Lee Melchionni Quotations

When you've got the quarter-of-a-billion-dollar man at the game, it's a good thing.

We're not going to play well all the time, but we find a way to win. I think we just need to fight together, just come out and play with more energy. And we can do that.

We're not going to win big games playing that type of defense. We got yelled at a little bit at halftime, and we were able to come back out in the second half and take that and translate it into playing well.

Whenever you can be a part of something where the number one team and number two team are playing each other on national television, it is special. How many people get that opportunity?

We're a senior-laden team and we'll go up there and treat this as a business trip and come back here with a win.

I don't even call him a freshman anymore.

Greg played with no fear, and it was his first ACC Tournament game.

He has that will to win. He wants the ball. ... He will make those big shots. ... We certainly look to get him the ball.

He'll have off nights. Tonight, as a team, we picked him up. We're not worried about J.J.

I actually made dessert. OK, actually my mom made dessert. She brought me cookies.

J.J. is an All-American, the player of the year, and we know he's human, he's going to have off games. But we know he's going to come back and play well and he did that today.

I think that's the hardest anybody has played against us all year. We had two tough games this week and (Clemson) kind of knocked us back.

I think having this group of seniors is very helpful for them because we can show them and tell them what it's going to take to be successful because we've been in their exact-same position.

You always want to play well, but it was a tough game on the road, we got a big win and you want to take that into the next game but you don't want to dwell on it.

We have to work on our shooting more than anything else. It's a big place so there could be a little wind or anything different to affect you. We'll get used to the court and the atmosphere and be ready to go (tonight).

Three or four. I asked our trainer if I could get a nose job at the end of the year. We'll see what happens.

This time of year, people kind of expect Duke to still be playing. We are excited because we want to accomplish something for ourselves as our part of this storied program.

With it being your first Duke-North Carolina game, you can't help but get nervous. You don't know what to expect because this game is the highest level of competition at the college basketball level. We will see if everyone is ready for that.

We wanted to send a message that we don't want to be messed with.

Every time we play, we know it's a big game. We know we have a target on our back, but we know what we're capable of, too.

Our defense is what we hang out hat on. We were fortunate to get some stops and not let them get open.

You put your name on something, it becomes yours, you have some ownership in it. When something is yours, you don't let anybody take it from you. That's our home court out there, and nobody takes anything from us on our home court.

They're very capable of beating us, and we know that. They're a very cocky, very confident team.

They knocked us back with how hard the played and how intense they were. That's the hardest anyone has played against us all year. They just didn't go away.

There's a trust factor. Our offense is fueled by our defense.

It's a feel-good story. But hopefully, he doesn't hit a shot against us.

For him to make those shots at the end, it's a little like daggers, nails in the coffin.

It's so close and it's been a long rivalry on Tobacco Road. We would like to play them more than once, but that's the way the league has it.

He apologized to me after the game. Things like that happen. It's done with. We've put it behind us.