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Women's Basketball
vs Countdown to Craziness
Quotes: Duke 60, Michigan 45
12/7/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Duke Head Coach Joanne P. McCallie
Opening Statement:
“This was obviously a great game for us to get better. I really appreciated the way the team came out in the second half in particular and really found each other. They took apart the defense and did a really sharp job there. I like the balanced scoring, everyone was active in attacking, and to out-rebound them by 24 was significant. We have not been dominating on the boards. It's important for us to be dominating, to create that habit. We're still working on getting to the free throw line and playing more physically. No, I don't like the turnover number, but I understand the issues at hand right now and we'll move forward and learn from those things. I thought that there was great leadership on the floor at all different points, whether it was Abby [Waner] leading and having to play a whole lot of minutes out there, or Carrem [Gay] who did some great things, really leading us defensively. I thought [Chante Black] was rock solid and poised in what she was doing. We had great leadership from all three ? seniors that is.”
On getting the ball to Carrem Gay more often:
“I think it's a conscious effort everyday. I don't think it's any different. We really like to get the ball inside and out, work the ball. There's a conscious effort every single day to get points in the paint so that we can open up the perimeter, work high percentage shots, and be a balanced team from inside and out.”
On what was said during halftime to reduce the number of turnovers in the second half:
“I don't think there was anything that I said that was tremendously significant. We were just talking about trying to finish strong and play our game. We know that in the first half we didn't do some things well, we missed shots, we were off balance, missed layups, things like that. We just have to focus and keep our poise. We just tried to regroup a little bit and I thought that the team did a great job. We came out and found each other. It happened to be Joy [Cheek] in this case. She was on two sides, and she's a great shooter. I really like the 18 assists; I think it's a very interesting stat. Again, when you consider that Keturah [Jackson] got injured ? I had no use of her for about the last ten minutes ? and Abby [Waner] is having to do all of the point guard stuff out there, I thought everybody was sort of stepping up a little bit and doing some good things.”
On whether or not Duke was surprised by Michigan shooting so many 3-pointers:
“No, that's what they do. They shoot a lot of threes. What was surprising was who hit them, that was a little surprising. If you look at [Carly] Benson, she was 1 of 6 and she's their best 3-point shooter, and she's somebody you have to be alert to. But Melinda [Queen] hitting two [3-pointers] doesn't exactly happen all of the time, and Veronica [Hicks] hitting 4 of 7 was surprising. I would say that they basically got 6 threes, or 18 points, off of people that don't normally do that. And that's just the way it is. We bring the best out in people, we appreciate that, and we hope they do too.”
On Joy Cheek's 3-point shot:
“I think Joy [Cheek] always looks for a three. I think she's pretty good at it. She just was active in moving, and she's a terrific shooter. We want all of our shooters to be looking for their three-ball. The more people that can hit that shot, the better off it is for the interior. But I just like Joy's confidence. She knows she can play and she knows she can shoot. She knows she's got full support from us to shoot the ball ? she's proven it over time.”
On problems with matching up defensively against Michigan:
“I think we were just trying to mix it up a bit. I have to look at the film and see if it really created problems. I just like to play different defense and mix it up a little bit. Sometimes you switch up your defense just to see if you can get something going on your offense because we were trying to run, and we didn't get enough fast break points tonight, so sometimes you're making switches just to see how you can generate energy from your team. There's not always a strategy aimed at doing something. I thought the defense we played was very solid. Holding any team to 45 points is terrific no matter what you're playing. We're trying to switch up so that we can generate some offensive opportunities for our team and just keep everybody hopping a little bit.”
Abby Waner
On turnovers:
“Anytime you have 30 turnovers it will never be just one of those games because you hope to never have one of those games ever again. I mean we are hurting without Jasmine [Thomas], I think that is evident. That being said, Keturah Jackson has done a great job filling in with something she hasn't played up until this year. I have no excuse, eight turnovers is just absolutely ridiculous. I think it is a matter of focus, I think in games like this when you feel like you are on the edge of getting a run it is easy to start being loose with the ball and wanting to make more things happen than what is actually there and playing sound basketball. So no, it is not just one of those games, it was way too many turnovers for us to have.”
Carrem Gay
On what she did differently in this game:
“I was just trying to move without the ball, trying to get open looks for my teammates.”
On her aggressive play:
“I watched film after games and I saw that there are times when I can be a little more aggressive calling for the ball. I just tried to be a little more active this game and try and get the defense to make mistakes. And my teammates did a good job looking for me and seeing that I was open.”
Chante Black
On what Michigan was doing down low:
“They were sagging. They usually put one in front and one behind and when the guards try to bring it down then they bring everybody down. So, just trying to move and keep seals, hopefully on passes or trying to distract them over so that we can have the backside open. Just hopefully help and keep moving the whole team around so that we can all score. I try not to concentrate on what they are actually doing but I have pretty good passers who will only pass me the ball if I can make something happen.”
Michigan Head Coach Kevin Borseth
Opening Statement:
“It was my first look at Cameron ? it's a nice place. I thought our kids played well, I thought they played hard. Duke's got a pretty good defensive squad that really caused us some problems. [Joy Cheek] came in just in the nick of time there to start the second half with those two baskets; it really separated the game, that's what my initial thought is. I thought our kids hung in there and dug pretty deep and played hard, Duke's got a good team.”
On Duke compared to Texas A&M and Vanderbilt:
“Texas A&M just gets out and doesn't let you pass anyplace and they're not as big. They just don't let you pass the ball anywhere. They're your worst nightmare. You can't pass the ball from point A to point B, there's no passing, you just literally have to take the ball to the basket. Every now and then Duke lets you pass one, and we do a pretty good job, but Duke's just so big around the basket. A couple of those girls are big kids, and you get around there and they either alter your shot, change your shot, block your shot, make you rush your shot, those kind of things. Vanderbilt is more skilled, a more skilled team, not more skilled than Duke but a more skilled team. They spread the floor, they shoot well, their zone is really effective when they run it. Not a lot of similarities. Duke is a lot more similar to Southern California. That will be an interesting match up, because they got you size for size; they're quick and they've got you size for size.”
On shooting 3-pointers as a tactic:
“Well we really couldn't get next to that basket very well; we knew that watching video tape that everybody trying to get next to that basket was really frustrated with the pressure. Second half we could put the ball wherever we wanted to. We weren't good enough putting it there, but we put the ball in the block in the second half, we just never scored a lot, and our perimeter kids didn't get there enough to that block as well. The first half we just wanted to spread it and get shots off, and I was afraid if we put somebody down on the block and they smothered the post kid, and then smothered every pass on the perimeter, we wouldn't get anything. But I thought we got some looks for the most part. In the second half we were able to actually put it where we wanted to, but we just didn't make the shots.”
Players Mentioned
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