LAHAINA, Hawaii -- Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski joined the seven other head coaches competing in the 2018 Maui Jim Maui Invitational on Sunday morning for a press conference and charity free throw shooting contest.
The five-time Maui champion and No. 1 Blue Devils begin their sixth Maui Invitational on Monday at 12 p.m. HT (5 p.m. ET) against San Diego State on ESPN2.
Watch Coach K's press conference here.
Sunday Press Conference Quotes
Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski
On the Maui Invitational:
"It’s a tournament that gives every program amazing visibility. People watch this tournament. They watch every game and they get a read on the top teams in the court. They get a read on our sport. It helps our sport to have this level of tournament at this time of the year. As far as coming here, it’s been an honor to come here. We’ve been fortunate to win some very close games here, and hopefully we’ll be fortunate to win a few close games here this year."
About Kentucky game and the hype after it:
“We’ve been luckily that we get a lot of attention, and it’s extreme one way or the other. It goes the other way to. So that’s part of the game. So when you’re playing in our program you have to keep balanced. We have a lot of good young players, but our upperclassmen have really been the key for us in developing an atmosphere where the younger guys can be themselves. I think our upperclass is very secure, and our freshmen are secure so that creates a good environment to get better. And hopefully when we get on the plane on Thursday we’ll be secure too."
San Diego State head coach Brian Dutcher
On playing Duke:
"I said before we came we didn’t want to come all the way out here and not play Duke. I would have preferred it to be in the championship game, but, part of what we sell our team on is we’re going to play a national schedule. To have an opportunity to play Duke on national TV is just a great honor for us and our team and we’ll be up for the task."
#GoDuke
