Kyle Filipowski flop draws strong reaction in Duke vs. Tennessee March Madness matchup
Early in the first half of Duke vs. Tennessee, Volunteers forward Uros Plavsic was called for a foul that sent Kyle Filipowski to the floor. However, replay review showed it might not have been as serious as it looked initially.
Naturally, social media had a field day.
The foul occurred at the 19:08 mark in the first half as Plavsic appeared to hit Filipowski with an elbow to the stomach. However, even color commentator Dan Bonner acknowledged it might not have been as hard of a hit as Filipowski made it out to be.
“After looking at that, I’m not so sure he hit him all that hard,” Bonner said.
It’s safe to say Twitter agreed. Multiple users were quick with jokes about Filipowski’s apparent flop.
“Kyle ‘Flop’ Filipowski,” OddsChecker tweeted.
“Grayson Allen watching Kyle Filipowski flop,” tweeted BetMGM, referencing Allen and his controversial playing style.
“FLIP FLOP,” user @Adamkendama1 tweeted. “What a nickname for Kyle Filipowski.”
“That was a generational flop from Filipowski,” user Mike tweeted.
Filipowski has been instrumental for Duke this season in Jon Scheyer’s first season at the helm after taking over for Mike Krzyzewski. He entered the game against Tennessee leading the Blue Devils with 15.1 points per game, but had a hard time getting going against the staunch Volunteers defense in the early going of Saturday’s game.
Scheyer has also called on Filipowski to play with more confidence, and he told his freshman star to “be the Kyle Filipowski I know” in the huddle. Scheyer said he wanted to make sure Filipowski isn’t playing too fast amid the high stakes of the NCAA Tournament.
“You need to remind them from time to time,” Scheyer said. “And our guys, they want it so badly. I think you can see that with the way we’re playing defense and rebounding and passing and playing together. But sometimes you need a wake-up call. Sometimes you need a reminder of how good you are. So for our team, I think it’s been that balance.
“As of late, I think we understand how good we can be. But Kyle just wanted it so bad yesterday. I just wanted him to calm down and play his game, which he did some really good things. He wasn’t like he normally is, but knowing him, he’s going to bounce back and be ready to go, his normal self tomorrow.