Quotes: Duke 88, NC State 80

Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski
Opening Statement:
“I thought it was a heck of a game. Both of us are teams that if you could get five or six possessions then you'd have different records. I think they're really good and that kid Barber, Cat is a great player and a great competitor. I think Derryck [Thornton] actually did a decent job on him. In the second half, as happens sometimes with freshmen, he made those two turnovers and the whole world could've ended right there for our team. But then he just had to settle down. He came back and hit two free throws and did a good job. Then it was tough to guard him. It's tough to guard him with Derryck, but at least you have some quickness on him. And then [Abdul-Malik] Abu was really good. Our guys were very good. They fought and I think it's an extension of what they did in the second half against Georgia Tech, the job my staff has done and they've done to stay tough. Our guys were tough. Luke [Kennard] had a really good day at practice yesterday. He's telling him every day is a new start man and the guys were yelling to him to shoot. Same thing at the timeout, Brandon [Ingram], late in the game, he missed the layup and he missed shots that he's going to hit and Grayson [Allen]'s just saying to him you just keep shooting, you know, our guys are starting to do that. It's really a neat thing too, while in real time, not after the game, “Man you can do this,” but in real time. I think that's important. We share the ball well, 19 assists and didn't turn it over, except for those two were big and we hit free throws. We hit free throws down the stretch. It's a huge win for us man, a huge win. I'm proud of my guys.”

On Brandon Ingram playing with three fouls:
“I don't think it's easy for anybody, but, you know, there's a lot of people in the United States who have to work three jobs because they need to. So, Brandon [Ingram], I'm not putting what Brandon does as hard as someone working three jobs, but you've got to play with adversity. You have to learn to do that. His first foul was a little tough one because I just thought Cat [Barber] tripped, you know just fell. But things like that, like against Clemson, he didn't handle it as well. So, he's learning. But having Brandon Ingram in the game is huge for us and I'm glad he's able to handle that very well.”

On the growth of Derryck Thornton:
“I think it's been gradual. I just think he keeps getting better and he's a young kid. The job he did at Georgia Tech and then he had maybe about a minute there at the end of the Georgia Tech game. Our guys believe in him and I believe in him. You cover Barber, you're going to get tired. So, when they put on that look it was a press not to turn you over, but when you make one handed passes against it, there were tired one-handed passes and you're 18 years old you do it. Again, he's been playing very well and he played well today. We believe in him and start on Monday and hopefully he'll get some rest and play well on Monday.”

On the freshmen's ability to recover:
“Also, where they need help, like an upperclassman is saying you're okay. The staff is saying just hang in there and play through it. Like Brandon was beating himself up because we had that double-digit 10, 12-point lead and we came down like about three or four times and he had good stuff and nothing was there and they scored. I thought we took our misses to defensive end. We're still thinking about the misses. Grayson, at the timeout, was saying 'Man, you shoot the ball' and stuff like that. We all are a little bit inconsistent anyways, but I don't think that is just a freshman. When we are, if we get help from our team, that helps us a lot.”

On the events in the last few days:
“I did transition on Wednesday. I got out of the hospital and was able to do stuff on Wednesday, not on the court, because we just showed them tape. I explained to them everything that happened, full disclosure, all the stuff. Then I asked them, 'Is it alright to be here?' They said 'Yeah,' and I said, 'That's smart of you because I still control playing time.' I guess it's like a parent, even if your kids don't like it, you know, we provide the food. No, I tried to make it a little bit light for them for a couple days and then try to push it again yesterday and today. They responded. My staff did a great job at Georgia Tech and so did the kids. That's like everyone having each other's back and just trying to make this as good as possible. We're not this powerhouse, but our guys are doing a good job. They're doing a really good job. We just have to keep fighting every game and just trying to keep getting better and hopefully stay healthy. When Grayson got fouled there, not intentional or anything, man I thought alright my knee should go out right now because it isn't going to be good the rest of the year if he's gone, but thank goodness he's okay. I'm a little bit concerned about Barber. Somebody said he was holding his hand. I don't know what happened, but hopefully he's okay. That kid is really good. I'm not NC State's sports promotion here, but don't judge just how good a guy is by the record of his team, because they're close to winning five more games. He gives them a chance to win every game. He's the toughest out in the league because in trying to get him, he spoon feeds some of those guys too. He's responsible for a lot of points for that basketball team and you can figure it out mathematically with assists, but also spacing and this and [Maverick] Rowan might get open a little more because of it, big time. He's very good.”

Duke Sophomore Grayson Allen
“[NC State] played good. Every time we got a little lead, they would hit a big shot and get right back into the game. NC State's a very dangerous team. They have dangerous scorers and they're really tough. They were big on the boards – that was going to be a tough assignment for us tonight, but I think we did a good job.”

“In the second half, we were trying to switch up the defenses and throw different stuff at them. And then Luke [Kennard] stayed hot. I think on defense it really started with the pressure that we had to put on Cat Barber just because he's such an explosive scorer. He went for a stretch there in the second half where he was killing us up top, so we really had to lock in on him. For our offense, it all starts with getting stops and that allows us to push it in transition and kind of flow right into our offense.”

“To start off the game, Derryck [Thornton] did a great job [defensively on Cat Barber]. I thought he defended him really well, put great pressure on him. You know he's kind of the one guy who maybe can match Cat Barber's quickness so that's big for us, but Cat's a great scorer so he was finding ways to score. It was all about throwing different looks at him. When we made an adjustment on the ball screen and Marshall [Plumlee] started to blitz and get up there, I think that was effective, and just moving things around on the help side, trying to throw different looks at him.”

On how it feels when he and Luke Kennard both get hot from three-point territory:
“Luke's the type of guy that can just rattle off four or five threes in a row like that. He can get real hot and it's fun to play with someone like that. Tonight, we were both able to get hot from three. I think that's a credit to our offense and when we spread out the floor like that. We're getting a lot better at moving the ball around, knowing where each other are, and moving off the ball. And Luke was getting open and knocking them down, and that makes everyone else get open more.”

When asked how prepared he felt Duke is for the upcoming three-game stretch against Louisville, Virginia, and North Carolina:
“I think we're very prepared. One thing we've been doing very well these past couple of weeks is our preparation for games has been there. It's tougher to practice when you have lighter numbers, but I think the guys are being mentally tough and really focusing in in practice. I think it all starts with our preparation and then execution once game time comes. That's something that we have to continue doing; it's a continuous process.”

On the leadership from the assistant coaches during Coach Mike Krzyzewski's absence:
“We have a lot of respect for those guys. They're all great coaches and all of them have been in our shoes before – they know what it's like to be a Duke basketball player and play for Coach [Mike Krzyzewski]. I think it's kind of like the perfect transition for them to lead us.”

Duke Freshman Luke Kennard
When asked how it feels to have played so well along with Grayson Allen:
“We love to see each other do well. He was one of the first guys to tell me, 'Great game.' He actually said it was about time because I think I shot 11 threes and he mentioned that to me and he said, 'Finally. It's about time you did that.' My teammates have confidence in me, and I love to play with Grayson. He's a great teammate and a great person so it's fun.”

On how the break in the schedule has helped Duke:
“It's been great. It's not like we've taken it easy in practice, but we've gotten really sharp in what we're trying to do, paying attention to detail, so the little rest helped a lot. I think it kind of showed tonight. I don't think we got tired. Tonight was a night where we wanted to push the ball and we wanted to attack, so overall it was a great night for us.”

“For me personally, it was a slow start once I got it, but I came in and hit, I think, like three straight. My teammates did a great job. NC State went to the zone [defense]. The coaches, they want me to be ready to shoot. They want me to knock down shots, make plays. The guys were finding me and I was just ready to shoot and I knocked them down. We knew that [NC State] played zone some, and we didn't know whether they were going to play man or zone tonight. But we knew that once they [switched to the zone defense], that was a spot that I should be in, to knock down some shots. I think it was pretty much the same spot that I hit three in a row.”

When asked how he's feeling personally at this point in his freshman season:
“I'm feeling good. Sometimes you're just not going to have the best night shooting, so you've got to do other things than just try to score the ball. You've got to rebound, get loose balls, just do all the dirty work other than scoring the ball. Overall, I'm feeling good and my confidence is there.”

NC State Head Coach Mark Gottfried
Opening Statement:
“Let me say number one, I thought that was a great basketball game. I'm disappointed for our guys, but what a basketball game to watch. What a game up and down. I thought both teams just absolutely played extremely hard and they answered us and we answered them. They couldn't really throw the knockout punch on us, but they tried. Our guys just kept battling back. I couldn't be more proud of our team. I'm disappointed, but boy we never laid down. I thought probably the difference maker was at [score] 77-74, I want to say, and we fouled the three-point shooter and [Brandon] Ingram made two and missed one and they got it back and I think they made a three on that one; that could've been a five point play. I think that was the push they needed. Outside of that play right there, I thought our guys, and their guys too, just played their hearts out. We have to get regrouped and we are not going to hang our heads. We will find a way to just shore up some things, but I am extremely proud of our competitive spirit today.”

On Anthony 'Cat' Barber's performance:
“Well, number one he is a good player and he is going to find his spots. We started running our double high ball screen for him and he needed some more room to penetrate in there, but he just finds a way. He has got great spirit and he just kept playing hard and made some phenomenal passes too when he penetrated. He dropped off a couple passes during the run we had there. He was terrific, just absolutely terrific.”

On defending Brandon Ingram:
“When you get ready to play these guys, Grayson [Allen] and Brandon [Ingram] are two guys you have to focus on more than anything. I thought we did a little better job with Brandon and he had some foul trouble which probably helped us a little bit too there, but he never really seemed to get going. Grayson [Allen] made a couple big shots, but the guy for us throughout the game that really hurt us was [Luke] Kennard. Luke's been struggling, shooting 27% from the three, and he goes 6-for-11 and made some big shots for them. It seemed like every big shot they needed to make, they made it. But, even when they made a big shot we responded, we came right back and we seemed to answer it. So like I said earlier, they made big plays and we answered them. And then we would make a good play and they would answer us. Like I said, that's a phenomenal basketball game right there for both teams.”

On Anthony 'Cat' Barber's potential injury:
“Well he just fell to the ground and put his hand to the ground, so we will see. Obviously, we hope he is healthy and we will get his wrist X-rayed and we will make sure he is okay and safe and we will go from there.”

On advantages of playing a team twice in a season:
“Well we get to know them a little better and they get to know us a little better. Now with technology, I think you can learn just about everything somebody is doing, so there are not a lot of secrets left. They made some adjustments, they watched how we played against Florida State and made some adjustments with some ball screen action up top and then we made some adjustments too. You get to know each other a little better.”

On Coach Gottfried's message to the team:
“You know, here's what I told our guys: you just have to trust me. Just trust me here. I know they're tired of hearing the same story. But, boy I tell you, if they keep playing as hard as we are playing, and we keep competing like we are competing, we will play here and there and win. We play good teams. We've played a number of games in our league against teams that will probably be NCAA tournament teams, maybe more than anybody else to this point. We are toe-to-toe with everybody. Just keep playing hard; we had great energy today, great enthusiasm today. We have to keep maintaining and good things are going to happen for our team. We are not far off, I know I've said that over and over again. They just have to trust me that if they continue, great things are going to happen for our guys.”

Quotes: Duke 88, NC State 80

Players Mentioned

Grayson Allen

Duke information

Quotes: Duke 88, NC State 80

Players Mentioned

Grayson Allen

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