Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski
Opening Statement:
“We’re proud of our win. [Georgia Tech has] been hurt, and they lost their point guard [Jose Alvarado]. It actually shows the
character of their program. In some respects, they played the second half better. They’re an important man down, and hopefully
he’s going to be okay. I don’t know what happened to him, but he didn’t return. He’s a really good kid and a really good player. I
thought putting the ball in [Josh] Okogie’s hand is not a bad thing to do. He’s just really a good player. He gives his whole team more
confidence. He played his heart out.
We’re proud of the win and we were a man down too in [Marvin] Bagley not being able to play. We did something different in our
starting lineup and playing on Sunday nights is not easy. For a young
group, we did a good job. [Trevon] Duval also came off the bench w/ his best performance in a couple of weeks. He really hit the
biggest shot of the game because it got down to 12 a little but under seven [minutes]. We called a timeout and set something up.
Grayson had a rushed shot, and he passed it up to hit him in the corner and he knocked it down. That was a big response because
down to 12, the world can look like it’s falling apart.
We got a great response from a kid who didn’t start for the first time and gotthe confidence from a veteran to get him the ball.
On Duke’s starting five:
“Marques [Bolden] can’t play extended minutes. One, he’s just a big guy. Two, he was out for five weeks and he’s still not in game
condition. He played 25 minutes tonight, but his best minutes were early. He should be a great sub for Wendell [Carter] and Marvin
[Bagley] and play somewhere between 15 and 18 minutes and play it really hard and run and whatever.”
On Georgia Tech’s Moses Wright and Evan Cole:
“You’re never surprised at anything in our league. That’s what I’m saying about the character of their team. Although it’s a great
time to put them in. They’re 22 points down [with] a lot of game left and, all of a sudden, it’s their time. That’s what happens in
sport every once in a while: kids get their opportunity. Both played really well. I mean big‐time plays. In this game, Josh [Pastner]
probably found something. He found two kids that want to play. They’re real big because [Abdoulaye] Gueye didn’t have the game
he usually has. Those kids stepped up for them. Whenever you have [Tadric] Jackson out there… he’s a good player. I think every
coach in the league would like to have Jackson on his team.”
On Duke’s defense:
“Overall, our defense was very good. Even in the games we’ve lost, people have shot under 40 percent. What’s happened is we’ve
given them second shots and we’ve turned it over too much. Today, we handled the ball better and we turned it over a couple of times
late. We still aren’t where I want us to be with defensive rebounding. We’re trying not to have Marques [Bolden] run all over the
court in ballscreen defense, so we’re able to keep it compact. Overall, we played a really good game but there were segments
where we were really playing well. I’m happy with that.”
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