“I have a psychopathic job”: Jon Scheyer admits his competitive side, calling his Duke coaching team “soft”
Charity begins at home, and for Duke's coach Jon Scheyer, so does competitiveness. Apart from leading his players to success, Scheyer enjoys dabbling on the court himself every week. His go-to is a full-court pickup game at Duke's practice facility, where the game of 120 points typically lasts more than an hour.
However, when there are not enough people for a run, Scheyer’s desire to ball ignites a full-court two-vs.-two game. So, when CBS' Matt Norlander enquired about his "psychopathic" desire to ball, Scheyer had a witty response.
"I have a psychopathic job," Scheyer said.
The coach likes to go against almost everyone in the facility, be it his players, coaching staff, managers or walk-ons. Except for assistants Emanuel Dildy and Jai Lucas, whom Scheyer has permanently banned because of their lack of defense and drive.
"They know that I'll get pissed at them if they play and they don't play defense, and I'm not gonna go for that. To be honest with you, they're soft," the head coach said.
Nevertheless, the competition is bustling in Durham. The friendly banter already began against Jon Scheyer, who is regularly accused of stacking up teams and making controversial calls.
Jon Scheyer’s drive was visible after Duke’s exhibition
The Blue Devils dominated the exhibition against Lincoln on Oct. 19. Their standout freshman Cooper Flagg dropped 22 points as Duke cliched a 107-56 win.
However, for Jon Scheyer, his roster still needs fine-tuning in order to be the best version of themselves.
"You're saying they did well though here," Scheyer said in the post-game conference. "For me, on Monday, there's a lot that we have to do better. It wasn't about just getting a win, you know. Our thing is about doing our best whatever that means and so for us, we're going get back to it on Monday and address all the areas we have to get better."
The Blue Devils will play their final preseason game on Oct. 27 against Arizona State as part of the Brotherhood Run series. They start their season on Nov. 4, against Maine Black Bears.