Duke survived Siena’s 16-over-1 upset bid on Thursday, but Cameron Boozer’s stock may have taken a bit of a hit in the process.
The Blue Devils got a real scare from the Saints during their Round of 64 game at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C. They went into the half trailing 43-32 (becoming the first-ever No. 1 seed to go down double digits at halftime to a No. 16 seed) before righting the ship in the second half and ultimately beating Siena by a final score of 71-65.
Boozer, the Duke freshman star, finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds. But fans were woefully unimpressed by one particular aspect of Boozer’s game against Siena — his defense.
Many users on X commented about how shoddy Boozer looked on the defensive end, particularly in the first half.
16 seed Siena picking on Cameron “Traffic Cone” Boozer
— ReterRarker (@reterrarker) March 19, 2026
CAMERON BOOZER IS SO WEAK ON DEFENSE
— B-Dot aka Unk , Old Head and Shy Guy (@TheDotofB) March 19, 2026
Cameron Boozer in the paint. pic.twitter.com/aYjjQuFdzl
— BearsShowYo (@BearsShowYo) March 19, 2026
Cameron boozer is going to be the worst defender in the NBA from day 1
— Free Palestine 🇵🇸 (@MCKNLYII) March 19, 2026
Cameron Boozer is food on defense
— 𝑫𝑱 (@30sLegacy) March 19, 2026
The 18-year-old Boozer is not known as an elite athlete, but he does have a very complete offensive game and is particularly known for his ability to get to the foul line. The same cannot be said however of Boozer’s defensive game, which may limit his upside as an NBA prospect as well as Duke’s chances of winning it all in the NCAA Tournament this year.
Earlier this week, Boozer’s father, retired former NBA All-Star Carlos Boozer, compared him to a famous 15-time NBA All-Defensive selection. But it took all of one NCAA Tournament game for fans to realize just how off-base that comparison might have been.
