Jon Scheyer explains decision to make switches on defense

The Duke Blue Devils and first-year head coach Jon Scheyer got an important win on Wednesday night against Pitt. After a slow, by Duke’s standards, start to ACC play, the Blue Devils needed to find a way to get some forward momentum going.

One of the key factors that went into Duke’s win was the decision to switch on the defensive end. After the game, Scheyer explained the logic behind the move.

“They’ve been giving people problems in pick-and-roll,” Jon Scheyer explained. “They space you really well, they have many guys that can create off the bounce. So when you put two on the ball, they get you in rotations and it’s very difficult. They do a great job of sharing it.”

Scheyer explained that the coaching staff felt like Dereck Lively would have the opportunity to break out in this game because of their choice to switch.

“For us, with our personnel, we felt like this was actually going to be a coming out game for Dereck [Lively] because we’ve envisioned switching with him, and he made some big-time plays in this game. His switching, I thought, really bothered them. Naturally, you try to go at the 5, but we felt like there was an advantage for us.”

Duke moved to 13-4 on the season and 4-2 in ACC play with the win. The Blue Devils’ next game is on Saturday against a tough Clemson team.

“You know, coaches coming up with a game plan – we’ll see if this is something we do often or not, but to have that in our pocket is a valuable thing. Instead of them running offense, they end up playing one-on-one. Sometimes they’re going to hit, but other times, if we stay disciplined, it’s tough to make those shots over our length,” Jon Scheyer concluded.

Jon Scheyer on Kyle Filipowski’s game against Pitt

One player who stood out for Duke against Pitt was freshman Kyle Filipowski. It was a game that Jon Scheyer described as being a big deal.

“Flip was great tonight. He hasn’t played as well, and he’s been a difference maker for us when he’s at his peak. It’s a game changer,” Scheyer said.

“He puts a lot of pressure on the defense, obviously, the way he can attack the basket. It was good for him to see a three go down tonight. We still feel like those are great shots for us and we want him shooting those. Just his determination on the boards (and) have 15 rebounds against them. They’ve been right there, statistically, rebounding with other teams.”