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Quotes: Duke 93, Wake Forest 70
2/14/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski
Opening Comments:
"I am proud of our guys. I thought after last week was such a huge week for us playing at North Carolina and Maryland and winning, that when playing this Tuesday game you usually give them a day off but we couldn't take that day off. I have the utmost respect for Wake's program. Especially their senior kids because they have accomplished so much. We need to always keep our edge, the crowd included. One of the things about this place is people haven't come to watch the game, they have come to be a part of the game. We have to stay hungry and I thought we did."
"To have J.J. (Redick) break that record was an amazing thing. I was telling the team in the lockerroom afterwards that it is something when a player sets a record like that or a coach wins a certain number of games it is always a team effort as it is with all records. How about Curtis Staples being here? That was amazing and one of the classiest moves. It is not like he lives around the corner or anything. Apparently, whoever's record he broke, that person was there when he broke it. That is what was told to me and he said if someone does break it than he would be there. Ironically, it is someone he helped develop."
"I thought our defense in the second half was outstanding. That is the best we have played in a couple of weeks. We had balanced scoring. Josh (McRoberts) was perfect from the field and the free-throw line. J.J. had one of those 30-point nights where he was very efficient. When you go 11-for-18 and get 33, that is very efficient. Sean (Dockery) again played well and I thought this was DeMarcus' (Nelson) best game. It is so good to see him continue to develop. He still doesn't have that explosion but he drove the ball well and had more minutes tonight. If we can keep getting him in better shape than it will be terrific."
On what goes into getting J.J. Redick three-pointers:
"He earns all of our support because he works so hard every day. For four years he doesn't take a possession off unless I sub for him. He never says anything about being hurt. Obviously, having Shelden (Williams) inside for these four years is the biggest factor. You have to guard him. Having other options on the perimeter throughout his career, whether it be Daniel Ewing, who he had for awhile. That creates some separation. The kids this year have had to earn that, but them getting him the ball with screens and all that are huge. Having other good players with him has been the biggest help because then you can't just concentrate on him."
On difference of this Duke team:
"We are not as deep in talent as some of my other great teams have been and as a result we are in more close games. We have a great record. This team has done an amazing job. It is one of the best jobs a team has done for me. The thing that this team has is a really good spirit. I love the spirit of our team. They really want to win and they want to learn. They make mistakes but they take responsibility. It is a really neat group of kids to work with. We are still developing. That is why these games are so important to us. It is not like you can let up because we still need to develop and these guys still need to get playing time. We need to integrate DeMarcus into what we are doing even a little bit more. That is why tonight was a good night for us."
On Josh McRoberts playing in foul trouble:
"He got disciplined when he got the fourth foul and he needs to get that way when he has one foul. We need him. Josh has been an outstanding player for us this past month. It is not even close where he was a month ago to where he is now. He can still get a lot better."
On Shelden Williams:
"Shelden doesn't need to share a stage with anyone. You are talking about another one of the truly great players here at Duke. He is the career blocked shot leader, he is rebounding like crazy and he is one of the most efficient offensively. The thing about Shelden is he is such a team player. We have changed his role a little bit. Those shots he is taking from the outside, he can hit them, and we want him taking shots and he shouldn't be hesitant about them. He should go down as one of the great players here at Duke."
Duke Player Quotes
Senior J.J. Redick
On becoming the NCAA and ACC all-time leader in three-pointers made:
“It is a very nice honor, and it wouldn't have happened without great teammates and great coaches and great fans. It was very special to have (Curtis Staples) at the game. I found out this afternoon that he was going to be here. He was the first coach at the first camp that I went to when I was like eight years old, and I knew who he was then and watched him over his career at UVa. I haven't seen him in probably three or four years, so it was really good to see him, and we chatted a little bit before the game. I'm proud of this record.”
“That seems to be our problem right now - we can't close out the first half. And that's a time that past teams that I've been on and past Duke teams have used to really put teams away. The last few minutes of the first half and the first couple of minutes of the second half you can go on sort of a silent run, maybe a 10-2 or 8-0 run spanning the two halves, and all of a sudden you look up and you're up 25. We didn't do that tonight, and we were only up 14. They cut that to 12 I think early in the second half, but our play throughout the second half was at a high level, and our defense was better in the second half throughout than it was in the first half.”
On the play of Josh McRoberts:
“I think Josh's play in the first half, especially right before he got into foul trouble, just really ignited our team and just gave us a lot of energy. That's something that his plays can do - they're “Wow” plays - and that alley oop was one of the nastiest dunks I've seen in awhile. He was great tonight.”
On the possibility of going undefeated in ACC play:
“Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Last time people were talking about us going undefeated, we slipped up at Georgetown. Our league is really tough. Four (ACC games) left and another non-conference game - we've got a tough schedule down the stretch. We have a hungry Miami team coming in, looking to stake a claim to an NCAA Tournament berth, so we know that they're going to be playing at a very high level.”
Senior Sean Dockery
“It's always a battle between us, two competitive teams. The way we played tonight was great. We really wanted this win, and everybody came through as a team. Josh played great - he came out and made big plays, and everybody's stepping up right now.”
“That's the thing right now - we're just looking to play basketball. We're just having fun. Hopefully we can clinch that (ACC regular season) title, but right now we're trying to get better and better everyday.”
Freshman Josh McRoberts
On his first half highlight alley oop:
“That wasn't a lot of me. That was a lot of Shelden (Williams) making a great pass. I saw that he had the ball, and I just cut down the lane and made eye contact with him, and he made a perfect pass, so I just tried to go up and finish it for him.”
On his foul trouble tonight:
“It's tough. It's something that I need to improve on as the season goes on toward the end of the season to not get in such foul trouble if I'm going to be counted on to play a number of minutes.”
On J.J. Redick's record-breaking night:
“It's just a great experience. Anytime you see a friend in any setting get something, get recognized, it's great, especially this which is such a great honor for him. I'm excited for him and happy for him.”
“It's something that's been a goal all season, especially since we got our first loss, to really step up and stop relying on J.J. (Redick) so much. And I think that's taken a little bit of pressure off of him, and we've realized that he's going to do the same thing every night if we can step up around him.”
Wake Forest Head Coach Skip Prosser
Opening Statement:
“Stats don't always tell the whole story. I think if you look at points off of turnovers, that was a pretty revealing stat. I also thought that we tried hard to horse the boards. I think we had 15 offensive rebounds in the second half but we missed a lot of shots point blank. When you're climbing up hill, you have to convert those. In all candid, right now they're a better basketball team than we are especially when we have the turnover problems we had tonight.”
On Justin Gray:
“I think he was pressing. I think he felt that he had to score for us to score. Justin is more effective as a two guard.”
On second half:
“In the second half, there were a lot of disappointments tonight. We felt like we needed to come out in the second half and have some good defensive possessions which we did have but we didn't follow those up with good offensive possessions so we were unable to put any game pressure on them at all.”
On Duke:
“I think J.J. Redick and Shelden Williams are terrific, terrific players but the rest of those kids are pretty good players too.”
On Duke freshman Josh McRoberts:
“You're talking about the National High School Player of the Year. It didn't surprise me that Josh McRoberts made good plays. He's a good player. Good players make good plays, hence the name good players.”
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Players Mentioned
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