Post-Game Quotes
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Feb. 13, 2016
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Virginia-Duke Post-Game Quotes
Duke 63, No. 7 Virginia 62
Saturday, Feb. 13
Virginia Head Coach Tony Bennett
On how well Marial Shayok played the last play: “I will watch the replay but it looked like Marial [Shayok] did a good job. They had six seconds; he made [Grayson] Allen hit a hard shot. I kind of joked with Coach K after, I said ‘I think he traveled,’ and Coach said, ‘Well I think he got fouled.’ That is what we said as we embraced each other. It was a big league play, and again nice play on defense. It was also a nice play played on the other end; Marial kind of had a little fall away, nice pass, and Malcolm [Brogdon] hit a reverse layup. I give thanks because I told our guys you battled, and you showed some mettle in an obviously super charged environment. We will learn from it and we will grow, there were a lot of good things and some things that we have to adjust. I am sure you will ask me this, but we had a hard time with [Brandon] Ingram. Ingram got going, and they forced us to play four guards, then we adjusted, and did some things with that too.”
On rebounding in the second half: “We did not do a great job when we played four guards. We just could not match up with Ingram, we had a hard time. I thought that Malcolm did a nice job spreading out, but then we needed to play with a fourth guard, we thought for the other match ups, and I think that affected our rebounding in a lot of ways. Ingram is so quick off the floor that he got a couple after he missed. We could have clamped down and got some stops, we got a little wobbly offensively in stretches, but in that setting you look overall; did we get enough quality looks to have a chance to win it, and we did, but we didn’t.”
On Malcolm Brogdon struggling from the 3-point line: “The last couple of threes were great looks, rhythm looks. They were right there and so he took them. Because they pressure so much they force you to make some plays off of the dribble. Their might have been a few plays that we squirted up a little quick at times, but for the most part some plays had to be made against that kind of pressure with the court open up, and that is what allowed us to do that with the four perimeter players out there.”
On deciding whether to play Malcolm Brogdon on Grayson Allen or on Brandon Ingram: “That was tough, because then Grayson got going a little bit. It just shows you that our team defense is strong, but Malcolm had the ability to really spread out and guard people. People should take note of that at the next level, in my opinion. Allen is so aggressive, can get going into the lane and draw some fouls, but Ingram can rise up so we just had to pick our poison in a way. I though we made the right decisions to go with Malcolm on Ingram, but they certainly have some talented offensive pieces.”
Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski
Opening Statement: “To say that was a hard fought game would be underselling it. Wow, what a great competitive game. It was hard to get buckets for everybody. I thought they knocked us back; we started off the game and we couldn’t get off a shot and obviously a lot of it has to do with their defense. I thought it really affected us and for about six minutes they dominated the game. We were fortunate that it didn’t go up more than 11. At a timeout, we got it straight and the last six and a half to seven minutes of the first half we played really well. They played well; we played well and it was tough to get shots off. Brandon [Ingram] started out not well and then we went to him for a while exclusively in that second half and even down the stretch when he missed, he was this close to getting offensive rebounds tipped. It was right there, and if we would have lost, I know we would have been so frustrated with the fact that this kid was doing some special things out there. Then we went to Grayson [Allen] and those two kids are the kids that can improvise for us. We just tried to put them in positions where they use their talents and they know that we have confidence in them. We got tired; I think that’s one of the reasons we missed those free throws. The basketball gods were good. [Malcolm] Brogdon made a tough, good shot, but we executed and got to him and then we made a great play. It would’ve been tough if he missed because there was a lot of contact down there. Wow. But he got into the end zone. I’m so proud of our guys because we were banged up this week and we had to limit some of the practice. [Marshall] Plumlee has just been so good for us, toughness wise. I think Brogdon is as good of a player as we have in the league. He and [Anthony “Cat”] Barber are just terrific. But Matt [Jones] fought and so the 14 points he got, he had 16 shots. Matt Jones, the last two games he has had [Damion] Lee and [Malcolm] Brogdon and still Matt got 14 points, and he’s 4 for 5 from three. I think Matt Jones the last two games has been the hidden hero of our team, to be quite frank with you. Big time win for us and I’m proud of our guys.”
On the last play: “Well we have it where we want to give the hand off. He might have kicked it to the corner, but we just tell Grayson to go and see what’s there. The big thing for Marshall is to get open and get it to him. The play before, Marshall didn’t get it to him and Grayson didn’t set up his man as well. And really at that six-second thing, Marshall just told Grayson, ‘Set your man up.’ That’s the kind of thing Marshall’s doing. That’s a big time play. I love my guys. See, you guys don’t enjoy them as well because you try to make them like another Duke team. You should just enjoy them as this Duke team, like I am, and you will see a lot of really neat things.”
On evolution of Duke’s defense: “Well, you know, we were good for periods, but we weren’t as tough as we are now. There are certain portions of the game where I don’t care how you draw up your offense or defense, you just have to be tough. You have to fight through tired, fight through somebody not playing as well and get them going at that point. We weren’t able to do that, like make on the spot corrections, whether it be with toughness or attitude. When I say attitude it’s not attitude like bad attitude, I mean you’re into missing the shot or a mistake that you made. It’s not the right attitude. We’ve talked about it, we’ve met on it, and they’re doing it now. It has paid off.”
On second-half adjustments: “Well, we talked to our guys at the half and Brandon [Ingram] didn’t have a rebound in the first half. He is our best defensive rebounder so the last 10 minutes of the game we got every rebound and that was key. When you are playing them, you are running around a lot and it’s tiring. So, when a shot goes up, there’s a part of you that feels the play is finished. It’s not like saying ‘I don’t want to do it’, but human-wise you don’t complete the play. And that’s what was happening to us in the first half. We were being too human. You have to do all that and still rebound. That comes with maturity.”
On potentially redshirting Amile Jefferson: “Not right now. Again, if he was not able to play, then we would ask for that, and I think he would qualify for that. But, I don’t want to go there right now. It has been two months, though, and that’s why what our guys have done is remarkable. I am very proud of them and we just have to stay healthy. Here’s the thing: it’s healing great, but then we try limited basketball stuff at a slower speed, so he has never done anything game speed, and he has pain. For you older people, there used to be a Western called Gunsmoke, and you remember Chester? He looks a little bit like Chester. For you younger people, sorry. He can’t be Chester, he has to be Amile. If he tries to play at full speed with that, he can’t do that. He’s frustrated like crazy and we’re frustrated for him. I’m being completely honest with you about it. He’s trying, but it is not coming around.”
On 3-point shooting defense: “I think Derryck [Thornton] had a lot to do with that. One of our goals this game was to stop Brogdon, as he has taken about two-thirds of their threes. But Matt and Derryck did a really nice job on him. Look, they’re a really good team and it was one play; they could’ve won, but we did. I thought we earned it, but if they would’ve won, they would’ve earned it. I thought both teams were deserving of winning and that’s what makes a great game when that happens.”
Duke Junior Matt Jones:
On the big plays he and Grayson Allen made down the stretch for Duke: “We’ve been in these games plenty of times, so [Grayson Allen] and I and everybody else, we’re not scared of that moment. We knew that we would have to pick it up. It could be anybody. It just so happened to be Grayson and me. Everybody’s primed for that moment, and as a team, we know that each other has our backs so we’re not in that position alone.”
When asked if there was any question that Grayson Allen would have the ball in his hands for the last shot of the game: “No. We ran a play that we run any other given time in that position and Grayson just went and made a play. You can’t really teach that.”
When asked about having to defend Virginia’s Malcolm Brogdon: “He’s smart. He’s very strong, he’s physical, and he knows the game. I was able to guard him a little bit last year so [there was] a little familiarity, but he’s a really good player. He demands respect and we just had to fight him each possession. He was always aggressive the whole game.”
Duke Sophomore Grayson Allen:
On what was going through his mind after Virginia’s Malcolm Brogdon hit a shot with under 10 seconds remaining to put Virginia up by one point: “I was more thinking that I need to get the ball back and need to make up for what I did. As soon as I missed those two free throws, we still had the lead so my mind immediately went to getting a stop. Malcolm [Brogdon] made a great play. He made a bunch of great plays the whole game. When we called that timeout, I was kind of hoping Coach would draw something up for me.”
On the game-winning shot: “I really wanted to attack the basket just because throughout the game I’d been having success, even kicking the ball out. If [Virginia] were to help off, I was going to kick it out and find a shooter. But I felt like I had the lane and I felt like I had my man one-on-one, so I knew he was going to be strong and body up, so I just knew I was going to go through that and go to finish. I honestly wasn’t [counting seconds during the drive]. The time does go a lot slower. I knew I had enough time to make a move and take a couple of dribbles, but thankfully I got it off in time.”
On the celebration that ensued: “I kind of let out a yell and then saw a rush of white jerseys come sprinting at me and tackle me. I felt like I was on the bottom of that pile for like five minutes. It was just insane down there.”
When asked if he can remember the last time he made a buzzer-beater: “I have to be honest — I really don’t. Not at the end of the game, maybe like a halftime shot, but I don’t think I’ve ever made one at the end of the game like that.”
When asked if, as a kid, he’d dreamed of hitting a shot like this: “All the time out in my driveway, just counting down in my head. It’s really surreal for me, this being my dream school, and just a moment like that is something you dream of. You do it a hundred times over when you’re a little kid and go through that scenario, so that’s really surreal for me.”
When asked what went through his mind after missing two free throws with under 30 seconds remaining in the game: “I didn’t really feel any pressure. I just wanted another opportunity to make it up. Free throws are something that should be automatic for me, so missing those, you know me — after that I was pretty mad. But, ‘next play.’ When I saw I got the opportunity, I knew I was going to be able to make a play.”
On how he tried to attack Virginia’s defense throughout the game: “They are a great defensive team, they’re a really physical team, and they do a great job of bodying up on your drives and not fouling. For me personally, I think they were helping off a lot on the drives, and I think I maybe had three or four assists in the first half. So I just tried to continue that in the second half. I didn’t want to force anything. I knew I could still drive the ball and draw a couple of defenders and still make a play. I think maybe three of my assists were to Brandon, so you just keep feeding the hot hand.”
On what it means to win like this on Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s birthday: “I think if he were to tell you what he wanted for his birthday, he would’ve said a win, so it feels good to give him that.”
Duke Freshman Brandon Ingram: “Coach [Mike Krzyzewski] got on me a little bit after the first eight minutes of the game. I wasn’t being myself and I felt like I had to be more aggressive. I started knocking shots down and I got more comfortable as the game went on.”
When asked if he knew he had zero rebounds in the first half and improved significantly with seven rebounds in the second half: “I was definitely aware of that. I didn’t grab rebounds [in the first half], I was letting Marshall [Plumlee] do all the dirty work, so Coach [Mike Krzyzewski] got on me a little bit. I had to go back and get some boards.”
On what Coach Mike Krzyzewski said to the team after Duke’s cold shooting early on in the game: “[He said to] just keep shooting. We knew that we were going to knock shots down after a while. We weren’t knocking shots down and it affected our defense. We started knocking shots down, we got after it defensively, and it helped us out a lot.”
On the play of Grayson Allen and his game-winning shot: “That’s a great player that made a great play. He carried us at the end of the game and he made a lot of plays. I can’t even describe [the feeling]. I loved it. I just knew there was a chance that we were going to win the game, and he won it for us.”