Despite the emotion following Saturday night’s collapse, the loss should not serve as an indictment of this Duke team, nor the program’s direction under Jon Scheyer.
One day after a historic loss to Houston, Duke still feels like the center of the college basketball universe.
Yes, there’s anticipation for Monday’s national championship game. But the astonishment over the Blue Devils’ absence from it is just as prevalent.
This Duke team felt preordained. Cooper Flagg put forth a season we’ve never seen in college basketball. A potential title game matchup against Florida would’ve been the most anticipated since Gonzaga and Baylor squared off in 2021.
‘There’s a lot of pain that comes with this’
That Duke-Florida game felt like a foregone conclusion for 38 minutes on Saturday night.
When Flagg, Kon Knueppel and Jon Scheyer arrived at the podium with tears in their eyes just minutes later, they were still trying to comprehend what had just happened.
“You go from some of the most special moments in the tournament to the most heartbreaking loss,” Scheyer said. “I’m not about to feel sorry for one second. These guys have done an incredible job.”
Still, all the positives that rightly apply to this Duke team don’t negate the difficult emotions that come from a loss like this one.
“It’s heartbreaking. It’s incredibly disappointing. There’s a lot of pain that comes with this,” Scheyer said. “That’s what the tournament is all about. You’re an inch away from the national championship game. But I could not be more proud of these two guys next to me.”
That feels counter to the discourse around Duke in the hours since. Universally lauded for the past five months, the Blue Devils are now riding a wave of criticism about, well, everything.
In the span of 24 hours, Flagg has gone from winning National Player of the Year to people wondering if he’s really that guy after missing the potential game-winner. Scheyer went from being the best young coach in the sport to being exposed after blowing the lead in another close game. Khaman Maluach, a projected lottery pick, has been called out for his poor performance.
It’s natural to search for answers when something as shocking as Duke’s collapse happens. Often, the conclusion is that the team that collapsed must not be as good as we all thought they were.
That’s where the consensus appears to have fallen with this Duke team and everyone involved — but that consensus is wrong. It’s OK to feel disappointed, but it’s important to have perspective, too.
We thought Flagg was going to be different. He seemed destined to be that rare freshman who could capitalize on the sport’s biggest stage, following Anthony Davis as the lone freshman to win both National Player of the Year and Final Four Most Outstanding Player.
The fact that it didn’t come to fruition should not diminish what he accomplished. After all, Kevin Durant did not make the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Zion Williamson did not make the Final Four. Ben Simmons, Anthony Edwards and Markelle Fultz, all No. 1 overall draft picks as Flagg likely will be, did not make the tournament. Duke’s last star freshman to go No. 1 overall, Paolo Banchero, also lost in the Final Four.
Flagg’s inability to lead Duke to a national title does not mean he doesn’t have ‘it.’ Rather, the fact he got the Blue Devils to this point may point to the fact he truly is That Guy.
The Scheyer conversation is more interesting. Winning in the NCAA Tournament is hard, and winning the whole thing is even harder. It took Mike Krzyzewski 15 seasons and five Final Four appearances to win his first title. Kelvin Sampson has been a head coach for 36 seasons and is just now playing for his first title.
Scheyer’s early accomplishments should stand for themselves. He’s the first coach in ACC history to win two tournament titles in his first three seasons. His 89 wins are the most ever in a coach’s first three seasons. His two Elite Eight appearances and this year’s trip to the Final Four are the better reflection of his coaching chops than his lack of national championship trophies.
I don’t say this to absolve Flagg, Scheyer or anyone else from criticism. Leads like that aren’t blown without sizable mistakes being made and numerous opportunities being missed. This team had some real flaws, and the lack of a true point guard eventually hurt the Blue Devils down the stretch.
Short-term emotion can cloud perspective, but keep in mind that the disappointment from Saturday was so strong because of just how good this Blue Devil team was all year long. Their Final Four failure shouldn’t change the way we view Flagg, Scheyer or anyone else in the long term.
If Duke had gotten blown out by Houston, this would be different conversation. But as Scheyer noted, even when you’re an inch away from the national championship, the NCAA Tournament can still be an unforgiving mistress — no matter how good you are.