Quotes & Notes - February 8
vs. North Carolina, at Miami
After every game I do three things: watch the press conference, read the quotes, and study the box score. Quotes & Notes is my wrap-up of the most recent games of the Duke season, including postgame quotes, stats, and other thoughts.
Quotes
“Just, I think, the will to win. They just had a big time will to win. Even talking to them before the game, they just had a look. We’ve gotten tougher from the experiences we’ve gone through. I think we’ve gotten closer when you go through some stuff. Whether you lose a tough one, whether you don’t play as well. We’ve just blocked it all out and kept pushing. We have to do the same thing now in a different way, because this is obviously a great win for us but we play Miami in 48 hours. I just credit the will that our guys have. It comes from within. Credit to them just continuing to work, continuing to believe, and understanding what it takes to win.”
- Coach Scheyer on the playmaking down the stretch against North Carolina
“So first of all, congratulations to Miami. There’s a reason they haven’t lost here at home. They’re really good. They obviously had it clicking on all cylinders right away. And for us, we had a different look. Even the games, we’ve lost games on the road, we’ve been right there. Playing at Clemson, at Virginia Tech. We win the last one at Georgia Tech. And for us, it wasn’t the same level of competing, and the same look. And so that’s on me, on our guys, on our team. It’s disappointing, not okay with it. Not taking any credit away from them. They won; they beat us. No excuses. No excuses on our end. We’ll figure out where to go and how to improve from here. But disappointing for me.”
- Coach Scheyer on the loss at Miami
Stats
Duke was able to do a pretty good job taking care of the ball against North Carolina, especially in the second half, allowing just 4 points off 5 turnovers after the break. Duke’s 63 points marked their lowest total since January 4th in Raleigh, so it was a big plus for the Blue Devils to keep the turnovers in check against a UNC defense that was difficult to score against. Unfortunately, it was a different story in Coral Gables, as Duke turned it over 21 times for 23 Miami points. That was uncharacteristic for the Blue Devils of late. In the previous 8 games, 13 points off turnovers was the most Duke had given any opponent.
Notes
I was proud of the way Duke played Saturday in a big-time atmosphere, with Krzyzewskiville and College Gameday in full force for the rivalry. Sometimes that type of environment can work against the home team, seemingly adding pressure to every shot. I thought Duke handled it well overall and the students were fantastic all day. There are a ton of great venues in sports and Cameron Indoor Stadium is certainly among them - I’m glad the guys got to experience that and come away with the win.
From the tip, Miami played with great energy on both ends of the floor Monday night. I thought the Hurricanes were super disruptive defensively, trapping ball screens and getting deflections with active hands. Duke obviously didn’t play their best but, like Coach Scheyer mentioned above, no excuses. In the first half, the Blue Devils missed 10 shots in the paint and Miami got 16 second chance points. Conservatively, let’s say Duke converts two of those misses in the paint and is able to grab two more defensive rebounds, limiting Miami to 12 second chance points instead. What was a 14-point halftime deficit is now down to just 6, and the game feels a little different. Here is my point: the margins are thin in college basketball and after a loss like this, it is important to find some positives as well. I’m not suggesting that Duke wins the game based on four plays (or even 24 plays) going differently - Miami was terrific and would have been tough to beat regardless of how well Duke played. I was most disappointed that Duke was unable to regroup and play a more competitive second half, but that is another credit to Coach Larrañaga and his team. Miami is tough to guard, has a ton of experience, and was able to maintain their level of play for the full 40 minutes.
I loved seeing some former players in Cameron Saturday night. Since the Magic were in town to play the Hornets on Sunday, it was especially great to see Wendell Carter Jr., Paolo Banchero, Mason Plumlee, and Mark Williams. I may do a quick “Duke in the NBA” update around the All-Star Break, but for now, I just wanted to give those guys a mention. Wendell is one of the more underrated players in the league and Paolo is currently one of, if not the, front runner for Rookie of the Year. I really enjoy watching those two play together in Orlando. Mason is in his 10th year in the league and currently averaging career highs in both points and rebounds. Mark is playing behind Mason in Charlotte and still getting 7 points and 5 rebounds in his somewhat limited minutes. It was cool of them to come down to Durham the night before their own game. The four Blue Devils combined for 58 points and 35 rebounds as Orlando beat Charlotte 119-113 Sunday afternoon.
Thanks for reading, Go Duke!
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