March 15, 2008
Clemson Quotes
Head Coach Oliver Purnell
Opening Statement:
"I thought in a lot of ways it was the best game we played all year. You might say the Boston College game last night or the Alabama game earlier in the year where we had all of the cylinders working, but we beat a great basketball team that never quits. They're used to being in those situations. They make big play after big play and we answered that. We never lost our poise so overall I think we are playing as well as we have all year. I really feel like we are peaking at the right time and I really can't think back on all the big plays, but I really think we had that mentality and attitude of fighting. It was a great win for us and we're looking forward to playing for the ACC Championship tomorrow."
On the final six minutes of the game:
"At six and three minute situations are things that we focus on all year long. We point to them and obviously work on those situations with six minutes on the clock and three minutes on the clock. But we point to that as winning time; that is our time. We know exactly what to do and if we do those three things, we are going to win. Those three things are to really guard in a solid way, knock down our free throws and don't turn the ball over. Those three things, we re-remind our guys about it and they went out and did it."
Cliff Hammonds
On free throw shooting:
"We have been talking about it all year. Free throws are going to be big for us in a big time situation. We've been working on it each and every day and we just knew that if we stepped to the line with confidence, they're going to drop. That's the way I went to the line and (James) Mays went to the line."
James Mays
On getting another shot at playing UNC:
"This team has learned so much since those two games (against UNC) and the way we're playing right now, and the energy we've been playing with over the last two days, anything is possible."
On Clemson's pressure defense:
"That is what is so great about this team. We really don't have a true center, we've got a bunch of forwards who are able to go out and guard guards. Over the course of the game, it starts to wear them down and I think we executed that today."
Duke Quotes
Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski
Opening Statement:
"I thought both teams played hard. It was a high level game. It was physical, really well officiated and well fought by both teams. They made a few more plays than us and they hit their free throws. If they hit their free throws, they are as good as anybody. We had some looks that we just missed. There are games that you lose and there are games that the other team wins. I thought today was one of those days where the other guy won because we played winning basketball. That's what makes great games, is when both teams play winning basketball. I'm proud of our guys."
On Clemson's interior play:
"We defended the interior pretty well. They scored 78 points and I thought their three point shooting and free throws won the game. I thought we did a good job inside."
On Clemson's pressure:
"They do a great job of playing the whole court on a press. Sometimes, a team presses and doesn't play the whole court, and you can beat that. They really run back and make plays as they are coming back. A few of our turnovers were turnovers were when we were passing to somebody we didn't see. You expected your teammate to be there, and instead it was one of them. Clemson did such a great job of retreating back while still attacking. They have gotten really good at it."
On new rotation patterns:
"We knew that with the draw we had, we were going to play three of the most athletic and physical teams in our league. If you want to win this, you have to figure it out. We are not a real athletic, physical team, but we are athletic, we play our butts off, and we play together. I thought my bench was real responsible for us playing well today. As we go into the NCAA Tournament, we have a much deeper and confident team than we did when we started out the week."
DeMarcus Nelson
On Clemson turning them over:
"The turnovers definitely came at the end of the play, and Clemson did a great job of following the play and back-tapping from behind. That is a team defense that we normally don't play against and it is definitely an adjustment that we had to make."
Greg Paulus
On Clemson's defense:
"They did a good job the last few minutes on switching the ball screens, using their length to press up and make us put the ball on the floor. If we were to take a three, it was a contested, tough shot. They did a good job of that."
