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Quotes: Duke 112, Florida Southern 68
10/30/2015 11:05:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski
Opening Statement:
“It was good to play against a team of champions. Florida Southern, their kids played really hard and they have a system of play and they move the ball around very well. Some of it is unconventional for us because a lot of times they have five guards out there. They moved the ball well and shot it well, too. Their three veterans coming back are really good players. To defend that, we had to keep adjusting on defense and pulling back, and when we did, that helped because then we stopped penetration. Because they're small, we were able to get good rebounds. Our big guys did a good job and overall it was a good win for us. They're going to be a really good team again, so it was good to play them. It is always good for us to play a championship team. For them to have lost one game last year and won the Division II National Championship is quite an accomplishment and so it is an honor to have them in here. And for us it was like a conditioning game too, because you're running up and down the court. And we got banged up a little bit; Matt (Jones) pulled a groin. Hopefully it is not a bad groin pull, but something happened with his groin. I'm not sure what happened with Grayson (Allen), but he got banged up a little bit on that fall. But, it was a good first outing for us. We handled the ball well. We had nine turnovers in a game where you have 75 shots. We have a lot of young guys and it's the first time for Brandon (Ingram) and Luke (Kennard) and Derryck (Thornton) and all those guys. Overall, I thought they did well.”
On Derryck Thornton:
“He had a lot of great energy. He pushed it and made really good decisions. When he had his feet set, he knocked down every three. The ones he missed were not bad shots. He played really well, he played with energy, and he played outside himself. I thought Luke (Kennard) started out a little nervous, but then he played well after that. That's part of these two games for us, to get their first college experience. It's a different experience.”
On defensive performance:
“I think the main thing is we stopped their transition. We got back. When we were up higher, we weren't talking and communicating. In a game like that, you may not have the guy you're assigned, but in a game like that, you just have to go and pick up the first guy and we didn't talk like that at first. When we adjusted, we had more time to talk and make that decision and we started playing good defense.”
On Brandon Ingram:
“We will play Brandon all over. He is a really good player. Especially tonight, it was tough to have two big guys in there a lot of the game. For a good portion of the game, when we got the lead, we had five perimeter guys. Brandon (Ingram) and Matt (Jones) played the so-called four and five.”
Amile Jefferson performance and leadership:
“He has been a really good player for us. As a starter at least half of the year last year, he can really handle the ball well and he can defend a perimeter guy. He can defend a big guy too, and that gives you a lot of flexibility. He had six assists and no turnovers. He was close to a triple-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds. He played almost as efficient as you can get. Our two big guys are veterans and that's what we need from them as we develop the perimeter.”
On other player performances:
“Grayson (Allen) didn't have a good night tonight, but obviously he can play. Chase (Jeter) coming off the bench, he came in the first half and did well, but then they had all these guards in. When he came in again, he had a really good attitude and he and (Sean) Obi rebounded well. We are going to try to use all of our guys and this was good playing experience for all of them.”
Duke Sophomore Grayson Allen
On what this team is doing differently from last year's team at this point in the season:
“I think we're definitely looking at drives a lot more. Marshall [Plumlee] is really, really good at playing off of guys the drive, either collecting a rebound or he's right there for a lob. Our driving lanes are more open, so when we spread the floor with four drives or with Brandon [Ingram] at the four, it's really easy to drive and kick or throw a lob to Marshall.”
On how his game and contributions would differ from last year:
“I think right now, I'm still having the same mindset I had last year toward the end of the year and that's aggressively attacking. Nothing has changed there. I might play more minutes this year than I did last year, so I think that's about the only thing that'll change. But for me it's the same aggression. And hopefully this year I can improve from what I did last year because I know last year I was driving a lot and kind of had tunnel vision where I wasn't seeing kick-outs, so this year I'm trying to improve on that and find open guys.”
Duke Freshman Derryck Thornton
When asked how it felt to take the floor for the first time against a true opponent:
“It feels great. I love my guys. I feel like I've just grown very close to all of them. We have a lot of fun off the court and on the court. Today was my first time to really be able to express all of my feelings. In practice you can kind of do it, but today with all the fans there, that kind of pumps you up as well. I want to go out there and have as much fun [as possible] and win with these guys because I love them so much.”
On what he's worked on the most since joining the Duke program:
“There's a lot that goes into it. With me being a little bit younger than everybody else here and just being a point guard, it took some time but I'm starting to turn the curve. I think the biggest difference really is just building the relationships with the guys. I wasn't here over the summer, so I didn't get that chance to build a relationship with all the guys. I'm trying to play catch up a little bit. But I feel like we're going to be a great team. Everyone's doing a great job and we did a great job tonight of pushing and just having fun out there. I think that's the main thing.”
When asked how the upperclassmen have helped him transition to Duke and the college atmosphere:
“I talk to all of them as much as I can. They know so much. They've been under Coach [Mike Krzyzewski] for so long and Coach is the best coach – he knows everything about the game. They're just teaching me every day, basically how to get better and kind of what Coach wants from his point guard and that type of stuff. They've played with some great point guards in the past, so they're just kind of trying to teach me what they did, and I'm just trying to fit in to our game.”
On the biggest differences between high school and college basketball:
“I think just the competitive aspect – in college I feel like the biggest thing is you really can't take any plays off. Everyone who steps on the floor is a great player, and they all play at a different level of intensity. I think that's the biggest difference.”
Duke Freshman Brandon Ingram
“We knew the game plan coming in and that they have a lot of three-point shooters. So we tried to run them off the three-point line, and they got a couple of easy drops. But after we locked down, we kind of got into a zone and we just took the three-pointer away and got a big lead.”
On the turning point in the game that allowed Duke to create some separation and pull away:
“It was just the defensive stops that were the turning points and it led to offense and we got two three's back-to-back. When defense leads to offense, it's always a turning point in the game.”
Florida Southern Head Coach Michael Donnelly
Opening Statement:
“Duke is really good. I know a lot was asked of this game since they have so many new guys. They have six or seven new freshmen coming off of the national championship that they had last year. Competition is always really high here, so you have got to give them a lot of credit. They jumped on us early, and they played really well and really hard, so all the credit in the world to Duke. It was a lot of fun for us. It was all about the experience for us. We did not once talk about the result. We are new. We have seven, actually eight, new guys. I am new, and we have a whole new coaching staff. We have had 12 practices, so this was not about the result. We were just trying to accomplish some little things, and for the most part, I am pretty happy with what we did.”
On why he went small after the first few minutes:
“We just had to make an adjustment. Our big guys picked up two quick fouls. I think our freshmen picked up two quick fouls as well, so we had to make an adjustment. We put our five best players at that moment on the floor. That was fun because they competed, they got good shots, and they really battled defensively. For that little stretch that we had, that was really fun to watch. I had not really thought about going that small, but we saw something new. I think we will be able to do that again.”
On upcoming schedule:
“Well, we are pretty fortunate. I was telling the guys in the locker room we have the opportunity to play on a big stage. We will be at the Carrier Dome next weekend, and we are playing Syracuse next Sunday. Yeah, so that is going to be a lot of fun. We get another crack at an ACC school, so we are just really fortunate to be in that situation. I thought we showed bits and things that we could tweak and improve upon, and hopefully we are a different team next Sunday against Syracuse. “
On Duke scheduling the defending Division II champions:
“That is great that they do that. It is terrific for college basketball at our level, and for the kids it is a great experience. I hope that they keep doing it because it is great for the kids. “
Florida Southern Senior Dominique Williams
On playing Duke:
“It's an honor to play Duke. Just like Coach Donnelly said, we have a new coaching staff and eight new players. I kept telling my guys we are not supposed to be here, so just have fun, guard, play hard, and the result will be the end result.”
On what it means to the seniors to play at Duke:
“Well, I am just happy to be here. Like I said I grew up loving Duke, so being able to play here and in their environment is crazy. You know, it is very hard to play in an environment like this. For us to battle the way we did, like you said we got down by four, but they're long and good, and they took it up another notch. They put it on us.”
Florida Southern Junior Michael Volovic
On playing Duke:
“It was just a great experience for all of us. We are not used to playing in big gyms like this. Especially with all of the history that Duke has, it was just the best experience that we could ask for. I mean the result was obviously not what we wanted, but I thought we competed. We played hard. We are obviously not used to the length they had, but we have a lot of time to make improvements.”
Opening Statement:
“It was good to play against a team of champions. Florida Southern, their kids played really hard and they have a system of play and they move the ball around very well. Some of it is unconventional for us because a lot of times they have five guards out there. They moved the ball well and shot it well, too. Their three veterans coming back are really good players. To defend that, we had to keep adjusting on defense and pulling back, and when we did, that helped because then we stopped penetration. Because they're small, we were able to get good rebounds. Our big guys did a good job and overall it was a good win for us. They're going to be a really good team again, so it was good to play them. It is always good for us to play a championship team. For them to have lost one game last year and won the Division II National Championship is quite an accomplishment and so it is an honor to have them in here. And for us it was like a conditioning game too, because you're running up and down the court. And we got banged up a little bit; Matt (Jones) pulled a groin. Hopefully it is not a bad groin pull, but something happened with his groin. I'm not sure what happened with Grayson (Allen), but he got banged up a little bit on that fall. But, it was a good first outing for us. We handled the ball well. We had nine turnovers in a game where you have 75 shots. We have a lot of young guys and it's the first time for Brandon (Ingram) and Luke (Kennard) and Derryck (Thornton) and all those guys. Overall, I thought they did well.”
On Derryck Thornton:
“He had a lot of great energy. He pushed it and made really good decisions. When he had his feet set, he knocked down every three. The ones he missed were not bad shots. He played really well, he played with energy, and he played outside himself. I thought Luke (Kennard) started out a little nervous, but then he played well after that. That's part of these two games for us, to get their first college experience. It's a different experience.”
On defensive performance:
“I think the main thing is we stopped their transition. We got back. When we were up higher, we weren't talking and communicating. In a game like that, you may not have the guy you're assigned, but in a game like that, you just have to go and pick up the first guy and we didn't talk like that at first. When we adjusted, we had more time to talk and make that decision and we started playing good defense.”
On Brandon Ingram:
“We will play Brandon all over. He is a really good player. Especially tonight, it was tough to have two big guys in there a lot of the game. For a good portion of the game, when we got the lead, we had five perimeter guys. Brandon (Ingram) and Matt (Jones) played the so-called four and five.”
Amile Jefferson performance and leadership:
“He has been a really good player for us. As a starter at least half of the year last year, he can really handle the ball well and he can defend a perimeter guy. He can defend a big guy too, and that gives you a lot of flexibility. He had six assists and no turnovers. He was close to a triple-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds. He played almost as efficient as you can get. Our two big guys are veterans and that's what we need from them as we develop the perimeter.”
On other player performances:
“Grayson (Allen) didn't have a good night tonight, but obviously he can play. Chase (Jeter) coming off the bench, he came in the first half and did well, but then they had all these guards in. When he came in again, he had a really good attitude and he and (Sean) Obi rebounded well. We are going to try to use all of our guys and this was good playing experience for all of them.”
Duke Sophomore Grayson Allen
On what this team is doing differently from last year's team at this point in the season:
“I think we're definitely looking at drives a lot more. Marshall [Plumlee] is really, really good at playing off of guys the drive, either collecting a rebound or he's right there for a lob. Our driving lanes are more open, so when we spread the floor with four drives or with Brandon [Ingram] at the four, it's really easy to drive and kick or throw a lob to Marshall.”
On how his game and contributions would differ from last year:
“I think right now, I'm still having the same mindset I had last year toward the end of the year and that's aggressively attacking. Nothing has changed there. I might play more minutes this year than I did last year, so I think that's about the only thing that'll change. But for me it's the same aggression. And hopefully this year I can improve from what I did last year because I know last year I was driving a lot and kind of had tunnel vision where I wasn't seeing kick-outs, so this year I'm trying to improve on that and find open guys.”
Duke Freshman Derryck Thornton
When asked how it felt to take the floor for the first time against a true opponent:
“It feels great. I love my guys. I feel like I've just grown very close to all of them. We have a lot of fun off the court and on the court. Today was my first time to really be able to express all of my feelings. In practice you can kind of do it, but today with all the fans there, that kind of pumps you up as well. I want to go out there and have as much fun [as possible] and win with these guys because I love them so much.”
On what he's worked on the most since joining the Duke program:
“There's a lot that goes into it. With me being a little bit younger than everybody else here and just being a point guard, it took some time but I'm starting to turn the curve. I think the biggest difference really is just building the relationships with the guys. I wasn't here over the summer, so I didn't get that chance to build a relationship with all the guys. I'm trying to play catch up a little bit. But I feel like we're going to be a great team. Everyone's doing a great job and we did a great job tonight of pushing and just having fun out there. I think that's the main thing.”
When asked how the upperclassmen have helped him transition to Duke and the college atmosphere:
“I talk to all of them as much as I can. They know so much. They've been under Coach [Mike Krzyzewski] for so long and Coach is the best coach – he knows everything about the game. They're just teaching me every day, basically how to get better and kind of what Coach wants from his point guard and that type of stuff. They've played with some great point guards in the past, so they're just kind of trying to teach me what they did, and I'm just trying to fit in to our game.”
On the biggest differences between high school and college basketball:
“I think just the competitive aspect – in college I feel like the biggest thing is you really can't take any plays off. Everyone who steps on the floor is a great player, and they all play at a different level of intensity. I think that's the biggest difference.”
Duke Freshman Brandon Ingram
“We knew the game plan coming in and that they have a lot of three-point shooters. So we tried to run them off the three-point line, and they got a couple of easy drops. But after we locked down, we kind of got into a zone and we just took the three-pointer away and got a big lead.”
On the turning point in the game that allowed Duke to create some separation and pull away:
“It was just the defensive stops that were the turning points and it led to offense and we got two three's back-to-back. When defense leads to offense, it's always a turning point in the game.”
Florida Southern Head Coach Michael Donnelly
Opening Statement:
“Duke is really good. I know a lot was asked of this game since they have so many new guys. They have six or seven new freshmen coming off of the national championship that they had last year. Competition is always really high here, so you have got to give them a lot of credit. They jumped on us early, and they played really well and really hard, so all the credit in the world to Duke. It was a lot of fun for us. It was all about the experience for us. We did not once talk about the result. We are new. We have seven, actually eight, new guys. I am new, and we have a whole new coaching staff. We have had 12 practices, so this was not about the result. We were just trying to accomplish some little things, and for the most part, I am pretty happy with what we did.”
On why he went small after the first few minutes:
“We just had to make an adjustment. Our big guys picked up two quick fouls. I think our freshmen picked up two quick fouls as well, so we had to make an adjustment. We put our five best players at that moment on the floor. That was fun because they competed, they got good shots, and they really battled defensively. For that little stretch that we had, that was really fun to watch. I had not really thought about going that small, but we saw something new. I think we will be able to do that again.”
On upcoming schedule:
“Well, we are pretty fortunate. I was telling the guys in the locker room we have the opportunity to play on a big stage. We will be at the Carrier Dome next weekend, and we are playing Syracuse next Sunday. Yeah, so that is going to be a lot of fun. We get another crack at an ACC school, so we are just really fortunate to be in that situation. I thought we showed bits and things that we could tweak and improve upon, and hopefully we are a different team next Sunday against Syracuse. “
On Duke scheduling the defending Division II champions:
“That is great that they do that. It is terrific for college basketball at our level, and for the kids it is a great experience. I hope that they keep doing it because it is great for the kids. “
Florida Southern Senior Dominique Williams
On playing Duke:
“It's an honor to play Duke. Just like Coach Donnelly said, we have a new coaching staff and eight new players. I kept telling my guys we are not supposed to be here, so just have fun, guard, play hard, and the result will be the end result.”
On what it means to the seniors to play at Duke:
“Well, I am just happy to be here. Like I said I grew up loving Duke, so being able to play here and in their environment is crazy. You know, it is very hard to play in an environment like this. For us to battle the way we did, like you said we got down by four, but they're long and good, and they took it up another notch. They put it on us.”
Florida Southern Junior Michael Volovic
On playing Duke:
“It was just a great experience for all of us. We are not used to playing in big gyms like this. Especially with all of the history that Duke has, it was just the best experience that we could ask for. I mean the result was obviously not what we wanted, but I thought we competed. We played hard. We are obviously not used to the length they had, but we have a lot of time to make improvements.”
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