2024-2025 Men’s Basketball Season: General Offseason Discussion

[SkyBrickey]

When I watched a little bit of Maluach in the BAL, I was pleasantly surprised by his offense. I was particularly impressed by his ballhandling on the perimeter. Not saying he's great at it, but he looked comfortable. Of course, this was about half of one game, so definitely SSS. His shot also looked fundamentally sound.

His defense is definitely more raw than Lively's was at the same stage. I suspect we will see him in foul trouble early in the season, but I'm hoping he makes the same improvements in foul rate that Lively made.

But is his defense more raw than Lively? It's hard to predict since they've been playing against different levels of competition. I think maybe Lively had a foot speed advantage but Maluach has a reach advantage. Maluach looks to have a similar motor and intensity. He probably will be foul prone but his Olympic and other international experience might have him more ready than Lively.

On the offensive side Maluach should benefit from playing with Flagg and three experienced playmaking guards. Just on lobs and putbacks he should average more than Dereck's 5ppg in 20mpg. Could it be more like 8-10ppg?

 

[kAzE]

Maluach should be one of the top 2 options on offense anytime he’s on the court IMO. Offensively, there’s no comparison between him and lively. He’s just much more skilled. He does actually have a post game and decent touch with either hand. But even if he didn’t have the finesse, he’s just going to be a huge mismatch if anyone has to switch during a possession. I don’t see many teams having even 1 guy to matchup with him down low, and definitely not 2.

That switch all defense NC State used against us last year? That’s not gonna work with Maluach.

I think he’s going to be more efficient as a post scoring option than Flip was for sure. I’ll be interested to see how good he is at recognizing doubles and hitting open shooters and cutters from the post.

It might not be firing on all cylinders in November, but of all the players on the roster, I think the obvious choice for guy who will improve the most over the course of the season should be Khaman.

 

[SkyBrickey]

Maluach should be one of the top 2 options on offense anytime he’s on the court IMO. Offensively, there’s no comparison between him and lively. He’s just much more skilled. He does actually have a post game and decent touch with either hand. But even if he didn’t have the finesse, he’s just going to be a huge mismatch if anyone has to switch during a possession. I don’t see many teams having even 1 guy to matchup with him down low, and definitely not 2.

That switch all defense NC State used against us last year? That’s not gonna work with Maluach.

I think he’s going to be more efficient as a post scoring option than Flip was for sure. I’ll be interested to see how good he is at recognizing doubles and hitting open shooters and cutters from the post.

Of all the players on the roster, I think the obvious choice for guy who will improve the most over the course of the season should be Khaman.

If he ends up being a top 2 offensive option on this team, then he's going to be a top 2 pick in the draft.

I always temper my expectations on freshman bigs. There is almost always a steep learning curve. Okafor and Brand are two notable exceptions, but they had very polished offensive games coming to Duke.

I do trust a guy like Brendan Marks on things like this given his access to coaches and players. He is cautioning that Maluach will be very raw.

 

[azzefkram]

From the little I've seen from Khaman, I'm not sure raw is a term I would use. I have often associated raw with a lack of skill and/or polish. Khaman seems quite skilled, both offensively and defensively. He does seem to lack a bit of court awareness, which isn't all that surprising for a player so new to the game. I'm not sure I'd expect him to be option 2 on offense (especially early on), but I think he will be more than a rim runner/dunker.

I hope the guards are better at feeding the post than they were for Dereck. Some of that was on Dereck, but Tyrese and Jeremy were not very good at feeding the post in 22-23.

 

[budwom]

^ agree, our guards have not been the best distributors. Hopefully we see some change there...

 

[kAzE]

From the little I've seen from Khaman, I'm not sure raw is a term I would use. I have often associated raw with a lack of skill and/or polish. Khaman seems quite skilled, both offensively and defensively. He does seem to lack a bit of court awareness, which isn't all that surprising for a player so new to the game. I'm not sure I'd expect him to be option 2 on offense (especially early on), but I think he will be more than a rim runner/dunker.

I hope the guards are better at feeding the post than they were for Dereck. Some of that was on Dereck, but Tyrese and Jeremy were not very good at feeding the post in 22-23.

I agree with this take. I didn't mean that he'll be the 2nd leading scorer on the team (he definitely won't be), I just think he should be getting touches early in possessions. He will present such a huge mismatch, it would be foolish to not use him as a screener to try to get a switch or dump it to him in the post when he's matched up against a smaller defender. He might not get the score or the assist, but the way teams will have to scramble and rotate to defend him will open things up for a swing to a shooter somewhere. He is a good 1 on 1 scorer in the post. I haven't seen enough of him to make a judgment call on his decision making, but if he turns out to be a good passer, I think we'll go to him more and more as the season progresses.

 

[SkyBrickey]

More first look videos up today. Maliq, Foster, Evans, Ngongba. Evans definitely giving off that star vibe. He's so long, so fluid, and that jumper is beautiful! And Big Pat just bullying the coach with the pad. So much talent on this team.

https://www.instagram.com/dukembb?igsh=d3h5N2xrNHVra3gw

 

[SouthernDukie]

Was on campus Thursday and got to interact with Coach Scheyer for just a moment. Super nice to me and my family outside Cameron. Lots of youth playing ball inside. As we approached CIS kids were walking out chanting “Where is Cooper?” Clap, Clap Clap-Clap-Clap!

It was awesome!

 

[heyman25]

From the scrimmage Duke looks very versatile. All 5 can score on both teams. Sion Mason and Maliq will bring experience and 2 way play. Our new freshman all looked good. I know Harris is out. Cooper Kon and Isaiah all can shoot and drive and kick. Khaman and Patrick are raw but potentially will be good at rebounding and rim protection. Foster and Proctor look stronger but can’t quite tell their improvement from that short clip. Duke will be better than last season. More athletic and higher energy on this team.

 

[1Devil]

Also notable in the Athletic article is that he only has 2 ACC teams in his top 35. Not a good offseason for the conference. It's hard to argue we aren't slipping fast against the other big 3 despite the strong recent tourney performance...UVA, Clemson, Miami, FSU, what's going on??

It’s a problem. The biggest issue is that Syracuse and Louisville aren’t living up to their national power reputations. And just about all of the “occasional power” programs like Wake and GT are in long term slumps. Only NC State is trending positive.

 

[kidA]

I’ve got no information but would still like to offer an opinion about Darren Harris‘s hand situation. I broke my hand a few years ago; again, I don’t know if it’s the same type of hand break. I was an older non-elite athlete. The doctor gave me two options: surgery and be back in under a week, or take four to six weeks off and it would heal by itself with tape. I chose tape because I had the time and kind of fear surgery. It worked and I’m now an even older non-elite athlete. Given this somewhat relevant experience, I’m confident Harris will be back sooner than later without missing a beat, nor hopefully a shot!
Go Duke! Nine F

 

[SkyBrickey]

I’ve got no information but would still like to offer an opinion about Darren Harris‘s hand situation. I broke my hand a few years ago; again, I don’t know if it’s the same type of hand break. I was an older non-elite athlete. The doctor gave me two options: surgery and be back in under a week, or take four to six weeks off and it would heal by itself with tape. I chose tape because I had the time and kind of fear surgery. It worked and I’m now an even older non-elite athlete. Given this somewhat relevant experience, I’m confident Harris will be back sooner than later without missing a beat, nor hopefully a shot!
Go Duke! Nine F

I hope he is, but the truth is we have more than our share of great guards/wings on this roster.

I was super impressed by Kon in the scrimmage video. Size wise he is Luka Doncic minus 10-15 pounds. I had no idea until yesterday that he was this big. That's big enough to bully college guards/wings for baskets and his 3 point shot is a thing of beauty. Meanwhile, Evans is super skinny but he still looks like an NBA pro out there.

It's not impossible that Harris could beat out one of these two for rotation minutes, but he is ranked 15 spots lower, so I'm expecting him to be the top 10th man in the country this year and hopefully return to be a top 6 rotation player next season. No matter, great if his hand heals quickly and he can return to live action.

 

[superdave]

My son attended Duke Basketball Camp this past week. It ran Thursday through Sunday.

Of note, JJ Redick was there with his kids. My son's team played vs. them. Redick was there Thursday and Saturday, attending his kids' games. He took photos and signed autographs and was very popular with the campers. He kept ducking out to take calls Thursday morning, and within a few hours his Lakers job was public. He was not there Friday. Not sure if he was calling assistant coaches to put together his staff or what.

Saturday at the end of the day, several of the current players came out and played Knockout with the campers. Maliq Brown, Mason Gillis, Kon Knueppel and Cooper Flagg all played. Kon and Cooper were the last two standing, and Cooper won. The campers mobbed him. I'll have to see if I can post the video. Needless to say, the camp personnel and Scheyer looked very nervous with Flagg getting swamped. But the kids were like 8-10 years old so not too much danger.

Isaiah Evans was playing campers one on one in the K Center at the end of the day Saturday. He was shooting 3s and dunking and having a good time. He seems to have a big personality.

My kid got autographs on his jersey from Scheyer, Flagg, Maluach, Brown, Gillis, Sion, Will Avery, Justin Robinson, and maybe a few others. He had a great experience. I attended back in the 90s and got a picture with my son in my old camp tshirt, which was pretty cool.

 

[simplyluvin]

If he ends up being a top 2 offensive option on this team, then he's going to be a top 2 pick in the draft.

I always temper my expectations on freshman bigs. There is almost always a steep learning curve. Okafor and Brand are two notable exceptions, but they had very polished offensive games coming to Duke.

I do trust a guy like Brendan Marks on things like this given his access to coaches and players. He is cautioning that Maluach will be very raw.

I agree with tempering our expectations on Maluach. His being very raw means that there is a lot of room for growth, but also not a lot of polish right now. Freshman Mark Williams might be a good comp for this coming year (late season Mark ideally) as a shot-blocking lob threat who can finish efficiently around the rim. From what I could tell, he was a low 30s shooter from the arc, so I don't know that he has a true inside-out game. Would love to be wrong, obviously.

 

[MChambers]

I agree with tempering our expectations on Maluach. His being very raw means that there is a lot of room for growth, but also not a lot of polish right now. Freshman Mark Williams might be a good comp for this coming year (late season Mark ideally) as a shot-blocking lob threat who can finish efficiently around the rim. From what I could tell, he was a low 30s shooter from the arc, so I don't know that he has a true inside-out game. Would love to be wrong, obviously.

Maluach was shooting longer 3s in the BAL. Can't find what three point line the BAL uses, but I'm guessing FIBA (not NBA), so longer than NCAA. From the little I saw, his shot looked pretty good and his free throw percentage was 72% (only 29 attempts, so SSS, but still). Based on this, I am optimistic he'll be passable from outside. Of course, he's young and doing remarkably well for his youth and inexperience, so it's possible he'll be better than passable, which would be fun.

 

[SkyBrickey]

Maluach was shooting longer 3s in the BAL. Can't find what three point line the BAL uses, but I'm guessing FIBA (not NBA), so longer than NCAA. From the little I saw, his shot looked pretty good and his free throw percentage was 72% (only 29 attempts, so SSS, but still). Based on this, I am optimistic he'll be passable from outside. Of course, he's young and doing remarkably well for his youth and inexperience, so it's possible he'll be better than passable, which would be fun.

One big challenge with green lighting your Center to shoot 3s is that it takes your best rebounder off the offensive glass.

Factoring in the loss of some second chance points, your Center would have to be a pretty exceptional shooter for it to make sense to draw up sets to get them open looks. Maybe Cooper makes up for this cleaning up the glass without the opposing Center in the lane?

But I still doubt we see Khaman shooting many 3s at Duke. He will realize that potential in the NBA (like Wendell Carter).

 

[MChambers]

One big challenge with green lighting your Center to shoot 3s is that it takes your best rebounder off the offensive glass.

Factoring in the loss of some second chance points, your Center would have to be a pretty exceptional shooter for it to make sense to draw up sets to get them open looks. Maybe Cooper makes up for this cleaning up the glass without the opposing Center in the lane?

But I still doubt we see Khaman shooting many 3s at Duke. He will realize that potential in the NBA (like Wendell Carter).

Well, it also can take the opposing team's best rebounder off the glass, and also out of the lane, opening up driving opportunities.

 

[SkyBrickey]

Well, it also can take the opposing team's best rebounder off the glass, and also out of the lane, opening up driving opportunities.

Agreed. My point on Cooper cleaning up the glass. And you are right. Opening up the driving lanes is an advantage of having that stretch 5. Jon gave Flip the green light to shoot 3s as our 5 last season. But Flip was also a playmaking big man who could do lots of things with the ball in his hands on the perimeter

It will be interesting to see if we run plays to get Khaman open looks. If so I'm betting it's more in pick and pop type motion at the top of the key. If he were able to consistently hit those at close to 40%, it would for sure make our offense more dynamic.

 

[MChambers]

Agreed. My point on Cooper cleaning up the glass. And you are right. Opening up the driving lanes is an advantage of having that stretch 5. Jon gave Flip the green light to shoot 3s as our 5 last season. But Flip was also a playmaking big man who could do lots of things with the ball in his hands on the perimeter

It will be interesting to see if we run plays to get Khaman open looks. If so I'm betting it's more in pick and pop type motion at the top of the key. If he were able to consistently hit those at close to 40%, it would for sure make our offense more dynamic.

In the one BAL game I watched, Maluach had the ball at the three point line and faked a handoff to a guard cutting around him, wheeled on his defender and drove the lane, laying in in as he got fouled. I'm not saying he'll be able to do that kind of thing regularly against Duke's opponents, but I was very impressed that he had the self-confidence to do it.

 

[SkyBrickey]

In the one BAL game I watched, Maluach had the ball at the three point line and faked a handoff to a guard cutting around him, wheeled on his defender and drove the lane, laying in in as he got fouled. I'm not saying he'll be able to do that kind of thing regularly against Duke's opponents, but I was very impressed that he had the self-confidence to do it.

He's an extremely intriguing player. Lively moved better in space, but Khaman has more ball skills and has a bit more length. And he's only been playing 5 years.

We could see a burst of development from him from BOY to EOY like we've never seen from a Duke player. If it happens, we could be looking at 1 and 2 in the 2025 draft.