NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: REGIONAL FINAL - ARKANSAS VS DUKE

March 25, 2022

Mike Krzyzewski

Paolo Branchero

Jeremy Roach

Wendell Moore

Mark Williams

Chase Center

Duke Blue Devils

Elite 8 Media Conference

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: Well, we're obviously really excited and proud to be playing tomorrow night, and against an outstanding Arkansas team. Eric has done a great job with his squad. It's two in a row that we're playing against one of the top defenses in the country. They're different, but they're at the same level. In Notae you have one of the most explosive players in the country, so it will be a heck of a game.

We're healthy. Obviously, we're trying to get refreshed today. After all the media we'll go and not have a hard practice, but a good stretch, walk through our game plan, and try to get therapy so that we're as fresh as we can be, but everyone should be ready to play.

Q. This question is for Jeremy. The floor-slapping stuff last night, I mean, when Duke was really kind of in its floor-slapping glory days you guys were either not alive or very young. How did that kind of come into your mind? How do you learn about that? Where does that get kind of passed down?

JEREMY ROACH: I think it's just in the Duke basketball community. It's been going on for 42 years, however long the GOAT has been here. It's a staple in the program for sure. When you see a Duke team slap the floor, you know they're all locked in, all five guys are locked in on one task and getting that stop. That's the big thing.

Q. Paolo, I was wondering your take on Jaylin Williams, what you think about him as a player, and he has taken 52 charges, so he is pretty good at drawing fouls in there.

PAOLO BANCHERO: He is a key player for them. Definitely seems like he kind of keeps them together. He is able to pass, shoot, really do everything at the five spot for them. He is a great player, and then, like you said, the charges, that's not something that you see a lot, a big man taking that many charges. It's really unique. So you have to be aware of him at all times, just where he is at on the floor.

Q. Coach, can you talk about Paolo's growth throughout the season, and what kind of influence as a basketball player his mother has had on him?

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: All he is and all he ever hopes to be is a result of his mother. It's a West Point thing. You have to say it about your squad leader. No, Rhonda and Mario, they're great. The thing with Paolo, Paolo is really coachable, and a big reason for that is because of the family he comes from. He has gotten better and better, and the thing that he is doing right now that is an emerging thing is he has a strong face and positive talk in the locker room, at a timeout, on the court. That's another step forward.

He's got so much more that he is still going to develop, but it's been a steady track up, and he is playing his best basketball right now.

Q. This is for Paolo and Wendell: A question about A.J. Just curious of what you have seen of his development this year. Obviously, Paolo, you're a fellow freshman. What have you seen of him from the time he got hurt to this point where he is at right now?

WENDELL MOORE JR: Really we've seen nothing but growth. Every practice A.J. comes to work. He definitely puts in so much work off the court that people don't even see. It's translating to the game that he plays in now. So every game he plays I feel like he is getting better. He is getting better at some aspect whether it's scoring, defensively. He is even talking a little bit now. That was a huge thing. Just getting him out of his shell, and I think he is finally coming out of his shell.

Q. For Mark and Paolo, how important has Jeremy Roach's leadership been for what you have been able to achieve so far in the NCAA Tournament?

MARK WILLIAMS: It's been huge. Obviously, Jeremy is a hell of a player. Especially in the Tournament. He has been making plays all throughout, and I think that just shows the work he has been putting in all year, and credit goes to him for that.

Q. I just wanted Paolo to answer that question on A.J. and his -- what you have seen of him. When he got hurt in October, you didn't know what that future stood for him, and obviously from all accounts, he worked so hard to get back.

PAOLO BANCHERO: Yeah. He has been through more than any of us just in terms of injuries and obstacles to get to where he is at, but he is as hard of a worker as you'll find. It actually seemed like he was working too hard early in the season. He was in the gym just all the time getting shots and stuff like that, but that's just who he is. He is a great kid. He is a great teammate. He just wants to win, and so to see him thrive like he has been and come back from injury and just have a great season and step up in these big moments has been great just because we've seen all year the work he has put in and how far he has came.

Q. Question for Wendell. They've got two former ACC guys in Au'Diese and Chris Lykes. Two-parter, did you get a chance to peek your head out and see what Au'Diese was able to do last night, and also, do you have any memories of playing against either of those guys? I know Chris didn't play a ton last year.

WENDELL MOORE JR: Definitely I have some memories of Au'Diese. He gave us 27 and 22. We faced him while he was at Pitt, so he is definitely capable. He is for sure a great player. Coming from North Carolina, I was able to see him a lot on the AAU scene.

Chris, he is still a great player. I mean, at Miami he was their leading scorer and an All ACC player. He was ACC, so he is a really good guard. Both of those guys bring a lot of energy to the Arkansas team. I mean, they bring a lot of energy and athleticism, defense, scoring. Those two guys are two major parts of the team and two things that we've been looking out for in the scout.

Q. For Paolo. I'm sort of following up on Marc Spears' question about your mom's influence. How much have you seen videos of her playing? I imagine you were too young to see her play live much, but how much does your game resemble hers, and what have you learned about basketball from her?

PAOLO BANCHERO: Yes, she was definitely the main basketball influence in my life. She was a coach really my early years growing up, so I was in the gym with her every day watching practice, going with her to games and practices, and, yeah, I have watched some of her old film and stuff. Actually I've seen a couple of plays that I've made this year where it actually kind of does resemble. She wasn't really an outside player. She was definitely inside the arc, but she was explosive, great finisher around the rim, always active on the glass. She was a high-energy player as well, so I try and channel some of that. Some people might see me as more laid back, and my mom is the opposite, so I just try and channel some of that.

Q. Paolo, Coach talked last night about how you were doing things he had never seen you do before. Were you aware of that? Was that a conscious effort that, I need to take this game over at this point, or how did that come about?

PAOLO BANCHERO: I think it was just playing to win. That's a stage that I never have been on just in my basketball career on that big of a stage, so when you are on that stage, it just brings things out of you when you are playing to win. Coach, he has been on me all year, and has been pushing me all year. So I'm sure him seeing me do that, I wouldn't say he was surprised, but it was probably good for him to see. Like he said, I feel like I'm playing my best basketball, but I also got more to do.

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: It would be nice to see it again.

PAOLO BANCHERO: For sure. (Laughter).

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: And again and again.

Q. Question for Paolo, you and I might be the only two people in this room originally from Seattle. So I got to ask you, how much did growing up and being part of Seattle basketball culture shape your game? And second part of the question is, are you talking to anybody legends from Seattle that went through the Tournament, maybe like Isaiah Thomas or others? Can you talk about that?

PAOLO BANCHERO: Yeah, obviously, as far as the influence Seattle has had, I would just say really just my natural feel for the game and then just kind of free-flowing and just kind of being able to do a little bit of everything. I think I take pride in that.

Then as far as guys reaching out, yeah, a lot. Spencer Hawes was there yesterday, Isaiah watched the whole game. He called me after the game. Dejounte Murray called me after the game. It's just a big family, man, and they're always watching and supporting and cheering for me. So it's good to have them in my corner.

Q. Hey, guys, when Arkansas beat Gonzaga it showed just how good their defense was, but especially how they limited their point guard, Andrew Nembhard, and I'm curious how much of an advantage it is to have that on tape and be able to study it and learn from it as you guys prepare to face them, and I'll give that one to Jeremy.

JEREMY ROACH: I mean, it's definitely good to see the tape and how they adjusted to Gonzaga. I mean, they took them out of transition. They were real physical with them all game, so I think just coming into this game tomorrow we just got to match that intensity and even have more intensity than them coming out the gates because you don't want to give them a rhythm early because it can get scary.

Q. This is for Wendell. The team has been able to win or successful with different groupings on the court at different times. At the end of the Michigan State game, A.J. was hurt. Trevor was out there. Last night was the opposite. You had the ball-handling line-up with Paolo at the five. What allows you to have that cohesion, that versatility this year?

WENDELL MOORE JR: I really think it's the trust and chemistry that we have in each other. So really any five guys on the court, the other four guys have supreme confidence that whoever has the ball is going to make a great play. Not just for themselves, but it's going to be the right play for us to be able to win a game.

The main thing is everybody who steps on the floor it's all about winning. None of us have our own personal agendas. When we're on the floor, we all just want to win. So that's really what's been showing in these close games these past five-minute games we've been showing, it's really just our will to win.

Q. This question is for Coach K, if that's okay, just about Paolo. You talked about how you were impressed with him. Especially in that 60-second spurt. I know you went back and watched the tape. Was there anything else that stuck out about his play yesterday?

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: I really didn't watch the tape of our game because I saw a lot. I was trying to catch up with Arkansas. All I can say is that Paolo's game has gotten better and better as the Tournament has gone along, but so has our team's.

A huge thing is when these guys are very close when one guy is doing more -- like I think it's who had the influence on each other? Jeremy's play, maybe that had an influence on Paolo or vice versa. They feed off one another. Maybe his play is the result of strong drives that Jeremy made just before that, and that's the beauty of a unit coming together at a high level.

Q. I guess this is for Wendell. I'm curious, there was talk last night about how you guys told Coach K that you wanted to switch from zone to man. What does that moment look like in the huddle telling Coach K that you want to switch defense?

WENDELL MOORE JR: I mean, really it was just a talk.

It was just a normal huddle for us. All five guys knew we needed to stop. The zone has been going great for us, but we just figured they got a couple of buckets late, and we wanted to finish the game with our defense. All year we've hung our hat on our man-to-man defense.

We knew we needed a stop. All five guys really just came together, and Coach trusted us. He trusted us enough to allow us to be able to do what we wanted to do. I mean, it paid off.

Q. This is for either Jeremy or Wendell, but there's probably not that many opportunities in your life when you are coached with someone with as much history with the game as the man that's sitting over to your right.

I know he was telling us about his time living at the Presidio, when he was in the Army and playing there, but do you ever ask him questions about his history with the game when he comes to places like this? Because with someone like Coach K, he has a story for every arena.

JEREMY ROACH: Everybody who is a fan of basketball kind of knows what he has been through, who he has coached for, who he has coached with. You kind of know the story going into this tournament. Definitely ask him questions because he has been here before. He has been here more than any coach or player who has ever played college basketball, so definitely taking all the knowledge he has and soaking it up and using it to our advantage.

Q. This is for Jeremy and Wendell. Kind of a follow-up. What do you guys think of J.D. Notae? He is a high-volume shooter. He seems to find a way to score. Wendell, you were talking about Au'Diese, and the big games he has had scoring-wise, but Eric Musselman is always praising his defense, how he is locking people down. Just wondering what you think of his defenses as well.

WENDELL MOORE JR: Yes, as far as J.D. he is definitely probably one of the better guards in the country. Like you said, if he misses a shot, it doesn't mean anything to him. He is going to take the next one. Like it's his first shot.

I think that's what makes him really such a great player. It's really just his short-term memory. Nothing seems to bother him. Even in big moments he has the supreme confidence, no matter how he is shooting, that he is going to hit the next shot.

And as far as Au'Diese, he does a little bit of everything for the team. He is really kind of like a glue that holds them together just because he is able to do so much. He is able to defend. He is able to score. He is able to rebound. He is probably one of the tougher kids they have on their team. When you have a guy like that, he really just boosts their whole team up when he is playing well.

Q. For Palo and Wendell, I know you have interacted with Steph Curry. He gave you some first bumps. What was that like a guy like that being around the team going into yesterday's game?

PAOLO BANCHERO: Really it was an honor meeting a guy like Steph Curry. Obviously, everybody knows what he has done, all the stuff he has done for the game, how he has changed the game, but just getting to meet him, you realize he is a real down-to-earth, humble guy. He got fans all around the world, a whole bunch of money, but he's just a cool guy. He is talking to us, giving us advice, telling us we won't get this back, so make sure to cherish it and be in the moment. To hear that from a legend like him is priceless.

Q. This is for Mark. When players come to Duke they probably don't think about playing zone defense much, and there's the whole floor-slapping thing and that kind of connotes of getting up in your man. What was it like in the huddle last night when Coach made the decision to go to zone?

MARK WILLIAMS: I think it was a good decision, obviously. I think it gave them a different look as far as defense. We hadn't been in zone all game. We know we talked about it beforehand that there's a chance we could use it, and then we felt like that was a perfect time to use it, and I think it paid off.

Q. Mike, the way this team has sort of come together and some of the intangibles really that it has shown in the Michigan State game and then again, are there parts of it that remind you of some of your older teams that you had guys for three or four years and you could sort of cultivate this over a longer period of time, but this team has kind of learned it sort of on the fly?

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: Not on the fly, but within a year. Before that you would have years. Like Jon Scheyer had a tough freshman year, and then a junior year where Villanova killed us in the NCAA, and then he won a national championship. They were able to have adversity help build them.

When you only have them for a year, you're trying to avoid as much adversity, but in the last ten days or so of the regular season and the tournament, we experienced a very deep level of adversity, and in some respects it really helped us. I would rather not have experienced it, but I think it helped us. It hurt. They grew together and took -- we all took responsibility and figured out what was wrong, and then we tried to correct it. It was actually in some respects a good thing, but that usually happens over a -- it used to over a decade ago over a period of time.

Q. Mike, I guess along those lines a little bit, what is the feeling like from a coaching standpoint of being able to get a team to achieve its full potential?

Versus that, maybe the regret of not getting a team all the way there?

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: That's either the biggest good feeling you could have or the biggest bad feeling you have. If our season ended after Virginia Tech, even though we won the league and at that time won 20 -- I don't know -- 27 or 28 games, it would have been a downer. The NCAA Tournament that week before gave us an opportunity to have a good runway into the time of the year that if you do win, you're going to remember it forever.

So we're very fortunate to have this, and for these guys to do so well in their end-of-game situations. You hit on it. It's a really good question because it really is. You don't -- I don't remember records as much as how we ended, and so I hope this doesn't end tomorrow.

Q. With regard to A.J., I'm assuming you know his dad fairly well over the years.

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: Very well.

Q. Going back to coaching against him.

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: No, but he actually was Tom Thibodeau's assistant when Tom was my assistant for the U.S., so Adrian traveled with us, with the U.S. team and helping us.

Q. Just curious, what similarities maybe you see in the character of A.J. to his dad and how much of an influence do you feel like he has been on him?

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: Well, I think he has benefited from both of his parents. Both of his parents are outstanding athletes, so they understood the commitment. Also the genetic pool probably was good in that regard.

Adrian's dad was a minister, and I think the six to eight months before A.J. came to Duke being with his dad I think had a profound effect on his faith, and he is very deep-rooted in it right now. It's beautiful really to see.

You can see the continuity of that part of their family tree. In that regard it's kind of neat.

Q. I was wondering if you could just walk me back to when you went to go see your university president to tell them you were going to retire? Did you email him and give him a warning? Did you blindside him? That's a big announcement. I'm wondering how that all went down.

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: No, no. Vince and I are good friends. Yeah, I've always taken the approach -- I tell my assistants all the time this when they become head coaches, remember you work for somebody. You work for an athletic director, and you definitely work for the president of the school. So develop good relationships with them.

Vince and I have a really good one, and I just made mention. I said, I would like to talk about my future, and so we carved out a time where we -- I did it at his home. They live right on campus. We had a couple of hour talk, and then the ball started rolling, but when I did talk to him, I said, I didn't want -- I still felt I wanted to coach for a year, and I didn't want COVID to be the last year, and I felt I was still healthy and energetic and whatever, but that I just couldn't ethically recruit, and I thought -- I presented a plan. I said, I think it would be a good one for succession and continuity and then, however, you're the ones who are going to pick the coach, but it's a good plan. It's turned out to be a great plan, not a good one.

By the way, I also talked with my future -- you weren't the -- yeah. We were kicking the other guy out, so I wanted to make sure. And I wanted also -- like Nina and I have really developed an unbelievable relationship during this year, so when I take on my next role, that will be like a cool -- it's just gone up a lot. Not that it wasn't good, but it's like really on steroids right now. Yeah.

Q. I wanted ask you if you have had much interaction with Eric Musselman or his dad back in the day. You mentioned the defense, how much Arkansas maybe takes on his personality. He is obviously a fiery --

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: Yeah. Well, obviously, their family is one of the great names and one of the great families in the history of basketball in our country. His dad was just an amazing coach and defensive coach. I think the kids at Arkansas benefit from the fact of Eric's experience in the pros, and you can see a lot of the pro influence, especially in some of the things they do offensively and some of the unique things they do defensively.

I think it bears out number-wise in the last five, six weeks they've been probably the best defensive team in the country.

Q. I don't want to bring up bad memories, but they say coaches remember the losses more than they remember the wins.

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: Not necessarily.

Q. 1994 Nolan Richardson, Scotty Thurman --

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: I do remember that.

Q. Just your memories of that and playing Arkansas.

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: Well, we played against a great team and one of the great coaches in our sport in Nolan. It was a heck of a game, and it came down to really a timeout and I felt we knew Scotty Thurman was going to get the ball, and we got a fingernail on it, which didn't affect its trajectory, and he knocked it down. We had an opportunity then right after it, but it was a hell of a game.

Those things are disappointing in that you don't win, but they're not -- I wasn't disappointed with the effort. We really had a great year.

An inside story on that about a month and a half before that we changed our offense a little bit and I told Grant, I said we're going to put a new offense in. It's going to be "going to Charlotte" offense and put him up on top. It worked. We did go to Charlotte. I should have said I'm going to put a national championship. Then he would have won three. Might have won three. Would have had a hell of a career. Look where he is now.

Q. I've been following your team here dating back to a couple of days before the Carolina closer at home.

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: Right.

Q. Just kind of noticing your demeanor here at the NCAA Tournament and last week in Greenville. It does seem like you are as loose as I have ever seen you.

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: I'm not -- don't -- I'm not a loose guy, but -- (Laughter).

Q. This is leading up to my question, all right? My question is this: How are you balancing that unending competitive spirit and really trying to take in as much as you can because you never know when this is going to end? It hasn't ended yet, but I get the sense you're at least trying to smell as many of the roses while you can while still remaining focused?

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: I don't know about smelling roses. I do garden, by the way. I'm a flower guy.

Q. (Off microphone).

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: I work my butt off outside and love it. During those ten days I learned something, and I saw my team hurt. Not just by a loss, but by a whole bunch of things.

I just had a good meeting with myself. I said that I got to do something. I got to help in some way, and part of it was my approach with them. Not that we haven't. We've really close and all that, but I just changed a little bit in doing it. Even how the timeout yesterday right the first time out and sitting on the last two games, they give you 20 minutes at halftime, and I've never done this before, but at Michigan State and again last night when I come in the locker room, I just pull out a chair, and I sit with them for about five minutes and just, okay, here's where we're at and just talk to them.

Then we go and talk as coaches and come back and get a little more fiery or whatever, and it's had a good impact. It's had a really good impact. Like when we lost at my whatever you want to call that day and I looked and I saw my team, I felt really bad for them. I felt really bad that we lost. When I said unacceptable, it wasn't that they were unacceptable. It was the result was unacceptable, and I wanted to make sure that that was not misconstrued by them, and so we've kind of -- it's part of growing together, growing up, and I take responsibility for that.

These are really good guys. This has been -- Jon Scheyer said it yesterday when we were together as a staff, even before the game. He said, you know, Coach, this is as good a group as we've had as far as getting along. They are really a good group of kids, and they're becoming men, and it's -- how lucky am I, to go back again to Pat. I'm referencing you more than -- you probably deserve it, but maybe Dana is being a little jealous now. They've been really good, and for me to have that group in this final year for me, I think I'm very thankful for that.

Q. Given the combination of the youth of this team and the fact that it is your last tournament, what would it mean to you and the team to make it to the Final Four?

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: For any team, whether you have an old team, a young coach, the Final Four is Mecca for a player and a coach. It's just -- there's nothing like it.

For me I call it crossing the bridge, and very few people cross that bridge, and so I've been able to cross it with my teams 12 times, and to cross with this team would be an amazing thing for me, and I know what's on the other side of the bridge. They don't. They can only look at it. So it makes me want it more for them. Obviously for me. I'm -- come on. You can only give so much to the church. You want something back, you know? (Laughing). A little bit of forgiveness and less of a penance when you go in the box, you know? It would be a cool thing.

Q. I was there in '94 too. I'm sure you remember me.

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: You guys have a plot here or what? Are you two together?

Q. I wanted to ask about Toney. He had two have his high-scoring games were against Duke. Just wondering what you see from him on film and just what do you remember about playing him before?

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: He has great energy. That's something you look for in every player. He has outstanding athletic ability and competitiveness, but he plays with energy, man. When you do that and you have the athletic ability that he has and the freedom that he has with Eric, you're going to make a lot of good plays. He did that at Pitt for Jeff Capel, and he is doing it now on a team that really throughout the country they're as hot as any team really in the last 20 games or so. They've had a remarkable time.

I think they started the SEC 0-3, and what a turnaround, although their league is very difficult. I mean, they have beaten Kentucky, Auburn, Gonzaga, Tennessee. Come on. It's a really -- it's an outstanding -- it's one of the best teams in the country.

Q. Just the talk that you said you had with yourself kind of at the start of the tournament. I'm wondering if --

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: I had it way -- during the week -- the ACC Tournament. It took a while.

Q. That's a long conversation.

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: No, no, the conversation didn't take long. The action from the conversation is not like an instant pill. It's you've got to -- anyway.

Q. I'm wondering at what point in your career or can you explain maybe just how I would imagine when you have been coaching as long as you have that you evolve as a coach, and at what point might you have -- at some point I imagine you wouldn't have had those conversations. It would have been just, like, hey, you know, here's how we do things.

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: A long time. I think you learn -- I think it's important for any leader to be that leader's biggest critic, and because you know why you did it, you know how you did it, you know everything about it. Someone else can look at it, and no matter what they will never know as much as you. If you don't put truth on the table and take responsibility, then you won't make the best out of the situation that you are in.

I don't know if that makes sense. It makes sense to me. I learned that a long time ago. It took me a while to learn that, and that's the best. It's the best.

Q. Was there a moment that kind of, like, hey, I I've got to --

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: I don't know when that moment -- I can't, like, February 12th, 1993. I don't know. And part of it is I'm being an idiot if I do this that way. That doesn't work. You know what helps is the ability to continue to work with youngsters the same age group, 18 to 23, and you get different groups during your almost five decades, and so they help you learn how you're supposed to communicate with them. Not when what you communicate with but how to communicate with them.

And that's been one of the exciting things for me over the time because I actually have really good relationships with these guys. I'm worried if Scheyer will let me come to a practice or, like, three years from now and even next year with some of the guys he has recruited. Got a Polish kid coming on? I would think he would let me do that every once in a while, but we'll see if he gets a big head.

Thank you.