Feb. 5, 2010
Recap | Box Score | Photo Gallery
– Georgia Tech head coach Paul Hewitt
Opening statement:
“You’ve got to give [Duke] a lot of credit, they played really well tonight. They shot the ball really well. They were 6-for-9 at the halftime and I told our guys, if they go 12-for-18, we’re not going to win the game anyways, let’s just compete. Sure enough, they go 6-for-9 in the second half. It’s tough to overcome 12 threes and they played very good defense and we didn’t cash in on some free throws opportunities in the first half – that really put us in a big hole.”
On the impact of Gani Lawal’s first two fouls:
“You know what, we were 6-for-14 from the foul line in the first half and missed two front ends on one-and-ones. We felt like if we could have had it to single digits going into halftime, we thought our pressure was wearing them down, that we’d have a chance. But we didn’t do what we had to do. We didn’t play well tonight. I’m very disappointed in our effort. They outplayed us in every way. I thought we were prepared. Obviously, I didn’t do a very good job of preparing us. They kept coming off those screens and they were wide open. They were wide, wide open; we didn’t compete to fight to get around those screens and they kept coming off with eight, 10-feet separation and Kyle Singler made us pay, big time.”
“They got 12 offensive rebounds in the first half. If those other two guys are in there, I don’t think they get that many. We didn’t defend the way we’re supposed to defend, the way we’re capable of defending and we didn’t shoot the ball well from the foul line. When you play against a team as good as they are, they make you pay. I don’t think the fouls had anything to do with it. We had three days to prepare; I was sure we were ready. We spend more time preparing for them than we did for anybody this year and obviously it didn’t do any good.”
On the play of Kyle Singler:
“He got open shots and he’s a very good player, and that’s what good players do. Hopefully, our guys understand that you’ve got to play ball the way you’re supposed to play basketball. I’m very disappointed in some of the things we did out there tonight, very disappointed. Twenty-second game of the year and we had some really immature things happen. That’s not supposed to happen. I’m very, very disappointed in that.”
On rebounding from an emotional game:
“I didn’t think we poured as much emotion as we should have. You look at our minutes, it’s not like we played heavy minutes. Iman [Shumpert] played thirty minutes, everybody else … it was like a practice. If we’re not ready to play on Saturday, it has nothing to do with this game tonight.”
On team’s performance:
“I thought we played hard, we just didn’t do certain things we were supposed to do. We didn’t do some of the things I thought we had made a habit of all year in terms of how to play certain situations. And again, free throw percentages. It happens, but again the lady from ESPN asked me before the game, `how will you know if you’re in the game or in trouble?’ And I said, `Look at our free throw shooting.’ In the games that we’ve won or lost, there’s a big difference and sure enough…We just wanted to be in striking distance at halftime and hope that our pressure would wear them down. And we didn’t give ourselves a chance. And again, they played terrific. Singler was great shooting the ball. Scheyer did a good job and Smith. Their big guys played their roles very, very well. Then Derrick [Favors] and Gani [Lawal] were on the bench, they did a great job of getting offensive rebounds and converting them into three-point shots. They got 12 offensive rebounds in the first half, I think that’s what the number was. They ended up with 17 for the game, but 12 in the first half. That was enough to give them that 12 point lead. [Duke] played really well. They played very, very well.”
Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski
Opening Statement:
“Well, it was just a great win for us. Georgia Tech is better than they were, I think, than a month ago when we played them in Atlanta. They just keep coming at you. I thought our defense was really good. Part of the defense was not turning the ball over so they could get quick offense. I thought we handled the ball well and held our own on the boards. We outrebounded them by a little bit. Lance [Thomas] played a great game….defensively and getting 11 rebounds was outstanding. The obvious thing is Kyle [Singler] getting eight threes and…I mean 30 points in this game, in any game is big. But, in this type of game it is a spectacular shooting performance. We had a little practice time, so we changed our offense a little bit, to go a little bit more motion offense. The kids have worked really hard over the last three days to…we finally have had three days. Our schedule has been crazy, so we had a hard time practicing. The motion was something that we thought would be really good, to get Kyle [Singler] moving better. And he responded. Defensively, we played well, it was just a really good performance by our kids. I told [Georgia Tech head coach Paul Hewitt] after the game, `we both have very good teams.’ We shot it better than they did tonight. They are very good. They are very, very good.”
On adjusting to a lot of foul calls:
“Well I think it was a high-level game. Very physical. I thought we were going to get…not worn out physically, but worn out with numbers. Even though they got into foul trouble and we got into foul trouble, they are deeper than we are. The performance of Ryan Kelly and Mason Plumlee in the first half were huge for us. Again, I think the way we are playing, our offense lends itself to them…we’re in the process of making a few changes that will hopefully make us a better team. They responded…and Jordan Davidson came in and gave us good minutes. Again, how we practice is how we are going to try to play and those kids really practiced hard. During all the physicality, we didn’t turn it over. We missed some shots, early, but it’s tough to simulate shooting against their type of defense. And the way [Zachery] Peacock got started, I thought he was going to get 40 [points]. We were able to… Lance [Thomas] did a real good job tonight. The obvious story is Kyle [Singler], the hidden story is Lance. He was very good for us tonight, and he has been.”
On making a point about playing “40 minutes”:
“Well I thought we were playing really well together on both ends of the court. We wouldn’t be 18-4 unless we played really well. Our schedule is one of the top five in the country and we have had a couple poor games, and you know, we are not going to define ourselves by poor games; we are going to define ourselves by the full body of work. We are just in a situation where a lot of people like to define us by whatever we don’t do well. Our kids have done a lot really well and tonight they even did it a little bit better. So, we are going to keep going and doing our thing and seeing what the heck happens as we develop.”
On playing better at home compared to on the road:
“You know, we have won good games on the road. We played good people. We are 18-4. Full body of work. Most people are going to play better at home. I would think every team in our league plays better at home.”
On what Duke did better than in Atlanta, besides being at home:
“Well we rebounded in both halves, and we hit shots. We had good shots in Atlanta. I mean, Kyle [Singler] was 2-of-13 in Atlanta and he had, at least five wide-open threes in Atlanta, and he didn’t hit shots. But in the game, we outrebounded them 20 to 12 in the first half down there and then I think we got outrebounded 28 to 12 in the second half. Today, we shot the ball well and we rebounded in both halves. And I think both teams are better than they were in Atlanta. Because [Iman] Shumpert at that time was coming off, I think that was the second game from having his knee scoped. Shumpert is good. They are good. They are really good. We were just better than them tonight.”
On how motion offense helped get Kyle Singler open:
“Well basically what it does, is non-predictable movement. One, you don’t know where…it’s not magic or anything where he jumps out of the three second area. He can move wherever he wants and there is no play. Someone can screen for him and someone can screen for him again. By moving, you are moving strong, so when you catch it… for him, I thought he hasn’t been catching it strong. By running motion, it helped him catch it strong then, whatever his talents are, should take over and he took over. That is not coaching, that is him. But I thought he was moving better and got the ball…he was open a lot, because it is not predictable movement.”
Senior Brian Zoubek
“I think we just played extremely hard. Everybody on the team came in and played well off the bench. It was a team effort tonight and we got some great stops. We ran the motion really well tonight. We’re working on that. Everything looked better.”
On Kyle Singler’s performance:
“I feel really great for him. He finally had a great night shooting and he’s a helluva shooter and I think that motion gets him a lot more open shots. Hopefully it will continue in the future.”
On limiting Georgia Tech’s frontcourt:
“We know they’re a huge part of their team. They’re the best players and if we can just get them in some early foul trouble and get them out of their game a little bit, it would be huge for us.”
Junior Nolan Smith
“It just meant defensively attacking them for 40 minutes. Picking up, contesting. Doing all those things we’re used to doing defensively. After our last game, we really focused on defense in practice, just getting back to the things we’re used to doing. We did that today and the outcome was clear.”
On the quick turnaround before playing Boston College on Saturday afternoon:
“After a good win like that, we’re ready to get back on the court now. We learned some things today. We learned that we can fight and play aggressive and play the defense that we played tonight and not take any days off from playing that defense. We’re ready to get back on the court and play.”
On preparing differently because of the two-day turnaround:
“Not at all. Just get back in the gym tomorrow and practice hard as if we didn’t just play today. You can’t think about today’s game; can’t think about how many minutes you played; can’t think about if you’re banged up. You’ve got to just play.”
On Kyle Singler’s performance:
“Tonight was the first night I really saw him in a great rhythm on the perimeter and it was fun to watch. Every time he shot the ball I was excited because I knew it was going in.”
Senior Jon Scheyer:
On Kyle Singler’s performance:
“You especially know that he was feeling good when his shots were barely hitting the rim. We just want to keep giving him the ball. It was crazy to see it go in like that.”
On keeping focused considering the number of fouls called:
“We were up so we didn’t want to stop the time and let them keep getting points. We wanted to keep the time going so that was something we kept talking about. We still had some silly mistakes. For the most part I thought we did a really good job.”
