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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 7, 2014Ka'Lia JohnsonJoanne P. McCallieHaley PetersElizabeth WilliamsGREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA Duke – 82 COACH JOANNE McCALLIE: Yeah, I thought it was a very good basketball game for us and a terrific and intense 40 minutes, which is really what you have to do at this time of year. Georgia Tech is a fantastic team. We were certainly concerned about different things that they could do. I really loved our poise against any pressure. Q. What made this an increasingly one‑sided game over the final 24 minutes? COACH JOANNE McCALLIE: I don't think it was any one thing, whether it was a defensive possession or offensive one. There were very few times I felt we were stepping outside of what we wanted to do. And there were very few shots that were stacked because we were patient, we moved the ball and got the ball in the right spots. And that's important to us. We've got to play this game together, and I think everyone did a great job doing that. Q. Ka'lia, how much momentum did your team carry into half after you hit that shot? KA'LIA JOHNSON: I think that momentum going to the halftime was great, and we just built off of that. Coming out it was great. We played great defense, great offense. It started from that, built off of that. Coming out it was great. We attacked really well. Moved the ball really well. Like Coach said, we didn't take any forced shots. I think we took all of our shots. It started from that point and we just carried it on through the rest of the game. Q. Haley, you played an NCAA team, win by 30 points, everything looks good on the stat sheet. With all the adversity you've had with losing players, how impressive is it to you that everybody has adapted to new roles and learn a new system? HALEY PETERS: Yeah, we've done just a great job as a whole, everybody just embracing the challenge of what we've gone through this year and over the last few games. We've had some setbacks, and we haven't done what we wanted to do, but we've always really stayed with each other and stayed in what we're trying to build on, and everybody just doing what they can do on the floor and doing better, and improving on what they think they can improve on and today we did a pretty good job doing that. Q. Can you talk about the press and how you guys broke that press and how you guys worked inside to basically wear down their defense versus the other way around which they did against Virginia. I thought that Tech would come out and try to wear you guys down physically, but it looked like by the end you guys actually held up, the last one standing, so to speak. KA'LIA JOHNSON: Yeah, I think we were really patient offensively against their presses, and like we said before, we weren't really getting out of ourselves, we weren't trying to be uncharacteristic. We weren't overdribbling, and just being patient and moving the ball. We were able to get layups against their presses. Q. You held Georgia Tech to 20 percent shooting in the second half, 23 percent in the game. Coach and Elizabeth, do you remember a game like that? Secondly, 13 of their best shots were blocks. Talk about the impact of the blocked shots on maybe their psyche and their shots. ELIZABETH WILLIAMS: Blocked shots are intimidating, honestly, and I think everyone contributed to that. Just having our hands up and being active, I think we also had deflections, not even just blocks. What was the first question? Sorry. Q. (Inaudible)? ELIZABETH WILLIAMS: It's been awhile. COACH JOANNE McCALLIE: I don't know the last time. But I loved the focus on the stances. Again, everybody was moving together. So when somebody passed off, somebody communicated, the pressure was there, the ball pressure. And that's really, really important at this time of year. That's something we can build off of tomorrow night. Q. Earlier in the season you were maybe the seventh, eighth, ninth player off the bench and now you know you're going to play almost the whole time. What's it like for you now and how much do you enjoy bringing the ball up the floor? KA'LIA JOHNSON: It's fun. It's always fun to be on the court. It's just ‑‑ I'm just always ready to play, no matter. Tonight 32 minutes, earlier in the season, like you said, I got maybe 10 minutes. Every time I get the opportunity I want to make a difference and do what I can for my team. As far as bringing the ball up the floor, going back to high school days, I played a little point guard. It's like visiting my old days. But it's cool. Q. Haley, I was listening to Coach Brown talk on the Blue Devil Network. And evidently you had 3 points in the first half, 16 in the second half, and he said he was extremely happy because it sort of happened you were patient and it sort of finally came that you were able to put the ball through the hoop. Is that the way you look at it? HALEY PETERS: Yeah, I was aggressive all the game, I think moving to the ball and moving without the ball. We had great shots in the first half. And I mean, if your shots aren't falling, I was just focused on rebounding and playing defense, and staying aggressive on offense. And in the second half it broke for me. It's just ‑‑ that's how the game happens sometimes. Coach Brown is always right (laughter). Q. Joanne, I thought the chemistry tonight was absolutely terrific. I was just reminiscing back at the beginning when you had three experienced point guards you were going to depend on and then now you don't. How did all of that chemistry develop between these ladies? COACH JOANNE McCALLIE: I think the team has worked very hard at owning up. We did well against Wake, but wanted to be better. The next game we didn't do well. This team is very, very excited about this new season, and they're very confident. We've got a lot of great talent, and I think everybody understands that everyone's got to play their role. That we've all got to be present minded. And I think the leadership, whether seniors or younger, everybody is playing their part and having fun, but knowing when to focus, and I think that's a big key to this time of year. Q. Joanne, one of the main critiques you had of your team was overdribbling, and that being a symptom of lack of focus. Can you compare that game and now and how much of that was simply getting several days of good practice in to sort of work on that particular flaw? COACH JOANNE McCALLIE: Again, I think the team just really, coaches like to think practice really helps. But I think, too, that the team just really began to understand it's better to pass. And I think this experience is teaching us a lot of lessons. And may even be teaching our point guards that can't play with us, because that ball is moving at quite a clip. It's hard to keep up with it when it's passed. I think this team has really begun to understand that, and was not happy about how we were last time out. We're a better team than that. We want to keep climbing, keep climbing, keep challenging ourselves. And keep passing the ball. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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