I thought our guys were a little hyper in the first half. We just couldn't get settled down. Our execution was not as good as we had hoped. Obviously, Duke had a lot to do with that because they had a great defensive scheme. It kind of kept us out of rhythm. That was a great shot that Michael [Snaer] hit at the end of the first half. It kind of stopped the bleeding a little bit. We came out there in the second half, and it was back and forth. Obviously, we turned the ball over three or four times in a row, but I thought that was when our players showed a lot of character at that moment. I thought they came together. They calmed down. They started executing a lot better. When you play against a great team like Duke and you are going down to the wire, anything can happen. Game can go any way. We were very fortunate to get a couple of rebounds, got a couple of stops, and hit a couple of free throws down the stretch that gave us a chance to win. Obviously, the ball was in our hands as the clock was running down. We were very fortunate that Michael [Snaer] knocked it down. Our team is growing and improving. We still have a lot of errors where we can improve, but I am proud of our guys because this is a very difficult place to win because of the tradition and how well they are coached, and how hard their kids play. They execute so well. It was a big win for us as we try to continue to keep becoming a program of significance not only in the ACC but on a national basis."
On whether the final play was a set play:
"Well when you have 4.8 seconds left on the clock, you have to push the ball down there down the floor. I think Luke [Loucks] had the presence of mind as he pushed the ball down the court. If I remember correctly, Bernard [James] might have set a screen to kind of free him up a little bit to give us a little bit of breathing room. He found Michael and Mike was very fortunate to knock it down. We work on those type of things all the time in practice. When the game is down, you have to push it. We didn't have time to run what we normally do. We just got it out and set a drag screen to loosen Luke up a little bit, and Mike was able to knock down the shot as the clock was running down."
On Florida State's experienced players:
"It is interesting. We have some guys that are seniors, but Luke only plays 12 minutes a game in his career. Bernard [James] is still adjusting and learning. He didn't play high school ball. Deividas [Dulkys] and Michael have the most experience on our team, but we have an older team. We are not as quite experienced as you normally would be under those circumstances. We have been working real hard to just learn how to play within ourselves. We are still in transition. We have a lot of room for improvement. We kind of are growing up on the job."
On winning a road game:
"Let's face the fact that for whatever reason in college basketball, it seems to be more of a challenge when we go on the road. Here in Cameron it is different because it is the top winning program in history of college basketball. It takes on a little different significance. Basically, winning on the road as a coach, you try to just approach it with the facts. The court is 94x50 and the goals are 10 feet. So you have to approach it where your guys get rid of that stigma that it is more difficult to win on the road. That's the way we try to approach it. We try to do the same thing on the road as we do at home. I think one reason why it is difficult to win on the road in the ACC is because you face great talent, great coaches, and a lot of rich traditions. Fans are involved in the game. It is a great conference and a great atmosphere that has developed over the number of years. For us, we have kind of built a little hole for ourselves early in the year just making adjustments and kind of growing up. So it is significant in the standpoint is that it is a signature win for us on the road in a place that not very many people have won. I am proud of our kids."
Opening Statement:
"A big-time game, I mean big-time game. Obviously a tough loss for us. It would have been a tough loss for either team today because neither team played losing basketball. I thought each possession was hard-fought. Our guys fought the entire game. I thought their guys fought the entire game. Inside, they hurt us a lot the second half. They did a good job of getting their big guys the ball. I thought we did a decent job of defending the perimeter. Again, there's not one play or anything like that. Obviously the two plays at the end of the half ... this one, [Michael Snaer] hit a beautiful shot. I thought we played good defense. They just get the ball down the court quickly, and our guys executed a lot, we scored. They're a veteran team. They're a very confident team and they executed that extremely well. So congratulations to them. Those games are what make the ACC a great conference - a game like that. I'm just disappointed for my players. It's a tough loss, a very difficult loss."
On getting out to a 58-50 lead before Florida State got back in it:
"They're not going to go away. They're a very old team. You have six seniors, two graduate students - you're just older. They're men and they play together. [Head coach] Leonard [Hamilton] and his staff have done a great job with them. Since [Ian] Miller's been back, I think eight or nine games now, they keep improving because they bring really a quality scorer off the bench now. They're really good. It's no question about that. We knew it coming in and we know it going out, even if we had won - they're really good. They're not really good because they beat us, they're just really good. They can play with anybody."
On the back-and-forth nature of the game:
"I don't think it was a game where anybody pulled away ... You miss and they hit, and there isn't one. That's the way a game goes, and that's what makes it a great game is that there aren't any runs. There were no runs. Runs being you get 10, 12 points and you let up. You execute and they execute. Sometimes there's not a lot of explanation. That's the way the game is played. I don't find any fault in our guys for trying to stop them and for what we did."
On the program's first home loss in three years:
"We've done a pretty damn good job, haven't we? ... You just go on. I think Duke fans take it for granted, probably. I'm not knocking them. I just think they take it for granted. It's not unusual for our program. We're very proud of that. We play a high level of teams in here. And to win that much is a testimony to how hard our guys work, every game, every year. I didn't think we'd keep going, somehow. Not that I have a negative attitude that we were going to lose, but it's a tremendous feat to win that many games in a row. And there was no pressure - we never talk about that."
On what changed between halves inside:
"I think both teams played better offensively in the second half. So I don't know what changed except the offenses on both teams played better. They scored more and so did we. We had some open looks that we just missed or else we would have scored a little bit more. I thought it showed how strong people were trying to execute against strong defenses."
On how hard his team played defensively:
"That's what you need to do. You have to assume the other team is going to play hard, and when they're as athletic and they're men like that, that's just a very tough game. Today is a very, very tough game. And we had a chance to win it. And we lost it in the fact that we played that way in this game, I'm really good about that because we can get a lot better. And we'll only get better by being in games like this. So having it take something out of you and then having to execute is part of how you win championships. The only way you do that is to get the experience of being in these games."
On whether he saw any of players separate themselves near the end of the game:
"I thought the kids who played played well. It was an older guys' game than a younger guys' game, although I thought Austin [Rivers] did a good job, did a really good job. That bucket he got right at the end, it's something I don't know if he would have scored three weeks ago because he had to really be determined to get in there and make the decision as to whether to shoot it, which was a good decision, or kick it for a potential three and a winning shot. I mean, that's what we set up. We got something good. We tied it and they hit a shot at the buzzer."
Duke Junior Ryan Kelly
On the point in the second half went Duke went up by eight points:
"It was a tough part of the game because we felt like we could've really stretched it out if we were a little sharper on offense and made some stops on defense. But give them credit. They battled through it, and it's very tough in Cameron to be down eight in that position and to fight back."
On the effect of Mason Plumlee's foul trouble:
"Mason's obviously a huge player for us. He rebounds the basketball and he makes plays on the offensive end. But we've got to fight through that and that's part of the game. We're just disappointed. Both teams fought hard and to be at home and lose is very disappointing."
Duke Junior Seth Curry
"It's disappointing. We scored and we each had to match up quick. It was a scramble situation, and I guess we didn't find one man. He got a good look and knocked it down."
"We're hurting right now. It's disappointing to lose, especially on your home court. We just have to bounce back tomorrow, learn from it, and just get better."
When asked if it's more disappointing because the home win streak came to an end:
"Not really. I'm not really worried about the record. We just want to win every game. When you don't do that, especially when you have a chance and have control of the game, or most of it, that's the most disappointing part."
"Whenever we got up seven or eight points, they always made a run and got back into the game or tied it up. We could never really get over the hump of making that extra run to put them away. They just kept fighting. We fought hard the whole game. It was just two good teams."
Duke Freshman Austin Rivers
"I like the way our team attacked. Everybody was aggressive, and I think we played well with each other. [Michael Snaer] hit a shot. He hit a great shot. That's what makes the ACC great - playing against teams like that. Florida State is one of the top teams in the country, no matter what people want to think. They're a new team, underrated team, and they're old. They're the oldest team in the ACC, and you can see it on the floor. If that's a young team, when we went up by eight in the second half, they fall apart. A veteran team like that, they stick together and they keep coming after you. It's a learning lesson for us just to keep attacking. I really feel like our team played great, and they just hit that shot that kind of killed the spirit."
Florida State Head Coach Leonard Hamilton
Opening Statement:
"Obviously going into this game, we knew it was going to be a very hard fought game. We thought the game was kind of slipping away from us there in the first half. Because of the importance of the game to us and the respect we have for Duke, how well they are always prepared, and how well they play, I thought our guys were a little hyper in the first half. We just couldn't get settled down. Our execution was not as good as we had hoped. Obviously, Duke had a lot to do with that because they had a great defensive scheme. It kind of kept us out of rhythm. That was a great shot that Michael [Snaer] hit at the end of the first half. It kind of stopped the bleeding a little bit. We came out there in the second half, and it was back and forth. Obviously, we turned the ball over three or four times in a row, but I thought that was when our players showed a lot of character at that moment. I thought they came together. They calmed down. They started executing a lot better. When you play against a great team like Duke and you are going down to the wire, anything can happen. Game can go any way. We were very fortunate to get a couple of rebounds, got a couple of stops, and hit a couple of free throws down the stretch that gave us a chance to win. Obviously, the ball was in our hands as the clock was running down. We were very fortunate that Michael [Snaer] knocked it down. Our team is growing and improving. We still have a lot of errors where we can improve, but I am proud of our guys because this is a very difficult place to win because of the tradition and how well they are coached, and how hard their kids play. They execute so well. It was a big win for us as we try to continue to keep becoming a program of significance not only in the ACC but on a national basis."
On whether the final play was a set play:
"Well when you have 4.8 seconds left on the clock, you have to push the ball down there down the floor. I think Luke [Loucks] had the presence of mind as he pushed the ball down the court. If I remember correctly, Bernard [James] might have set a screen to kind of free him up a little bit to give us a little bit of breathing room. He found Michael and Mike was very fortunate to knock it down. We work on those type of things all the time in practice. When the game is down, you have to push it. We didn't have time to run what we normally do. We just got it out and set a drag screen to loosen Luke up a little bit, and Mike was able to knock down the shot as the clock was running down."
On Florida State's experienced players:
"It is interesting. We have some guys that are seniors, but Luke only plays 12 minutes a game in his career. Bernard [James] is still adjusting and learning. He didn't play high school ball. Deividas [Dulkys] and Michael have the most experience on our team, but we have an older team. We are not as quite experienced as you normally would be under those circumstances. We have been working real hard to just learn how to play within ourselves. We are still in transition. We have a lot of room for improvement. We kind of are growing up on the job."
On winning a road game:
"Let's face the fact that for whatever reason in college basketball, it seems to be more of a challenge when we go on the road. Here in Cameron it is different because it is the top winning program in history of college basketball. It takes on a little different significance. Basically, winning on the road as a coach, you try to just approach it with the facts. The court is 94x50 and the goals are 10 feet. So you have to approach it where your guys get rid of that stigma that it is more difficult to win on the road. That's the way we try to approach it. We try to do the same thing on the road as we do at home. I think one reason why it is difficult to win on the road in the ACC is because you face great talent, great coaches, and a lot of rich traditions. Fans are involved in the game. It is a great conference and a great atmosphere that has developed over the number of years. For us, we have kind of built a little hole for ourselves early in the year just making adjustments and kind of growing up. So it is significant in the standpoint is that it is a signature win for us on the road in a place that not very many people have won. I am proud of our kids."
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