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Men's Basketball
vs Western Carolina
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Quotes: Duke 80, Florida State 65
2/25/2016 10:37:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski
Opening Statement:
“We won a big time game. They wear you out. (Coach) Leonard (Hamilton) does such a good job with his team and they are so athletic and play hard. We were able to do two things tonight that really helped us. One, we did not give up transition baskets that much and when you miss, and we missed a lot, they really can bring the ball down. Four different guys can bring it down. So we did a good job of making them a half court team. And the second thing is we didn't turn the ball over. Only five turnovers and 16 assists. Chase (Jeter) really gave us a big boost and Marshall (Plumlee) continues to play at a high level. You can tell our guys are in great physical shape, except Matt (Jones) is hurt, but the emotion that we have had to have for these last five games, they're tired. And you can tell. And it's not because of being physically out of shape. They're giving me everything, I'm telling you, this group, they're diving for loose balls, they're such a good group and we are so pleased to get our 10th ACC win. We have to do a lot to make the NCAA tournament and no one ever thinks of that for us because we have done it 20 years in a row. It's almost like someone feels that it is inherited. You have to earn it every year and we did. I think we have now done that and we have to keep trying to get better. Just trying to get better. Big win for us, and what a tough one Sunday against a really athletic and physical Pitt team.”
On Chase Jeter's improved confidence and playing time:
“Well you get minutes by earning them and in practice he has earned them. He has been a different kid the last three weeks and his teammates see that. Now, he has worked hard the whole year but it just wasn't there and that happens for a bunch of kids. But the last three weeks it has been there so his teammates get confidence in him. It's not just you having confidence, or a coach having confidence, it is when your teammates have confidence and they couldn't have been happier for him tonight. And after Louisville too, he gave us a good performance. He had a couple of charges and that block he made was huge. And I would have played him even more tonight but they play four guards. Marshall is just having a hell of a year just in case somebody hasn't seen it. It's tough to keep him off the court. We will have to, when we can practice; we will look at a little time with the two bigs which is a nice thing to be able to look at.”
On Marshall Plumlee exceeding expectations this season:
“I didn't want to put on any expectations, but I thought he would be really good. And he has been better. I was looking at tape from last year because he played really well against Florida State, and just physically, I mean, in his face he looks three years older this year. I don't know. And he's in great shape and for the last month especially he has been damn good. He has been so good. And he has been a vocal leader. You know, the kid is having a sensational year. And with Amile (Jefferson) out, for him to step up big time for that, that has really been maybe the biggest key for us is his play.”
On having a game that didn't come down to the last second:
“Well I'll tell you what, we coached it like it was. I sensed the whole second half that we were tired. So at every time out we were just telling them 'Come on' and they responded. But you could tell, and it was almost like you had a 15 round fight and we couldn't knock them out. We won enough rounds to win the fight and we have to be careful not to get knocked out. That is a game where you could get knocked out and our guys responded in that way.”
On giving Matt Jones tough defensive matchups:
“Well first of all he played 34 minutes and his ankle still isn't 100%. He commands the respect of everyone on our team and he can think like a coach in real time. And so we rely a lot on him and he has to give a lot of emotion during the game. And then he is always on their best guy. He was on (Malcolm) Brogdon and (Damion) Lee. And one of the reasons, there were a bunch of reasons, but one of the reasons we lost at Louisville, was that Lee got 24 points against us. Here he was 3 for 15 because Matt was on him here. He has been overall our best defensive player and we always put him in those types of situations.”
Duke Junior Matt Jones
When asked about his initial shot of the game, which fell short of the rim:
“It took me five seconds [to settle down after the shot]. I've shot enough air balls to know that I feel like the next shot's going to go in. It didn't take me too long to get over that shot. Obviously I knew that it was a rushed shot, but I got over it pretty quick. It was weird to be back out there again. Obviously I didn't have full confidence in my ankle before the game, but once the game got going I kind of got lathered up and it wasn't about me anymore.”
On where he is in his recovery:
“I would like to sit here and say I'm 100 [percent] but I'm not. Probably like 90. I was in the training room every minute of every hour from the time I left the North Carolina game up to the Louisville game. Unfortunately I wasn't able to go on Saturday [against Louisville], but it was a step in the right direction.”
Duke Sophomore Grayson Allen
“We've had a bunch of games where one guy kind of has his coming out party, and it's been a little inconsistent in that way. I think now more recently, we're getting to where we have a bunch of guys putting together some complete games. Tonight it was nice to have our scoring really balanced. We'd much rather have it that way with a bunch of guys in double figures, and that's the way our team can go with all the scorers that we have.”
On the play of Chase Jeter:
“He had a great game. It's huge for us to see it and we know how big it is for him – it's such a confidence boost for him. We know the kind of player that he can be and how talented he is, and so when we see him go out and play that way and play to his abilities, it's great. He can be huge for us in the minutes that he provides. It's much easier on Marshall [Plumlee] when Marshall gets a few minutes to rest and then he can go out there and play with the intensity that he wants for maybe 34 or 35 minutes instead of 40.”
When asked about the physical nature of his play and the way other teams play against him:
“It's a product of the way I play and it's a product of the other team not wanting me to play that way. I know that I'm going to be on the scouting report as one of our top scorers with Brandon [Ingram], and they're going to come after us. We kind of set ourselves up where, early in the year, everyone saw that the gameplan should be to be physical against us. So that's how it's been and that's what people think our weaknesses are. So for me and Brandon, we have to be strong and really tough, physically and mentally, each night and know that we're going to get those blows.”
On where he sees this team's development at this point in the season:
“I think we've developed well. I think we all saw the potential that this team had, but we couldn't put it together at the beginning [of the season]. Thankfully, through ACC play we've been able to do it and we're getting it going at the right time. I think offensively we've always been a really talented group. We're continuing to learn to play together, but we're really trying to make our defense a strength and how we can pressure the ball, rebound, and really get out and run.”
When asked to evaluate Duke's defense as a team:
“We can still improve a lot [defensively]. We still need to put together a whole 40-minute game where we don't let up. Marshall [Plumlee] is just playing out of his mind and being a huge anchor down there for us. He's like the key to our ball screen defense. He does such a great job and he's rebounding like crazy. He's our leader on defense and we all need to match his intensity, and we don't do that for 40 minutes right now.”
Duke Freshman Brandon Ingram
“I think we tried to respond off of the last game [at Louisville]. We had a good gameplan and we came in and we executed well. We got after it defensively, and of course it led to offense.”
On Duke's balanced scoring tonight:
“We move the ball and we know everyone on the court can score, so when Grayson and I get attention, everybody is open for shots and they knock them down.”
Florida State Head Coach Leonard Hamilton
Opening Statement:
“This was a very difficult match up for us, but we knew that coming in. They shoot the ball so well from the perimeter and we probably played zone defense a little less than we have in the past 3-4 games. That is kind of who we are right now: we are not a very good man-to-man team. We had them shooting some reasonable field goal percentage in the first half, but we obviously turned the ball over. Missed some layups and we couldn't hit free-throws. We were down 13 at the half, and we thought that we had played defensively about as good as we could under the circumstances of who we are at this particular time in the year. Second half I just thought that we turned the ball over way too many times. A good shooting team like Duke, you can't give them extra possessions. We got some stops, but gave them some offensive rebounds. We just got beat by a team that played much better than us tonight. You have to give them credit, they are a very good basketball team and they shoot the ball very well. Each time we made a mistake on the defensive end they made us pay, and that is to their credit.”
On defensive difficulties:
“Well from an interior stand point Michael Ojo and Phil Cofer are probably our best two inside defensive players and they have not played all year. Cofer played a few games early but we have not had him, so we went to an all guard lineup. I looked out in the first half and for a lot of the time we had four freshmen on the floor. Our big man did not practice at all he just started playing because he had a stress fracture, so he has had limited practice. I just think that we are in a development stage with our youngsters. The effort is good, and I think the athleticism is there, but I just think that we are a ways away from being the type of defensive team that we have been in the past. Our system is the same, as long as their effort is good and they allow themselves to be coached, I am sure that we will get back to being the type of defensive team that we have always been.”
On Duke disrupting FSU transition:
“When you look down and see that they had 14 offensive rebounds, so when we did make them miss, they got some put backs: one or two on the free-throw line, and another one when the ball bounced into the lane. They probably scored on second chance points about 15 of those as a result. We pushed the ball and got out in transition, and we had good looks, but we had good looks that didn't fall and they had good looks that did fall.”
Opening Statement:
“We won a big time game. They wear you out. (Coach) Leonard (Hamilton) does such a good job with his team and they are so athletic and play hard. We were able to do two things tonight that really helped us. One, we did not give up transition baskets that much and when you miss, and we missed a lot, they really can bring the ball down. Four different guys can bring it down. So we did a good job of making them a half court team. And the second thing is we didn't turn the ball over. Only five turnovers and 16 assists. Chase (Jeter) really gave us a big boost and Marshall (Plumlee) continues to play at a high level. You can tell our guys are in great physical shape, except Matt (Jones) is hurt, but the emotion that we have had to have for these last five games, they're tired. And you can tell. And it's not because of being physically out of shape. They're giving me everything, I'm telling you, this group, they're diving for loose balls, they're such a good group and we are so pleased to get our 10th ACC win. We have to do a lot to make the NCAA tournament and no one ever thinks of that for us because we have done it 20 years in a row. It's almost like someone feels that it is inherited. You have to earn it every year and we did. I think we have now done that and we have to keep trying to get better. Just trying to get better. Big win for us, and what a tough one Sunday against a really athletic and physical Pitt team.”
On Chase Jeter's improved confidence and playing time:
“Well you get minutes by earning them and in practice he has earned them. He has been a different kid the last three weeks and his teammates see that. Now, he has worked hard the whole year but it just wasn't there and that happens for a bunch of kids. But the last three weeks it has been there so his teammates get confidence in him. It's not just you having confidence, or a coach having confidence, it is when your teammates have confidence and they couldn't have been happier for him tonight. And after Louisville too, he gave us a good performance. He had a couple of charges and that block he made was huge. And I would have played him even more tonight but they play four guards. Marshall is just having a hell of a year just in case somebody hasn't seen it. It's tough to keep him off the court. We will have to, when we can practice; we will look at a little time with the two bigs which is a nice thing to be able to look at.”
On Marshall Plumlee exceeding expectations this season:
“I didn't want to put on any expectations, but I thought he would be really good. And he has been better. I was looking at tape from last year because he played really well against Florida State, and just physically, I mean, in his face he looks three years older this year. I don't know. And he's in great shape and for the last month especially he has been damn good. He has been so good. And he has been a vocal leader. You know, the kid is having a sensational year. And with Amile (Jefferson) out, for him to step up big time for that, that has really been maybe the biggest key for us is his play.”
On having a game that didn't come down to the last second:
“Well I'll tell you what, we coached it like it was. I sensed the whole second half that we were tired. So at every time out we were just telling them 'Come on' and they responded. But you could tell, and it was almost like you had a 15 round fight and we couldn't knock them out. We won enough rounds to win the fight and we have to be careful not to get knocked out. That is a game where you could get knocked out and our guys responded in that way.”
On giving Matt Jones tough defensive matchups:
“Well first of all he played 34 minutes and his ankle still isn't 100%. He commands the respect of everyone on our team and he can think like a coach in real time. And so we rely a lot on him and he has to give a lot of emotion during the game. And then he is always on their best guy. He was on (Malcolm) Brogdon and (Damion) Lee. And one of the reasons, there were a bunch of reasons, but one of the reasons we lost at Louisville, was that Lee got 24 points against us. Here he was 3 for 15 because Matt was on him here. He has been overall our best defensive player and we always put him in those types of situations.”
Duke Junior Matt Jones
When asked about his initial shot of the game, which fell short of the rim:
“It took me five seconds [to settle down after the shot]. I've shot enough air balls to know that I feel like the next shot's going to go in. It didn't take me too long to get over that shot. Obviously I knew that it was a rushed shot, but I got over it pretty quick. It was weird to be back out there again. Obviously I didn't have full confidence in my ankle before the game, but once the game got going I kind of got lathered up and it wasn't about me anymore.”
On where he is in his recovery:
“I would like to sit here and say I'm 100 [percent] but I'm not. Probably like 90. I was in the training room every minute of every hour from the time I left the North Carolina game up to the Louisville game. Unfortunately I wasn't able to go on Saturday [against Louisville], but it was a step in the right direction.”
Duke Sophomore Grayson Allen
“We've had a bunch of games where one guy kind of has his coming out party, and it's been a little inconsistent in that way. I think now more recently, we're getting to where we have a bunch of guys putting together some complete games. Tonight it was nice to have our scoring really balanced. We'd much rather have it that way with a bunch of guys in double figures, and that's the way our team can go with all the scorers that we have.”
On the play of Chase Jeter:
“He had a great game. It's huge for us to see it and we know how big it is for him – it's such a confidence boost for him. We know the kind of player that he can be and how talented he is, and so when we see him go out and play that way and play to his abilities, it's great. He can be huge for us in the minutes that he provides. It's much easier on Marshall [Plumlee] when Marshall gets a few minutes to rest and then he can go out there and play with the intensity that he wants for maybe 34 or 35 minutes instead of 40.”
When asked about the physical nature of his play and the way other teams play against him:
“It's a product of the way I play and it's a product of the other team not wanting me to play that way. I know that I'm going to be on the scouting report as one of our top scorers with Brandon [Ingram], and they're going to come after us. We kind of set ourselves up where, early in the year, everyone saw that the gameplan should be to be physical against us. So that's how it's been and that's what people think our weaknesses are. So for me and Brandon, we have to be strong and really tough, physically and mentally, each night and know that we're going to get those blows.”
On where he sees this team's development at this point in the season:
“I think we've developed well. I think we all saw the potential that this team had, but we couldn't put it together at the beginning [of the season]. Thankfully, through ACC play we've been able to do it and we're getting it going at the right time. I think offensively we've always been a really talented group. We're continuing to learn to play together, but we're really trying to make our defense a strength and how we can pressure the ball, rebound, and really get out and run.”
When asked to evaluate Duke's defense as a team:
“We can still improve a lot [defensively]. We still need to put together a whole 40-minute game where we don't let up. Marshall [Plumlee] is just playing out of his mind and being a huge anchor down there for us. He's like the key to our ball screen defense. He does such a great job and he's rebounding like crazy. He's our leader on defense and we all need to match his intensity, and we don't do that for 40 minutes right now.”
Duke Freshman Brandon Ingram
“I think we tried to respond off of the last game [at Louisville]. We had a good gameplan and we came in and we executed well. We got after it defensively, and of course it led to offense.”
On Duke's balanced scoring tonight:
“We move the ball and we know everyone on the court can score, so when Grayson and I get attention, everybody is open for shots and they knock them down.”
Florida State Head Coach Leonard Hamilton
Opening Statement:
“This was a very difficult match up for us, but we knew that coming in. They shoot the ball so well from the perimeter and we probably played zone defense a little less than we have in the past 3-4 games. That is kind of who we are right now: we are not a very good man-to-man team. We had them shooting some reasonable field goal percentage in the first half, but we obviously turned the ball over. Missed some layups and we couldn't hit free-throws. We were down 13 at the half, and we thought that we had played defensively about as good as we could under the circumstances of who we are at this particular time in the year. Second half I just thought that we turned the ball over way too many times. A good shooting team like Duke, you can't give them extra possessions. We got some stops, but gave them some offensive rebounds. We just got beat by a team that played much better than us tonight. You have to give them credit, they are a very good basketball team and they shoot the ball very well. Each time we made a mistake on the defensive end they made us pay, and that is to their credit.”
On defensive difficulties:
“Well from an interior stand point Michael Ojo and Phil Cofer are probably our best two inside defensive players and they have not played all year. Cofer played a few games early but we have not had him, so we went to an all guard lineup. I looked out in the first half and for a lot of the time we had four freshmen on the floor. Our big man did not practice at all he just started playing because he had a stress fracture, so he has had limited practice. I just think that we are in a development stage with our youngsters. The effort is good, and I think the athleticism is there, but I just think that we are a ways away from being the type of defensive team that we have been in the past. Our system is the same, as long as their effort is good and they allow themselves to be coached, I am sure that we will get back to being the type of defensive team that we have always been.”
On Duke disrupting FSU transition:
“When you look down and see that they had 14 offensive rebounds, so when we did make them miss, they got some put backs: one or two on the free-throw line, and another one when the ball bounced into the lane. They probably scored on second chance points about 15 of those as a result. We pushed the ball and got out in transition, and we had good looks, but we had good looks that didn't fall and they had good looks that did fall.”
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