The big takeaway from the Duke-UConn result hasn’t been about UConn’s tenacity or fight, but Jon Scheyer’s team blowing a big lead. In a HOT TAEK world, we have to give our hot take and this one is on a platter.
Scheyer lives in a shadow that he helped create. He’ll forever be hated simply for winning a title at Duke and having the audacity to be their head coach. So, in his failure, many find joy. It takes me back to when I wrote something similar when Kentucky didn’t complete their perfect season, we hate winners and we hate those that win too much. I get why people hated Coach K at the end and Scheyer gets that thrust on him before really “earning” the hate. Trust me, there was a time people liked Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes.
The book on Scheyer is just starting. His predecessor knows better than anyone the failure of March before the joy of victory. Roy Williams, Jim Calhoun, John Calipari, Nolan Richardson and so on, all knew the hot take world before the breakthrough. Unfortunately for Duke and Scheyer, until they/he does breakthrough, the questions about him as a coach will remain because we are fundamentally stupid when it comes to nuance and quite frankly, reality. Anyone that has watched Scheyer develop as a coach knows this, he can coach. But that doesn’t sell and isn’t an interesting perspective.
The Weekend That Was
Nobody was terribly surprised that Illinois wore down Iowa. Illinois benefited from great matchups in their region. More on this later, too. To their credit, they took advantage of the matchups and return to the Final 4 for the 1st time in two decades.
Arizona looked mortal for a half and then throttled Purdue. Purdue shot 50% from 3 in the 1st half and then 1 for 8 in the second half. The Wildcats defense stuffed Purdue into the garbage and Purdue’s defense got exposed. I’d mark this one down as an important loss in the Matt Painter era. Pre-season number 1 failed to make Indy and they lose a lot. Very curious to see where they head from here.
Brian texted me during the Michigan game after they jumped out big. I knew this would be a laugher and went golfing instead of watching. It’s a shame Joshua Jefferson got hurt. Credit to Tennessee for making another Elite 8 but they were just a speed bump for this Wolverine squad.
Final thought on Duke-UConn. I thought the turning point was the final 4 minutes of the first half. Duke went cold and while UConn only cut it to 15 from 19, it sure felt like ol’ Mo had switched sides. Not blaming injuries here, UConn is good and a worthy Final 4 team, but it would have been nice to see Caleb Foster at 100%.
The Final 4: Initial Blush
The crowds should be wild. It’s largely corporate nowadays but all 4 schools travel well. Good luck getting a reasonable ticket. And if the final is Michigan-Illinois, ticket prices will be the highest they’ve ever been on the secondary market.
Michigan-Arizona will be regarded as the de facto title game and very well might be. This is a great matchup. I wonder if Zona has enough offense to match Michigan. I wonder if Michigan can hold Arizona in check on the glass. Toss the ball up because it’s a pick ‘em.
Illinois-UConn hinges on whether UConn can do enough offensively against Illinois. I think this is a pretty good matchup for the Illini in that regard. Tarris Reed has probably been the best player in March and can absolutely match Illinois inside. He’ll have to be a bully. UConn beat them by 13 earlier in the year but the guards looked better back then. I think I lean Illinois but UConn is UConn. Another pick ‘em.
