Duke Breakout Room: Marques Bolden Quotes March 30, 2019 Q: Obviously we don t, know if Cam is going to be playing. Can you please talk about how that changes the game plan and the possibility of playing without him? MARQUES BOLDEN: Cam is a huge and important part of this team, but we re still a team. We re just going to go out and fight hard, that s what we re focused on right now. Alex stepped in and did a great job, so we look forward to the fight tomorrow. Q: Obviously you played for one of the greatest coaches, maybe of all time. Could you tell me in your opinion what makes Coach K great? MARQUES BOLDEN: It s just his intensity and his passion. For me coming out of high school, I really thought that I loved basketball and that I would do anything to be successful. But then coming up and meeting a guy like him and seeing how much he cares and just how passionate he is for the game, it changes your perspective on a lot of things. So, I think that s what makes him different. Q: What are the difficulties to preparing with Cam and without Cam? MARQUES BOLDEN: Really play making. He accounts for a lot of our points. So, for him to just command that attention and not be in the game, and for that attention to be focused on just two guys on the court, it really changes a lot. So, we ll see about tomorrow. Q: This has been a Michigan State that you ve played against a few times, has anything changed this time around? MARQUES BOLDEN: No, not really. Obviously, they re an older team and they have a lot of guys who are very talented. They have a lot of guys who crash the boards too, so to be physical and to crash the boards is going to be key. Q: Have you seen much out of Cassius Winston? Can you assess his game? MARQUES BOLDEN: Yeah, he commands a lot of attention. He s one of their leading assist leaders in the program. We re expecting him to go out there and be a play maker, so we need to contain him. Q: What do you remember about your emotions from this stage at last year? MARQUES BOLDEN: It hurts, but I try to not remember too much of that game because it brings out bad energy. So, we re just trying to focus on what we have right now and live in the moment. Q: We have an ACC showdown here with the Big 10 with you here and also with UVA going against Purdue. What s your mindset with the conference having so many teams in the tournament? MARQUES BOLDEN: It just shows how talented the conference is. There s a lot of tournament teams who came from the conference. For us to start off with three number one seeds says a lot.
Q: What s the hype and mindset like in the locker room? MARQUES BOLDEN: The intensity is there obviously. We know the stakes and we have a couple guys in the locker room that have been in the position before and were not able to pull it out. So, we are looking forward to it. Q: You re one of the few players that have played MSU twice before. What can you tell the younger guys about playing a team coached by Tom Izzo? MARQUES BOLDEN: They re a very aggressive team. They get a lot of offensive rebounds and second chance points. For us just getting the rebounds and keeping them off the boards is going to be important. Q: How s your knee feeling? MARQUES BOLDEN: It s feeling good. Obviously, I m out of the brace and doing better than last week. So, I m feeling good. Q: What are your thoughts on last night? MARQUES BOLDEN: We knew VT was a veteran team that shoots a lot of threes. So, for us to just keep being consistent on the offensive end was important. Q: What is your feeling being back in the Elite 8? MARQUES BOLDEN: It s crazy to see how time flies, I m back in the Elite 8 already. I remember every vivid detail of last year s game, so being able to have another crack at it and another opportunity means the world. Q: What about MSU makes them very hard to defend? MARQUES BOLDEN: Just their versatility. You ve got guys like Cassius Winston who can pick and roll. They ve got Tilman who s a force inside, McQuaid who s a shooter on the outside. So, they ve got a lot of weapons, so we re ready for a fight tomorrow. Q: It s been a circus around Zion, but he has the most points from a freshman in the tournament in three games, what have been your impressions on him? MARQUES BOLDEN: All his attention is well deserved and seeing what he s done in his first tournament run is crazy to see. So, I m happy for him. Q: How would you describe RJ s killer instinct? MARQUES BOLDEN: I don t know how to put it into words, it s just kind of something you have to be there to see. For him to have that mentality at such a young age and the composure speaks to his maturity he has as a player. Q: Is there anything Zion has done this year that has made even a great athlete like you say wow? MARQUES BOLDEN: Probably our first tournament game when he had a steal and chased it down. He outran their guard and went behind his back and stumbled a little bit. People forget that he s 280 so for him to be doing that stuff with that weight on him and being able to go around and maneuver is crazy. He makes a lot of plays on the court that are crazy to see.
Duke Breakout Session Quotes: Tre Jones March 30, 2019 On last night s win: TRE JONES: Like you said, we were able to celebrate our win last night. We got up this morning and are focused on Michigan State now. We were able to watch film this morning on them and get our game plan from the coaches. Q: Quick question on Cassius, as point guard to point guard, player to player, what is your favorite part of him game? TRE JONES: Definitely his basketball IQ. I can see, like you said, from point guard to point guard, they way he is able to control a game. The reads he is able to make off the defense. He has the ball a ton for their offense. He is able to make a lot their players a lot better. Not saying that they are really good already, but he is just able to make them a lot better just because of how good of a point guard he is. Q: How aware of (Winston) have you been during the season? Not just seeing film, but have you been seeing him on tv and just following his at all throughout the season? TRE JONES: Its tough watching a lot of college teams especially when they are not in the conference, but I am able to watch points guards throughout the entire year and cross the country. He is definitely a point guard that I have been able to watch this year. Like I said before, I like his basketball IQ, and the decisions he makes on the offense end. Q: Tre, do you remember when your brother won the title? Were you at any of the games in the tournament and do you remember what that was like? TRE JONES: Yeah, I was at all of the tournament games that year. Q: So, what a sophomore in high school? TRE JONES: I was a freshman in high school. Those games were really extremely exciting. I said this earlier in an interview, but this is just so much different being on the outside rather than on the inside. I was a bit younger at the time, just being a fan, enjoying the ride. It was a lot of fun. Q: Did you want to be here one day? TRE JONES: It was defiantly a goal of mine. Especially after everything he went through and wanted. I made it a goal of mine to try to come to Duke one day as well. It had always been my favorite college. Just being able to come here one day and compete for a national championship as well. Q: Is this the kind of script you ve had in your head?
TRE JONES: I mean you could say so, but I mean I set a goal out from me and I ve been trying to reach that ever since. Q: Did you feel like you needed to step your scoring up with Kam out last night? TRE JONES: Yeah for sure. But even if he was I there, with us, I knew that they would help off Zion and RJ a bunch. It s just the way there defense was. They plug gaps and help off try to take away the drive to keep up out of the paint. I knew I had to step that up. Q: In what different ways have you tried to work on your shooting over the course of the season? Not just here in the NCAA Tournament? That was a high for you in three-point shooting for you. TRE JONES: I mean, just every single day getting into the gym. Whether it is with only myself, Kam, some other teammates, or the coaches as well I mean everyone has been able to work with me when ever I wanted to get the work in. They ve been able to keep their confidence in me throughout the season. Q: Has it been mentally draining these close games against UCF and VT and having to turn back around a play Michigan State? Mentally how do you prepare for a matchup like tomorrow s game. TRE JONES: It s not draining at all. I feel like that makes it even more exciting. We are really living the March Madness thing out to the fullest with winning our last two games by a total of three points. Having to turn around and play another really tough program again, I feel like we ve been tested like this throughout the year with a tough ACC schedule. And then in the ACC tournament we had to do that as well. The coaches do a good job in preparing us for these moments. Q: What do you except the level of physicality to be in this match? TRE JONES: They are an extremely physical team. They are an older more experienced team as well. So, we know that they will be very physical. They got big guys down low that are really physical. They got wings that are physical as well. Q: How do you mentally prepare yourself for that knowing it is going to be that type of game? TRE JONES: I mean, you prepare the same for every game. We play physical games all the time but its just another basketball game. We got to prepare for what they are going to do as a team and try to make what they do difficult. Q: What are you going to have to do when you are defending [Winston]? TRE JONES: Just try to make it difficult for him the entire game. Try to not let him get any easy looks but also make it difficult for him to set his teammates up. Because they rely on him so much in setting them up. He has the ball for a lot of time on offense and
makes a lot of their plays. Like I said, he has a high basketball IQ. So, they trust him with having the ball like that. Q: Who are some of the more challenging guys you have had to defend and how do they compare to Cassius Winston? TRE JONES: I don t think there is any similarities to him this year that I have faced so far. There have been a lot of tough matchups throughout the ACC with players I have gone against. But just the way he is able to lead the team and how much he has the ball in his hand and makes decisions for his teammates is what makes him different than the rest of the players I have gone against. Q: What has your brother told you about playing against Michigan State? TRE JONES: He hasn t told me anything just because the game changes. Although it is the same team that I am going against, (Michigan State) won t play the same. They have different players now. He will tell me to just keep doing my thing, trying to lead this team with the best of my ability but he won t say anything about the other team. Q: Any specific advice? TRE JONES: Just keep being myself, try to lead the team as much as I can and just keep being in the moment. Q: What do you learn from him? TRE JONES: A lot of things. There is not, one specific thing I will say. There are so many things from life and also the game of basketball I have learned from. Q: What are the intangibles that Alex O Connell brings? TRE JONES: His ability to stretch the floor. He can knock down that shot whenever he gets the ball. But, also, I think we saw last night with his ability to rebound on the defensive end and also play defense for us. A lot of people think when they see him out there that they can go at him, but he likes that challenge and he takes on that challenge. He is able to keep fighting off the opposing team. Q: In a game how to you see that trust from (Coach K)? How does he show his trust in you? TRE JONES: Whether he is telling me he has confidence in me or when I feel a read and I tell him about it, he lets me just go with it. and lets me make calls.
Duke University Blue Devils (Breakout Room) Quotes March 30, 2019 Q: What is the feeling like to be in the Elite Eight and be one step closer? RJ BARRETT: It s a great time, you know we re supposed to be happy we re in the Elite Eight, it s not something everybody can say they ve done, so just taking advantage of the moment. Q: As you get closer, are you guys getting nervous/excited? RJ BARRETT: Not at all. I feel like the closer we get the more fun it is and we have a coach who that gives us confidence and we re so close as a unit and as a group that we just stay poised. On attacking with his right hand: RJ BARRETT: Everybody says I can t go right, but I actually like dribbling with my right hand more, to be honest. Just continuing to go attack all the time, and my thing is if it ain t broke don t fix it. Q: Do you think the way this team carries itself affects the other team? RJ BARRETT: I think that s what s good for people to see that we can win games on defense too. Sure, we have great weapons on offensively, but will to win shows on the defensive end as well. Q: How difficult will it be to guard against Michigan State? RJ BARRETT: They have big guys down low, they have some shooters and they have great point guard. That s a formula for success right there. That s why they re in the Elite Eight. On Michigan State s Defense: RJ BARRETT: They have a great defense. They re going to give us their best shot, but I feel like our defense is good as well, so it s going to be a dog fight. Q: What s your mindset going in to the game? RJ BARRETT: I play it mostly by feel, seeing what the defense is giving me. In the first half yesterday, it was more for me to get assists and the second half for me to score so just trying to read the game. On Coach Krzyzewski: RJ BARRETT: His drive just to be doing this as long as he has and to still get up for any game, to still be excited for every single moment to be excited for every practice, I find that amazing. He s one of the smartest people I know. He definitely knows the game of basketball in ways that I couldn t even imagine.
Q: When you win games in the final seconds, does that provide extra momentum or is it just another win? RJ BARRETT: I actually think it s a good thing just to be able to close out close games because this is truly March Madness and that s really what s going to happen from here on out, so just that we have experience with that is great.
Duke Breakout Quotes: Zion Williamson March 30, 2019 Q: Zion, I m new to covering you guys, so I notice that every time you do a locker room interview that you have to sit next to Mike Buckmire. Why is that and what is your relationship with Buckmire? ZION WILLIAMSON: It really sucks that Buck can t be here with me. Buck and I are great friends. Ever since the first day I stepped on campus, he just had a cool, relaxed vibe about him. He never seems bothered by anything. He s just always happy, so that s the kind of vibe I like to be around. I know he doesn t play, but I try to get him involved in anything I possibly can. Q: State (Michigan State) does a great job field goal percent defense wise. What kind of problems does that present for you guys tomorrow? ZION WILLIAMSON: Obviously, it will present a few problems, but we re just going to have to game plan against that. Q: You said you came to Duke to play in games like this against a team like Michigan State, so how would you best describe when you step out on the floor tomorrow. What you re going to feel or what you re thinking, and if it lives up what you came here and expected? ZION WILLIAMSON: I m going to be very excited obviously. Both teams have winning history in their programs. Being out there, I m probably going to look around and be thankful that I m out here. I could easily not be in this position. I never took that for granted. Gonna get out there and try to hoop. Q: What s the mental fatigue like versus just winning straight up? ZION WILLIAMSON: The mental part is just that we re confident. We ve had some rough practices throughout the year. These forty minutes are a very physical forty minutes, but some of our practices we won t take granted for that. Q: Does Michigan State remind you of any team you ve played this year? ZION WILLIAMSON: Not at all. Michigan State is Michigan State. They re their own unique team with a great guard. Winston is the leader of that team. We got a big assignment ahead of us. Q: Did you watch them much and know them much growing up just not really being from that area like that? ZION WILLIAMSON: Yeah. I did watch them a little bit when growing up, especially when we were watching Duke versus Michigan State like in 2011 with Kyrie. 2015 Final Four and also last year s game. All those games were great games. I mean both teams are great.
Q: How important is that to you to kind of have that legacy with what people see what you do on the court, but as far as off the court? ZION WILLIAMSON: I m not going to let basketball define who I am. I could easily not be in this position so I m always grateful that I m in this position. I don t see no need to change, because I was the same person before I got the notoriety and I m going to be the same person, so I don t see no reason to change. Q: Zion, you guys have had so many close calls. What s it like to be involved in so many games that seemingly come down to the last possession and last shot? ZION WILLIAMSON: You obviously don t want to in that situation, but I think we re confident when we step on the floor that we can either get the basket or get the shot up. I think it s just a confidence thing. If you re not confident, you re not going to pull through. Q: Zion, is it true that your Mom was your first basketball coach? ZION WILLIAMSON: Yes, sir. My mom was the hardest basketball coach I have ever played for even till this day. Even when I thought I would have a great game. She would have a full list of things wrong or I could ve did better. When I was younger, it did bother me. I remember I used to ask Is there not a good game in your book? Can I not have a great game?. She was always look at me and say, You ll thank me later. I do thank her for that as much as I can. That helped with my ability to get coached. Any other coaches I had after her that would either yell at me, go on a rant or coach me, I was never phased by it. I was always ready to learn. Q: Zion, where do you expect the level of physicality to be tomorrow? ZION WILLIAMSON: I expect the level of physicality to be at its best, because it s the elite eight. Nobody wants to go home. Eight teams remaining and you just 1v1 those teams to go to the Final Four. Q: How would you describe your competitiveness to somebody? ZION WILLIAMSON: I think it s something people are still finding out about me. I m the type of person no matter what I m doing, I want to win. Playing Connect Four, playing a game of knockout, or horse, no matter what I m doing, I want to win. Q: Michigan State seems like someone different steps up every game for them. Last night, it was two freshmen. How do you game plan for them? ZION WILLIAMSON: You just have to give each player their respect. I don t know why people do this, but when you disrespect the player, that s only going to motivate them to do even more. I think LSU was playing off them and making them shoot the three and they made them pay for it, because they re kind of disrespecting that player. You just have to give every player their respect and at the same time, you got to hope that your defense can affect the.
Duke Breakout Session Quotes: Javin DeLaurier March 30, 2019 Q: We got a little ACC-Big Ten 10 showdown here, with you guys in the Elite 8 and UVA vs Perdue. Are you rooting for UVA because its good for the conference? What s your mindset there? JAVIN DELAURIER: To be honest, I m really only focused on us winning our game tomorrow. In terms of the other side of the bracket, I m not really concerned with it until they re directly our opponent. Q: You re 40 mins from the Final Four, what s the mindset in the locker room? JAVIN DELAURIER: Going through the locker room, we made it here last year, we came so close to making to the Final Four, we lost the game in overtime so after the guys that came back, it was a painful memory and one that we don t want this group to have. We just tell the freshmen that for 40 mins, while we have achieved a lot, we haven t achieved what we wanted, so we are going to have to fight. Q: Duke seems more likable in a way because if Zion, the way he handles this media circus, what is your impression of that? It is surprising for a guy who is so young, that this stuff doesn t seem to faze him? JAVIN DELAURIER: It s surprising only in that I didn t think that an 18 year old kid could handle all of the attention that s been placed upon him the way Zion has. He s done an amazing job of just being who he is, he s a really humble kid and it could have easily gone the other way being an 18 year old kid, fresh out of high school and all of a sudden you re on ESPN and TV all the time. But he handles it with so much poise, and he is well beyond his years. Q: Coach K is probably one of the greatest coaches of all-time, what makes him so great in your opinion? JAVIN DELAURIER: You know Coach, Not only is he a brilliant basketball mind, but hes a great motivator. He knows almost exactly what to say, depending on the situation. Sometimes he ll come into the locker room before the game and normally the team will go over scouting reports one for time and move on from there. But sometimes, he ll see how we re feeling. Sometimes he ll come in and just yell and get us all fired up and ready to go out there and get out there to fight. Q: Talk about the possibility of prepping to play without Cam? JAVIN DELAURIER: Thankfully I guess, well I can say thankfully now, we ve been in situation this year where we ve had to play without guys. We ve lost guys to injury at numerous parts of the year. Cam as far as I know is game time decision, and if he can t go we ve been here before, and we have guys that will step up.
Q: What s the difference, you ve been here before, last time you ve played MSU team before these are two completely different teams now what do you out of MSU now that is just different now? JAVIN DELAURIER: They are definitely different teams, but they still do a lot of the same things very well. They re very physical, they run their stuff really well, they have a great pointguard and they re relentless on the boards. So it s going to be battle for us all night long trying to keep them off the boards making sure that we run our stuff the right way. Q: You guys are all amazing athletes, so the fact that there is a guy (Zion) that even amazes you guys, how incredible is that? JAVIN DELAURIER: I think our trainer said it best, we were all training the room one day and he said You all hit the genetic lottery, but Zion hit it twice. Q: You ve been a part of teams that have National Championship talent, but weren t able to reach the Final Four, now you ve got the opportunity, one win away from the Final Four, what s your message to the younger players on this team? JAVIN DELAURIER: Like you said, I ve been on team where we ve had national championships talent before but we ve fallen short. Just letting them know how painful that experience is, knowing that you could have but you didn t. So for us it s about coming out tomorrow and giving it everything that we got. Especially after the emotional win last night, bouncing back and coming out playing even better tomorrow. Playing in the Elite 8 is an accomplishment for any team. While we won, it s not what we want, it s not where we want to be, we want to go further. Q: What were some of those emotions last night after the game? JAVIN DELAURIER: Just a sense of joy, that fact that we were moving on. Once again that we re still dancing and get the opportunity to continue playing. Q: Do you think this team has been able to capture joy and maintain a sense of fun about this tournament run? JAVIN DELAURIER: Absolutely, I think we ve done a great job of doing that all year. It s a long season, we arrive on campus in July, pretty much go go go since then. But knowing that we re so close to doing what we ve all talked about, not only this year, but since we were little kids playing, it just keeps us going.