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The Duke Blue Devils were in the first half of their eventual 89-66 blitzing of Baylor on Sunday in advancing to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament's East Regional.
The game was still competitive when Phoenix Suns point guard Tyus Jones was asked after practice if the Blue Devils could accomplish something they hadn’t done since he was there — win a national title.
"Oh, I think so," Jones said. “I think they got a little bit of everything. They’ve got the talent, obviously, but they got the togetherness. They play unselfishly. They support one another. They play defense. They’ve got athletes, they’ve got shooting."
Jones was the 2015 Final Four MVP as he scored 23 points and grabbed five rebounds in Duke's 68-63 win over Wisconsin in the national championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Now he's rooting for the current Blue Devils to advance to the 2025 Final Four in San Antonio and bring home the program's sixth national championship.
Duke faces Arizona at 6:39 p.m. (Arizona time) Thursday in Newark, N.J.
"So they got a little bit of everything, and that’s what you need and I think most importantly, you can tell they’re together, "Jones added. "They celebrate each other’s success, and that’s what you need. We’ve just got to stay healthy.”
Jones was also confident he’d collect on his friendly wager with Suns teammate Royce O’Neale, who played at Baylor.
Pay up, bro.
“I will be, knock on wood so I don't jinx it, but I'll be collecting (Monday) morning at shootaround from him," Jones said.
Suns guard Grayson Allen and Jones were freshmen on Duke’s 2014-15 national championship team coached by Mike Krzyzewski. Now they’re watching the 2024-25 Blue Devils pursue the same thing.
“What I figured out after being there for four years is, I felt like I was on three teams, maybe four, that were good enough to win a national championship,” Allen said. “It’s very difficult, but watching those guys, they definitely have the talent to do it. They can compete with anybody in college right now. I like they’re chances because of how they compete and how many guys they have that can make up for someone else having an off night.”
The No. 1-seeded Blue Devils are led by freshman Cooper Flagg, who is projected by many to be the first overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
Coming off an ankle injury in the ACC Tournament, Flagg posted 18 points, nine rebounds, six assists with two turnovers and a block in Sunday’s win over the Bears in Raleigh, N.C.
“His shooting and scoring in the midrange is really good, better than I thought, but he’s an extremely complete player, and he makes a lot of little plays when you’re watching the game that affect the game,” Allen said.
From Newport, Maine, the 6-9, 205-pound Flagg is averaging 18.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.1 assists to 2.1 turnovers, 1.5 steals and 1.3 blocks through 33 games this season.
“He’s a good connecter with making the extra pass even if it doesn’t end up in an assist,” Allen continued. “Defensively, he’s extremely active even if he’s not getting the block or a steal, it’s a deflection or an altered shot. You know he’s in the game when he’s out there. He’s making a difference on both sides of the ball.”
Duke head coach Jon Scheyer was an assistant at Duke during that 2014-15 championship season. Replacing Krzyzewski, who retired after the 2021-22 season with 1,129 wins and five national titles at Duke, Scheyer is Duke’s 20th head coach.
“I was extremely confident in him,” Jones said. “Just his attention to detail, his IQ of the game. He’s super smart. So I knew the coaching transition for him would be seamless. He’s doing a great job. I hope he gets his first one as a head coach this year for sure.”
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
Support local journalism: Subscribe to azcentral.com today.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Suns guards Jones, Allen, confident in Duke; Arizona next for Blue Devils in Sweet 16
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The game was still competitive when Phoenix Suns point guard Tyus Jones was asked after practice if the Blue Devils could accomplish something they hadn’t done since he was there — win a national title.
"Oh, I think so," Jones said. “I think they got a little bit of everything. They’ve got the talent, obviously, but they got the togetherness. They play unselfishly. They support one another. They play defense. They’ve got athletes, they’ve got shooting."
Jones was the 2015 Final Four MVP as he scored 23 points and grabbed five rebounds in Duke's 68-63 win over Wisconsin in the national championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Now he's rooting for the current Blue Devils to advance to the 2025 Final Four in San Antonio and bring home the program's sixth national championship.
Duke faces Arizona at 6:39 p.m. (Arizona time) Thursday in Newark, N.J.
"So they got a little bit of everything, and that’s what you need and I think most importantly, you can tell they’re together, "Jones added. "They celebrate each other’s success, and that’s what you need. We’ve just got to stay healthy.”
Jones was also confident he’d collect on his friendly wager with Suns teammate Royce O’Neale, who played at Baylor.
Pay up, bro.
“I will be, knock on wood so I don't jinx it, but I'll be collecting (Monday) morning at shootaround from him," Jones said.
Suns guard Grayson Allen and Jones were freshmen on Duke’s 2014-15 national championship team coached by Mike Krzyzewski. Now they’re watching the 2024-25 Blue Devils pursue the same thing.
“What I figured out after being there for four years is, I felt like I was on three teams, maybe four, that were good enough to win a national championship,” Allen said. “It’s very difficult, but watching those guys, they definitely have the talent to do it. They can compete with anybody in college right now. I like they’re chances because of how they compete and how many guys they have that can make up for someone else having an off night.”
The No. 1-seeded Blue Devils are led by freshman Cooper Flagg, who is projected by many to be the first overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
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Coming off an ankle injury in the ACC Tournament, Flagg posted 18 points, nine rebounds, six assists with two turnovers and a block in Sunday’s win over the Bears in Raleigh, N.C.
“His shooting and scoring in the midrange is really good, better than I thought, but he’s an extremely complete player, and he makes a lot of little plays when you’re watching the game that affect the game,” Allen said.
From Newport, Maine, the 6-9, 205-pound Flagg is averaging 18.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.1 assists to 2.1 turnovers, 1.5 steals and 1.3 blocks through 33 games this season.
“He’s a good connecter with making the extra pass even if it doesn’t end up in an assist,” Allen continued. “Defensively, he’s extremely active even if he’s not getting the block or a steal, it’s a deflection or an altered shot. You know he’s in the game when he’s out there. He’s making a difference on both sides of the ball.”
Duke head coach Jon Scheyer was an assistant at Duke during that 2014-15 championship season. Replacing Krzyzewski, who retired after the 2021-22 season with 1,129 wins and five national titles at Duke, Scheyer is Duke’s 20th head coach.
“I was extremely confident in him,” Jones said. “Just his attention to detail, his IQ of the game. He’s super smart. So I knew the coaching transition for him would be seamless. He’s doing a great job. I hope he gets his first one as a head coach this year for sure.”
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
Support local journalism: Subscribe to azcentral.com today.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Suns guards Jones, Allen, confident in Duke; Arizona next for Blue Devils in Sweet 16
Continue reading...
