Quotes: No. 2 Duke 84, No. 4 Wake Forest 72

Jan. 17, 2004

Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski

"What a great game. They're very, very good and we had to play extremely well in order to win here today. The conference is great. This was like the old days today. It's too bad that's our last Saturday afternoon game at home for the season. When we look at the whole big picture -- tv and whatever -- I hope that we look at the nuances that have made this game and this conference, and not just what makes the money. That means for the rest of the season we never have another Saturday afternoon game this season. In the month of February we never play on Saturday. As we're looking at the big picture I wish we would just let everybody see this game, let everyone hear this crowd, because wouldn't it be great to replicate that on Saturday afternoons throughout the conference? That's what perpetuates a brand."

"I knew coming into today that it was going to be great. I was so excited. They're very good. (Justin) Gray is just such a courageous player. They're deep and they're good. They're going to be right there with anybody for the conference and nationally. Our kids responded well to this quick turnaround. I'm very proud of how they prepared yesterday and we really got our game plan in. (Daniel) Ewing hit two of the biggest shots, I think he hit the two biggest shots of the game. When it was 45-42 in the second half with 15:53, we called a timeout before the tv timeout. They had seized the momentum of the game. We got the ball to Shelden (Williams) and he relocated to Daniel and he knocked it down. It was worth more than three points. It was like ok, we're back. And when they started coming back and got it down to 10, we had all that foul trouble and were kind of juggling the three perimeter guys with four fouls -- Daniel had an open three early in the clock and knocked it down to put us up 13. Those were big, big baskets. And (Chris) Duhon with his 14 assists was outstanding. Shelden stayed out of foul trouble -- 16 (points), 14 (rebounds) and eight -- he was pretty good. He finally played over 30 minutes in a ballgame. We needed these types of performances to beat this ball team."

"I'm very proud of my team and very impressed with Wake Forest, the way that they play."

"I think we've played really well since coming back from Alaska. I think we've played longer in a game better when we've played in that type of setting. You know you're going to be challenged every play, every possession. In a couple of the other games when we've got some leads we've been able to take the clock away and manage the game. In a game like today, right to the end you know there's something that can get messed up so the attention is there. We have a good basketball team and we're getting better. We just have to stay healthy and stay focused. We don't pretend to be some kind of great team. We're a good basketball team that's trying to get better. That's the way I'd like to keep focused on it."

On Chris Duhon
"It's still a four-year journey for most kids. It's not like he was bad last year. The last game last year he held (Kirk) Hinrich to one. He was at his best in the postseason. He was good at different times. When we weren't as good he wasn't as good because we depended so much on him. Maybe we depended too much on him. He took responsibility for how he's played. He's worked hard and it's benefited him. For all these kids that play sports, the ability to take responsibility for what you've done, good or bad, it's a great growth process. Chris is more of a man now as a result of that. He played great today. He's been our best player, there's no question about it."

"Shelden (Williams) is really good. He's ready to give us that inside scoring. Shav (Randolph) has done a really good job, but it's not at that level and Luol (Deng) isn't at that level yet, just the physical maturity. By having him out there, we've been a balanced team throughout. We'll go to different guys throughout the game to make sure they're in the game. That's worked well. We've been a pretty efficient offensive basketball team. Shelden has been a real mature kid. Even when he has had foul trouble, when he's come back in the second half he's really played well. He's arrived as a player. He's going to be good every game. It's just how good can you be? We can rely on him to be really a good player every day. That gives us a good balance and catches us up to the maturity level that our perimeter has."

"I really believe that the two games that J.J. (Redick) and Daniel (Ewing) have had these last two were a direct result of the intense preparation the two of them have done in practice for four days. We are shot faking great. When those two guys are taking shots, they're coming from strong positions. That just doesn't happen. It happens because they're busting their butts in here and they understand they need to keep working on it."

Shelden Williams

"I was very active on the defensive end. I was helping my teammates out. A lot of times when they were posting a guard or having a big man post up, I had help-side blocks. I was very active tonight."

On his career-high eight blocks
"I've been getting six blocks - that was my highest. But I finally broke six."

"I knew it was going to be a very physical game because they've got three or four big guys they can throw in there. And I knew playing with them was going to be a dogfight and a very, very aggressive game. I came in with the mindset of, 'I know it's going to be physical, so I have to be physical first.'"

On Duke's strong inside presence with Williams
"It helps us out a lot. [My teammates] know if they get beat, they have somebody in the middle who can help them out. And also it gives us an inside-outside presence."

J.J. Redick

"We just had different guys step up in different situations. When they cut it to three, Daniel Ewing hit a huge three for us, and then we went on another run. When they cut it back down to 10, Daniel hit another huge three for us when they went to their halfcourt trap. Shelden [Williams] played huge for us all night. It just seemed anytime they cut into our lead a different guy stepped up and made a big play."

"I had a great time out there today, and I think we had a great time as a team. These are the games, these are the reasons you come to play for Duke, a game like this where Cameron's rocking. Our fans were great today. We're playing a top-five team for first place in the ACC. These are the reasons that we came to Duke."

Chris Duhon

On Shelden Williams inside play
"It was great. You just know that if ever there's a time that a guy gets around you, there's No. 23 behind you to knock it away. That's his job - to protect our basket - and he did an amazing job of that today."

"I'm having fun, and I have a great surrounding cast. They're amazing teammates, and it's always a team effort. We're just playing really well right now."

On the quick turnaround following Thursday night's late game against N.C. State
"We knew how important this game was. This was for, right now, first place place in the Alantic Coast Conference, and that's something that we wanted. How can you not get excited for that? Especially playing a great team like Wake, we knew they were going to be on their best game, and if we used the excuse of not having any energy, we were going to get embarrassed on our own court, and that's something we didn't want. We came with a lot of energy, but you have to credit our fans. Our fans were amazing today. It was loud - I don't remember the last time it was this loud in Cameron, and we just thank them for their support."

On Chris Paul
"He's going to be something special. He's a great kid, he has a great attitude, and he knows how to play the game. Today he was just a little off, but he's going to be something special."

Wake Forest Head Coach Skip Prosser

"I thought Duke was better than us today. They're a very, very good team. I think our kids fought. A couple times we came back from deficits to get the game back to being a game, but I take my hat off to Duke. I think they played very well. Obviously in the first half, Shelden Williams was just a horse inside and we had no answer. In the second half, [Duke] shot the ball. It seemed like every time we made a run, they hit one or two big threes. That balance they have between their perimeter and post, from our defensive side we could not match that, hence the loss."

"[Williams] was obviously a big factor. He played really well. He blocked shots, rebounded, scored. We looked on this [game] as a great opportunity if we could have come out of here 3-0 [in the conference] already visited Duke and Carolina. That would have been a great three-game swing. But [Williams], along with the other kids, prevented that from happening."

On Chris Duhon's performance compared to last season
"I think many people who think he didn't play well last year in many aspects are tragically misinformed, people who don't know the nuances of the game. They're good at reading the stat sheets, they realize he didn't shoot well from three-point range. But he runs their team. As we told Chris Paul, 'He's a senior, you're a freshman. This is a great challenge for you.' As maligned as Duhon has been, which I think is incredibly inane, [Duke] has won a heck of a lot of basketball games with Chris Duhon running the show. Bottom line, that's what you're supposed to do as a point guard, get your team to win the game. I think he's a very good player. We're hoping that Chris Paul and our younger guys develop into that kind of a player."

On Chris Paul's performance
"I think he did fine. Collectively, we didn't do as well as we would have liked to done. He had his misplays, he had his errors like we all did. But again, he's not playing against St. Leo's of Buena Vista. [Duke's] good. And their guards will guard you. I thought he played well. Just not as well as the Duke kids."