"We put so much on his shoulder, I have to take some of that off": Jon Scheyer gets candid on Cooper Flagg's early struggles vs Clemson

The Duke Blue Devils, coached by Jon Scheyer, were dealt with a tough away loss on Saturday. They fell 77-71 to the Clemson Tigers, who have been neck-and-neck with them in the ACC this year, and now hold a 12-1 conference record and 20-3 overall.

Freshman sensation Cooper Flagg was still impressive, though, as he's been in the 2024-2025 season, finishing with 18 points, which included three 3-pointers, five rebounds, an assist, three steals and a block in 38 minutes of action. Despite his efforts, supplemented by key cogs such as Tyrese Proctor and Kon Knueppel, the Clemson charge was too much to handle for the powerhouse program.

During the postgame presser, Scheyer discussed the struggles of his first-year star early on in the Tigers loss, as he was reportedly nursing a flu. But the coach commended the kind of load Flagg takes on regularly and said he is doing his best to lessen it as the Newport, Maine, native flows his way back into the focal point of the Duke game plan.

"It's his competitiveness coming out," Scheyer said (3:45). "We've put so much on his shoulders, and I have to help take some of that off because there's so much for him, defensively (and) offensively. I think it's that time, we just got to get his body refreshed, re-energized. He didn't have that same pop, even the last couple days in practice. We got to get him back.

"I got to help him with that because for him, he's a kid who should have been in high school as not his best game, 18 and five. He's just a special guy, but I think, with him, there's more that we have to help him recover."

Flagg shot a lowly 6-for-17 overall from the field, which is only good for a 35.3% field goal percentage, a far cry from his 47.9% season average. The 6-foot-9 swingman, along with his coach and the rest of the Blue Devils, will aim to get back into a positive groove on Wednesday against the California Golden Bears on their home floor.

Jon Scheyer admits they needed Mason Gillis as a substitute for Cooper Flagg

Fifth-year forward Mason Gillis provides a veteran presence for the Duke Blue Devils, but it wasn't felt once again as he continued to deal with illness, now missing his team's last two outings.

In the press conference, Scheyer admitted that had Gillis played, Flagg's and the team's overall performance could have gone way different as a spark plug off the bench.

"I think not having Mason is a big deal," he said (4:30). "I didn't feel we could have really a true sub for him (Flagg). Either we went smaller, or we played with some lineups that offensively wouldn't be as good for us. We were having a hard time scoring. So, that's something that I have to figure out."

In the 2024-2025 season, Gillis, who transferred to the program after spending his first four years with the Purdue Boilermakers, is averaging 4.8 markers and 2.5 rebounds per contest.