Quotes & Notes - Jan 10
at Pittsburgh
After every game I always watch the press conference, read the quotes, and study the box score. Quotes & Notes is my wrap-up of Duke’s most recent game(s).
Quotes
“[Pittsburgh] is a scary opponent, especially when you’re playing Jeff [Capel] and his team. With Blake [Hinson] and [Carlton] Carrington, they’re two high-level players. I thought the story tonight was about our defense. I thought our defense was really good, probably the best we’ve played on that end. We defended, we rebounded and then for [Kyle Filipowski] to play that way, he’s a difference maker. When he plays that way for our team, it totally changes the dynamic of our offense and our defense. I don’t feel there’s really anybody like him in the country when he plays that way. Proud of the effort, proud of the game. But there was something bigger than basketball tonight – it was an honor to share in the ‘Hoops for ALS’ with Jeff. His dad passed when we were on staff together at Duke and we talked about this in the summer. Just to raise awareness, ALS is a horrible, horrible disease. That was meaningful to share that with him tonight.”
- Coach Scheyer’s opening statement after the Pittsburgh game
“I thought our guards did a really good job defending the ball. But also, he missed some shots he normally makes. That can happen. So, we were probably a little bit fortunate, but I thought it was the best our perimeter defended the ball. We emphasized that after the Notre Dame game, we felt it was something we could do better. Those guys, to start, Caleb [Foster], Jeremy [Roach], Jared [McCain], Tyrese [Proctor] and Jaylen [Blakes] when they came in, they just defended the ball. It changes your whole defense. It keeps you out of rotations. We switched more than we usually do tonight, which was effective. But it started with the on-ball defense by those guys.”
- Coach Scheyer on defending Carlton Carrington and Pitt’s perimeter
“Hunger. Really emphasizing that it hasn’t been a strong suit for us overall. Defensive rebounding we’ve done okay, but not to the level that we’d like. We talk about gang-rebounding all the time – five guys on the boards, and I thought it was the best game we’ve had of doing that. I’ll have to watch the film back and see, maybe there’s a couple times that we didn’t, but for the most part, I thought we had five guys on the boards. And what it did for us, was obviously you’re taking away their second-chance points. But it also sets up – we’re at our best when we’re flowing and running in transition. And that set that up.”
- Coach Scheyer on Duke’s rebounding
Stats
The Blue Devils posted a +16 margin on the glass, their second largest of the season (+19 against Bucknell). Despite being outrebounded, Pittsburgh did gain a 12-8 advantage in second chance points, with 7 of those 12 points coming after the 11:43 media timeout in the second half. Of Duke’s 33 points from beyond the arc, 27 came in the first half, generating 1.59 points-per-shot from three-point range before halftime. Duke shared the ball well, assisting on 19 of their 29 made field goals for the game (65.5%).
Notes
As Coach Scheyer mentioned, both coaching staffs wore Hoops4ALS pins last night to raise awareness in the fight against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Jeff Capel Jr. passed away on November 13, 2017 - I love the Capel family tree.
Correction: The video Coach K: Road to 1,000 Wins should have been included in Tier 1 of my recent article. It was an inadvertent omission on my part and the article is now updated, with Kyle Gets Buckets moved to the Just Missed category (sorry, Kyle). The narration at the beginning is elite. “...What does a thousand wins look like? Let me show you.”
Next Play: Saturday Jan 13 | 5:00 pm ACCN | Georgia Tech at Duke
Thanks for reading, Go Duke!
Sources