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Men's Basketball
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Quotes: Duke 89, North Carolina 78
2/6/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski
Opening Statement:
"Well it was a heck of a game. They are strong and Hansbrough is such a great player. I'm proud of our guys; we had such balanced scoring. A number of our guys made big plays and it is hard to single out just one guy. This is a game where there are so many points where the game can go the other way. It just seemed like when it was going to turn one of our guys made a play. I thought it was Lance's best game. He really played well and got into double figures. Kyle, obviously, got a double-double as well. I thought DeMarcus' experience, in foul trouble the whole game and played most of the second half with four. To stay in the game we really needed his experience at the end. Obviously we are ecstatic about the win and we know we beat a heck of a team. We have to get rested and get ready for Saturday, that's the thing about the ACC you cannot celebrate too much."
On North Carolina cutting the lead to one point a couple of times:
"I think the experience of having been in those situations in the conference, really in over half of our games we have been losing or just about to lose. It is tough to simulate those types of situations and you have to experience them. So far this year we have experienced them in a positive way and again you're experiencing them today. Our team turned it into something positive, which is good toughness on our part."
On how special this team can be:
"Well they are pretty special right now for me. I mean they are 20-1 and 8-0. We know who we are; we are a very unconventional team. We are not a very strong physical team, but I think we are strong emotion wise and toughness; we are really a together group. You just have to hope that you don't get killed at some point in the game by somebody's strength. It is a tough team to impose your will, like a counter puncher you might win a round dancing around a little bit and then the threes we hit in the first half. You just find different ways to win and because we have versatile players they are able to do that thus far."
On perimeter defense:
"Our perimeter defense was good. They missed some open looks and so did we, it was a real hard fought game. That is why I think the free throw shooting by both of the teams is a little bit below of what we both normally do, a lot of times you change your routine. Guys were backing off the line and stuff like that. That one exchange from about eleven minutes to nine, if one team scored on their drives or our threes, but neither one did. I thought that tired both teams out a little bit."
Greg Paulus
On meeting challenges and this one being tough:
"It was definitely up there. These guys are so good, and this place was rocking. It seemed like every time we tried to get a run, they just kept making a run at us and wouldn't go away, and they deserve a lot of credit for that."
On hitting three-pointers:
"We definitely drove the ball, got a couple good penetrating kicks. I'm not sure what we shot, but it seemed like whenever we needed a three, we had guys that took big shots and knocked them down."
On getting to the basket:
"We've got great wing players that can really put the ball on the floor and create the space for guys like myself, and just taking our shots when we get them."
On the win:
"It's a good win for us. It's a big ACC win, and it's an even bigger win doing it on someone else's home court. It's a good sign for us, and hopefully we can keep it going. We don't want to stop there, we want to keep building on it and keep getting better."
On Ty Lawson being out:
"We just tried to do what we normally do: pressure and contesting and try to take a few things away from them. They've got so many guys that can play over there that they just keep running them in and out so we have to prepare for everybody."
Gerald Henderson
On putting the Tyler Hansbrough incident behind him:
"That's all up to everybody else. I'm past it, I'm sure Tyler's past it. It's just up to people and the media, it's not up to me anymore."
On the win:
"It feels great, it feels great. Every game in the ACC counts the same, so we weren't going to approach this game any different. We could be playing for a championship at some point against this team, so to beat them and not rely on another team to beat them is also a good feeling."
On Ty Lawson not playing:
"They're a different team than they were last year, so I haven't really experienced what it's like to play against them this year. I'm sure they know, I'm sure they know that. They ran their stuff a little differently, their transition wasn't as fast because of him. He's a real jet, so it's unfortunate that he's hurt, so we still had to go out there and execute our game plan and not worry about him not being in the game."
North Carolina Head Coach Roy Williams
Opening Statement:
"I thought it was an extremely hard fought game. Both teams really wanted to play well, but their team played better than we did. They were the most disciplined team on the game tonight. The team that did the most of the little things won the game tonight. Whether it is shooting the ball in the hole or making free throws in the second half or getting a hand up on the outside shot--the team that won the game was the most disciplined. They did the best job doing what their coaching staff wanted them to do. I need to find someway, somehow, to get my team to the point where we do the little things that make the difference between winning or losing a basketball game. I do believe that Duke has all the ingredients. They have played sensational basketball all season. I think I read one of their comments at the end of the season was over last year with the four straight losses that they had great motivation all summer and the preseason. They have great chemistry. I am very impressed with their team. They were the most disciplined team. The team had the best coaching and they were the team that won the game. The good thing is, I told the team yesterday that if we won the game today that they weren't going to give us a trophy and stop the season and if they won the game they weren't going to give them the trophy and stop the season. We've got a lot of games left to play but we have got to play a lot better and find the little things--down the stretch, we get it to five and they miss two shots in a row and they get the rebound because we don't box out. One time we had two guys standing there and I think it was Gerald standing there, and he just laid it up. I have to do a better job getting my team to make plays and make all the little things happen for us."
On the decision on whether Ty Lawson would play:
"It was an easy decision. I told him if we had doubts about it I wasn't going to play him. I asked and he said, `I don't know' and the decision was that I wasn't going to play him. So it was pretty easy. He came to me and said, `I don't know' and he said he didn't feel good. So, I said he wasn't going to play."
On Duke's shooting:
"They got any shot they wanted. I don't know very many times tonight our defense dictated what shot they got. They had better spacing; they were more patient. I asked, and they thought I was kidding--it shows how poor of a coach I am, at one time out I told them I wanted a dunk or a 35 second shot clock violation. We didn't get either one of them."
Players Mentioned
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