MChambers
Member
Son of a coach, who came into Duke with a reputation of being a good defender. You just never know until they are on the floor.
2024-2025 Men’s Basketball Season: General Offseason Discussion
- Thread starter cato
- Start date
Not sure he was ever the same player after the injuries.
You are dragging goalposts all over the place.
SkyBrickey
Member
I would bet a box of cheerios this is an outstanding defensive team.
The one defender who some folks seem to be really worried about was labeled "rock solid defensively" by an NBA analyst in early July and praised by one of his coaches this week for his "physicality".
What if we don't have any below average defenders in our rotation and have three of the ACC's best in Proctor, Brown and Flagg? Top 5 defense.
The one defender who some folks seem to be really worried about was labeled "rock solid defensively" by an NBA analyst in early July and praised by one of his coaches this week for his "physicality".
What if we don't have any below average defenders in our rotation and have three of the ACC's best in Proctor, Brown and Flagg? Top 5 defense.
cato
Member
The offseason is winding down (not fast enough for some, but in my advanced years I recommend waiting for the season to come and enjoying other pursuits in the meantime), and I’m going to revisit my thoughts at the end of May:
What do I expect to see when we finally get to see this lineup in action?
So with two weeks in August left, what do you think that might be?
What do I expect to see when we finally get to see this lineup in action?
- Proctor, Foster and Flagg logging big minutes
- Lots of moving parts around that trio, with Flagg especially being matched with different wing/front court players
- Something none of us are predicting
So with two weeks in August left, what do you think that might be?
SkyBrickey
Member
This is a good one.
Maliq Brown starting at center?
Foster or Knueppel leading the team in scoring? (Unlikely but maybe not out of the question...)
JasonEvans
Host, The Duke Basketball Roundup
Yeah, I would put the over-under on Duke's D ranking in KenPom this coming season at 5.5.
And I would probably take the under (meaning they will finish 5th or better).
SkyBrickey
Member
My biggest concern about our defense is that Khaman doesn't give us the rim protection we are all hoping for. This may be quibbling because it could be the difference between Duke as the #1 defense and the #5 defense.
I'll still stand by my take that the difference between this being a great Duke team and one of the all-time great Duke teams is Khaman Maluach. If he can rebound and defend and convert putbacks at a high level, sky's the limit.
I think it will all come down to who Jon starts and where he plays them. This team has the players to be top 3 or outside the top 20.
Freudian slip.
DBKilby
Member
I think you can pencil in Houston and Iowa St. as 1 and 2. Tennessee, UConn and UNC were elite last year on D but lost a ton. I actually think Auburn got better this off season and they finished 6th in defense. I think anything lower than 6 or 7 would be underachieving. I am way more concerned with the offense than defense currently.
The interesting thing about this team is that it has more than one possible way to get to that level. What if Brown shows that he now has a reliable 3 point shot, while still being an All ACC defensive player? I'd say there is at least a 40% chance of that. A top 5 defense that can rain 3s from every position would be fun. And Maluach may have the same chance at that.
SkyBrickey
Member
I'll be surprised if Khaman or Maliq attempt many 3s on this team. Too many other great shooters. I thought it was notable in the Jai Lucas interview that he described our "bigs" as Maluach, Brown and Ngongba.
Well, if they don’t shoot it, they’ll just be a taller version of Mark Mitchell. I don’t think this team has an elite shot creator, so spacing will be key to having a good offense. Just like being a poor defender might keep a player’s minutes down, being someone a defender can sag off of will keep a player’s minutes down.
If Kon terrifies his defender into never leaving him, I think you want to maximize that and spread the rest of the defense out.
Norman Pfyster
Member
Brown is nearly exactly the same size (height and weight) as Mark Mitchell, as least going by listed figures.
If Duke plays the right players, it has an outside shot of being better than Houston and Iowa St. It would probably require Khaman to be better than second-half freshman-year Mark, Caleb to go from a poor defender to an average defender, and a smidge of backsliding from Houston and Iowa St.
Every off-season posters bemoan the offense. Duke has been top 10 every season but 2 since 2011. They have been outside the top 20 once. In the same time frame, Duke has had a defense outside the top 20 7 times and outside the top 40 6 times. Defense at that level often takes you out of the Championship mix. Maybe we should be more worried about defense.