DUKE HEAD COACH JON SCHEYER
Opening Statement
“First, I just want to say to our crowd – to not have our students here and to have it sold out, with so many people from all over in the student section, it’s a pretty special thing and I’ll never take that for granted. That’s an incredible job that our team does to make sure that every game here is full.
There’s a lot that we need to work on. I give Seattle a ton of credit. They’ve lost a couple of really close games. They’re physical. They’re incredibly well-coached. They have a good team and good players that we knew would make us work for everything. That doesn’t change the fact that there were a lot of things I would like us to do better. We need practice time, so I’m excited to get back to practice and get to work.”
On defense, the message during halftime, and what he would like to see improved upon during practices:
“I just thought that we were really soft in the first half. They were more physical with us. That’s two games in a row that [the other team] came out more physical than us on defense. We were softer. They missed some shots, and I think it was a lot to do with what we were doing, but the first eight minutes of the second half – that was, to me, what we have to do. I thought we came out with great energy and really guarded the ball. We had five guys defending the ball, and that’s the energy I like. Way too many free throws for them. We have to do a way better job of defending without fouling. We gave them 31 free throws. That’s ridiculous. It’s not good enough. I thought we had some good stretches with what it should look like. We just have to string it together for 40 minutes.”
On playing different lineups:
“I’d rather have clarity as much as possible, but the truth of the matter is when you have six freshmen and three graduate transfers in a different position, there’s a process. There just is. For our guys, you want to have as much role definition as quickly as you possibly can and you also want to find the best lineup. I don’t think you make your mind up in November. It’s foolish. I’m watching every day in practice. I’m seeing what our guys do. I’m seeing what lineups work. We’ve had some different lineups that have just clicked in the game and so you roll with that until you have to make a change. I think, for us, it’s going to continue to evolve. I’d like us to have it Wednesday if we could, but the reality is that it’s going to be a process.”
JUNIOR GUARD TYRESE PROCTOR
On how the freshmen are handling tough early season matchups: “It’s a learning experience. My freshman year, we didn’t have as big as the games we’ve had so far. Playing three top-caliber teams early is only going to help you later in the year. We’ve watched a lot of film every day, just learning ins-and-outs of the game and how start to the end can really impact winning. I think we’ve done a great job just learning.”
On three-point shooting: “I think the early ones, we want to move them first. We have a really good three-point shooting team. Coach has the confidence. It’s just the quick ones that we might not get a lot of ball movement first that we settle too early. He’s happy with our shooting. It’s just the time and the score.”
On second half defense: “Just ramping up our energy. We came out flat. We were guarding but we weren’t guarding at the level we’ve been guarding at. We addressed it at halftime and we came out with a different energy and obviously forced them to call a timeout early. We just ramped up our defensive energy.”
On avoiding a letdown “Coach Will [Stephens] actually was saying it all week. We’ve got to bring our energy to this game. We had another great crowd tonight. A lot of people coming from all over the country, with students not being here. It was a great game. We came out a little flat. I thought we could have come out with a little more energy but the second half we definitely turned it around.”
FRESHMAN GUARD/FORWARD COOPER FLAGG
On defending without fouling:
“That’s something that’s huge all throughout college basketball, playing good defense. You’ve got to be able to play hard, good defense. Good resistance without fouling and sending people to the foul line. It’s something we definitely cleaned up and were definitely better at in the second half.”
On Coach Scheyer’s halftime message:
“We gave them a lot of open looks, especially early. A lot of layups. A lot of dunks. They missed a couple. All in all, they had a lot of open, easy looks that they missed, so just because they’re not making them, doesn’t mean that our defense is good.”
