Postgame Quotes
1/6/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski
On game preparation...
"This is a team that we have a great deal of respect for. Getting ready for this game, I must have watched seven of their games. They did win most of them, but they had a chance to win all of them."
On not allowing a second-half comeback by Wake Forest...
"We had to play a great second half in order to win, and we did. I'm proud of my guys. We had a lot of adversity. We got those two guys with four fouls with 16 minutes to go. It did not look good. Our guys just fought and fought. We were able to use a little clock and get a few matchups that were really good."
On Marshall Plumlee...
"Marshall was sensational. Not good, he was perfect today. He was 4-for-4 from the line and 7-for-7 from the floor. He not only caught the ball when we drove, he finished. It was such an uplifting thing for the rest of the kids because we have not had that."
On his team's lack of depth...
"We're not a really good team; we're a good team. We do not have many guys. With those five national championship banners, none of those guys are coming out of the woodwork and being on the team. A lot of the things you don't practice. We have to be careful how we practice."
On Wake Forest forward Devin Thomas...
"I love Devin. Devin and I are friends. I'd like to have him. He's just such a tough match up that we couldn't match up with in the first half. In the second half we were better, and then he got in foul trouble. There are games, which I've watched, when he gets in foul trouble they're a little bit different team because he's so good."
On the 91-75 victory...
"Today was a great win for us, considering everything. This is a big-time win for us. I'm proud of our guys. I'm really proud of my team."
Head Coach Danny Manning
Opening statement...
"Tonight's game was a game where I thought the Duke perimeter players got into the paint far too many times. We have to do a better job of staying in front and guarding the ball. They got 25 points from the free throw line, and that's a big number. I thought we did some okay things, but we put ourselves in too big of a hole to get ourselves out. Coming into the second half, they go on a run and we're not able to answer it. We have to do a much better job defensively, and also offensively, moving the ball and trying to take advantage of our big guys. I thought at one point in the game, we had some good things going, they got into some early foul trouble. But at the end, we couldn't capitalize. They're a talented team, but I thought we had opportunities tonight to make it a different ball game and we weren't able to do that."
On the late foul trouble for senior Devin Thomas...
"He picked up a foul and we go with a different lineup. We just missed his presence. He kept us in the ball game for quite some time, being able to drive the ball and get to the basket."
On freshman Bryant Crawford's play...
"He had opportunities out there, especially on the offensive side of the ball. It just wasn't his night tonight."
On the play of guards in the second half...
"We had 15 assists on 29 field goals, so that's a pretty good percentage. We're going to have opportunities to shoot jump shots because Devin (Thomas) commands so much attention in the paint. We just weren't able to make a lot of shots. We struggled behind the line tonight as a team. Cornelius (Hudson) makes a three, Dinos (Mitoglou) makes one and Rondale (Watson) makes one. We've got to shoot the ball a little bit better. We had some clean looks, they just didn't go in."
On playing John Collins and Devin Thomas together...
"Duke switched to a zone. When those guys were in there, they played very well together in that zone in the high post and the short corner. They were able to get a few buckets from a high-low feed. Those guys played well in zone together."
On looking forward to the next conference game...
"I don't know if you tell them to let these games go. You tell them to remember what these games feel like so we're not in this situation again. Moral victories do us no good. We're 0-2 in the league and we've got to find a way to get our first win the next time we step out on the court, and that's our message. It doesn't matter who we're playing. We've got to find ways to get it done. We've shown that we can play with anybody in the country, but we have to be doing things as a team. That's something that we talk about and we stress. We need to be a good team offensively and defensively."
Wake Forest Senior Guard Codi Miller-McIntyre
On the locker room mood...
"I think we're frustrated. As a senior, I see things a little bit differently just because of my experience. The way we've been ending games is sometimes how we end practice. We go through some drills with a lot of energy, but next thing you know we fall off a little bit. If you look at the way we've been playing against these good teams we've been playing, we've had not great first halves, but we've been competing extremely hard in the first half. Then, somewhere in the second half, we begin to lose focus."
On Devin's fourth foul...
"Devin played extremely hard. He played 27 minutes, got 21 points, 12 rebounds, and three assists. I think as guards, because we didn't play great defense, we got him some of those fouls. I really want to say about 2 of those fouls were because of the guards not containing the ball."
Freshman Forward John Collins
On playing close games against ranked teams...
"We know we can play with any team in the nation. We just have to come out and get our first signature win against a big-time team. We've had a couple of opportunities that we've let slip away. Obviously, being in the ACC, we'll have a bunch of chances to show what we can really do. We've just got to come back and get better and win some of these games."
Senior Forward Devin Thomas
On the biggest factor in the game...
"Not defending the ball. Not playing good enough defense. We played a great team who played a great half. In the second half, we weren't guarding the ball."
On Grayson Allen...
"He's very hard to guard. He can shoot it, he can drive it. Especially with the new rules. He's also very underrated guarding the ball. (Luke) Kennard's also a good shooter who can drive the ball."
On what makes Duke tough to beat...
"Our problems have really been the same all year. Not being able to defend. They were really tough. They've got (Brandon) Ingram at the four. He's basically a guard. They have four guys who can beat you off the dribble and can shoot the ball from three."
