{"id":576014,"date":"2026-02-01T23:10:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T23:10:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/576014\/"},"modified":"2026-02-01T23:10:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T23:10:17","slug":"mike-young-reveals-what-stands-out-to-him-about-cameron-boozer-after-loss-to-duke-he-plays-the-game-the-right-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/576014\/","title":{"rendered":"Mike Young reveals what stands out to him about Cameron Boozer after loss to Duke: ‘He plays the game the right way’"},"content":{"rendered":"

As usual, Duke<\/a> freshman Cameron Boozer<\/a> was spectacular in the Blue Devils\u2019 72-58 win over Virginia Tech<\/a> on Friday. After the game, Hokies head coach Mike Young<\/a> raved about Duke\u2019s first-year star.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best thing I can say about that kid is he plays the right way. He plays the game the right way,\u201d Young said<\/a>. \u201cHe is a master of the obvious. He is an elite basketball player, but by gosh, if he sees a double team, he\u2019s going to make the right pass. He does an exceptional job of recognizing double teams, catches the ball off the block a lot.<\/p>\n

\u201cTurns and faces or looks over that top shoulder to see how he\u2019s going to be defended and right down the chute he comes or back to the other side. So, yes, he is an elite passer and he throws lasers. Those aren\u2019t lollipops he\u2019s putting back there. They\u2019re on a frozen rope to the other side. I think that\u2019s as complimentary as one can be about a really, really special player. The kid plays the game the right way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Virginia Tech didn\u2019t have an answer for Boozer on Saturday. In the win, Boozer tallied a game-high 24 points, while shooting 9-12 from the field and 2-3 from beyond the arc. Additionally, Boozer recorded eight rebounds and five assists in the win.<\/p>\n

The stunning performance was nothing new for Boozer, who is leading the Blue Devils in points, rebounds, assists and steals per game this season. Boozer\u2019s outstanding debut campaign hasn\u2019t gone unnoticed.<\/p>\n

In ESPN\u2019s latest NBA mock draft, analyst Jeremy Woo projected Cameron Boozer to be the No. 3 overall pick. Boozer could be the top pick many other years, but the 2026 draft class is loaded with talent.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoozer continues to do what he does best, driving Duke\u2019s wins while leading a team largely composed of underclassmen,\u201d Woo wrote<\/a>. \u201cHis all-around production, unflappable competitive nature and feel for team basketball make him a malleable offensive player who will immediately boost whatever team he joins.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile there is some negative aesthetic bias among evaluators regarding his lack of vertical explosiveness, those concerns appear more pertinent on the defensive end \u2026 Boozer is a strong team defender, but limited as a rim protector, which his next team will have to account for. Where Boozer ultimately falls among the top three picks will likely depend on fit.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As usual, Duke freshman Cameron Boozer was spectacular in the Blue Devils\u2019 72-58 win over Virginia Tech on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":576015,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[7,5392,6,12],"class_list":{"0":"post-576014","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba-draft","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-cameron-boozer-25-columbus","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-nba-draft"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115997903977676719","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=576014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576014\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/576015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=576014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=576014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=576014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}