DUKE HEAD COACH JON SCHEYER
Opening Statement
“First, I would just like to say hats off to Notre Dame and Coach Shrews [Micah Shrewsberry]. Shrews and I had a chance to really get to know each other at the U18 trials this past spring. Obviously, it’s his second year in the league. I think he’s a terrific coach. I think what they’re building is really good. It’s built on having a really competitive team. They play modern basketball, man. They go after matchups. They spread you on offense. They do a really good job. I think their record is incredibly misleading. When you play half the games without [Markus] Burton, you’re going to be a different team. And they’ve been right there in a lot of them. So, we had a ton of respect for these guys coming in. I thought the way we started was great. It’s a little bit of a gift and a curse because of what’s happened with the margin of victory over the last few games for us. I think we have to fight the human nature of thinking it’s just going to happen. For us, I think to play in a tight game was really good, because you have to make plays and feel the value of every possession on the defensive end and offensive end. I thought we had some uncharacteristic turnovers down the stretch, and so I thought it was a great experience. Really, really good win for us. Obviously, Cooper had an all-time special performance. The stats speak for itself with 42 [points], six [rebounds] and seven [assists], he got fouled 13 times. But more than that, I thought it was just his timing of key plays. Anytime we needed a basket, he came through. The will throughout, he just willed us. The fact that it translated to 42 is great, but to me, it was just his competitiveness and the timing of his key plays”.
On what was special about Cooper Flagg’s game:
“I think it starts with [Notre Dame], which you can expect with Notre Dame. They’re going to do things differently. They decided the thing they were willing to live with, in the beginning, was his shooting. They put [Kebba] Njie on him. I love Coop, that’s where you trust your work. It’s the work he’s been doing with Coach [Chris] Carrawell every day. He didn’t hesitate to shoot, and he ended up hitting. I thought the last couple of weeks, he’s been really decisive. He hasn’t played with the ball as much, and his passing is off the charts. I think it creates a situation, do you double or do you not? With him, he has done a great job recognizing the defense and then really attacking whatever’s there for him”.
On Cooper Flagg’s outside shooting:
“I think it’s been good the whole way. I think he falls into the category of, Paolo [Banchero] dealt with this some, [Jayson] Tatum, where when you’re so talented and can create a shot almost any time, you’re not used to being mentally ready or mentally prepared to shoot. For Coop, he’s had to work through that. It’s never been about ‘Man, we need to make him a good shooter.’ He’s been a good shooter. It just is the fact he’s always been used to being able to create off the bounce. He can do that. Plus, you have to be ready to shoot, to keep him honest. I’m just really proud of him for the work that he’s done, and to see it translate into a game like this is terrific”.
On if Cooper Flagg is underappreciated:
“I would hope not anymore. I would hope when he’s breaking ACC records and the numbers he’s putting up, I don’t see how you can watch today, and then underappreciate him. I hope. He’s doing things nobody really has ever done before. He’s not about numbers. I’m telling you, when this dude goes home, somebody says, ‘Man, you had 42 [points] six [rebounds] and seven [assists],’ he’ll say, ‘Okay, cool.’ That’s not what he’s about, which, to me, makes it even better. Because you know you can get caught up with that, especially as a young player. But I would hope not. I would hope we’re not underappreciating”.
On the challenges of closing out this game compared to the Pitt game:
“Two very similar games when you think about it. The Pitt game was an 11-point game. Our lead, I’ll have to go back, but I think it was teetering right around 14 to 18 points, somewhere in that range. You get the 10 minute to three-minute segment of the second half, and that’s where it can be 20 plus, or it can be where you can lose. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I’ve been in many games as a player or as a coach where it’s gone in both directions. You have great appreciation for that. For our guys to feel it, it was actually a really good thing. I think we can learn a lot. We probably over helped some, knowing they would need some threes to get back in the game. And we gave them threes, we gave them a few fouls, and those add up. I thought we showed some toughness, but you can practice it all you want, until you’re in it and feel it, that’s what happened to us today. I thought it was really good”.
FRESHMAN GUARD/FORWARD COOPER FLAGG
When asked if he knew he was approaching 40 points as the game progressed: “I mean, it says it up on the big [scoreboard], so I see it the whole time, but it doesn’t really affect me either way. I kind of knew the whole time but I was just out there playing. When I’m in the game, I don’t really know what’s going on. I’m just playing locked in.”
When asked if the 40-point mark means anything special to him: “Not really. I’m really just trying to do whatever it takes to win the game out there. From the start, they were off me, just leaving me open in the corner a couple times early. I’m going to take the open shots and make the right play, and tonight I was putting the ball in the basket. I feel like this is one of my more aggressive performances. coming out ready, on fire, from the start. I have to give the credit to my teammates. They were getting me open looks from the jump.” “I wouldn’t say there was a specific emphasis [on getting him a lot of scoring opportunities]. I think it was just kind of the looks that my teammates were able to get me and the way [Notre Dame] was playing defense. We had a great offensive game plan coming in that we were able to execute early.”
On breaking the Duke single-game freshman scoring record and posting the most points since Danny Ferry scored 58 points against Miami in 1988: “It’s an incredible thing to hear for me. There have been so many incredible players to come through here as freshmen one-and-dones to go to the League [the NBA]. Just to know that [the performance today] breaks that is really special.”
When asked what’s been different on his three-point shooting over the past couple of games: “I don’t think it’s anything different for me. I think it’s a lot of confidence for me. I started off slow this year, but I’m always confident in myself and I know how well I can shoot the ball, so I’m always going to stay ready and take my open looks. I think something I can look back to, over the holiday break, was getting back into the gym with my dad. Not even any specific things that we were working on, just that feeling – I grew up in the gym with my dad, late nights, early mornings, with him rebounding for me. I think just getting in the gym with my dad and just having that old experience was really good for my mental and put me in a really good spot.”
GRADUATE GUARD SION JAMES
On Duke freshman guard/forward Cooper Flagg’s 42-point performance: “He’s not forcing anything. He had 40 and didn’t force a single shot, didn’t force a single play. You might not even notice him sometimes, but we always realize that he’s one of the best players in the country. He’s an incredible asset to have.” “He’s being himself and that’s the magic of Cooper Flagg. He’s being himself. He’s not forcing anything. He’s just being a player and taking the looks as they come. He saw some he liked and 42 points later, here we are.”
When asked if the team was trying to help Cooper Flagg reach 40 points as he got closer to the mark: “No, not really, and honestly, there was no point in time where we thought, ‘Oh let’s get Cooper 30 or 20 or whatever.’ He plays the right way and the ball’s going to find him and we knew that it would.”
When asked how the absence of Duke junior forward Maliq Brown affected Duke today: “We missed him for sure. Maliq changes everything on the court for us. He’s a player that makes the way we play a lot different. We want to get him back as soon as possible.”
On Duke freshman center Khaman Maluach recording a career high 19 points and 10 rebounds: “The big thing was just having him in the right positions. [Notre Dame is] a team that rotates pretty hard, so we knew that if he’s in the right spot, then we’ve just got to look at him and find him. And he’s 7’-2”, so he’s not too hard to find down there.”
On the play of Khaman Maluach and Cooper Flagg today: “The two of them together are incredible. The two of them individually are incredible, but together, they play off each other very well. I love to see it. They’re two players that play the right way, are in the right spots all the time, and there are going to be games where this happens. And I’m happy for them that it did.”
When asked if it was beneficial for Duke to have to fight back after giving up a big, late-game lead: “That’s a tricky question to answer for a few reasons. The main thing is that we haven’t been in a position like this before, which is a good thing. It’s a great thing. I would love to beat everyone by 25. In conference play, that happens sometimes, but it can’t happen. It’s not supposed to happen. It was really sloppy, the way that we let it happen. But we showed a lot of grit and a lot of toughness and we found a way, and the freshmen were a huge part of that. We know that they’re among the best players in the country, and they showed everyone today.”
NOTRE DAME HEAD COACH MICAH SHREWSBERRY
Opening Statement:
“Credit to Duke. They’re a fantastic team. Jon’s [Scheyer] done a great job with this group, and you know how they defend and how they’re playing offense. Proud of our guys for our fight, playing against one of the best defensive teams in the country; shoot a good percentage, not turn the ball over a whole lot; I’m proud of that.”
On the team’s flexibility and versatility:
“I think for us to be able to go from game to game, and be able to change some different stuff, that’s a credit to our guys defensively in the short amount of prep time to get ready for what [Duke did] and what they try and do. We had some stuff we were going to do early but we let them get going too quick. So, we had to scrap some of the stuff that we were going to do because we had to fight to come back. We let them get out to that quick lead by making those threes, but our guys do a good job preparing from game to game. The next one is on Monday, we’ll turn around and have a game plan ready.”
On Markus Burton and Braeden Shrewsberry as a combo in the middle:
“Especially against [Duke], because of how good they are when you just stay in; when they’re allowed to stand and just stare at the ball, they’re unbelievable defensively. We thought movement was the way that we can try and get some kind of creases, get some kind of advantage. Markus [Burton] only needs a little bit of a crease to drive it. And Braden [Shrewsberry] is really good at knowing when to set [a screen], when to slip it. Those two guys, as they keep growing, the more they play together – they play a lot together now – but as they keep going, they keep getting older, I think going into next year, we should have the best backcourt in the ACC with those two guys.”
“[Cooper Flagg]’s a good player, right? It wasn’t as much him, it’s everything that happens around him. He manipulates the defense, but he’s a good passer So, he hurts you. You have to try and take away certain things. This goes way back to 2011, when I was at Butler and we were playing Duke with Kyrie Irving – the shooting that they had around him, the lobs threats they have around him; Cooper’s an unbelievable player, but Kon [Knueppel] makes him better, Tyrese Proctor makes him better. Khaman [Maluach]. He makes them all better. If you can’t just sit in a stance and focus on Cooper, then you’re at his mercy. And now he’s driving. Now he’s drawing 13 fouls. He’s on the free throw line. He shot more free throws than our team. The other guys, they got the right mix of guys with him. If they had him and they didn’t have shooting, or they had people that needed the ball and were ball dominant, then they probably wouldn’t work. But they’ve done a good job evaluating and finding the right people to put around him, so it makes him a really tough matchup.”
On the run at the end of the game:
“I mean, be honest with you, they took their foot off the gas. That’s probably something that [Jon Scheyer] is talking about right now in the locker room. Or he’s going to watch film with them about it. Some of the threes they missed, Kon missed one that hit the bottom of the rim. They had some turnovers. Had some guys turning shots down. They relaxed. They got [up] big and they relaxed. That’s what it was. Our guys kept fighting. Credit our guys for keeping the fight, for giving ourselves a chance. We had to try and do something. Mix things up. It was stuff that we’re just doing it, on the fly, to try and change some things up and get momentum going our way.”
