LOCKER ROOM REPORT: Blue Devils Slip Past Wolfpack
NC State head coach Wes Moore and sophomore center Elissa Cunane met with the media following the Wolfpack's 70-65 loss to Duke Monday evening.
Below is a transcript of Moore’s comments to the media.
NOTE: Click on each thumbnail to watch each interview.
Wes Moore
“First of all, give Duke a lot of credit. They came in here and really got after us. From the tip, they were ready to play. We started the game trying to go over a pick on the ball when we were supposed to go under and tried to go through some stagger screens instead of chasing it, and boom, we’re down 5-0 right off the bat. I’ll take the blame on a lot of things, but at some point, they also have to be accountable. We’ve got to do a better job preparing for games, knowing the scout, going out and executing, playing with some energy and some urgency. Duke’s got three seniors in that starting lineup that realize it’s now or never. We maybe have some young players out there that don’t get that yet, and it’s hurting us because, at this time of year, everything is turned up a notch or two. I’ll look at it and see what I can do to help. We’re not shooting the ball great right now, but the one [stat] that jumps out at you is points off turnovers: 23-2. That’s a little too big a mountain to overcome. We need to get the ball in to Elissa more. I probably should have emphasized that better or gone to her more, but the few times we did try to go to here, we threw the ball away. Two or three times, we threw the ball out of bounds. It’s going to take everybody, all hands on deck, to try to fix this and get the ship ready in a hurry because we’ve got a Syracuse team coming in that I know is going to be hungry as well and that’s right on the bubble.”
“Very disappointing. We’ve had three straight sell-outs at home, and we lost all three of them. I hate it for the fans. I wanted to do something special for the fans this year, and now, if we don’t get this thing turned in a hurry, we’re going to be really missing an opportunity. Right now, I’m searching, and it’s just not a good time of year to be doing that. I’m not sure what the best lineup is or how the rotations should be. We’ve got some of our veterans that maybe haven’t played their best basketball lately, and then some of the freshmen don’t know what’s going on on defense and executing that. You’ve got to compete. Like I said, the tough part is Duke’s got three seniors out there who are urgent and are competing in that starting lineup. We’ve got some freshmen or some younger players, but the thing is that with our breakdowns early in the game, that was our veterans, so where are they? They’ve got to be accountable, and they’ve got to step up and get some things done. Like I said, I’ll take all the blame in the world. I’ve got to do a better job, but I can’t play for them. At some point, they’ve got to compete. We’ll wait for the fourth quarter, and then we turn it on, but that’s too late. We’ve got to start playing 40 minutes.”
“[Haley Gorecki]’s just a smart player. She reads screens. Obviously, she’s a great shooter but also is really good off the bounce, being able to avoid the defense and get her shot off. Again, we didn’t help her just like the last one. They set a flat pick on the ball. We have a certain way we want to play that, and we didn’t play it that way. Again, players have got to transfer what we work on in practice into a game and go out and execute what we work on. At this time of year, they’re probably sick of what we’ve been doing over and over and over, but when you keep messing it up, we’ve got to keep going over and over, and it’s the only way I know to do it. If things aren’t going well, the only thing I know to do is to keep working and work harder to try and figure it out.”
“I think a lot of it has to do with urgency. I think, right now, everything is turned up a notch, and we haven’t matched it. Duke knows. We’re ranked eighth in the country. This is a resume builder right here, baby. You come in here and get this done. Like I said, we’re going to see the same thing against Syracuse. It’s just that time of year. If you want to be great, you better be able to handle the heat. Like I said, we’re not hungry enough, and we’re not tough enough. I recruit great kids, but when you step between the lines, at some point, you’ve got to get down and dirty. You’ve got to compete, and I just don’t feel like we’re doing that well enough.”
“I don’t know; you better ask them that. We’ll keep coaching them hard, and if they’re tired of losing, hopefully it’ll kick in. If not, then we’ll have to keep searching, keep rotating, and do whatever we can. Like I said, this isn’t the time of year you want to be rotating the lineup and still trying to define roles, but I feel like we’re kind of in that boat.”
“It’s probably a combination, like I said. The thing is at some point, too, when you set a pick on the ball or any kind of pick, you have to set the pick up. We set a pick on the ball, but [if] you let the defense get over the pick on the ball between you and the pick, we’ve wasted our time. At some point, you’ve got to get that D below that pick and rub them off. That’s why we lift all those weights and everything. You’ve got to be strong enough to not let that player get between you and the pick and try to get to the rim or draw help. Again, there are things offensively that we should’ve gotten really simple and spread them out and try to get the ball to Elissa. I’ll regret not doing that more, but it seemed like the few times that we did do that, we threw the ball away. We couldn’t deliver a pass, and at some point, it comes back to fundamentals, and you’ve got to do the little things. Like I said, defensively, we’ve got to help each other and not leave each other out on an island, one-on-one, and, if one person gets beat, we give up a layup. We’ve got to have some rotations, some people flying around out there a little bit, and we’re just not getting enough of that.”
“I don’t know. I guess we need to work on it more. When the post has got a position on the block, Elissa is 6-foot-5. She’s not going to get a pass that’s really way off. You’ve got to get her the ball where she can handle it, and we just didn’t do that. That’s on me. In practice, we have to do a better job of executing it and getting it done."