Getting yelled at by your coach is no fun, but it’s even worse when the coach is also your father.
Doug McDermott is a sophomore forward at Creighton and the team’s leading scorer at 23.3 points per game. Not only is he the Blue Jays’ best player, but he’s also the coach’s son.
Doug had an off day Saturday shooting just 5-14 in an 89-68 home loss to Wichita State. He also had several lapses on defense including a few consecutive mistakes in the second half that resulted in his father, head coach Greg McDermott, blowing up on him during a timeout.
“He had the right to,” Doug said after the loss. “I wasn’t playing well.”
Doug admitted that the sideline blowup affected him.
“It got in my head a little bit,” Doug said. “It’s part of coaching, I guess. It’s tough. It’s hard to focus on what you’re doing. But it’s gonna happen.”
Coach Greg McDermott defended the way he went after his son.
“He’s one of our best players, and there’s a lot that goes with that,” Greg said. “There’s a lot that you have to shoulder. That’s being able to compete your tail off on the defensive end when shots aren’t falling. I know Doug can handle it. He’s as big a critic on himself as anybody else. … You hope as a coach sometimes when you get your best player to respond, maybe everybody else will follow.”
Doug has enjoyed plenty of success playing for his father the past two seasons, but I can’t imagine that scene Saturday was much fun. I bet it was every bit as comfortable for Doug to endure as it was for us to watch. That’s taking tough love to the max, and definitely something I would have a tough time handling if I were in his situation.
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