Quotes & Notes - January 3
vs. Syracuse
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
“I just thought it was a tough conference win. It's what you're going to see in that first half. I thought it was, obviously, very disjointed. We had three guys Jeremy [Roach], Flip [Kyle Filipowski], and Ryan [Young] that had two or more fouls. Flip hardly played in the first half. We can’t make a three and I thought the job that Mark [Mitchell] did in that first half, and it's not just the scoring, it's him, I'm proud of him for just trusting the process and doubling down on his work. It's not easy playing here. There's a lot of criticism and all that. But I think Mark has really stayed the course and he's had to adjust people guarding him differently on offense. Really, the best thing he does, Mark Mitchell is a winner. That dude is a winner, competitor, connector and I thought he was himself tonight and it really showed with Jeremy being out and Flip being out in that first half and we're winning by two at halftime. The other guy that was key for us is Jaylen Blakes. Every young player should watch him. He takes one shot, has three steals, and he was in for two of the critical moments in the first half just to keep us steady. And then we played four guards, and Jaylen was our 6’1’ four-man there for a second and was just making every right play again. Getting every loose ball, every right play. And for us, then we can make some shots in the second half. I thought we really shared it. Proud of this win and proud of getting our first conference win. Have to build from here."
- Coach Scheyer’s opening statement after the Syracuse game
“Well, as long as we can make up for it and gang rebound on defense, I think on offense for different looks, that can be an explosive lineup for us. And we've been talking about going to it. The opportunity hasn’t really presented itself in-game, where we felt like it was the right time. We felt like there was a moment. Jaylen was in there, it can also be Caleb [Foster], Tyrese [Proctor], Jeremy, or Jared in there as well. You put shooting on the floor which gives Flip a lot of space. I thought we were just tough and hard-nosed on defense to make it work.”
- Coach Scheyer on utilizing a four guard lineup
“We talked about not making any threes [at halftime] and I would like to go back and watch to know for sure, but I thought we missed three or four good ones. I thought we just took some tough ones. I thought we were just pressing on offense. I didn't think we were selfish or anything. But I said, we do make open shots, so just let it come. I thought we really did that in the second half. It's a great lesson for us on how to continue to break the defense down and score together.”
- Coach Scheyer on Duke going 0 for 9 from three-point range in the first half
Stats
It was a tale of two halves for Duke, especially offensively. While dealing with foul trouble in the first half, the Blue Devils shot just 37.1% from the field, including 0 for 9 from beyond the arc. Syracuse also outrebounded Duke 25-17 before the break. In the second half, Duke made 18 of 24 field goal attempts (75%) and was perfect from three-point range (8/8). Duke flipped the rebounding battle as well, with a 13-6 advantage on the glass after halftime. The Blue Devils finished with five guys in double figures for the second time this season, including 14 points for Tyrese Proctor in just his second game back.
Notes
In Case You Missed It: The Duke Women’s Basketball team picked up their first ACC win of the season on Sunday with an 80-75 win at home against Boston College, their fourth straight victory. The Blue Devils are now 9-4 on the season, including losses at #6 Stanford in overtime, and to #1 South Carolina in Cameron. The Duke Women resume ACC action tomorrow at #17 Louisville - best wishes to Coach Lawson and her team, I look forward to watching them throughout the remainder of the season.
Next Play: Saturday Jan 6 | 6:00 pm ACCN | Duke heads to South Bend to take on Notre Dame.
Sources