Postgame Quotes - Wake Forest 65, Duke 73
1/8/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Wake Forest Head Coach Danny Manning
Opening statement...
"Well obviously you want to hold serve every time you play at home. We had our opportunities, we had a few opportunities tonight to put ourselves in a situation to do that. Duke made plays down the stretch; Coach K had his guys ready to play, they came up with some big plays. We just have to continue to grind and get better. It's not the desired outcome that we wanted or would like, we have to continue to go out there and put together longer sequences of good basketball for us. We have to continue to be a team that gets second chance opportunities, and tonight Devin (Thomas) was the only player on our team to get an offensive rebound."
On whether it's encouraging to compete with teams like Louisville and Duke...
"We lost. You compete to win, that's the bottom line. We have to find ways to get the desired result that we want. It doesn't matter who we're playing, it doesn't matter where we're playing, every time we step out on the court, we want to win."
On limiting Jahlil Okafor to only six shots...
"We just wanted him to see a crowded house. He's a very talented player, very skilled, he does a lot of things extremely well, and we just wanted him when he caught the basketball to feel a crowded house and not allow him room to operate and put the ball on the floor."
On whether Devin Thomas is starting to get some consistency...
"I think so. I think I have to stay on him to drive the ball more and get to the free throw line. That's something I'll continue to harp on him about is driving the basketball and trying to get to the rim more than he does now. He's doing a good job of it now, but we need him to get to the free throw line."
Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski
Opening statement
"Well, it was really a hard fought win. Coming in, knowing how well Wake was playing, they had won a number in a row since Christmas break. I say that, even the Louisville game, they had them right there. They're playing at a high level, especially their two veterans, (Codi) Miller-McIntyre, is really just an outstanding guard, and (Devin) Thomas is playing great. He's an unconventional center and I thought they did a great on Jahlil, and Jahlil had to guard an unconventional guy tonight. That's good experience for him. This is just his second ACC game. We have a lot of young guys playing at this level of intensity in a conference game on the road is something that they had not experienced. We won a huge game at Wisconsin, and that's not the same. I'm not saying Wisconsin is a bad team, they're pretty good. There's a sense of urgency with every ACC game that you can't manufacture, you have to experience it. That was really good for our team. I thought our team was really ready, but we didn't play that way, and a big reason was because of how well Wake was playing. Quinn (Cook) was so good down the stretch. Tyus (Jones) made some big plays for us and the biggest bucket was Matt's (Jones) three. We missed layups, about five in the first half, now they chased us down but we weren't strong in the finish, and for Matt to turn that around within a game is really impressive."
On Wake challenging from three-point range...
"They've been knocking them down. You should've told Hudson that when he hit two in a row. I think their younger players have to learn just like our younger players. Their veterans are giving them a good foundation. They're really a together group. Danny has done a great job with his kids. You can see with how hard they play but also their interaction, their faces, they have good faces. They have good body language. We knew that coming into the game. We told them, this is a team that's going to win, and can beat us, and they almost did."
On Jahlil Okafor...
"Well, he wasn't posting as low as we had hoped. They did an interesting thing in guarding him behind with a four and then Thomas attacked from the five. They did it just the opposite. It was a good game plan, obviously. The last two games now, we've seen different defenses and we're going to continue to see it. That's how we're going to get better. We have a lot ahead of us. We're going to be in so many tough games. Hopefully we can keep learning, stay fresh, and win a number of them, so that we're in contention for the NCAA at the end of the year. We have no allusion of us being this juggernaut team. We think we're really a good group of guys that have played well."
