Duke
Scheyer on difference between Duke now and previous NC State game: 'Where do I begin?'
Duke basketball coach Jon Scheyer addresses the media before the team's home game against NC State.
Yeah, where do I begin? You know, I think uh both of us are a lot different, you know, for us at that stage when we were playing a different lineup, you know, jeremy Demon playing the second half by then there was, you know, you know, a tough hill to climb to get back in that game. I just think our confidence, you look at uh basically every aspect of how we were playing was different and you know, that's not to say that we're taking anything away from how they, how they played and how they beat as they had a great game and they're a really good team. But for us, we've grown a lot since then. I think you could see that watching the film and so they, they're a lot better than they were at that time as well. They've, they've developed as a team, they was right off, you know, they were coming off some tough losses at that time and figuring out their team identity. So I think for them, there was a breakthrough game where they understood, you know, what their strengths were and how they needed to play. We'll go next to Connor O'neill john, I wanted to ask you to revisit your mentorship of Derek and his shot blocking ability. Um He mentioned There's a number like 57% uh maybe of transition buckets or better when, when he blocks a shot, you know, where that number is coming from and if so can you explain it? I wish I could tell you exactly what he was talking about, but I think he's, I think he's referencing referencing when he keeps it in play. You know it leads to transition as opposed to you know blocking it out of bounds. And that's he has started a lot of fast breaks for us by keeping it in play and doing that. And I think that's what he's referencing but I'm not positive. Yes I think so too. Thank you john johnson go ahead morning coach. Uh Just real quick. I want to go a week ahead actually. Uh the A. C. C. Tournament uh you know you played in Greensboro if I'm not mistaken you actually won the A. C. C. Tournament when it was in Greensboro. What are your memories of that time winning there? And then additionally the importance of having like a city like Greensboro hosting um with its history. You know the A. C. C. Tournament. Greensboro is a special place for the A. C. C. It's a special place in my heart. Like you mentioned my senior year we won the seC tournament there. We've played another tournament games and other regular season games there. I think it's a great sports town. I think it's a city that loves basketball. Especially the A. C. C. So for us to be able to go there it means a lot. It's we've had some moments where we've lost there but it's been a special environment and definitely a special uh city to host a C. C. Tournament. Thank you. We'll go next to Royal Howell. Go ahead Royal. Oh good morning Coach Scheyer coach. What do you think has been the biggest difference from your team in regards to doing the four game win string? Everybody's getting healthy. You guys are building momentum playing both sides of the basketball. I think more importantly the defense has kind of stepped up a notch. What do you think is the biggest difference throughout that four game run and your two game two games left against state and local coming up? I think it starts with you know our defense. You know it's it's been really really solid and we've done a great job of protecting the basket and playing together. That's gonna be a tough task tomorrow night against since he stayed there really explosive offensively. And I think the second thing is just how we play together on offense, Taking better care of the basketball. We're getting high quality shots which has led to a better percentage. Um uh Obviously we're scoring more but it starts with our defense and the fact that we're sharing it that way uh is really infectious for our group. Thanks coach. We'll go to mike Barber morning john I was wondering if you could just comment a little bit on Tyree's proctor. His development um what you've seen from him how he's gotten more comfortable just what's been his are kind of this season. Yeah he is uh you know mike he's taken huge strides throughout the course of the year. I think this past month has been the biggest growth for him. You know, you start with the fact he shouldn't even be here. You know, he came a year early, we threw him in the fire. Uh, you know, we, you know, he had some games where he didn't play his best early or didn't shoot the ball as well and stuck with it continued to work, continue to watch film and stay the course and proud of him to see the results of that work. And him and jay Lucas have done a great job every, every, every day before practice there in here, working. Uh, they're studying film and uh, the thing that I love, I think an offense, it speaks for itself, but you look at his defense and what he's done, you know, over the last month and he's taken on the challenge of guarding the best perimeter player a lot of time and he's become a really good two way guard. And this is completely unrelated to that. But a lot of time young coaches or first year coaches will talk about, um, you know, looking at other programs and, and here in Virginia, we get here Tony Bennett's program mentioned a lot. You obviously took over a program with a pretty, pretty good model for how to win over there. Did you look outside of Duke for, for ideas and did you study any other programs or with what you got there? Did you kind of have enough info? Well, you know what, it's, uh, to be honest with you, I think one of the things I've learned in my time at Duke, even from coach K, there's such a, there's, uh, obviously such a great infrastructure in place and a great way to do things. Even in his time. We've studied in the off season, we've studied, are somebody had a great offense. We're going to study it in the offseason defensively, uh, the way recruiting is going and, and involved, you're always looking at ways to improve. And so I think it would be, um, I think that would have been wrong if I didn't look anywhere else to see what other top programs are doing at the same time. There's a lot that we need to continue that we've done here and that's the main source of our motivation and uh, mainly the culture that we need to carry forward is what has been developed here. Perfect. Thank you. Thanks. David, Thompson, go ahead. Hey, john, I know we've asked you about this a little bit, but guys are one win away from going undefeated. A camera, just from a personal level. What would it mean for you to have that accomplishment in your first year? You know, David, it means a lot to represent. You know, Duke and Cameron Indoor Stadium this way. It's, uh, again, everybody's best shot when they come here and, you know, I don't want to jump ahead or anything like that, but it means a lot to be in this position and to have the success that we've had already up to this point and you know, it's, it's a big game for a lot of reasons. Uh, we're looking forward to that opportunity, but it definitely means a lot to have a great record here and to be in a position to do that. And we will wrap up with JB ricks, go ahead. JB good morning, john, appreciate you taking out the time. I wanted to uh sneak into question about jeremy roach and uh, just the groove that he is in right now coming off a game where he scored 19 points and 10 assists. What's been the key to, you know, the success that he's having lately and what is the ceiling of this offense when they follow his lead when he's putting up numbers like that J. B. I think we can be right there with anybody offensively when it's all said and done, you know, with jeremy playing that way, He's uh, you know, we put so much on his shoulders early in the year and it's a new team, the team who would never, you know, nobody on the floor besides him. And, and then Jalen had worn in new Jersey and so, you know, he can, I think he carried a heavy load with that and now another, everybody else on the team has a better feel and he's allowed to just be Jeremy and you know, he's been instinctual, he's been aggressive, uh, he's done it on both ends, obviously last game. You look at the 11 assists that he had, um, the scoring has been there. So I'm just really proud of him for just following his instincts being himself. And that's all we ask for him. Uh you know, from him for the rest of the year, thank you for your time, appreciate it. Okay, thank you.