Opening statement
First of all, I have amazing respect for Coach Barnes and his team. Clearly, that's not the team they're going to be. They're missing a bunch of their top guys. But for us, I don't want that to take away from the effort that we had in our defense. I thought it was terrific to start. I thought our guys were ready, the energy we had in the locker room. I think the story of this team is going to be more than just about statistics. Cayden Boozer is an example for me, had a terrific game, and he only takes one shot. I think you can look to just points or other things, but I think that's going to be the story of our team because you do have to sacrifice. It's not going to be where everybody's scoring 15, 20 points a game.
John Blackwell
goes on a run. John didn't force one shot tonight. I thought he set the tone by making the right plays. Love the energy that Rip (Deron Rippey Jr.) brought, Sebastian off the bench and really proud of the effort. Wish that counted as a game. It doesn't. And so for us, we have to have humility to keep growing and keep getting better.
On the Duke players enjoying each other’s success
Well, we preach it, but end of the day, you can't force that. That's something that has to come from within. And I think our vets set the tone. I mentioned the example of Cayden and John. I could say the same thing for Dame. I could say the same thing for Pat. Jojo (Joaquim) is a young guy with that group. None of those guys force shots. They're all efficient. And I think that sets the tone, and I love how that is. We got to be that way when we're not winning, too. We got to be that way when things aren't going our way. But the fact that we have it in us is great.
On not having all players available
Yeah. It wasn't 100% for me tonight in terms of playing every play. And we want to develop that mindset where we're contesting every inbounds pass. We're picking you up full court. We want to wear on you. And it may not happen right away, but we just believe over time that we can get you. And Caleb, I think he has a chance of playing Sunday. He's been dying again to play in my ear. I don't know. We'll have to see. And obviously, getting Drew back will be a big deal with his experience and who he is as a player as well. So we'll have to keep adjusting.
On Deron Rippey Jr.
Well, we have good players and Rip's one of them. And I love his competitive spirit. I love just the fact that a lot of guys would shy away from competition in his position in the first place. And he's been a steward in the game. He really is tough on himself in terms of being able to quarterback and being able to make the right reads. And I've loved seeing his development in a short period of time. And I thought what he did tonight, the energy he gave us off the bench was a big lift.
Has practice been working on new offensive plays or more of the new players still learning them?
Some of both. Yeah, some of both. We spent the most time that I ever have probably in terms of what I would call our flow, just from when we get the ball in a miss or a make and how we want to advance the ball off the floor and continue to play and then our after-action. When the possession is when we're stuck, how do we continue to play? And I feel confident we'll have some really good specials and good actions. We had a couple tonight, but I would rather build up our identity in terms of how we want to play after the play, how we want to put pressure on the defense. And part of that is also playing our strengths individually knowing who you're playing with. And I think it's probably tougher that way, but I think ultimately it's going to allow us to reach our highest potential from an offensive perspective.
What did he see the team improve on from Belmont to Tennessee?
I thought we got stuck a lot on offense. That was the first thing. Being able to fight for better shots. I actually thought Belmont did a great job being physical with us. We didn't get to a lot of screens, so that was one. And then two, just the multiple efforts you have to play with on defense. And the Belmont game specifically, they took us down the shot clock with five seconds or less almost 10 times in the game, maybe even more. And we didn't have great discipline. We followed the shooter, didn't get a rebound. And so, just the mentality to finish possessions, I thought we took a step tonight with that.
This article originally appeared on Duke Wire: Everything Duke head coach Jon Scheyer said following Tennessee win
