A look back at some of the best and most entertaining comments in 2010
“It means the world to us, especially this senior class. We maxed out our season. We played in every game that the season had to offer us, won every championship we competed for. To seal the deal at the end, I’m really at a loss for words.”
Lance Thomas
“The Plumlee Brothers Dunking Company is open for business.”
Miles Plumlee
“We’re on Cloud Nine. Cloud Ten.”
Mason Plumlee, after winning the national title
“My cheeks hurt from smiling so much.”
Miles Plumlee, after winning the national title
“I think there’s only four teams left. Not just in North Carolina but in the whole world.”
Lance Thomas, after reaching the Final Four
“I hope I have a team like this again. I really do. It was as good a group as I’ve ever had. It was the most together team I’ve ever coached. They’re a great team with really good talent that played great defense and rebounded. I feel so good to be a part of their moment… For me to think about being with them now is much better than thinking about the fourth national championship. I love these guys. And you can see why.”
Coach K, after winning the 2010 national title
“Last year’s team was a team that, whatever you gave it, they gave back to you. So it wasn’t an energy drain, like, ‘Man, these guys don’t get it.’ They got it. We worked very hard, but there wasn’t what I call couch time or motivational time. Our veterans took care of a lot of those things, either by talking or by setting an example. That’s such a good thing. So at the end of the year, I was still very fresh.”
Coach K
“Not many people can say they went out winning a national championship. It means a lot to us. I don’t think any of us could have predicted the four years we had. To finish it like this means a lot, especially going through it with these guys every day.”
Jon Scheyer
“I’ve grown to really respect him so much more just playing for him and seeing how much he puts into this. He’s so passionate. He’s up late hours watching film. He’s all-in.”
Chauncey Billups, on Coach K (Billups played on the 2010 world championship team under Coach K)
“This is the best. This is the best. With this group, they really have represented our country, USA Basketball so well. Such a young group. They played with enthusiasm. They played great defense throughout. Not much was expected. I shouldn’t say that. They’re always expecting a lot. But most people didn’t think we could win. But they kept getting better. Our defense was terrific… We had such big bench contributions. I’m just so happy, so fulfilled. This is as good as it gets right now.”
Coach K, on winning the world championship
“Coach K’s a great motivator. No matter what, he always tells us that we have to respect our opponents and have to play our hardest and we’ll live with the results. I love a guy like that. For him to say that and try to come out here and win a World Championship speaks volumes to me. He’s such a great coach. It’s an honor to play for him.”
2010 World Championship MVP Kevin Durant
“This national championship was an amazing accomplishment because everyone put so much effort into it. It felt so good because we knew all the odds were against us to win. It is great whenever you do something big that people don’t expect. To have won it as a player and now as a coach is obviously a big-time accomplishment, and it was an honor to do it with a staff that I’ve grown so close to. I’ll never forget this year and I look forward to more of the same.”
Assistant Coach Nate James
“When the last game was over, we were excited as heck that we won the whole thing, but it was bittersweet because it was over. It was the last time that group was going to be together. I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to replicate a team like this with the intangibles that they had. They’ll always have a special place in my heart, that’s for sure.”
Associate Head Coach Chris Collins
“It’s as good a feeling as I’ve ever had associated with basketball, whether it be as a player or a coach. It’s because we have such strong relationships within the team, from the coaches to the players to the other staff around the team. This group, more than any I’ve been around, is the epitome of what you would want a team to be. It’s so hard to put into words. I’m so happy for our players, especially our older guys, because they’ve had to grow through adversity on an individual level and a collective level. In a day and age when people meet roadblocks and flee instead of fight, we’ve got a bunch of guys who have fought hard to be the players they are and for us to be the team we are.”
Associate Head Coach Steve Wojciechowski
“It’s indescribable. This is what you dream about your whole life. You couldn’t script it any better. To come in freshman year and deal with everything I’ve dealt with, to be the only one left on top is amazing. Only one team can say that they’re national champs, and that’s us.”
Andre Dawkins
“It’s been an absolute progression. You can see the difference every single year. To end it like this, as Lance said, it’s indescribable.”
Brian Zoubek
“I don’t think our seniors could have predicted this, anywhere near this kind of success through our career, just based on how our freshman year went,. I mean, it just proves that if you keep with it, you keep your head down, keep working at it, I mean, good things will come if you put in the work.”
Brian Zoubek
“People talk about Butler being the Cinderella. In a way, even though we’re Duke, we were a Cinderella too because nobody expected us to do it… We don’t have as many All-Americans as some teams, or this and that. But we have Lance and Zoubs, who do all the little things. Our perimeter works so well together. And this team just did whatever it had to do to get wins. I can’t explain how happy I am. I’m speechless.”
Nolan Smith
“I came to Duke to be a part of a champion. We won a few ACC championships, but this one is very special and means a lot more.”
Kyle Singler
“I’m a basketball coach all the time. That’s what I do. I don’t play golf. I chase my dog, or he chases me, and I whack down some trees and bushes and play with my grandkids and drink a little bit of wine. I like to socialize, but I’m a basketball coach every day of my life.”
Coach K
“It’s surreal. I won a national championship. To win by two points with a last second shot, you couldn’t have scripted it any better. It’s unbelievable. Senior year, my last game, my birthday. What more could you ask for?”
Brian Zoubek
“There’s nobody better at getting a group of guys to play hard and play together than Mike Krzyzewski at any level in the United States. He did it once, he’s done it a few times in college by the way at Duke University, and he’s going to have to do it again in a short period of time. The intent to play together is there. Now, can you do it in two weeks leading into the World Championship? That’s the big question.”
ESPN’s Fran Frascilla
“If anything he is a motivational speaker and he really has humor when he talks,” said Rose on ESPN Radio. “If anything you are going to listen to him because he is going to be a legend, a Hall of Famer I mean in this game. For him to be coaching me is wonderful. Too bad I didn’t go to Duke, but it’s great even just being here with him and his staff is great and I am lucky to be on this bus headed to the gym.”
Derrick Rose, a member of Coach K’s 2010 world championship team
“I’ve been in the headlines before. I’m not a person who worries about seeing my name in the headlines. All I care about is if my team is in the headlines. That’s my little world.”
Lance Thomas
“Do you know how badly we wanted to play Duke? I think that’s why we played so badly against West Virginia. We wanted Duke so badly we couldn’t see straight.”
Kentucky coach John Calipari
“Throughout the year, I’ve always done the little things for this team. I’ll guard the other team’s best player. I’ll take that charge. I’ll get that loose ball. On this team, that’s not overlooked.”
Lance Thomas
“I felt comfortable in making my decision to stay. Even though I want to be in the NBA and stuff, I just felt coming back for my senior year and experiencing all the things I’m going to experience, you can’t put a price on it.”
Kyle Singler
“It’s been a progression. We’ve been through so much together. There’s been so much hard work. I think we work harder than anyone in the country. If you don’t believe me, come to practice. We didn’t go through all of that to come here and lose.”
Brian Zoubek
“I can’t even put it into words. It hasn’t even set in yet. To get that last stop, it was why we have won this whole year — defense. We won the national championship with defense. There’s nothing else to say about it.”
Brian Zoubek
“I’m finally here, and my journey can actually begin to where I ultimately want to be. Coming here was the best decision of my life, and finally I got my name called. I’m no longer a recruit. I’m a player at Duke University, so it felt great.”
Kyrie Irving
“You just have to understand that we have to be ourselves and things will take care of themselves.”
Kyle Singler
“That had to be a North Carolina graduate that hates Duke. I’m always pulling for the American against the guy from the foreign country regardless of who it is. That had to be that situation right there.”
UNC coach Roy Williams, on the Tar Heels getting a first-place vote in the ACC preseason poll
“I have an Escalade and my daughters say ‘Dad you shouldn’t put trash and carry your lawn equipment in your Escalade. It’s what I got.”
Coach K, comparing his vehicle usage to Duke’s 2010 offense
“Duke always has a target on our back, but not this big. It’s a little bit different this year. Our focus is going to have to go up 10 more notches.”
Nolan Smith, at the start of the 2010-11 season
“I think this group is definitely ready to embrace” expectations. We have a very confident group that’s ready to be in the spotlight and go after every team as if they’re the defending champs. We want to attack other teams, not be attacked.”
Nolan Smith, at the start of the 2010-11 season
If you want to beat Duke, you can’t take a play off. You have to match their intensity. They wait for you take a play off. You’ve got to contest shots because they’ll stretch you out more than anyone. You’ve got to spread the floor. They have four or five guys who can finish. You’ve got to have one of those special nights. You win by making good basketball plays because Duke makes you play 40 minutes to have a chance to beat them.”
VA Tech coach Seth Greenberg
“I’m not going to say you can’t do things. What I will say is, ‘When you do things now, it’s not about you, it’s about us. So whatever you are doing — Facebook, Twitter — understand that you are representing all of us when you do that. If they make a few mistakes, so be it. If I feel that a mistake is too big to be repeated again, I might take some action. But I’d rather give them the opportunity to grow.”
Coach K
“If I had to pick one, it would have to be the Duke game. And solely because of the opponent. They are, to me, the program you have to emulate. They’re the gold standard in college basketball. I don’t think anyone can deny it with what they’ve done over the years. We get caught up into what happened last week. It’s what they’ve done over the years and how they’ve done it. It was a regular-season game, but it was a great statement for our program.”
Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon, when asked about the greatest moment of his coaching career
“Let me ask you something,” he said. “Are you scared of a bear?” The reporter said yes. “Why?” “It’s bigger and stronger,” the reporter said. “Now you understand why they were fumbling the ball.”
Miami coach Charlie Coles
“It’s weird to other schools, but we take pride in our defense. We love to play defense. We know, in order to win championships, we have to play defense. It was our identity last year, and we’re trying to make it our identity this year.”
Nolan Smith
“It meant everything to me, those four years at Duke. I wish I could have gone there longer and played for Coach K more.”
Christian Laettner, who was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame
“It’s going to be a privilege to be able to tell my grandkids one day that I was fortunate to sit on the bench opposite Coach K.”
Kansas State coach Frank Martin
“Coach K has this down to a science, people. And it’s a great science, man.”
Kansas State’s Jacob Pullen
“I don’t know if you can pick your poison with them, because everyone is poisonous.
Marquette coach Buzz Williams
“I’m very proud of Kyle. Today was a special day for him. He is truly one of the special kids I’ve had the opportunity to coach at any level. He has a warrior’s spirit. He’s all about winning and playing hard and I love the way he performs. He’s never nervous. He’s the same all the time. He never has a play in a game or in practice when he’s not working hard. He’s what I call a no-maintenance guy.”
Coach K, after Kyle scored 30 in his homecoming game at Oregon
“It’s not one single person. Duke Basketball, it’s a collective effort. It’s a brotherhood here. It’s not my team.”
Kyrie Irving
“I haven’t coached him like a freshman. I’ve coached him like a really, really good player. You’ve got to let the really good player make some mistakes and learn. He has done that. You also have to let him follow his instincts. So, we’ve changed the way we play from last year basically because of him.”
Coach K, on Kyrie Irving
“I’m not a big adjective guy. In Chicago, we have just one word and it’s an adjective for everything. I get accused of using it too much down here. Anyway: sensational, scintillating. I’m trying. Was that not a good attempt by me? I mean, for a guy with a low SAT verbal — but a very high SAT math — I thought that was about as good as you’re going to get. He was great. I’m using up all my words.”
Coach K
“‘Urging’ is a good word. It takes the place of some other words. I t was a game that, if one of the two teams could win two or three consecutive possessions, it would be huge. That’s what we were getting on them to do. It’s like a fighter in a big fight. You’re there in the corner saying, ‘C’mon, champ. We need to win this round.’”
Coach K, after Duke’s win over No. 6 Michigan State in Cameron
“There were a number of issues, and a lot of conversation about a lot of people, from a lot of people who didn’t agree with my decision. I agreed with it then. I agree with it now.”
Former Duke AD Tom Butters, on his decision to hire Coach K in 1981
“I’m a man. So I don’t know if I can call another man charming. But honestly, he’s charming. He has this charismatic way about him. And when you’re trying to bring a team together, you have to be in touch with how guys think and what gets them motivated. He makes an effort to do that. But it’s all so natural for him.”
Lamar Odom, who won the gold on Coach K’s 2010 U.S. National Team
“Some of the greatest pictures I’ve ever seen. Like out of Norman Rockwell. You can see we were totally in the moment. Nobody was thinking about the NBA. Nobody was ahead of themselves or looking back too much. It was just, ‘We’re going to be who we are and play basketball today.’”
Coach K, on his 2010 team
“Coach looks like he’s just starting. He’s fresh. He’s eager for more wins. He’s in his prime.”
Nolan Smith
“Congratulations on becoming the winningest basketball coach in ACC history! You’re a giant figure in the game, but more importantly, you have been a transformative figure in the lives of your players. You have been coach, leader, mentor and friend to all of us, and it has not just been a four-year relationship. It has been a lifelong relationship. It has been 25 years since I played for you, but there is not a day that goes by that I don’t rely upon what you taught me. I can’t begin to tell you how happy I am for you and how proud I am of you. Congratulations. You are the best.”
Jay Bilas, to Coach K after his college coach won his 880th game to move into second all time
“The thing that you have to do as a coach is to stay committed to the team that you have. As coaches, we need to be in the players’ moment. Tonight, they were kind of in my moment. But I don’t want them to be in my moment. For me, it’s like, let’s get past this and let’s get on the bus and get back into the players’ moment.”
Coach K, after winning his 880th career game
“When you look back or you start thinking about wins, I think it takes away your hunger. You think that you’ve already achieved. And I don’t want to think that way. I think success can take away your hunger. It can motivate you, too, don’t get me wrong. But it can really take away your hunger. And I want to stay hungry. My guys deserve that.”
Coach K, after winning his 880th career game
“Coach cares so much about is, and we see that each and every day. There’s not a day that he doesn’t come to practice not prepared, not ready to coach, and today — each game we want to play hard, but there was something extra we wanted to put forth for him, and it was the right thing to do.”
Kyle Singler, after Coach K won his 880th career game
“This game was bigger than us. It was for all the players that played for coach, all the alumni, everybody that’s put on a Duke jersey, it was for everybody. For us to play a great game, it felt like it was for more than just this team. It was for everybody at Duke.”
Nolan Smith, after Coach K won his 880th career game
“Brian Zoubek is a mountain masquerading as a man.”
Virginia Tech head coach Seth Greenberg
“Virginia advances, but you have to wonder if this win earns them a ticket on the Titantic tomorrow vs. Duke.”
TV analyst Dan Bonner, during the 2010 ACC Tournament
“Playing Duke is an opportunity of a lifetime.”
California’s Pat Christopher
“Of the highly identifiable, usually competitive and generally polarizing American sports brands, none is more so than Duke Basketball… Coach K’s Duke is that massive rock every great mountain climber dares to scale. It’s the exam every genius longs to take, the song every singer wants a chance to sing. Coach K’s Duke also happens to represent the mountain climber who reaches the summit, the genius that aces the exam and the singer that nails the performance. Hate ‘em. Love ‘em. Gotta watch ‘em.”
Oakland Tribune’s Monte Poole
“Before the game Krzyzewski wrote four words on a whiteboard in the locker room: STRONG. TOGETHER. TALK. CRASH. It was the language of effort.”
Tim Layden, in Sports Illustrated
“This has been like graduation, alumni weekend, and summer campus tours all rolled into one. It’s like our little own stimulus package.”
Duke Stores Merchandise Manager TOM CRAIG, on the national championship’s financial impact on Duke Stores
“They out-competed us in every single position. And out-toughed us, and outrebounded us by 20. That’s something we talk about a lot. It’s probably the hardest someone has played us, including conference play, in the last five years. Now we have an opportunity to play them again. You have the opportunity to go out and try to out-compete somebody and play harder than somebody that really raised the bar for our program.”
Purdue Head Coach Matt Painter, before facing Duke for the second straight season (this time in the Sweet 16)
“I certainly think Duke is Goliath. When you look at college basketball, they’ve set the standard for everyone else over the years. Ever since I’ve been watching basketball, Coach Krzyzewski and Duke have been one of the preeminent programs in the country… What stands out to me with Coach Krzyzewski is his ability to create an environment of team… The best way I can put it is [he] writes books and I get to read ‘em.”
Butler Head Coach Brad Stevens, before meeting Duke in the national title game
“We played a great game and we weren’t tired at all. We have a team that gets in shape every single day we are in the gym. We take care of our bodies, and whether we have three guys playing 40 minutes, if we played 100 minutes, it doesn’t matter.”
Nolan Smith
“That’s the story of my career. Me being the most wiry guy on the court and going up against a monster. I’m ready for it. The younger guys will be ready for it by following my lead. It comes down to just being tough. I’m not backing down from any one of those guys and I’m letting my teammates do it, either.”
Lance Thomas
“When you come to Duke, you know you are going to be playing under the bright lights and you have to be ready for it. That’s what happened tonight.”
Andre Dawkins
“We want to win it so bad for us, the senior class, but it feels just as good to win for Coach K because we know how much stuff he’s taken the last couple of years, how much criticism he’s had and how hard he’s tried to help us. He’s been there every day, totally exhausted himself to make us better.”
Brian Zoubek
“We’ve worked really hard, this group, and I think we’ve come a long way since our freshman year. And to be in a position in the Final Four and contend for a national championship, it means a lot. I don’t know if it’s fully hit me. I’m sure after the year I’ll have a better appreciation. But right now I’m just ecstatic and just really happy to share with all my teammates.”
Jon Scheyer
“I just kept my eye on the target. The rebound was in my reach. It was either me or him, and I wanted it. I wanted it bad.” Thomas grabbed the rebound and handed the ball to Singler, who passed to Smith for an open three-pointer. When the Blue Devils followed a defensive stop with a Scheyer three-pointer, they essentially clinched a trip to the Final Four. “We have size, but we have to play a lot smarter. They had the athletes, clearly. Those guys played way above the rim. But we use our talents. We use what we have.”
Lance Thomas, after the regional final win over Baylor
“You want to leave a mark at Duke. We were in the right position. We’re deserving of this. Coach talks all the time about the basketball gods. We must be in the national championship game for a reason.”
Kyle Singler
“There was a TV timeout with under four minutes in the second half. I’m pretty sure we were down by one [Duke trailed 61-60]. There was 3:36 on the clock. I came to the bench and was kind of looking around. I thought, ‘This is it. It was a three-minute game for our season, everything you’ve been working for your whole life.’ I smiled and went for it. That was the most surreal moment. That is a moment I’ll never forget.”
Jon Scheyer
