Tag: Kyle Filipowski

Duke head coach Jon Scheyer calls for a ban of court storming after Filipowski injury

After Iowa star women’s basketball player Caitlin Clark ran into an Ohio State fan last month and Kyle Filipowski was hurt against Wake Forest on Saturday, Jon Scheyer didn’t mince words while calling for a court-storming ban.

Duke star forward Kyle Filipowski needed to be helped off the court with a knee injury after he collided with a Wake Forest fan after Saturday’s game.

The injury came after a sold-out Demon Deacons crowd stormed the court after the upset win, and Duke head coach Jon Scheyer didn’t mince words on his thoughts about the practice after the game.

“I’m more concerned about the well-being of our guys,” Scheyer said. “When are we going to ban court storming?”

“How many times does a player have to get into something where they get punched or they get pushed or they get taunted right in their face? It’s a dangerous thing.”

Scheyer said he didn’t want the incident to take away from the Demon Deacons’ victory, but he referenced remembering that fans gave players a few seconds to get off the court when he was a player.

Scheyer also referenced Iowa star women’s basketball player Caitlin Clark, who collided with an Ohio State fan after an upset loss earlier this season.

“That needs to stop,” Scheyer said to conclude his comments.

Duke loses highly competitive 83-79 game on the road to Wake Forest

Duke loses a closely contested game against Wake Forest 83-79.

No. 8 Duke has been playing its best basketball of the season of late, and coming into their Saturday tilt with Wake Forest, they had won five straight basketball games.

Saturday saw them unable to push that win streak to six, as the Blue Devils fell 83-79 in Winston-Salem after a hotly contested game.

These two ACC foes met in Durham less than a month ago, with Duke winning 77-69. Wake came out on top in their rematch after shooting 60% from the field for the entire game.

The first half was a largely back-in-forth affair, with the Blue Devils pushing out to an early 15-9 lead behind 3-pointers from Tyrese Proctor, Caleb Foster, and Jared McCain. Wake responded, closing the gap as the teams hit the under-eight media timeout with Duke holding a 25-22 lead.

For the remainder of the first half, the game remained at most a three- to four-point affair. Duke ended the half with a 38-36 lead after a cheap foul on Jaylen Blakes gave Cameron Hildreth two free throws with less than a second left.

Proctor and Foster chipped in eight points each over the opening 20 minutes, while Kyle Filipowski led the way for Duke with 10 points and five rebounds. Gonzaga transfer Hunter Sallis was locked in during the first half en route to 14 points and five boards for Wake Forest.

The second half is when things turned up a notch.

Duke and Wake exchanged run after run and upped their percentage from three above 50% after shooting just 4/12 from distance in the first half.

Duke struggled to stop Wake in the second half, but thanks to tough shotmaking of their own, they remained in the game to the end.

Three turnovers in the final two minutes ultimately undid Duke’s chances of coming out on top despite weathering an incredible display of shooting from Hunter Sallis, who finished with 29 points on 5/6 shooting from deep.

Jeremy Roach added 16 points of his own, while Filipowski led the Blue Devils in scoring with 17 points.

As the game concluded, Kyle Filipowski was hobbled and helped off the court as Wake students and fans stormed the court and appeared to be somewhat responsible for injuring him in what is sure to be a hot topic over the next few days.

Filipowski said the problem was with his knee after the game.

For Duke, they’ll lace their sneakers back up and retake the court at home on Wednesday night against Lousiville. Wake Forest will travel to South Bend to take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Duke star forward Kyle Filipowski injured during Wake Forest’s court storming

Duke star forward Kyle Filipowski had to be helped off the Wake Forest court after Saturday’s loss when Demon Deacons fans collided with him.

Duke’s upset loss to Wake Forest on Saturday could have worse consequences than the end of a winning streak.

Star forward Kyle Filipowski appeared to get injured while Demon Deacons fans stormed the court in Winston-Salem.

As Wake Forest put away the 83-79 victory and the final buzzer sounded, Filipowski was standing near the logo at halfcourt. Within seconds, he was mobbed by Wake Forest fans in a rush to celebrate the top-10 home victory.

The cameras lost Filipowski in the crowd for a second, but ESPN picked him up soon after being helped off the court by his teammates and coaches while seemingly in pain.

It isn’t clear in the video how Filipowski got caught or injured, or which side of any conflict provoked a potential run-in.

There does seem to be contact between the Blue Devils’ big man and one fan earlier on in which the fan falls to the court and Filipowski starts to hobble on one leg.

Filipowski said after the game that the injury was to his knee, just a few minutes after head coach Jon Scheyer said he sprained his ankle

“When are we going to ban court stormings?” Scheyer asked, visibly frustrated by the situation.

Bleacher Report’s latest NBA mock draft has three Duke players getting drafted

Three Duke Blue Devils are projected to get drafted in Jonathan Wasserman’s latest 2024 NBA Mock Draft.

Three Duke players were projected to get drafted in Jonathan Wasserman’s latest 2024 NBA Mock Draft for Bleacher Report.

Forward Kyle Filipowski was the sole Blue Devils to be projected to be a lottery selection in the upcoming draft. Wasserman had him going ninth overall to the Atlanta Hawks.

The sophomore forward averages 16.9 points and 8.2 rebounds per game so far this season. He’s also improved from long-range, shooting at a 35.6% clip on 3-point attempts.

Freshman phenom Jared McCain, the reigning ACC Rookie of the Week, was just outside the lottery, going to the New York Knicks with the 19th pick. The first-year guard has established himself as one of Duke’s best scorers, averaging 13.5 points per game and exploding for 35 points against Florida State last week.

McCain is shooting 45.8% from the floor and 40.1% from deep in his freshman season to this point. He’s also been one of the Blue Devils’ best rebounders, averaging 4.9 boards per game and finishing with three double-doubles despite his 6-foot-3 frame.

The last Duke player projected to be drafted was sophomore guard Tyrese Proctor, who was slated to go to the Indiana Pacers with the 53rd pick.

Proctor’s numbers are still solid, as he’s averaged 10.1 points and a team-leading 3.6 assists per game so far in 2023-24. The second-year Blue Devil has struggled with consistency at times this season, however, and he missed all five attempts against Wake Forest and went 1/6 against UNC.

The sophomore guard came off the bench in Duke’s last game with Miami after a recent stint in concussion protocol, with freshman guard Caleb Foster splitting his minutes more evenly in recent games.

Duke’s Saturday game against Wake Forest officially sold out

The Blue Devils will play Wake Forest in front of a sold-out road crowd on Saturday.

The Blue Devils will play in front of a sold-out crowd on the road on Saturday.

Wake Forest announced on Thursday that the Demon Deacons’ weekend matchup against Duke was officially sold out. The game is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET.

The game will mark the second time the Blue Devils played Wake Forest within 12 days. On February 12, Duke defeated the Demon Deacons 77-69 in front of a home crowd at Cameron Indoor.

Sophomore Mark Mitchell led the Blue Devils with 23 points in that game, and forward Kyle Filipowski added 21 points of his own. Freshman Jared McCain added a 17-point double-double as part of his ACC Rookie of the Week campaign.

The Demon Deacons are Joe Lunardi’s First Team Out, according to recent bracket projections, but Wake Forest ranks 21st in KenPom’s adjusted efficiency metric as it looks to build a tournament case.

Duke Wire’s early All-ACC team

With five games left on the ACC calendar, we took an early look at what the All-ACC teams could end up looking like this season.

March draws closer every day, and while most of the excitement around that centers around the NCAA Tournament, there are also end-of-year awards to be handed out.

The Atlantic Coast Conference is one of the most traditionally successful conferences in men’s basketball with historic programs like Duke and North Carolina winning multiple championships over the past 25 years.

The ACC may not be as deep as its best years this season, with most bracket projections only including four teams in March Madness at the moment. There are still stars galore in the conference, however, and as per usual, there aren’t enough all-conference spots to go around.

Here is Duke Wire’s current projection for the All-ACC teams with five games left on the conference schedule.

Five takeaways from No. 7 Duke’s 84-55 win against Miami

What does Duke’s 84-55 win against Miami mean for the team over the next few games and the postseason? Here are our five biggest takeaways.

The No. 7 Duke Blue Devils won both of their games on their trip to the state of Florida.

The Blue Devils took down the Florida State Seminoles, 76-67, on Saturday. Duke then traveled to Coral Gables, Florida, and dismantled the Miami Hurricanes, 84-55, on Wednesday night.

The Blue Devils started slow against Miami, but a 13-0 run midway through the first half gave Duke a double-digit lead that they kept into the half. Miami never cut the deficit back to single digits as Duke rolled over them.

Duke now is tied for first place in the ACC standings at 12-3. The Blue Devils’ overall record is one game better than North Carolina, with whom they share first place. Duke is 21-5 on the season, while the Tar Heels are 20-6.

Here are five takeaways from the Blue Devil’s win over Miami.

Duke dominates Miami in one of the Blue Devils’ best offensive displays

The Blue Devils had one of their best offensive performances of the season on Wednesday in a dominant 84-55 win over Miami.

Duke lost its last game in Miami, but the Blue Devils got revenge and a lot more against the Hurricanes on Wednesday night in an 84-55 victory.

Head coach Jon Scheyer’s team sent a statement to the ACC and the nation with one of their best offensive displays of the season, shooting 51.9% from the floor and 44.8% from deep against a shorthanded Miami team.

The first half went as perfectly as it could possibly go for the Blue Devils. Despite the Hurricanes not having junior guards Nijel Pack and Matthew Cleveland, Duke clung to a two-point lead with 10:15 to play in the first.

The Blue Devils closed the half on a 24-9 run to absolutely leave the Hurricanes in the dust.

Duke’s entire starting lineup found moments to shine in the first 20 minutes. Miami kept a close eye on the perimeter to start the game, but the approach meant the Hurricanes kept losing track of sophomore Mark Mitchell, who scored seven of Duke’s first 10 points.

Kyle Filipowski made a pull-up 3-pointer and unleashed a devastating spin move in the paint in quick succession, and freshman guard Caleb Foster followed with two 3-pointers within three possessions.

Reigning ACC Rookie of the Week Jared McCain threw down a vicious dunk through a little contact to get in on the fun, the last basket of a 13-0 run for the Blue Devils.

He did so quietly, but no one excelled across the opening 20 minutes more than senior Jeremy Roach, who made three of his four first-half 3-point attempts to lead the game with 11 points at the break.

The late surge meant the Blue Devils led 40-23 at the break as Miami’s starters combined to shoot 8/27 from the floor and 3/12 from beyond the arc. Star forward Norchad Omier, a potential All-ACC candidate averaging nearly 18 points and 10 rebounds per game, pulled down eight first-half rebounds but could only manage six points on eight shots.

Omier’s frustration seemed to continue into the second half. Filipowski, Mitchell, and other Blue Devils did a good job making him work for his looks, but the Miami big man also missed some routine baskets on the evening. He had a few open looks and contested layups that just bounced off the rim in an odd fashion, his confusion slowly morphing into exasperation as the second half wore on. He finished the game with nine points and 10 rebounds.

Duke’s offensive heater kept warm over the halftime break, with four of the Blue Devils’ five starters making a 3-pointer in the first five minutes of the second half. The last of the four, made by Foster, extended Duke’s lead to 23 points with 15 minutes to play, a deficit that proved insurmountable for the Hurricanes.

The Blue Devils coasted their way to the clubhouse from there with little drama, leading by 20 or more points for almost the entire rest of the way.

Roach ended the game with a team-leading 16 points, and Mitchell and Filipowski both finished with 15 points. McCain had a quieter night, finishing with seven points and five rebounds on 3/9 shooting, but Foster added 11 points and Proctor contributed 12 off the bench.

Duke also out-rebounded the Hurricanes 42-31 over the course of the game.

The Blue Devils, now tied with North Carolina for first in the ACC with a 12-3 conference record, play Wake Forest for the second time in two weeks on Saturday.

New mock draft from The Athletic has Kyle Filipowski and Jared McCain as first-rounders

Duke’s Kyle Filipowski and Jared McCain are first rounders in Athletic mock draft.

The NCAA season has hit its stride and is streaking towards March, which means conference tournaments followed by the Big Dance.

At this point, every college basketball team has played well over 20 games, and it’s becoming increasingly clear that teams have begun to separate themselves from the pack as we gear up for what figures to be another hotly contested NCAA Tournament.

As the NCAA Tournament nears, it also signals that college basketball is ending, and with that, we will be even closer to the 2024 NBA Draft. While many pundits have declared this a less star-filled draft class for months, there is still a plethora of prospects that could develop into meaningful NBA contributors down the road.

Duke has done its part for the last decade in producing NBA talent, which figures not to stop this year. The Athletic released a new mock draft (subscription required) on Tuesday, and the Blue Devils have two projected first-rounders as things stand right now.

The obvious choice is their talented big man, Kyle Filipowski. Filipowski is having a solid year, and writer Sam Vecenie has Filipowski projected to go ninth to the upstart Oklahoma City Thunder. Despite the Thunder being the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, the abundance of draft capital they have accumulated over the years will remain valuable. They are ahead of schedule in their rebuild and can still land lottery-caliber talent despite playing some of the best basketball in the NBA this year.

Adding Filipowski would give the Thunder a multi-faceted big man to play behind Chet Holmgren and allow them to stretch defenses due to Filipowki’s ability to shoot 35% from a distance.

Elsewhere in the first round, long-range assassin Jared McCain was mocked to the Atlanta Hawks at 19th overall. McCain is shooting 41% from deep and has showcased a well-rounded offensive game, scoring at all three levels. Despite his smallish size and the fact that he may never be a true point guard, McCain’s offensive upside as a shooter has him being compared to former Blue Devil Seth Curry. He is also a terrific rebounder for his size and position and plays tough.

If McCain continues shooting at or above 40 percent, he will be drafted in the first round in June.

Notably, Mark Mitchell and Tyrese Proctor are nowhere to be found in this mock draft. Both returned to school to improve their draft stock and while Mark Mitchell has improved this season, his lack of a 3-point shot has impacted his pro prospects. He’s a tweener forward with a good inside game but cannot stretch defenses the way the NBA prefers.

Is it possible for Mitchell to come back for a junior season? With NIL, money is less of a worry for prospects not guaranteed to go to the second round. The same can be applied to Tyrese Proctor. Two unfortunate injuries have cut into many games for Proctor. He has yet to leap like many thought he would in year two, but his value to Duke is notable. They are a better defensive team, and his assist-to-turnover ratio is one of the best in the ACC.

Would Proctor consider coming back to Duke? Or transfer out for opportunities elsewhere following the season? If Proctor were to come back and run the backcourt with Caleb Foster and be the ultimate facilitator as Duke welcomes the nation’s number one player in Cooper Flagg and a plethora of talented freshmen shooters in Isaiah Evans, Kon Knueppel, and Darren Harris, it would be a boost to his pro prospects as a lead guard.

These decisions are looming for the Duke basketball program, and we still have tournament season before we see how it all works out.

Where are Filipowski, McCain in latest ESPN NBA mock draft?

The Blue Devils two biggest underclassmen stars both went in the first 20 picks of the latest ESPN mock draft on Tuesday. See where they ended up here.

The NCAA Tournament hasn’t happened yet, but that doesn’t mean it’s too early to think about the upcoming NBA draft.

ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo released a two-round mock draft on Tuesday morning, and Duke’s two biggest underclassmen stars heard their names called within the first 20 picks.

Forward Kyle Filipowski went ninth overall to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The 7-footer and preseason All-American is averaging 17.0 points and 8.3 rebounds on 49.7% shooting this season, and his quickness and competency from beyond the arc offer an enticing combination with his size.

Jared McCain, the first-year guard who tied a program freshman record with 35 points against Florida State on Saturday, went 20th overall to the Philadelphia 76ers. The 19-year-old is averaging 13.8 points and 4.9 rebounds per game this season, and he’s pulled off three double-doubles in his last five games despite his 6-foot-3 frame.

No other Blue Devils were selected in the 58-pick mock draft.