Jan. 30, 2010

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Georgetown vs. Duke
Players - Post Game Quotes
January 30, 2010

Austin Freeman:
On being one of the hottest players in the country...
"I'm just trying to play within the offense, I'm not trying to force anything I mean, if I have an opportunity I'm going to take it I mean it's not much of me just trying to force it. I'm just trying to play off my teammates.

Did you feel hotter than you have in the past?...
I guess you could say that.

Thoughts on having the game he just had...
I mean it was just a really good atmosphere. I mean we had the president and our fans going wild they helped us out a lot too. It was just a lot of fun just to play.

Chris on a strong defensive stretch and the atmosphere in the stadium...
I just think that we wanted to be aggressive on the defensive end. Try to contest and give them hard contested shots to make. We knew they were gonna make a few but we knew if we made them take more contested shots the percentage of them making shots would go down. And I don't think- it was a little the hype today but I think we were focused, the whole team was focused and on the same page.

On coach saying they were good...
I just think that we were focused the whole length of the gave is important no matter what time it is you have to stay in the game and be focused. We could be up five or down five with 19 minutes on the clock that's still a very critical part of the game.

Greg Monroe on what they took from the Syracuse game...
We took from Syracuse just once loss, I mean we bounced back, it was made much more of a big deal than it actually was it was a bad loss and we move to the next game its not something that has to be looked upon as the end of the season. I just think we have to bounce back and we came up with a big win today and we have to move on.

On playing well today...
It was exciting the crowd was pumped up, obama was there it was exciting we all came up with more energy than usual. Not that we don't normally play with energy but this game was something that we really wanted to get and you can see it we were all over the place defensively and offensively.

Chris on lots of breaks...
Well last year we noticed that they weren't really getting back as much as we though they would usually get back and transition.we went into this game saying especially off the rebounds we just want to push the ball and get as many easily as we could and I don't think it was anything out of the ordinary we just were playing solid defense and we came up with play and transitioned well.

Chris on stopping Dukes' resurgence in the second half...
I didn't have a conversation with my teammates I think everybody knew that this was a critical situation and also I remember Austin made some plays, Greg had a few big defensive plays it was playing by committee, we all made plays to get that lead.

On this game being special...
I mean it felt good.

Georgetown Head Basketball Coach John Thompson III

Opening Statement...
The atmosphere was great. I said on Rich Chvotkin's show that there is an energy that we get from our students that is real and tangible. Our fans, our students, the city was terrific.

On having President Obama in the crowd...
He always brings energy. It was good to have him here, it was good to play well when he was here.

On the difference between this year's team and last in regards to its play against Duke...
It was light years. That's what happens when you go from being a freshman to a sophomore and a sophomore to a junior. You mature and you get better.

On what the team takes from the game against Duke...
It's just like every time. We have to go back and check the tape and the answer is the same. We have to see what we can learn from the game and see where we can improve and then we have to move on.

On the team's performance compared to its Monday loss to Syracuse...
I said it Monday, we did not play well against Syracuse. It's not to say we're just going to throw that game out and forget about it, but Monday we did not play well. Tonight we played well. I think our guys focus and their attention was terrific, and it's not to say it wasn't on Monday, we just didn't play well. Two different games, two different teams two different styles.

On the defense contributing to the high shooting percentage...
This group, our team, with each game is getting a heightened sense and understanding that we don't have to take a bad shot. With the offensive players we have, we know where our shots are coming from and they're doing an outstanding job night-in and night-out to help each other get shots. With as good as they are as offensive players hopefully we will have other days like this.

On the play of Jerrelle Benimon and Hollis Thompson...
I think everyone did their job. It's easy to talk about the shot that Hollis hit, but he contested a few on the defensive end and he had a few where he was working and fighting with Kyle Singler in the post. I think Jerrelle came in and was a presence in there.

On if he realized how well the team was shooting during the game...
Do you know the Kenny Rogers song the gambler. We're still sitting at the table, we're not going to count our money when we're sitting at the table. So to answer your question no, I was worried about the next possession offensively and defensively. There is no time during the game to sit back and say "wow, we're making whatever."

Coach Krzyzewski

Opening statement...
"Georgetown played a great basketball game. We could never match their emotion. The place was electric, their team was electric, and they played that way for forty minutes. We haven't had a team shoot 72% against us, since I don't know when. The best thing we did was limit their rebounds which they only had two because they only missed thirteen shots. They just played a lot better than we did and we can talk about Wednesday games and rest and all that but they were ready to play us. We could never match their emotion today. The start of the second half, I thought we played our best defensively for about 8 minutes and put us in a position to get it into single figures and we made about 3 really bad decisions on the offensive end of the court and could have knocked it to seven or five if you put them in a row and that's what we needed to do and once we past that point, they took over again. That was our window of opportunity and we didn't take advantage of it and in a game like this. With a team that's lights out, you looks for small windows where you may be able to crack in there and do it and we weren't able to do that but they were terrific and congratulations to them; when a team plays that way they're very difficult to beat even if you are playing great."

On Duke's decision making..
"I don't think we made some wise decisions. One time, we had a break and fired a thirty footer when they had the double bonus. We have to know the game. When a team's playing that well sometimes they put you in a position where you hurry or scurry and it's not just their defense that does it but it's just the presence that team has that day that forces you to come out and make quick decisions that are not the appropriate ones. They're real good and they are very well coached and they just had it on us today."

On President Obama and Vice-President Biden's attendance...
"First off, for the President and the Vice President to be here and show their support of college basketball is spectacular and I think that's the best. And he generated a lot of excitement. It's neat to see our country excited about their President. I mean, that's a cool thing. I'm excited about it too. It's just a good atmosphere and their team responded to it at a really high level."