Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball versus Wake Forest on January 24, 2026 at 5:45 p.m.
Men's Basketball
vs Wake Forest
Quotes: Duke 115, Livingstone 58
11/4/2014 10:34:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski
Opening Statement:
“Well we were pleased about tonight. I thought our effort was outstanding. Obviously, they played really hard too. They have a lot of guys that handle the ball. They had 21 turnovers, but they still put you in different situations and I thought our guys handled them well. The best thing about tonight, besides the effort, was how we shared the ball. To have 25 assists on 34 buckets – that was fun. Tyus (Jones) did a great job. He was 11-0 [assists to turnovers] until he tried that 99-yard touchdown pass that didn't go through. They enjoyed playing with one another tonight, good effort, and now we need to come back on Saturday and build. What I wanted to do in the first half was give all of them just about equal playing time. We've had 20 practices – none of the guys have missed a practice with injury or sickness or whatever – and (I wanted to) just get everybody a chance to play out there with a crowd and with officials. In the second half we tried some different lineups and different combinations and we'll do it differently on Saturday.”
On the difference between halves:
“You're not going to hold people to 14 points; it's just not going to happen. I didn't think we started out the second half with the same intensity. You're up by 40 points at halftime or whatever we were up and that can happen, but I thought we regained it and we played really hard. (Livingstone) is not going to stop playing hard, they're really good players that have built a really good program. Last year was a very special year for them; they lost a couple of key guys. They're very well coached. We played really hard tonight and well. Obviously we are pleased. For the most part, they were really good open shots. I think we can be a very good shooting team and we didn't have to go into (Jahlil Okafor) that often. I think there is more room to drive and kick. He draws a lot of attention and when he does get the ball, if they do double team, he can pass out of it. For the most part, we got a lot on fast breaks.”
On Livingstone's defense:
“They were trying to press us too. They actually played a number of different defenses against us, a 1-2-2, a 2-3, a 1-1-3 to a 2-3, a 2-2-1 half-court. I thought our guys did a good job of reading those things.”
On defensive communication:
“To begin with there was no communication (in the second half). But I think overall, for 90 percent of the game the communication was excellent. You know, you don't get a chance to scout anybody. Their coach does a good job. At different timeouts they came out with different offensive schemes. From the timeout, we're trying to adjust to it and I thought our guys did that, whereas once you get into the season, a lot of times you already have that down. You scouted it, and you know what you're going to do. I thought our talk there and our listening in the huddle was excellent.”
On Matt Jones' confidence on offense:
“The first half, there was a lot. Matt is a really good player. He's an easy guy to play with. He's a good three-point shooter, he's not a great three-point shooter, but when he's taking great shots you go from good to very good. It's all about taking good shots and not forcing the action and he did that. He chucked one, but he had hit three-in-a-row. The main thing that Matt does is that he doesn't have the ball long. He's such a good defender and a good player.”
On Justise Winslow:
“He's really strong. He's 6'6 220lbs. He's very strong, he's way ahead. He's strong like a senior, but he also is strong mentally. When he has his hands on the ball, it's tough to knock it away from him. He'll make some very aggressive moves to the basket where he gets punishment and is still going to get a good shot off. He's a guy that during the year I think can shoot a lot of free throws and he and (Okafor) should shoot free throws. When he gets the stationery three, that's something that he can really add on.”
On the 30-second clock:
“I don't know why we have 35, so why wouldn't we have 30? I think as the game progresses we're going to get to 24. Just with the international experience that we have – kids in Italy and Spain are playing with a 24-second clock, so they learn how to play basketball. I'd be a proponent for even a 24 second clock. I'd be a proponent for what they do internationally and in the NBA, eight seconds to cross half court and you don't get a new clock if you call a timeout. Those things speed up the game. I'd also be a proponent where the player can't call a timeout. That's what we do internationally and it makes the players make plays. I don't know why we wouldn't want to see that. It'd be a good thing.”
Duke Senior Quinn Cook
On the starting lineup and substitution patterns Duke used tonight:
“I'm used to it. It lets the five players on the floor know not to pace, knowing that they have a four-minute stretch or a five-minute stretch, so you can go all out, get a little rest, and then come back in. It's good and it gives us different looks.”
When asked if we might see the lineup “shifts” a lot this season:
“Probably not – but you might. I'm not sure. Coach [Mike Krzyzewski] obviously knows what he's doing. I think it's a good look for us and gives teams a different look, so it was great. I did it last year and we did it one time my freshman year for two games, so I'm used to it and it's fun.”
“It was a good showing. I can say from personal experiences, when we get up by certain leads, [in previous seasons] we let up or we don't pressure as much. [Tonight] we didn't let up at all. There was a two-minute stretch at the start of the second half where we let up a little bit. Coach [Mike Krzyzewski] got on us and we kicked it right back up and then we didn't stop. That was a good thing.”
“Just being off the ball, I want to be a pest because I know I'm going to be smaller most of the time than the guy I'm guarding, so I just want to be annoying out there, get loose rebounds, get deflections, and things like that.”
Duke Freshman Justise Winslow
On the starting lineup and substitution patterns Duke used tonight:
“Coach [Mike Krzyzewski] mixes it up a lot. Those weren't all the groups we usually use, but those were the groups we had today. We're trying to build the chemistry and I think we're doing a great job of it, and I think that showed on the court today.”
“All the guys, whenever they get open shots, Coach [Mike Krzyzewski] tells them to shoot it. So I've got all the confidence in the world in everybody every time they take a shot. At the same time, I'm going to crash the boards.”
On having Jahlil Okafor in the post:
“It definitely opens things up. He's a dominant low post presence, so whenever he gets the ball, he's going to attract a lot of guys, a lot of double-teams. It's our job to try to space the court out so he can score, but if he does get double-teamed, we should have good spacing and make the right play, make the extra pass, and knock down the shot.”
Duke Freshman Jahlil Okafor
On finally getting to play an opponent other than his Duke teammates in practice:
“It was fun. It was a lot of fun to finally get to play against somebody other than my teammates, and we were all looking forward to this day. It was a good game. It was good to get a chance to battle against somebody else and not have to battle against my teammates and having all those other guys have my back. It was a good experience and a lot of fun.”
“We played really great and did everything we wanted to do. I think Coach [Mike Krzyzewski] said of our 34 field goals, 25 came off of assists. That's one of the big absolutes this year – to share the ball – and that's what we did tonight.”
On the various lineups Duke used throughout the game:
“There have been a bunch of different lineups with all the talent we have on this team. Coach [Mike Krzyzewski] has been experimenting with a bunch of different players and different lineups, so it was kind of similar to what you saw tonight. I have no idea [who the starting five will be]. Coach says he doesn't have an idea yet of what's going to be our actual starting five, so we'll see.”
On what he's done to change his body since arriving at Duke:
“I think the main thing I've done to change my body is my diet. I was always working out and things like that, but when I started focusing on changing my diet and watching what I was eating, I really saw a lot of changes in my body. I took a lot of fast food out, a lot of sweet tea, and changed to a lot of water, fruits, things like that, and stayed away from fried foods. And it's really helped me on the court.”
Livingstone Head Coach James Stinson
On his impression of the game:
“First of all, growing up in the state of North Carolina and being a Charlotte team, you always hear about the atmosphere. To have an opportunity to witness it first hand, with the caliber of play, the fans, and the environment was great. I think our guys did not take anything for granted. I think their expectations were to try to be competitive and play hard, but that's a great basketball team. That is a very good basketball team Coach K has. We wanted to make sure that we concentrated on our part and doing the things that we knew we could do, which was executing and taking care of the basketball. As you can see, that is not indicative of the team that I have. We turned it over 21 times and that wasn't a big help. We didn't close out on shooters and take three balls away. And [Jahlil] Okafor is as advertised. We were very impressed with that.”
On learning from this game:
“It was definitely a blessing for us to have this opportunity to come in and compete with Duke. I think that the biggest thing that we can take away from it is that it wasn't the final game of the year. It is the beginning; it's an exhibition. It shows us where we have to make sure that we get a little better. When you're talking about top level talent, you're talking about discipline and commitment. Coach K commands that from not only his players, but his staff. We are trying to build a program of the same nature. Our guys were a little overwhelmed when shots didn't start to fall and started to believe that now we have to get it back really quickly, and that didn't happen. In the second half we settled down a little bit more and were able to get some execution. It will help us in the future.”
“We have a lot to learn from. We are definitely excited about the move from here. I wish we had executed a little more in the first half to put ourselves in a better position. I told them, 'Stop, don't look at the scoreboard. Look at what we're doing offensively and defensively, trying to make us better.' I think they understood that. They're humbled now and that's a good thing coming off of the season some of them had last year. They are very much humbled and that is a very good thing.”
Opening Statement:
“Well we were pleased about tonight. I thought our effort was outstanding. Obviously, they played really hard too. They have a lot of guys that handle the ball. They had 21 turnovers, but they still put you in different situations and I thought our guys handled them well. The best thing about tonight, besides the effort, was how we shared the ball. To have 25 assists on 34 buckets – that was fun. Tyus (Jones) did a great job. He was 11-0 [assists to turnovers] until he tried that 99-yard touchdown pass that didn't go through. They enjoyed playing with one another tonight, good effort, and now we need to come back on Saturday and build. What I wanted to do in the first half was give all of them just about equal playing time. We've had 20 practices – none of the guys have missed a practice with injury or sickness or whatever – and (I wanted to) just get everybody a chance to play out there with a crowd and with officials. In the second half we tried some different lineups and different combinations and we'll do it differently on Saturday.”
On the difference between halves:
“You're not going to hold people to 14 points; it's just not going to happen. I didn't think we started out the second half with the same intensity. You're up by 40 points at halftime or whatever we were up and that can happen, but I thought we regained it and we played really hard. (Livingstone) is not going to stop playing hard, they're really good players that have built a really good program. Last year was a very special year for them; they lost a couple of key guys. They're very well coached. We played really hard tonight and well. Obviously we are pleased. For the most part, they were really good open shots. I think we can be a very good shooting team and we didn't have to go into (Jahlil Okafor) that often. I think there is more room to drive and kick. He draws a lot of attention and when he does get the ball, if they do double team, he can pass out of it. For the most part, we got a lot on fast breaks.”
On Livingstone's defense:
“They were trying to press us too. They actually played a number of different defenses against us, a 1-2-2, a 2-3, a 1-1-3 to a 2-3, a 2-2-1 half-court. I thought our guys did a good job of reading those things.”
On defensive communication:
“To begin with there was no communication (in the second half). But I think overall, for 90 percent of the game the communication was excellent. You know, you don't get a chance to scout anybody. Their coach does a good job. At different timeouts they came out with different offensive schemes. From the timeout, we're trying to adjust to it and I thought our guys did that, whereas once you get into the season, a lot of times you already have that down. You scouted it, and you know what you're going to do. I thought our talk there and our listening in the huddle was excellent.”
On Matt Jones' confidence on offense:
“The first half, there was a lot. Matt is a really good player. He's an easy guy to play with. He's a good three-point shooter, he's not a great three-point shooter, but when he's taking great shots you go from good to very good. It's all about taking good shots and not forcing the action and he did that. He chucked one, but he had hit three-in-a-row. The main thing that Matt does is that he doesn't have the ball long. He's such a good defender and a good player.”
On Justise Winslow:
“He's really strong. He's 6'6 220lbs. He's very strong, he's way ahead. He's strong like a senior, but he also is strong mentally. When he has his hands on the ball, it's tough to knock it away from him. He'll make some very aggressive moves to the basket where he gets punishment and is still going to get a good shot off. He's a guy that during the year I think can shoot a lot of free throws and he and (Okafor) should shoot free throws. When he gets the stationery three, that's something that he can really add on.”
On the 30-second clock:
“I don't know why we have 35, so why wouldn't we have 30? I think as the game progresses we're going to get to 24. Just with the international experience that we have – kids in Italy and Spain are playing with a 24-second clock, so they learn how to play basketball. I'd be a proponent for even a 24 second clock. I'd be a proponent for what they do internationally and in the NBA, eight seconds to cross half court and you don't get a new clock if you call a timeout. Those things speed up the game. I'd also be a proponent where the player can't call a timeout. That's what we do internationally and it makes the players make plays. I don't know why we wouldn't want to see that. It'd be a good thing.”
Duke Senior Quinn Cook
On the starting lineup and substitution patterns Duke used tonight:
“I'm used to it. It lets the five players on the floor know not to pace, knowing that they have a four-minute stretch or a five-minute stretch, so you can go all out, get a little rest, and then come back in. It's good and it gives us different looks.”
When asked if we might see the lineup “shifts” a lot this season:
“Probably not – but you might. I'm not sure. Coach [Mike Krzyzewski] obviously knows what he's doing. I think it's a good look for us and gives teams a different look, so it was great. I did it last year and we did it one time my freshman year for two games, so I'm used to it and it's fun.”
“It was a good showing. I can say from personal experiences, when we get up by certain leads, [in previous seasons] we let up or we don't pressure as much. [Tonight] we didn't let up at all. There was a two-minute stretch at the start of the second half where we let up a little bit. Coach [Mike Krzyzewski] got on us and we kicked it right back up and then we didn't stop. That was a good thing.”
“Just being off the ball, I want to be a pest because I know I'm going to be smaller most of the time than the guy I'm guarding, so I just want to be annoying out there, get loose rebounds, get deflections, and things like that.”
Duke Freshman Justise Winslow
On the starting lineup and substitution patterns Duke used tonight:
“Coach [Mike Krzyzewski] mixes it up a lot. Those weren't all the groups we usually use, but those were the groups we had today. We're trying to build the chemistry and I think we're doing a great job of it, and I think that showed on the court today.”
“All the guys, whenever they get open shots, Coach [Mike Krzyzewski] tells them to shoot it. So I've got all the confidence in the world in everybody every time they take a shot. At the same time, I'm going to crash the boards.”
On having Jahlil Okafor in the post:
“It definitely opens things up. He's a dominant low post presence, so whenever he gets the ball, he's going to attract a lot of guys, a lot of double-teams. It's our job to try to space the court out so he can score, but if he does get double-teamed, we should have good spacing and make the right play, make the extra pass, and knock down the shot.”
Duke Freshman Jahlil Okafor
On finally getting to play an opponent other than his Duke teammates in practice:
“It was fun. It was a lot of fun to finally get to play against somebody other than my teammates, and we were all looking forward to this day. It was a good game. It was good to get a chance to battle against somebody else and not have to battle against my teammates and having all those other guys have my back. It was a good experience and a lot of fun.”
“We played really great and did everything we wanted to do. I think Coach [Mike Krzyzewski] said of our 34 field goals, 25 came off of assists. That's one of the big absolutes this year – to share the ball – and that's what we did tonight.”
On the various lineups Duke used throughout the game:
“There have been a bunch of different lineups with all the talent we have on this team. Coach [Mike Krzyzewski] has been experimenting with a bunch of different players and different lineups, so it was kind of similar to what you saw tonight. I have no idea [who the starting five will be]. Coach says he doesn't have an idea yet of what's going to be our actual starting five, so we'll see.”
On what he's done to change his body since arriving at Duke:
“I think the main thing I've done to change my body is my diet. I was always working out and things like that, but when I started focusing on changing my diet and watching what I was eating, I really saw a lot of changes in my body. I took a lot of fast food out, a lot of sweet tea, and changed to a lot of water, fruits, things like that, and stayed away from fried foods. And it's really helped me on the court.”
Livingstone Head Coach James Stinson
On his impression of the game:
“First of all, growing up in the state of North Carolina and being a Charlotte team, you always hear about the atmosphere. To have an opportunity to witness it first hand, with the caliber of play, the fans, and the environment was great. I think our guys did not take anything for granted. I think their expectations were to try to be competitive and play hard, but that's a great basketball team. That is a very good basketball team Coach K has. We wanted to make sure that we concentrated on our part and doing the things that we knew we could do, which was executing and taking care of the basketball. As you can see, that is not indicative of the team that I have. We turned it over 21 times and that wasn't a big help. We didn't close out on shooters and take three balls away. And [Jahlil] Okafor is as advertised. We were very impressed with that.”
On learning from this game:
“It was definitely a blessing for us to have this opportunity to come in and compete with Duke. I think that the biggest thing that we can take away from it is that it wasn't the final game of the year. It is the beginning; it's an exhibition. It shows us where we have to make sure that we get a little better. When you're talking about top level talent, you're talking about discipline and commitment. Coach K commands that from not only his players, but his staff. We are trying to build a program of the same nature. Our guys were a little overwhelmed when shots didn't start to fall and started to believe that now we have to get it back really quickly, and that didn't happen. In the second half we settled down a little bit more and were able to get some execution. It will help us in the future.”
“We have a lot to learn from. We are definitely excited about the move from here. I wish we had executed a little more in the first half to put ourselves in a better position. I told them, 'Stop, don't look at the scoreboard. Look at what we're doing offensively and defensively, trying to make us better.' I think they understood that. They're humbled now and that's a good thing coming off of the season some of them had last year. They are very much humbled and that is a very good thing.”
Players Mentioned
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