Jon Scheyer Failed to Prepare Duke Players for Grind of NCAA Tournament

It’s clear that Jon Scheyer is on his way to an illustrious career as the head coach of the Duke basketball program but this was not his best showing in the NCAA Tournament.

At halftime, as well as following the Blue Devils comeback win over Siena in the Round of 64, its players said that the team thought it was going to be a “cakewalk” in its matchup against the No. 16 seed.

Instead, Duke was trailing at halftime and down by as many as 13 points in the second half before rallying to win.

Not only was it a major red flag, but it was also an indictment of how Scheyer failed to prepare his team.

Then, the Blue Devils got a pair of gritty victories over TCU and St. John’s in the Round of 32 and Sweet 16, respectively, in which they trailed in the second half of both games. It was more realistic to predict a loss for Duke in either game to the level of competition and injuries the team was dealing with.

Then came what looked like the easiest game of the tournament for Duke. The Blue Devils lead by as many as 19 points in the first half against UConn before taking a 15-point lead into halftime with a berth in the Final Four on the line.

Yet Scheyer’s team didn’t come out of the locker room looking to throw a knockout punch. Instead, the veteran core of the Huskies kept fighting and battling until the Blue Devils finally broke.

But it was after the game in which Cayden Boozer said the team lost its “competitive edge” in the second half.

Simply, how could that happen? A team is 20 minutes away from a Final Four, dominating the first half, and thinks the game is over?

Another major stain for Jon Scheyer, who will be at the top of the college basketball hit list this offseason as he deals with two consecutive seasons of improbable collapses that saw the end of the season for Duke.

It was fine to give Scheyer a pass for his team’s lack of focus in the Round of 64, but it’s no longer an isolated incident. Now, it’s a trend and this time it cost Duke a chance to compete for a National Championship.

Surely Jon Scheyer will eventually get over the hump and breakthrough in the NCAA Tournament, winning a title with the Blue Devils but it will be a long and painful wait for the 38-year-old head coach until that day comes.

For now, he will try and reconcile what happened to his team in Washington D.C.