Looking ahead to Friday's season-opener against Presbyterian, some members of the Duke basketball team met with the media Thursday afternoon to discuss the No. 4 Blue Devils' start to the year. Duke hosts Presbyterian and Fairfield this weekend before playing three neutral-site games next week for a rough five-games-in-eight-days stretch to kick off the year.
Here are some of the highlights from Thursday's player availability:
Senior captain Quinn Cook:
On Friday's game: "For the freshmen it’s their first game of their collegiate career, I know the upperclassmen are excited because last year we left a bad taste in our mouth in our last official game.... These games matter. All the teams want to come here and make history. I think it’ll be a big adjustment for [Duke's freshmen], but those guys are ready for that. If we pay attention to details and the little things Coach has been telling us all week about these guys, we feel we’ll perform well tomorrow."
On the difficulties of playing five games in eight days: "It’s a mental grind, and a physical grind as well. Not looking ahead, but after Presbyterian we don’t have a break to get ready for Fairfield. A lot of film in a condensed time, so you have to be mentally prepared, you’ve to take care of your body, get sleep, all the stuff that guys need to do to get physically ready."
On head coach Mike Krzyzewski's substitution plans: "We have 10 guys who can start. I know on our team we don’t pay attention [to that], we just leave it for the people outside. If you’re not going to start, you still could play 30 minutes, play 35 minutes. It doesn’t matter who starts, you’ve just got to be ready.... Coach obviously knows what he’s doing.... He said all 10 guys will play, so all 10 guys have to be ready. I don’t know how he’s going to sub in and out but we’ll see tomorrow."
Freshman center Jahlil Okafor
On making his regular season debut Friday: "I'm not nervous yet, but I always get a little nervous before the games. Right now, I'm just excited.... I really can't wait. It's probably going to be hard for me to go to sleep tonight but I just can't to play in front of the Cameron Crazies again and put on a Duke jersey."
On what he learned from the two exhibition games: "I have a lot that I need to work on—rebounding being the main thing. Being accustomed to boxing out before going to rebound and things like that. I'm playing against people who are equal to me in size.... There's a lot of room for improvement."
On the little things being emphasized off the court: "Our trainers [make sure we're] just staying hydrated, making sure we're getting enough sleep at night, staying hydrated, making sure we're eating a lot so when we can be energized when we start traveling and playing games.... In high school, my coach never really worried about how many hours of sleep I was getting and things like that. It's all the little things that add up to us performing at the highest level."
Junior captain Amile Jefferson
On playing with Okafor on defense: "Some things are the same, like I'm still able to pick up the ball with Quin when we want to pressure up and put pressure on the ball. But it's different because I'm not fighting with the [opposing] big the entire possession, making sure he doesn't catch [the ball]. Now I'm up [on the floor] and in the passing lanes we're able to switch on one through four. So I'm not only guarding the four, but wings at times when we switch out. It's helped me to be more vocal, because when I was guarding the bigs, I was using all my energy trying to make sure they didn't get position, trying to make sure I wasn't getting down or knocked out of position. Now I'm able to talk to [Okafor], make sure Tyus [Jones] is contesting, make sure Justise [Winslow] and Matt [Jones] are not letting guards catch the ball."
On improved defensive communication this year: "At first, it was just a few guys talking. Now guys are getting more comfortable in their roles and with themselves and now everybody's talking. It's just making sure everyone's doing what their doing and every teammates' holding you responsible. When you're holding yourself accountable, not only to you, but for Matt. 'I don't want to let Matt down. I'm going to grab that rebound because I don't want Tyus to get on me.' Then guys start talking more because they're trusting each other and that's really at the point that we're at."
The Blue Devils and Blue Hose are scheduled to tip off at 6 p.m. Friday night from Cameron Indoor Stadium.
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