Semi--Finals Media Conference
THE MODERATOR: We're joined by student-athletes from Duke.
Q. During Duke's first media day earlier last year, you all said there was no pressure getting to the Final Four, but the goal was to get to the Final Four. What was the defining moment during the season that you all looked at each other and said, hey, we've got a chance to win a national championship?
WENDELL MOORE JR.: I think for me it was kind of early on. I realized we had a chance to do something special. Just the way -- even really before we started playing games, I just had -- December workouts were going, the way guys were bonding early, just how close we were getting as a team. It's not that often you get that close that quickly. For us, we all just became immediate family. From there it was, like, we have a chance to do something special.
MARK WILLIAMS: I totally second that. Really early on I felt like we really got close as a team, on and off the court. Just all of us being together all the time, being able to hang out, do all those sort of things. And of course on the basketball court, just getting that chemistry throughout the year. But it was honestly something I thought was totally achievable. And honestly we're here right now.
PAOLO BANCHERO: Basically the same thing they were saying, just how, kind of how we were feeling from the jump. We knew we had a special group. And getting here was always the goal. I didn't really see us ending anywhere else than here. So that was just really the goal from the jump.
Q. I would imagine you've talked about the whole revenge thing. How are you dealing with it? Are you embracing it? Are you using it as fuel? Are you trying to shed it and just treat this as its own game?
WENDELL MOORE JR.: I think it's just another game for us. We're not looking at either revenge, what happened last time. We're not looking at anything else. For us this is a championship-level game. This is how we're going into it. No matter who it was, they're in the way of us getting to Monday. That's how we're looking at it.
MARK WILLIAMS: 100 percent. I think regardless of who we play on Saturday, we have the same mindset. Obviously it's a national semifinal game. You want to go out there play your best basketball, play hard, do whatever it takes to win, no matter if it's North Carolina or whoever it may be.
PAOLO BANCHERO: Just really trying to get away from that and not think about that. We're trying to play on Monday and win the championship. So we're going to do whatever it takes to do that, it doesn't matter who we play.
Q. Paolo, I know you say that and I just remember sitting across from you after the game against Carolina, looking at your eyes. I'm sure it was tough. How much, when the brackets came out or anything like that, did you look at that say, hey, I would love another shot at Carolina after they just embarrassed us?
PAOLO BANCHERO: We were paying more attention to the West and who we were playing coming up. I don't think we were looking too far, seeing potential Final Four matchups and stuff. I know I wasn't doing that. I don't think we were as a team, either. This is how it shook out. It's a great storyline. It's going to be a great game. We're excited. We'll be ready.
Q. Going way back when Coach Krzyzewski decided not to go out and recruit and really dig in with you guys this summer, how did that sort of change things? What was the dynamic, did it shift? Or was it all different this year?
WENDELL MOORE JR. I think it gave Coach a chance to have a relationship with everybody just individually, getting to know the guys. He's real big on that. Just having a real personal relationship with each player. So he knows what we all can do on the court, (indiscernible) his people as well. Other than that, really that aspect is what (indiscernible) the most about this summer, really allowed us all to get closer. Did a bunch of team activities together. Overall I think it was for the better.
