Some coaches just say what you want to hear but we think Young meant these comments about Duke.
Now that we’re firmly into ACC play, it’s worth looking at what opposing coaches say after playing Duke. Mike Young is having a tough season, but no one questions his basketball mind and he had some interesting insights after playing the Blue Devils Wednesday.
First he said this about freshman star Cooper Flagg:
“Well, he’s going to be here about three more months and he’s going to go on and he’s going to do very well for himself. He’s terrific. He’s a really good basketball player. Great skills, floor it, pass it, makes the right basketball plays. Admired him, watching him on film and saw him a lot, after competing against him, I admire even more so. He’s a dandy. He’s a great basketball player.”
He was also impressed with a particular play that Flagg made, passing out to Isaiah Evans for a three point attempt after getting a rebound rather than powering back up: “Yeah, [that’s] how the game is supposed to play out. The lesser player would shoot that because it was there. The great player makes the right basketball play. I give that thing to [Isaiah Evans] as often as I could too. I watched that kid play against Auburn. To be a rookie and make six threes against the War Eagles in here in a high-level game, but that was a big play. I can remember it vividly. I should, it was right in front of me. He’s a great player.”
And generally speaking, he had very positive things to say about Jon Scheyer’s third Duke team: “I’ve seen them play for a long, long time, in the league and out of the league. Jon [Scheyer] would probably shudder at me saying this, I think this is the best Duke team I’ve seen in a bit, in my humble opinion. I think the best defensive team I’ve seen in my six years in this league. They can really disrupt you with their length and with the ability to switch everything with [Maliq] Brown. And I think [Khaman Maluach] will be able to do it. He’s a wonderful player. They’re very disruptive. There’s a reason they’re number one in the country defensively, I think four offensively. It’s a pretty good outfit.”
To be clear, post-game pressers are usually for one of two purposes: either to say flattering, sportsmanlike things about your opponents or to imply that your team got screwed (Brad Brownell did this last season after Clemson lost at Duke, though he didn’t address Jared McCain’s three late steals that really went a long way towards sealing Clemson’s fate).
When it’s the former, you have to figure out how much is just graciousness and how much is sincere.
When Steve Wojiechowski was at Duke, Dean Smith raved about him once in his post-game comments, saying that he didn’t understand why people didn't recognize how good he was and that he had heavily recruited him to Chapel Hill because he was just a terrific player.
That was sincere.
Was Young?
We’d say yes. His comment about Duke being the best defensive team he’s seen since he’s been in the ACC could be a bit of smoke blowing, but he cites specifics.
Everyone goes on about Flagg of course. The announcers during the game, for example, made a point of saying he’s not overwhelming like Zion Williamson but that he’s a superbly skilled all-round player.
Young again made a very specific comment, this time about Flagg making the good basketball play rather than just shooting the ball.
He also raved about Maliq Brown - twice - and Isaiah Evans, who, by the way, hit 4-7 threes in about 17 minutes. As a coach who loves three point shooters, you know Young is watching Evans and loving what he does. As a matter of fact, he specifically mentioned his performance against Auburn.
So all in all, we’d have to say that Young isn’t just saying the gracious thing. He means what he says here, which is a great sign for Duke.
