| | March 11, 2000
Wake is a really good team right now -- much better than the first two times
we played them. You could see they were a lot more confident yesterday and
it carried over. Then we missed some shots and they were hitting theirs and
they went into the half with the lead.
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Inside the Locker Room
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Throughout Championship Week, ESPN.com and FANSonly.com are presenting an inside look into the ACC tournament from some of the league's top players, including Mike Dunleavy of Duke. For more on the ACC, visit the conference's official web site.
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I think we have been playing really well, but for four or five minutes we
might drop off for a little bit. But, I think we are close to showing the
type of team we can be.
Nate (James), Jay (Jason Williams), Shane (Battier) all hit big shots. I
came in and just tried to get in the flow of the game and hit some shots and
I think we got a little energy from that. We are kind of living and dying on
our outside shooting a little right now. In the first half they weren't all
going down, and we were struggling a little so we had to starting driving
more. The three point shot has been a big asset of ours all year, so we can'
t now say that we need to take less of those shots. I think we do need to
look inside a little more to get the ball to Carlos (Boozer) or penetrate,
but we don't need to stop taking the three.
I am looking forward to my first ACC Championship game. That's what you come
to Duke for, and it should be fun. We have won two games so far and it's
just been fun. The crowd's been into it, we're playing in a big arena and
the bottom line is it's just been fun, especially for me after missing two
weeks. I don't think there is a better way to come back. I felt good
yesterday - like I could play another game. Now I just feel like I am over
it. I feel fresh. I am definitely ready for tomorrow.
I have watched so much big time basketball over the years, whether it be NBA
or college and now I am here. It's just been neat. It's really special to
me. I think playing against bigger, stronger players in Portland (the NBA's
Trailblazers, coached by Dunleavy's father), it's the top competition in the
world, so you can only get better by playing against it. Rasheed (Wallace)
gives me problems talking about UNC, but this summer I will give him his
due. My dad is always talking to them about my games, so I think they watch
a little bit.
We are not really looking ahead to the NCAA tournament yet, except maybe the
logistics of it -- like what days we may possibly be playing and things like
that. We got our sights set on tomorrow all the way.
The keys to Sunday's game depend a little on who play, but for us we need to
be focused from the start. We need to come out better than we did today in
the first half. I think they scored 28 points in the first 8 minutes which
is not what we like to see. We definitely need to come out and start a lot
better.
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Championship Week
Atlantic Coast Conference tournament
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