Duke Legend and NBA-All Star Grant Hill Talks Duke-North Carolina and Team USA Ahead of the Olympics
Seth Davis: We are so happy to be joined by the one and only Grant Hill, old man No. 33. I’m old enough to remember when Hill was a promising young prospect from South Lakes High School in Reston, Virginia. He’s made a name for himself as a player, an executive, a broadcaster and of course a great friend of me and Andy. Grant, thanks for joining us.
Big occasion this weekend in Chapel Hill: Our alma mater, Duke, taking on North Carolina. Scout this out for us. What do you expect to happen?
Grant Hill: Well as you know, in that rivalry, anything can and will happen. Obviously, I’m a smart man, so I go with the team that’s favored — Duke. But I know Carolina, with the emotion of being in the Dean Smith Center, the rivalry, the fans, they’re more than capable of putting up a big game and stopping Duke.
Duke has been very dominant. They’ve been almost surgical in just how they’ve approached the season. Obviously with the exception of a bad 10-minute stretch back in December in Madison Square Garden, they could very well be undefeated right now.
Carolina has had some ups and downs here during the regular season. But they have a kid who’s incredibly talented in Caleb Wilson, who is projected to be a top-three, top-five pick depending upon who you talk to. He’s more than capable of getting it done on both ends of the floor. He can carry them and make big plays, spectacular plays on the offensive end. And then defensively he has the ability to impact the game, either guarding Boozer straight up or being more of a help side defender.
But, Duke is deep. Duke is really playing well together. I think last year’s Duke team was absolutely incredible. And they had a bad finish in the semifinal, but that team was so well-assembled and played so well together. If you look at the numbers, this Duke team is right there with them. I mean, it’s quite extraordinary.
Anyway, I’m pro-Duke. I’m picking Duke trying to be objective, but I do know that Carolina is more than capable of a big-time upset.
Andy Katz: Grant, could you dive a little bit deeper on Cameron Boozer? Right now he’s the favorite to be the National Player of the Year. What has impressed you the most from Cameron this season?
Grant: He’s similar to Cooper (Flagg), not the same player, but similar to Cooper in his maturity and composure. He just seems almost ready for the responsibility that comes with being a top pick and a top Player of the Year candidate, carrying a team and a program like Duke that has a great legacy. He takes it all in stride. He doesn’t take himself too serious. Obviously, he’s been around the game of basketball, the NBA game his entire life. And he can learn a lot from his father.
He has the ability to put the team on his back. I got a little NBA in me, so we always make comparisons, but he’s got a little bit of Kevin Love, Al Horford, but better with the ball in his hands. John Scheyer has done a good job in the games with these sort of unconventional screening roles where you’ll have an Isaiah Evans or a smaller come up and set a screen. And he’s trusting Cameron’s ability to make a play — to get downhill, to get a jump shot off, to make the right assist.
We’ve seen all of that from him in those moments. There haven’t been many, but in those moments that have been close. He also just has a knack for getting rebounds. It’s one thing to be strong, but he has some real instincts on that end of the floor, like Kevin Love — Minnesota Kevin Love was an All-Star, was an Olympian and was a double-double machine in the NBA.
He’s a good passer. He gets double-teamed a lot. They throw a lot of different defenses at him, a lot of different looks, and he seems to always make the right play, either scoring or finding a teammate. So I’ve been more than impressed — not the athlete and not the spectacular (plays) that you saw last year at times from Cooper — but just as effective and beat you in other ways. Strength, physicality, intellect, feel, all those things are impressive.
Seth: I think he’s got some Christian Laettner in him too, by the way, in terms of his size, shooting ability, way to play away from the basket. Much nicer guy than Christian. Most people are, but both winners.
Seth: It’s an old axiom in sports. You don’t want to follow the guy. You want to follow the guy who followed the guy. Jon Scheyer followed the guy. What is it about Jon that thus far has enabled him to succeed at such a high level?
Grant: Yeah, that’s a great question. And you think about it, it is tough to follow. But there’s a sense of pride as a former Duke Blue Devil that we got succession right. And that’s not always easy. There are countless examples in college, even in college football, where you have an iconic figure, someone who’s had an incredible legacy and won championships and been the standard for that university. And then that next person, usually in-house, doesn’t live up to the standard.
So we hire Jon Scheyer, who I’m not sure was on a lot of people’s radar as a candidate. It really speaks to the recognition of something there: a talent and a gift, an understanding that this kid has a chance to be special. I didn’t know Jon well. He was much, much younger than you and I, Seth, but as he was named in that role and took that job, he and I got to know each other and I spent a lot of time with him.
His ability to communicate — just to be so young, but to connect with young men, to connect with their families during the recruiting process, and then to be able to speak on behalf of the program to the media. You see him talk in interviews, he’s just an effective communicator. I also think he has just an understanding, because of his age, of this current generation and how to connect with them and gain their trust.
Before he started coaching, he checked all the boxes. We just didn’t know if he could coach, but everything else, it was perfect. And he’s proven it.
Every team he’s had has been a different team and a different personality and a different talent. His first year right out the gate, a team that had injuries and challenges throughout the regular season. They figured it out and they played a more slow, deliberate, methodical game. They had great size and defense, and they got to the second round, which is successful. Then year two, he takes a team that just had challenges in my opinion, and they get to the regional final. Some may say maybe they should have gone further, but to get that team that far, I thought was incredible.
Then last year, it’s one thing to have talent. It’s another thing to be able to coach them. And they played the right way. They played for one another. They followed the game plan. They trusted each other. They trusted the staff. Coach K used to always say, “Are you worthy of winning?” And I thought that group was worthy of winning a championship. They just came up short.
And then the pivot this year — every year it’s a different team, a different personality, and he’s adapted and this team is sitting pretty right now. I kind of like that they’re not No. 1. I like that Arizona’s No. 1, but that’s a whole ‘nother story. But Jon has figured his team out, made adjustments. He’s had some challenges and some heartbreaks as every coach has. But wow, we got it right, and it’s a credit to what Jon has done and what he has the potential to do for many years to come.
Andy: Grant, what’s been more stressful? Playing at Duke, playing in the NBA, or watching the team you helped put together try to win a gold medal in the Olympics?
Grant: Hands down, the Olympics. That was incredibly stressful, but also just the most remarkable thing that I’ve ever been a part of. Obviously there was pressure, there were challenges, there were things to manage as you go throughout that journey, but that last day we had just escaped beating Serbia. I couldn’t even believe that we were able to do that.
The day of the gold medal game in Paris, I’m a nervous wreck. I called Coach K and he broke down precisely what happened in the Serbia game in the semifinals. And just the brilliance of who he is and what he’s been all about, understanding, just coaching and players and circumstances and the pressure of being there at the Olympics. He broke it down. It was absolutely on point. And then we started talking about the pressure of coaching in a gold medal game. And he shared some of the experiences and so on and so forth, coached me up and got me ready to be there and be at my best for Steve (Kerr), who I know was feeling it as well.
And so many years later, many gray hairs later for me, he’s still coaching. And usually, the wisdom and the gameplan that he shares, very much like it was in the early 90s, is right on point.
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