No. 2 seed Alabama will face No. 1 seed Duke in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday (truTV or TBS, 7:49 p.m. CT) at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
Ahead of the matchup, Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer spoke at the podium Friday. Here are the questions he answered related to the Crimson Tide.
Q. I was just curious what you think of kind of the three-point-ization of basketball, especially on the NBA side, it’s gotten a lot of comment. Last night’s games were exciting, but Alabama shot a couple of them. And do you think it’s ever going to go back?
Scheyer: “I don’t think -- unless the rules change, I don’t think it can go back because at the end of the day, it’s math. And the math just -- when you have that big of an advantage of hitting threes, and obviously the math of getting rim attacks and dunks and layups and getting to the free-throw line, it just doesn’t make sense to shoot other shots.
I think last night you saw with really all those teams, all of us that played last night, a lot of threes, but also a lot of rim attacks, which opens up the threes.
The more I’ve learned, it’s a different -- way different than even it was when I was a player. I just think it’s about the math.
I still think it’s an exciting game, but I’m sure that the game will evolve somehow. It always evolves. I’m not sure why that is right now, but no, I don’t think it can change anytime soon."
Q. Alabama gets up and down the floor, you had the late game, now we have the late game tomorrow. How do you best prepare your guys to be able to go the way that you know Bama is going to want to dictate the pace in this game tomorrow?
Scheyer: “Right, and for us I think that’s the key. Obviously we’re really explosive in transition, as well, but we have to pick our spots, too. The recovery is tough. Our guys didn’t get back until about 2:00, 2:30 last night until it was all said and done with treatment and everything like that. And let them sleep in today, gave them an initial scout on Alabama, and we’ll have to do another deep dive tonight.
And then it’s a good thing we have the late game. I’d rather have the late game after doing that last night.
But knowing our guys, we’ll be rested. We’ll be recovered. We’ll be prepared. Playing three games in three days in the ACC Tournament is tougher than this. But obviously this is still a quick turnaround, and you’re playing against a team, like you said, they’re relentless. They’re relentless. They don’t stop trying to push the pace and push the tempo, so there can’t be any relaxing on our end."
Q. Speaking of the SEC, how do you view the competitive balance of college basketball right now? The conference is pretty dominant, but if you guys win it all, you’ll have wins over Auburn, Bama, Tennessee, and maybe Florida. Is it healthy for the sport for a conference to have three or four teams in the Final Four?
Scheyer: “Well, my focus is on Alabama, obviously. But I think it’s a credit to what the SEC has done this year. I mean, the investment they’ve had, the teams they’ve had. You have to give them a ton of credit.
Their league has been awesome this year, and whether that’s a trend moving forward or not, I think our league is doing a lot for next year moving forward.
But at the end of the day, I think it just shows it doesn’t matter what league you’re from as long as your team is at that level. I don’t think for us it’s -- we’re prepared. I could talk about some of the moments we’ve been through this season in the ACC to prepare us for this game, to prepare us to play Arizona.
But give the SEC a ton of credit this year for what they’ve done and what Alabama has done. For me, I don’t think it’s like you can’t beat somebody or that entitles you to anything. But they’ve had a great year."
Q. Back to the conferences and the difference between the SEC and ACC and the perceived strength of each conference. Do you buy into it at all in terms of a team like Alabama or any team in the SEC being more battle tested and therefore more prepared compared to you coming from the ACC? I know you said you’d been tested in the ACC, but do you buy that argument at all?
Scheyer: “I think there’s -- naturally, in anything, you can take -- there’s positives and negatives to either thing.
For us, there’s no question we’re prepared, and there’s no question they’re prepared. Playing different schedule, playing different opponents at different times of the year, they both prepare you in different ways.
Of course you’re going to acknowledge, like, the year the SEC had with the credit that you get for those wins or some of the battles. Of course, Alabama has had a heck of a schedule. I feel we have, too, but it’s been different.
I don’t think that gives them any more of a leg up tomorrow based on conference or ACC, SEC. I’ve been in the ACC a long time; it’s always prepared us and had us ready, and this year is no exception in my mind."
Q. Last night you referred to that you would know a lot more about Alabama by the time you got here today, and I was thinking about, you’ve just finished this really emotional game and then you go immediately to study the next team. What’s that process like in the wee hours? Are you eager to do it? Does it require any energy products, anything like that?
Scheyer: “Yeah, for me, my adrenaline was flowing last night, so I didn’t need anything else to drink or any coffee or anything like that.
For me, it was literally right to Alabama, watching a ton of film on them. The staff was getting me up to date because they had been working ahead on them.
Look, their pace jumps off the chart at you. They’re just both ends of the ball too. Defensively they’ve been really good, as well, and you’re watching different games, and you’re up late.
