The 'concerning' issue Duke basketball, Jon Scheyer must 'take a hard look at'
11/13/2024 02:43 PM
The Duke basketball team suffered its first loss of the 2024-25 season last night, and while there are plenty of areas to address throughout the season, Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer is focused on one problem, in particular, within the program: cramping.
During the 77-72 loss to Kentucky last night, Duke center Khaman Maluach was limited due to cramping. This comes just days after projected No. 1 overall draft pick Cooper Flagg dealt with cramping issues of his own in the second half of a blowout win over Army.
Scheyer, who discussed the issues previously, again mentioned the need to address and resolve the cramping problems plaguing the Blue Devils.
“It’s concerning,” Scheyer said [h/t ESPN]. “Part of it is we have young bodies. I think that’s part of it. We got to help these guys. We’re not just trying to dip our toes in the water … We got to take a hard look at it.”
After Flagg’s minutes were cut as a result of the cramping vs. Army, Scheyer said he would be meeting with the Duke basketball training staff.
“We’ve got to help him,” Scheyer said of Flagg on Friday. “We’ve got to help him. I’m not happy about it, for him. We’ve got to help him. And we will. Right after this, I can promise you I’m going to be meeting [with the team’s training staff]. I don’t care if it’s all night. We can’t have that happen. Bottom line.”
The program also dealt with cramping issues with 2022 No. 1 overall pick Paolo Banchero in his only season in Durham.
Unfortunately for Scheyer, Duke was unable to resolve the matter before Tuesday’s game, which saw Sion James also go down with an injury following a screen.
The Blue Devils, who took a nine-point lead into halftime, were outscored 40-26 in the second half despite a strong performance from Flagg. The highly-touted freshman tallied a game-high 26 points and 12 rebounds, but Duke struggled otherwise.
Duke made just 4 of its 23 three-point attempts, in addition to shooting 39.4% from the field. The woes from beyond the arc, in addition to Flagg’s mistakes down the stretch, proved to be the difference, as Kentucky managed to make 10 of 25 attempts from three.
After the loss, Duke will have a few days to regroup before playing Wofford on Saturday. The Blue Devils are then scheduled to play at Arizona before playing No. 1 Kansas in Las Vegas.
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