Mark Gottfried Post Duke-Game Quotes

Here are quotes from Mark Gottfried’s post game press conference following the Wolfpack’s loss to Duke Thursday night.

January 29, 2013; Charlottesville, VA USA; North Carolina State Wolfpack head coach Mark Gottfried gestures from the bench against the Virginia Cavaliers in the second half at John Paul Jones Arena. The Cavaliers won 58-55. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Opening Statement:

"“The way [Duke] started was just terrific. They played as well as I’ve seen them play, they shot the ball well. We had a hard time keeping them from scoring. They shot the ball from the three. A number of those we had a hand up and we were chasing them off a screen as they were knocking them down. I thought in probably the first eight to 10 minutes they were just sensational…When you lose, you never feel really good. Our guys battled hard. They played extremely hard, they never quit. We just couldn’t seem to get one or two more stops and scores at the same time right when we needed to. We could almost get it under 10 and get it right in there, and then they did a nice job of pushing it back out. But our kids just played with a lot of heart, and theirs did too as well, there’s no question they did as well. Disappointed but proud of our effort there, the way we played about the last 30 minutes.”"

On his team’s improved shooting in the second half:

"“I thought we were a lot more aggressive. I thought we got some good shots earlier, right around the rim. We just couldn’t make them. We got the ball at the rim. Scott Wood had a couple of good looks. Calvin [Leslie] had some, Richard [Howell] was right there, T.J. [Warren] was right there – we just couldn’t seem to get it in the basket. And at the same time we seemed to be struggling, they were on fire and just shooting lights out. You had two things going on at one time. And I thought after that, we just stayed with it. We kept getting the ball around the rim, we executed our offense, we got good shots. And our guys could have laid down – they certainly didn’t.”"

On Richard Howell’s performance:

"“I thought he was really good. [Mason] Plumlee played off of him a little bit and respected his ability to bounce it once or twice, and he made a lot of jump shots. I thought, again, he rebounds like he does every night. I thought he really played well.”"

On Tyler Lewis stepping up:

"“He’s not afraid. Tyler’s a young guy. It’s kind of always in his mind that he has to beat the odds – size and his frame. And he has kind of that mentality right now. He played against good pressure defense all night long, gets 13 points, six assists without a turnover. We’re learning there. The tough thing for us is that we’re not winning, but we’re learning that he can help us a lot. He’s done well.”"

On Lorenzo Brown:

"“He’s doubtful. I have no idea if he’ll be able to play Sunday. We’ll just go day by day, but he’s not ready to play right now.”"

On Scott Wood’s injury in the first half:

"“He pulled his groin pretty hard. We’ll see. He told me he could play. I was a little bit cautious of leaving him in there – certainly don’t want to hurt him more but he felt good. He said, ‘I’m okay’, and he wanted to play and felt good. Hopefully he doesn’t really get stiff and sore tomorrow, so we’ll see tonight. Obviously it’s something we don’t need to have happen to us right now, but if it happens, we roll on.”"

On playing through foul trouble:

"“It’s hard, but they went right at us and I thought we were trying to go right at them inside. So it’s difficult but I don’t think really until the last couple of minutes – maybe the last two minutes of the game – I don’t really think it was an issue for us.”"