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Quotes: Duke 86, Toledo 69
12/29/2014 10:48:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski
Opening Statement:
“We knew when we scheduled them last summer that they would be one of the top teams from any mid-major conference. [Toledo head coach] Tod [Kowalczyk] has done such a great job with this program. He's coming off a 27-win season with seven of his top eight players returning. We felt this would be a great game for us to get ready for the ACC. They could beat us. They had a chance to beat us. They didn't disappoint. They were terrific.”
On Toledo:
“Tod's story is one of the better ones in coaching. He took over a program that had a lot, a lot of problems. He took over and really built from scratch. They went 4-28 his first year. He [then] had two seasons where these kids were young. They had winning seasons, but not tournament seasons. Then last year they went 27-7. It's a great story. He scheduled hard this year and I think it'll pay off for them this year. They're already a really good team. I think they're going to be an NCAA team and one you're not going to want to play.
“[Julius] Brown is a really good guard. He can shoot the ball and is poised. They're big on the perimeter. [Nathan] Boothe is that unconventional big who can empty the post. He reminds me of playing some of the European teams. He's very poised. Then they have a great athlete in [J.D.] Weatherspoon. He's big time.”
On the win and second half performance:
“I thought that was a heck of a win for us. We started off strong. No matter what you say, these guys, because of the break, can think something is going to be easy. We got off to an 18-4 start and then couldn't score. That was their good defense and our throwing the ball away. It was an even half.
“In the second half, we hit them hard and they hit us hard in those first four minutes. From there our defense kind of took over. I thought our defense was outstanding. We took better care of the ball in the second half. Since the Wisconsin game, that was the best 20 minutes that we've played. We had spurts against Connecticut and Elon, but we weren't going to win playing in spurts against this team. We had to have a solid half.
“I'm pleased with the win and the manner in which we grew up. We had to grow up. After the game I told the guys that our three freshmen who started that was their 11th game. Toledo has played together for 70-80 games. They're old and good. We're going to play a lot of teams like that. We have to get older, faster and in a shorter period of time.”
On the start of conference play looming:
“We have to keep getting to know each other better. We don't know each other yet. Half our games have been hard against some really good opponents and some of the others weren't as hard. You only grow up by being in competition. We felt these two games, against Toledo and Wofford, would help us. Wofford is very good and very well coached, too.
“We're in a constant state of learning. We have a chance to be much better. We were good in the second half. We were much more fluid. I didn't think we talked well today. We didn't switch until the second half. Things that we were doing the first eight games instinctively, we didn't do defensively until the sense of urgency took over in the second half. We have a lot of things to work on.”
Duke Senior Quinn Cook
“[Toledo is] definitely going to be an NCAA Tournament team. They're a veteran team. Their guards are extremely good. I think they could definitely compete in the ACC. [Julius] Brown and [Justin] Drummond and [Nathan] Boothe, the big guy, they're a great team and they were confident against us. We had to respond and I think we did that.”
On playing together in the backcourt with Tyus Jones:
“Tyus, he makes everybody better on the team. He's a leader and he makes us all better. When we're together out there, our chemistry is very good. We can get into the lane, and we can also shoot off of each other. I'm fortunate to have a point guard like that. [It allows me] to be a playmaker off the ball. I just want to get into the lane and make a play for myself and my teammates.”
When asked what area Duke needs to improve on the most:
“Defensive rebounding. A lot of times we just rely on Jahlil [Okafor] and Amile [Jefferson] just to grab every rebound because they can. That's a bad habit and today we didn't get away with that. I think all five guys need to go rebound, and if we get better in that area, I think we can be a better team.”
Duke Junior Amile Jefferson
“[Toledo was] small, they were quick, and they were also athletic. They were like a first-round team in the [NCAA] Tournament that you could face, and that was great experience, especially for our young guys. And then this next game, this Wofford game, will also be great because it's like a [NCAA] Tournament-style atmosphere. We get one day off and then we play the next day. For our group it was good because they were really, really good. That kid [Julius] Brown was really good, and then they were really athletic at all the other positions. It was a tough game and I'm happy that we got the win.”
On what was said in the locker room at halftime:
“It was a close game and guys were into their own thing, but we needed to be louder, talking more, telling each other what we need to do better instead of just being quiet. That's how we were in the first half. We played like that. Then in the second half, guys were talking, guys were lunging, guys had a lot more excitement. You could see it in body language.”
Duke Freshman Tyus Jones
“[Toledo is] just a tough team. They're never going to give up, they're fighting, and they kept coming and kept coming after us, so we had to just keep playing. The game was never over. Early we got up but we relaxed a little bit, and they kept coming after us. It's just another learning experience and some adversity that we had to learn from.”
On what Duke had to do to respond when Toledo cut the lead to three points in the second half:
“Just had to get to the basics, had to lock in, first on defense, forcing the tough shots and complete possessions by rebounding. There were a couple of possessions that we didn't complete. Loose balls – they were getting some 50/50 balls, so we just had to lock in on the defensive end and do the little things.”
Duke Freshman Jahlil Okafor
“We didn't play the way we wanted to. We pulled away at the end. We had a bunch of defensive lapses, certain things that we worked on in practice. We didn't execute when we came onto the floor, and that made the game a little bit closer than we wanted. Overall we did win, and we're moving on to play Wofford.”
“Going into the game, I was expecting to be played man-to-man [defense], and [the coaches] just told me to dominate and do what I do. It was kind of fun playing against single man coverage.”
“We definitely did get off to a good start, and then we definitely did let up. I wasn't expecting us to let up. We had a bunch of defensive lapses that let them get back into the game. [Things] we worked on in practice that we didn't execute in the game in the first half. That led to them being so close.”
Toledo Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk
Opening Statement:
“First of all, I have a lot of respect for the Duke program and what they've done. They set the standard for competing and playing hard. That's why we wanted to come down here, to get the experience and for our guys to actually see that. I think today our guys got better in some areas. I thought in stretches we played really well and other stretches … to start the game was not good. From the 15-minute mark in the first half, I thought we played really solid. The start of the second half, I thought we played well. We had some foul trouble issues which put [Nathan] Boothe on the bench. They went on a little bit of a run. Overall, some things to be proud of and other things we're disappointed about.”
On his team's slow start:
“I think we had some guys rushing some things. [Justin] Drummond misses a layup to start the game. I think that was just more nerves than anything. I want to see the first foul on [Nathan] Boothe on the first possession on tape. I didn't see it. The second one was a good call. He can't put himself in those positions. We need him on the floor.”
“You use the word intimidated, I would use the word maybe anxious or too excited or caught in the moment. I think that was the case. This is a very unique place. We played at Kansas last year and played well in a very unique place. It takes some time for our guys to adjust to it, but once we did I thought we played pretty well.”
On Nathan Boothe's foul trouble:
“We lost an inside presence. He's a good player, but 21 minutes. We need him for 30. That's what we need him for. When he plays 30, we're good and give ourselves more of an opportunity and a chance to win games like this. For him to play 21 minutes is not enough.”
On Toledo's schedule:
“Last year we started off 12-0 and this year we're 7-5. Our schedule has been different. We probably made some mistakes with the schedule. I still think we're a better basketball team today than we were last year at this particular date. Now, we have to prove that to be true, but I'm confident our guys will.”
On Duke's environment:
“This is as good as it gets, but VCU is right there with it environment wise. I'm not saying they're as good as Duke, but environment wise they're right there. I haven't been here when the students are here. Maybe it's different. I think it's going to help us. We have some places in our league where it's a good environment as well so we won't be intimidated, we won't be caught in the moment. It's been a great learning experience. Probably the best thing for us is going against teams that really pressure us. We had 13 turnovers tonight. That's our average which is high for our program. Against their type of ball pressure, not so bad. I'm sure they turn people over a lot more than 13 usually at their home court. Julius [Brown] had two turnovers, our point guard who had the ball in his hands a lot.”
On how team defended Jahlil Okafor:
“Out of respect to him to be honest with you because he's such a good passer. He's as good of a passer as it gets. We doubled him but it was more a random double. When we had something we thought was a smart double team. I think if you send one guy at him, he'll pick you apart. UConn did it and he just picked them apart off of that I thought. Watching film, I had so much respect for him as a basketball player and intelligence wise and his passing ability, I just thought if we sent Weatherspoon every time, they're going to kill us.”
Toledo Senior Julius Brown
On team's slow start:
“Sometimes this year we've come out slow. We do that at times and we have to get better at that. I wouldn't say we were afraid of anything. Not afraid of the atmosphere, not afraid of their players. We just came out to a slow start and that was on our part.”
On the advantages of playing tough non-conference games:
“These games definitely help us out, playing against a great competition like this just gets us ready for MAC play.”
On team finding offensive rhythm:
“We just got relaxed. We just told each other to settle down and let the game come to us. We did and that's when we started to play our game. Everything just started to smooth out from there.”
On senior leadership:
“We knew as seniors we would have to step up tonight. Just like coach said, we played at Kansas last year in this type of atmosphere and some of the younger guys did not have as much experience. We knew as seniors we would have to step up this game”
On inside/outside game:
“Very exciting. Those guys give us more options. I feel like we have a lot of weapons on this team that just give us more options to do what we need to do.”
Opening Statement:
“We knew when we scheduled them last summer that they would be one of the top teams from any mid-major conference. [Toledo head coach] Tod [Kowalczyk] has done such a great job with this program. He's coming off a 27-win season with seven of his top eight players returning. We felt this would be a great game for us to get ready for the ACC. They could beat us. They had a chance to beat us. They didn't disappoint. They were terrific.”
On Toledo:
“Tod's story is one of the better ones in coaching. He took over a program that had a lot, a lot of problems. He took over and really built from scratch. They went 4-28 his first year. He [then] had two seasons where these kids were young. They had winning seasons, but not tournament seasons. Then last year they went 27-7. It's a great story. He scheduled hard this year and I think it'll pay off for them this year. They're already a really good team. I think they're going to be an NCAA team and one you're not going to want to play.
“[Julius] Brown is a really good guard. He can shoot the ball and is poised. They're big on the perimeter. [Nathan] Boothe is that unconventional big who can empty the post. He reminds me of playing some of the European teams. He's very poised. Then they have a great athlete in [J.D.] Weatherspoon. He's big time.”
On the win and second half performance:
“I thought that was a heck of a win for us. We started off strong. No matter what you say, these guys, because of the break, can think something is going to be easy. We got off to an 18-4 start and then couldn't score. That was their good defense and our throwing the ball away. It was an even half.
“In the second half, we hit them hard and they hit us hard in those first four minutes. From there our defense kind of took over. I thought our defense was outstanding. We took better care of the ball in the second half. Since the Wisconsin game, that was the best 20 minutes that we've played. We had spurts against Connecticut and Elon, but we weren't going to win playing in spurts against this team. We had to have a solid half.
“I'm pleased with the win and the manner in which we grew up. We had to grow up. After the game I told the guys that our three freshmen who started that was their 11th game. Toledo has played together for 70-80 games. They're old and good. We're going to play a lot of teams like that. We have to get older, faster and in a shorter period of time.”
On the start of conference play looming:
“We have to keep getting to know each other better. We don't know each other yet. Half our games have been hard against some really good opponents and some of the others weren't as hard. You only grow up by being in competition. We felt these two games, against Toledo and Wofford, would help us. Wofford is very good and very well coached, too.
“We're in a constant state of learning. We have a chance to be much better. We were good in the second half. We were much more fluid. I didn't think we talked well today. We didn't switch until the second half. Things that we were doing the first eight games instinctively, we didn't do defensively until the sense of urgency took over in the second half. We have a lot of things to work on.”
Duke Senior Quinn Cook
“[Toledo is] definitely going to be an NCAA Tournament team. They're a veteran team. Their guards are extremely good. I think they could definitely compete in the ACC. [Julius] Brown and [Justin] Drummond and [Nathan] Boothe, the big guy, they're a great team and they were confident against us. We had to respond and I think we did that.”
On playing together in the backcourt with Tyus Jones:
“Tyus, he makes everybody better on the team. He's a leader and he makes us all better. When we're together out there, our chemistry is very good. We can get into the lane, and we can also shoot off of each other. I'm fortunate to have a point guard like that. [It allows me] to be a playmaker off the ball. I just want to get into the lane and make a play for myself and my teammates.”
When asked what area Duke needs to improve on the most:
“Defensive rebounding. A lot of times we just rely on Jahlil [Okafor] and Amile [Jefferson] just to grab every rebound because they can. That's a bad habit and today we didn't get away with that. I think all five guys need to go rebound, and if we get better in that area, I think we can be a better team.”
Duke Junior Amile Jefferson
“[Toledo was] small, they were quick, and they were also athletic. They were like a first-round team in the [NCAA] Tournament that you could face, and that was great experience, especially for our young guys. And then this next game, this Wofford game, will also be great because it's like a [NCAA] Tournament-style atmosphere. We get one day off and then we play the next day. For our group it was good because they were really, really good. That kid [Julius] Brown was really good, and then they were really athletic at all the other positions. It was a tough game and I'm happy that we got the win.”
On what was said in the locker room at halftime:
“It was a close game and guys were into their own thing, but we needed to be louder, talking more, telling each other what we need to do better instead of just being quiet. That's how we were in the first half. We played like that. Then in the second half, guys were talking, guys were lunging, guys had a lot more excitement. You could see it in body language.”
Duke Freshman Tyus Jones
“[Toledo is] just a tough team. They're never going to give up, they're fighting, and they kept coming and kept coming after us, so we had to just keep playing. The game was never over. Early we got up but we relaxed a little bit, and they kept coming after us. It's just another learning experience and some adversity that we had to learn from.”
On what Duke had to do to respond when Toledo cut the lead to three points in the second half:
“Just had to get to the basics, had to lock in, first on defense, forcing the tough shots and complete possessions by rebounding. There were a couple of possessions that we didn't complete. Loose balls – they were getting some 50/50 balls, so we just had to lock in on the defensive end and do the little things.”
Duke Freshman Jahlil Okafor
“We didn't play the way we wanted to. We pulled away at the end. We had a bunch of defensive lapses, certain things that we worked on in practice. We didn't execute when we came onto the floor, and that made the game a little bit closer than we wanted. Overall we did win, and we're moving on to play Wofford.”
“Going into the game, I was expecting to be played man-to-man [defense], and [the coaches] just told me to dominate and do what I do. It was kind of fun playing against single man coverage.”
“We definitely did get off to a good start, and then we definitely did let up. I wasn't expecting us to let up. We had a bunch of defensive lapses that let them get back into the game. [Things] we worked on in practice that we didn't execute in the game in the first half. That led to them being so close.”
Toledo Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk
Opening Statement:
“First of all, I have a lot of respect for the Duke program and what they've done. They set the standard for competing and playing hard. That's why we wanted to come down here, to get the experience and for our guys to actually see that. I think today our guys got better in some areas. I thought in stretches we played really well and other stretches … to start the game was not good. From the 15-minute mark in the first half, I thought we played really solid. The start of the second half, I thought we played well. We had some foul trouble issues which put [Nathan] Boothe on the bench. They went on a little bit of a run. Overall, some things to be proud of and other things we're disappointed about.”
On his team's slow start:
“I think we had some guys rushing some things. [Justin] Drummond misses a layup to start the game. I think that was just more nerves than anything. I want to see the first foul on [Nathan] Boothe on the first possession on tape. I didn't see it. The second one was a good call. He can't put himself in those positions. We need him on the floor.”
“You use the word intimidated, I would use the word maybe anxious or too excited or caught in the moment. I think that was the case. This is a very unique place. We played at Kansas last year and played well in a very unique place. It takes some time for our guys to adjust to it, but once we did I thought we played pretty well.”
On Nathan Boothe's foul trouble:
“We lost an inside presence. He's a good player, but 21 minutes. We need him for 30. That's what we need him for. When he plays 30, we're good and give ourselves more of an opportunity and a chance to win games like this. For him to play 21 minutes is not enough.”
On Toledo's schedule:
“Last year we started off 12-0 and this year we're 7-5. Our schedule has been different. We probably made some mistakes with the schedule. I still think we're a better basketball team today than we were last year at this particular date. Now, we have to prove that to be true, but I'm confident our guys will.”
On Duke's environment:
“This is as good as it gets, but VCU is right there with it environment wise. I'm not saying they're as good as Duke, but environment wise they're right there. I haven't been here when the students are here. Maybe it's different. I think it's going to help us. We have some places in our league where it's a good environment as well so we won't be intimidated, we won't be caught in the moment. It's been a great learning experience. Probably the best thing for us is going against teams that really pressure us. We had 13 turnovers tonight. That's our average which is high for our program. Against their type of ball pressure, not so bad. I'm sure they turn people over a lot more than 13 usually at their home court. Julius [Brown] had two turnovers, our point guard who had the ball in his hands a lot.”
On how team defended Jahlil Okafor:
“Out of respect to him to be honest with you because he's such a good passer. He's as good of a passer as it gets. We doubled him but it was more a random double. When we had something we thought was a smart double team. I think if you send one guy at him, he'll pick you apart. UConn did it and he just picked them apart off of that I thought. Watching film, I had so much respect for him as a basketball player and intelligence wise and his passing ability, I just thought if we sent Weatherspoon every time, they're going to kill us.”
Toledo Senior Julius Brown
On team's slow start:
“Sometimes this year we've come out slow. We do that at times and we have to get better at that. I wouldn't say we were afraid of anything. Not afraid of the atmosphere, not afraid of their players. We just came out to a slow start and that was on our part.”
On the advantages of playing tough non-conference games:
“These games definitely help us out, playing against a great competition like this just gets us ready for MAC play.”
On team finding offensive rhythm:
“We just got relaxed. We just told each other to settle down and let the game come to us. We did and that's when we started to play our game. Everything just started to smooth out from there.”
On senior leadership:
“We knew as seniors we would have to step up tonight. Just like coach said, we played at Kansas last year in this type of atmosphere and some of the younger guys did not have as much experience. We knew as seniors we would have to step up this game”
On inside/outside game:
“Very exciting. Those guys give us more options. I feel like we have a lot of weapons on this team that just give us more options to do what we need to do.”
Players Mentioned
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