Everything Jon Scheyer said following Duke's victory over Siena
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Opening statement
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One, I've known Gerry for a long time, G Mac had his guys way more ready to play than I did. He outcoached me, he outcoached us. That's one of the hardest moments for me in sport, period, to not have your best stuff.
They played at such a high level. You're down double digits in the second half, and the toughness that these guys showed. Cayden throughout the whole game, what he did, 19, 5, and 0 turnovers. Isaiah has a double-double. Cam has a double-double. I think these guys have showed over and over again what they're about. Today was no exception.
It doesn't matter what you win by or how pretty or any of that stuff. It's about getting it done, finding a way, and then learning and growing from it.
I'm really proud. Credit to Siena just for their readiness and the way that those guys played. They did a great job.
On team not being ready to play
It's not concerning from the standpoint that, unfortunately, this is the nature of the tournament. It's the nature of the tournament.
Look, I wish it could just be smooth sailing. These guys, even though we have returners from last year's team, we're all in different spots. You can face a team like Siena. They're incredibly ready to play. We made some mistakes early that they made us pay for. All of a sudden, you want to win very badly. So you can start making plays to try to get back in the game that are probably uncharacteristic of who we've been.
These guys, the character they showed -- look, we just dealt with a very similar thing. Two different teams, different situations. Florida State really is very similar in terms of we couldn't get stops in the first half. That game we couldn't get stops in the second half either. But the toughness down the stretch, I just think that's what this tournament is all about.
On impact of switching to zone defense
Just trying to -- look, even when we came out in the start of the second half, our defense was not there. I've been in that position before where you do have to make adjustments. You have to throw different pitches. For us, we were just trying to stand them up a little bit, try to get us more aggressive.
We did something we haven't done in a long time, three-quarter court. We've had that defense in our back pocket for different moments. Preparing for the Tournament, we said this could win us a game. I think it just got us back in the game, and we went back to what our bread and butter has been. It's been our man defense, and our guys really found it down the stretch. That was the difference.
On difficulty of 1 vs. 16 matchups
Toughest one, not close. Toughest moment, toughest game, toughest position I've ever been in in the tournament, no question about it. You have to credit Siena for it.
Look, I remember a lot of our teams, we've had some games like this. 2018-19, North Dakota State, it's a one-possession game there. These games are fragile. Unfortunately, you have to lose some, where I've been on the other end of some of these in the past where you have great appreciation for it, but it doesn't mean you can avoid it. It doesn't mean you can avoid it.
You have to credit Siena, but again, what was it? Down 13 right away, they scored to start the second half. All right, you've got to show what you're made of, and these guys really did that.
On how Siena mirrored its coach, Gerry McNamara
Gerry is a tough competitor who's won at the highest level. I think the thing that you can say about his guys today, they weren't afraid at all. We knew that going in. There is a reputation in the league, they were the aggressors, and that's a reflection on him and their coaching staff. That's who he's been his entire life that I've known him as a competitor.
On saying he was outcoached
A tournament's all about your competitive readiness, and Siena had that as well as any team we've gone against. We anticipated them trying to really do things to keep us out of the paint, and they executed great. The moments we made runs, they didn't flinch.
I think that's a reflection on him, and that's a reflection on his players. They were big time today, and it took us everything that we had to win it.
Look, the beauty of the Tournament, when you get to advance, it's the most amazing thing. You also put yourself in a position where this can happen to you. I'm just really proud of our guys to be able to persevere and find a way against a team that was incredibly ready to play today.
This article originally appeared on Duke Wire: Everything Jon Scheyer said following Duke's victory over Siena