NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL FOUR: NORTH CAROLINA VS DUKE

March 31, 2022

Wendell Moore Jr.

Paolo Banchero

Mark Williams

Trevor Keels

Jeremy Roach

AJ Griffin

Caesars Superdome

Duke Blue Devils

Semi-Finals Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by student-athletes from Duke.

Q. During Duke's first media day earlier last year, you all said there was no pressure getting to the Final Four, but the goal was to get to the Final Four. What was the defining moment during the season that you all looked at each other and said, hey, we've got a chance to win a national championship?

WENDELL MOORE JR.: I think for me it was kind of early on. I realized we had a chance to do something special. Just the way -- even really before we started playing games, I just had -- December workouts were going, the way guys were bonding early, just how close we were getting as a team. It's not that often you get that close that quickly. For us, we all just became immediate family. From there it was, like, we have a chance to do something special.

MARK WILLIAMS: I totally second that. Really early on I felt like we really got close as a team, on and off the court. Just all of us being together all the time, being able to hang out, do all those sort of things. And of course on the basketball court, just getting that chemistry throughout the year. But it was honestly something I thought was totally achievable. And honestly we're here right now.

PAOLO BANCHERO: Basically the same thing they were saying, just how, kind of how we were feeling from the jump. We knew we had a special group. And getting here was always the goal. I didn't really see us ending anywhere else than here. So that was just really the goal from the jump.

Q. I would imagine you've talked about the whole revenge thing. How are you dealing with it? Are you embracing it? Are you using it as fuel? Are you trying to shed it and just treat this as its own game?

WENDELL MOORE JR.: I think it's just another game for us. We're not looking at either revenge, what happened last time. We're not looking at anything else. For us this is a championship-level game. This is how we're going into it. No matter who it was, they're in the way of us getting to Monday. That's how we're looking at it.

MARK WILLIAMS: 100 percent. I think regardless of who we play on Saturday, we have the same mindset. Obviously it's a national semifinal game. You want to go out there play your best basketball, play hard, do whatever it takes to win, no matter if it's North Carolina or whoever it may be.

PAOLO BANCHERO: Just really trying to get away from that and not think about that. We're trying to play on Monday and win the championship. So we're going to do whatever it takes to do that, it doesn't matter who we play.

Q. Paolo, I know you say that and I just remember sitting across from you after the game against Carolina, looking at your eyes. I'm sure it was tough. How much, when the brackets came out or anything like that, did you look at that say, hey, I would love another shot at Carolina after they just embarrassed us?

PAOLO BANCHERO: We were paying more attention to the West and who we were playing coming up. I don't think we were looking too far, seeing potential Final Four matchups and stuff. I know I wasn't doing that. I don't think we were as a team, either. This is how it shook out. It's a great storyline. It's going to be a great game. We're excited. We'll be ready.

Q. Going way back when Coach Krzyzewski decided not to go out and recruit and really dig in with you guys this summer, how did that sort of change things? What was the dynamic, did it shift? Or was it all different this year?

WENDELL MOORE JR. I think it gave Coach a chance to have a relationship with everybody just individually, getting to know the guys. He's real big on that. Just having a real personal relationship with each player. So he knows what we all can do on the court, (indiscernible) his people as well. Other than that, really that aspect is what (indiscernible) the most about this summer, really allowed us all to get closer. Did a bunch of team activities together. Overall I think it was for the better.

Q. Wendell, other guys can comment as well. Obviously we followed your season. We all saw the ups and downs, and then like it felt like from a distance that a flipped switch once you got to the tournament. Did something change? Is there something different? Is it the finality? What allows you guys, seems like every game you gain more confidence and obviously feels like you're playing your best basketball right now?

WENDELL MOORE JR.: Definitely does feel that way. Definitely towards the end of the season we came off the heartbreaking loss to Carolina. We played a couple of okay games in the ACC Tournament. Had a tough loss in the championship.

And from there we've kind of treated it as new season. Came here, had to get refreshed. And we really just started from the bottom. We had three, four days of hard practice we haven't had in a while. A chance for us to go 5-on-5 against our guys in practice. That's good bump, for real. We get a chance to do that. We just got better that week. Now we're here.

We had four tough games leading up to this that prepared us for this moment. Each game I do feel we got better. We got more confident. These games, somebody new stepped up. So we keep having things like that, I think we're going to be fine going forward.

Q. Coach K mentioned after the win on Saturday that after that UNC loss and the ACC Tournament he changed his approach, whether it was from the way he spoke to you guys in halftime and obviously the way he listened to you guys during the Texas Tech game. I'm wondering how you've seen that and how that's changed you guys down here in the last four games?

WENDELL MOORE JR.: He's been talking to us a lot more, asking kind of like what we're comfortable with on the court. He comes up with his own game plan but then he gives us a chance to kind of fit it to how we want to play it, like our defensive coverage, what kind of plays you want to run, things like that.

So when things come down to the moment, Coach has been listening to us lately. He feels if it's a go, we go with it.

MARK WILLIAMS: I think game by game, he sort of gives us a little more of a chance to explain what we're seeing on the court. Sometimes when you're playing, you have like a different feel for it. So you just give your thoughts on certain things at certain times in the game. Like Texas Tech, obviously, we went zone. Last five minutes, we're, like, want to go back to man, stuff like that.

But I think it's just tournament time. Just trying to do whatever it takes to win. And obviously you've got to be open ears. So I think that's pretty much it.

Q. Coach has talked a few times this season about how much your lateral movement has improved. He said I think they'd have you chase Spencer around the perimeter at times. Why has that been so helpful for you? How do you think it's improved your defense? And growing up, who are some of the guys you maybe watched growing up and try to model your game after?

MARK WILLIAMS: As far as like this season, I think just working on lateral movement just helped me overall like defending. Sometimes late in the shot clock you have to switch. Some games we're switching from the beginning. So just staying in front of whoever you're guarding.

And as far as, like, people I watched in terms of defending, probably some Olajuwon and the Rudy Goberts of the world. Bam, he plays good defense too. There's a lot of guys I watch.

Q. Paolo, I want to take you back to the last game with Carolina. After the game, Coach K is out there giving his speech and he says it's an unacceptable performance or the result was, anyway. What were you guys thinking? What were you thinking in that moment? What were your emotions as you absorbed that and knew you had more games to play?

PAOLO BANCHERO: I would say we were upset for the most part and disappointed with the way we had played in that game. Just looking back on the film of that game, we as a team just feel like we didn't show up how we should have. And we're a much different team than we were back then. And we got rid of some of those bad habits that you saw in that game.

So just thinking back to that game obviously everybody was disappointed. Coach obviously was too. But I feel like we're a different team and we have a much better group about us right now.

Q. Coach had mentioned that after the Carolina game he actually had to kind of sit down and look at himself in the mirror and kind of change what his message was to you. What did change there from then to now?

PAOLO BANCHERO: Really, I would just say our overall just kind of -- I feel like during that point in the season we were kind of getting playing within ourselves. We weren't talking as much, communicating. We weren't playing for each other as much. And I think he just basically told us we need to get back to that. That's what changed. He told us we all needed to get on one bus. If we all wanted to get on one bus, and we win. But if we didn't, then we'd be going home early.

So it was really up to us. And once we made that decision to fully commit, then everything kind of came easier. We started communicating more. We started playing defense, just being better overall as a team.

Q. Jeremy, you saw all these freshmen come in. I wanted to ask you particularly about Paolo, but how did you see him from the beginning to where he is now just sort of his maturity and the way he's dealt with the pressure of this season and all the situations that you guys have found yourself in?

JEREMY ROACH: Coming in early, in June, I knew Paolo was -- he's one of the most special kids I've seen. Just to see him grow throughout the season with everything coming at him, obviously he's a top pick in the NBA draft. So all that coming at him. He's handled it well.

Very calm, very humble. He's not a guy who would be very arrogant about himself because he's one of the top picks. He's humble. He's worked hard. To see that maturity in him is big with all the lights around him. I think it's a big thing for him.

Q. Trevor, name, image and likeness is a new thing for a lot of people coming into college sport, college athletes. How has it changed your life?

TREVOR KEELS: I feel like definitely grateful. I'm definitely grateful that I had some opportunities to work and express my personality, especially with the Kilmo (phonetic) stuff. I think it's great for the whole team. I think we don't get too caught up in the NIL, like when it's time to lock in and play basketball and be together, like we lock in. When it's time to do the NIL when we've got free time, we do that. But I think we really focus on being with each other and winning championships.

Q. So much of this was about equity and just there's so much money in the game. Has that, I guess just having a little bit, whether it impacts you specifically or just the idea that you're getting a little piece?

TREVOR KEELS: Yeah, definitely. I think any person that gets any bit of money is definitely happy. So I'm for sure happy and get a little money in my pocket. But I'm definitely grateful for doing the things on the basketball court that can help me out with that.

Q. Trevor and Jeremy, I know you have four guys from your high school team here in the Final Four with Slate and Anthony. I talked to Slate a little the other day. Could you talk about what it means to have all four of you here and what are your recollections of team and the leadership role that Slate played on that team?

JEREMY ROACH: We were all on that team, my sophomore year so his freshman year. I knew that group was going to be special, the way we bonded together, the way we were able to be coached. We came from the same AAU program. I knew we were going to be special. And to four years later, to all end up here in the Final Four, you can't be more happy than that. This just shows you how good PVI is in the NVA.

TREVOR KEELS: I remember my eighth-grade year, when Slater and Jeremy were on the team and they were recruiting me to come to PVI, and I knew them three were special, the chemistry they had, they hung out outside of high school.

So it was a no-brainer. I went there and then we just had a special connection. We always talked about it that we're all winners. After that state championship, we were like we knew we were going to win at the next level too.

Now we're here and we still keep in touch on a daily basis. So it's definitely fun. And I'm definitely proud of them.

Q. Will you try to get a photo or anything together with the four of you guys or anything? Or you don't have time for that?

TREVOR KEELS: Probably not. We probably not really going to see them out, for real. But if we get a chance, for sure, probably grab a quick photo.

Q. A.J., you went from 27 points against Carolina in the first game to five in the second game. Did they do anything different, or was it more about you not getting to where you wanted to get to and getting the opportunities that you got in the first game?

AJ GRIFFIN: I would say, yeah, they probably adjusted a little bit more with just not, you know, denying the ball to me. And that's on my part. And just knowing you've got to adjust. So the next thing, just gotta watch the film, see what you can do better.

Q. I was hoping you guys could share what Coach K's message has been to the team in terms of blocking out the noise, not just playing North Carolina, but just all season long it being his last year?

JEREMY ROACH: This is a championship game. We're not looking it as a rivalry or whatever everybody else is saying. It's a championship game. It's another opponent in our way. UNC is a hell of a team. We know they're going to play their ass off for all 40 minutes. So I mean, it's a championship game. That's all he's harping on, it's a championship game.

TREVOR KEELS: You can't really get too caught up in it's a rivalry. If you look at it like that, you're in trouble. You look at it as a championship game. You want to win Saturday and then you want to Monday, be the last team standing. That was his message to us, and we accepted that message. And the team we've been talking about a championship game, no matter who they put in front of us, it's in our way, win a championship.

AJ GRIFFIN: Pretty much what Jeremy and Trev said, just a championship game. We know we're going to play someone. It doesn't matter who it is. We know our goal, where we want to be. Just one game at a time, just want to go out there, play hard and get the win, despite who we're playing against.

Q. A.J., want to ask about your high school teammate, RJ. What's your relationship like with him, and what's it like this week playing against him in this big game?

AJ GRIFFIN: Just playing against RJ in this big game. Just from playing high school, for three years, no, actually four, would have been four, but just playing with him and getting here today, it's just really pretty cool to see. Not many people from Stepinak make it to the Final Four and to say you played against each other is something we'll always remember. Always after the games we tell each other great job and stuff like that. Just seeing how far we came from Stepinak.