Jon Scheyer - Coach of the Year race

After 40 years of finding literally "ANY reason they can invent to NOT give it to the Duke Coach" I'd be kinda disappointed if Jon won.
I mean why stop the pettiness now?

If they wanna devalue the award from rewarding excellence to the Avis we try harder award, that's their business.

Related - On the point of Roster construction from Jon, the coaching staff, the scout team, the analytics team, GM Baker and anyone else I missed that played a role.. They got roster construction right. There was A LOT of concern and hand wringing when guys were transferring out.
Clearly we were taking some BIG SWINGS and they got it right.
 
It's an interesting dichotomy.

Fans and commentators often underplay freshmen heavy teams and advocate building through four year players and experienced transfers.

But then in COTY discussions, performing well after building an entirely new roster out of experienced transfers (ie Kelsey, Pope) is seen as more impressive than an all-time season with a heavy reliance on freshmen (Scheyer). How does that make sense?

It's a little infuriating how people so often acknowledge how hard it is for freshmen to contribute in college basketball yet give little credit to Scheyer for the job he does recruiting and coaching a cohesive unit. Leonard Hamilton the other day acted as if it was a tragedy that he had to start two freshmen for a few games, like it was impossible to win with that 'limitation'! Duke starts three freshmen every game but the media acts like Scheyer just throws them onto the court and their god-given talent does the rest. Of course Duke gets higher recruits than pretty much everyone, but recruiting is part of the job and those players still need to be coached!

Oh and even if your roster is entirely new you will only get COTY if the team sucked butt the previous season - even if none of those players that sucked butt are still there. I love narratives!
 
This may have been discussed in the Miami post-game thread, but I thought it was interesting that around the 8:50 mark of the post-game interview Jon says that roster construction is by "far the most important thing as a head coach". This was in response to a question about Sion and Mason and their impacts this year. It struck me as a bit of an odd response to the question that was asked, and to me it seemed like Jon took this as an opportunity to advocate for himself (perhaps as COTY). I also thought it was an interesting comment given the recent GM news at UNC.
 
Chris Lea at WRAL takes on the COY race.
The only reason Kelsey isn't my choice is because of what I described earlier as historic.

This year's Duke Blue Devils are the second-best offense ever, according to KenPom dating back to 1997. Over its last four games, Duke has scored 400 points and not just against ACC talent in what's considered a "down" year for the league. The Blue Devils blitzed the Big Ten's Illinois Fighting Illini at Madison Square Garden 110-67. This is the same Illinois team that beat a Top 15 ranked Michigan by 20. The Illini aren't a scrub team.

Plus, Scheyer just completed his second perfect season at home in his first three years. While doing that, the Blue Devils have won 10 ACC games by 25-plus points, the most by any team in a single season in ACC history. We have literally never seen what Duke is doing before.
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For the folks who don't think Scheyer should win at all, there's an elephant in the room. I'll call it the "Duke Tax."
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www.wralsportsfan.com

Lea: The 'Duke Tax.' Why Jon Scheyer isn't being considered for ACC Coach of the Year, but should be :: WRALSportsFan.com

Jon Scheyer should be voted ACC Coach of the Year, but he won't be considered because of one reason.
www.wralsportsfan.com www.wralsportsfan.com
 
Chris Lea of WRAL wrote an article today arguing why Jon should be COY, and that if he doesn't, it's because of the "Duke Tax." Pretty much what everyone on here has been arguing, but it's a media member who (I think) votes on the award.

Edit--very clearly did not read the thread since CBAB posted it right above!
 
There's a coach every year that exceeds expectations. There are rarely coaches that achieve great things. It would be refreshing if the media decided just this once that awarding the guy that ended up in third place should not get a participation ribbon, too.

That being said, Duke should win on Saturday and bring home the ACC Tournament Title, too, just to prove the point.
 
Another way of putting it is that Scheyer and Duke have much bigger things on their mind than an ACC coaching award. I'm sure Jon would much rather have a Final Four banner or even more hanging in Cameron than a coach of the year award.
 
To me the key to last night’s game was the move to trap the Louisville guards at half court. That move immediately threw the Louisville offense out of rhythm and completely changed the momentum of the game as Duke went on their run to take control of the game.

People always talk about roster construction in praising Scheyer, and he deserves all those plaudits. But in almost every situation this year when Duke was struggling, or got behind in games, adjustments Scheyer and his staff made ended up turning the game around in Duke’s favor. Folks, we have a jewel of a coach and the future is bright.
 
I think Jon is truly a good person and very sincere. He spoke to a board on which I serve back when he was an assistant (K had stopped accepting requests to speak.) Jon had to show up at 8A on a Saturday, and he was articulate, funny and candid. I also think he is a great coach.
 
It would be interesting to know how the coach of the year voting would have ended up if the votes were cast a week later. Scheyer did a masterful job adjusting to the loss of Cooper and Maliq during the tournament, and it showed how well the coaching staff has developed and prepared reserve guys like Pat to step in a play a major role when needed. Seems appropriate the most-deserving coaches led their teams to the Championship game.
 
fathippo said:
It would be interesting to know how the coach of the year voting would have ended up if the votes were cast a week later. Scheyer did a masterful job adjusting to the loss of Cooper and Maliq during the tournament, and it showed how well the coaching staff has developed and prepared reserve guys like Pat to step in a play a major role when needed. Seems appropriate the most-deserving coaches led their teams to the Championship game.
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1. We had the tools in the lockbox. (roster construction)
2. We knew how to assemble and use them. (Strategery and tactics). :)
 
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