Every elite coach in any sport has something in common. It's an intensity and a willingness to provide tough coaching to players regardless of the scoreboard. You hold your guys to the same standard no matter what is happening. If you do that, and your guys will buy into it, the scoreboard will take care of itself more often than not.
That was the message Jon Scheyer has delivered to his team multiple times in blowout wins over Army and Coastal Carolina to open the season.
That kind of coaching and mental focus can be tough for a young player. Duke's youngest player, 17-year-old freshman phenom Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje, got some of that tough coaching from Scheyer on Thursday night after a rough sequence during the Blue Devils' blowout win.
With Duke leading by 30+ points, Boumtje Boumtje had a turnover where he lost the ball going up for a dunk. The next play, he had a clear path for a dunk, but the ball clanked off the back iron. Frustrated, Boumtje Boumtje hung on the rim for an extra second, allowing Coastal Carolina to get a 5-on-4 in transition and an easy bucket as a result.
That led to an immediate Scheyer timeout and an earful to his freshman big man, who was promptly sent to the bench.
Tough coaching indeed, but exactly the type of coaching Boumtje Boumtje came to Durham for. It's that type of coaching that will continue to unlock his immense talent.
Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje came to Duke for the tough coaching that Jon Scheyer provided
Scheyer was asked about that moment in his postgame press conference, and he dove into his willingness to coach his young superstar hard:
“It’s the reason he’s here, to continue to expand his limits," Scheyer said. "He’s doing really good things, but we’re coaching him hard. That’s what he came here for; that’s what his family wanted. He wants to be great. …He’s hard on himself. So I want him to continue to work through a game of not being perfect and getting to the next play. He’s done that; he’s been really coachable.
"We want to continue to help him speed up the process of what an impactful player he can be. I’ll tell you what: he’s even further ahead of schedule than I thought of where he’d be. What he’s doing at the youngest player ever for us, the impactful minutes he’s playing, has been terrific. But we want to continue to just speed up that process, and he wants the same thing.”
To Boumtje Boumtje's credit, he found a way to make an impact for Duke on a night when he didn't score a ton. He finished with just 9 points on 2-of-5 shooting from the floor. But he added 5 rebounds, an assist, a steal, and blocked three shots across his 19 minutes.
His rim protection through the exhibition schedule and through the first two regular-season games has been beyond what was expected. It was believed that the physicality of the college game might cause him early problems, but he's held up just fine to it.
The competition is about to increase, though. He's going to have more growing pains. There will be more moments of tough coaching from Scheyer.
He'll be better for it in the long run. It's why he came to Duke. He knew there would be uncomfortable moments. He wanted to be held accountable and pushed to his limits.
Through two games, Scheyer is doing just that.
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