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

Status
Not open for further replies.
Game 2 of the U18 AmeriCup in Buenos Aires...

Team USA 150, Team Belize 54 (recap, box score, FIBA full replay - Spanish, HoH full replay - English)

Incoming Duke freshman Patrick Ngongba played 19 minutes off the bench and had 12 points (3-7 FG, 6-8 FT), 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and a block. 2025 recruit Nate Ament, also a reserve, saw about 23 minutes of action, scoring 11 (3-6 FG, 1-4 3PT, 4-4 FT) and adding 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 5 steals, and a block.

Game 3 against Brazil is Wednesday at 4:40pm ET, and can be seen live, either on the Bleacher Report app or on YouTube courtesy of FIBA and House of Highlights (embedded below):

 
150-54... who did Belize have suiting up for them? Me!?!?!

43 assists (!!!) on 57 baskets, feels like they had pretty good ball movement.
 
At the U18 Americup, Team USA beat Brazil on Wednesday to go 3-0 in group play.

Team USA 88, Brazil 57 (recap, box score, FIBA full replay in Spanish, HoH full replay in English)

The U.S. leads the field in points per game (108.7), field goal percentage (48.5 percent), rebounds (62.7), assists (26.7), blocks (6.7), steals (15.3) and various other statistics through three games of pool play.
Click to expand...

Patrick Ngongba had 2 points (1-2 FG) and 8 boards in 10 minutes, while Nate Ament made his lone field goal attempt, a 3-pointer, and added 1 rebound in only 4 minutes.

Next up is Puerto Rico on Friday at 11:40am ET. You can watch the livestream on FIBA's YouTube account (also embedded below):

 
Sorry, I slacked off on the U18 Americup. Team USA is playing Canada right now. They lead 27-14 at the end of the 1st quarter. Watch it live:


To get to this point, Team USA beat Puerto Rico yesterday 98-66 (recap, box score, FIBA full game replay). Patrick Ngongba and Nate Ament each played about 5 minutes and scored 2 points off 1-for-1 shooting.
 
The Duke Men's BBball IG account (@dukembb) posted some workout photos today. It has stills of Gillis, K2, Ngongba, Brown, Sion, Kam, Coop, plus some of our returning dudes. It's cool to see them in Duke unis...now they need to give us some scrimmage tape to overanalyze.
 
Billy Dat said:
The Duke Men's BBball IG account (@dukembb) posted some workout photos today. It has stills of Gillis, K2, Ngongba, Brown, Sion, Kam, Coop, plus some of our returning dudes. It's cool to see them in Duke unis...now they need to give us some scrimmage tape to overanalyze.
Click to expand...

And Khaman! Great to see him there as I thought he was off to Olympics practice.

And after I posted this, I checked the DukeMBB site and they just out up a Khaman specific post with pics and some short videos!
 
Last edited:
JayZee said:
And Khaman! Great to see him there as I thought he was off to Olympics practice.

And after I posted this, I checked the DukeMBB site and they just out up a Khaman specific post with pics and some short videos!
Click to expand...

Some great video. I find myself comparing him to Williams and Lively. He definitely looks more ready to play than big Mark entering Duke.

I'm expecting a trajectory like Lively. Similar agility, length, fast twitch athleticism. I'm hoping Khaman is a better rebounder and a bit better finisher inside. His shot looks nice but I'm not expecting to see many 3 pointers at Duke.

It's fun to think about Khaman and Cooper playing 2 vs 2 surrounded by three snipers spaced at the 3 point line. They might be unstoppable.
 
As K2’s #1 hype man, I felt the need to point out that he looks like he lost some weight. It’s only 1 picture but the muscle definition is something I’m not used to seeing with him :D

Props to the Duke staff for probably changing his diet a bit.
 
kAzE said:
As K2’s #1 hype man, I felt the need to point out that he looks like he lost some weight. It’s only 1 picture but the muscle definition is something I’m not used to seeing with him :D

Props to the Duke staff for probably changing his diet a bit.
Click to expand...

Noticed that. Also, Evans is thin but he is ripped! Wiry strong. The vibe from those two photos is that these two youngsters are competing for that fifth starting spot. It would be a great sign for the season if one of them earns it. We already know how good Gillis and James are.
 
SkyBrickey said:
Some great video. I find myself comparing him to Williams and Lively. He definitely looks more ready to play than big Mark entering Duke.

I'm expecting a trajectory like Lively. Similar agility, length, fast twitch athleticism. I'm hoping Khaman is a better rebounder and a bit better finisher inside. His shot looks nice but I'm not expecting to see many 3 pointers at Duke.

It's fun to think about Khaman and Cooper playing 2 vs 2 surrounded by three snipers spaced at the 3 point line. They might be unstoppable.
Click to expand...

On the latest Duke Basketball round-up, Donald and Jason had the Athletic's Brandon Marks and he, at length, talked about fans not getting to excited about Kham out of the gate as he is RAW. I am sure we'll get a solid taste watching him in Paris this summer...they have a group-stage game against Team USA.

kAzE said:
As K2’s #1 hype man, I felt the need to point out that he looks like he lost some weight. It’s only 1 picture but the muscle definition is something I’m not used to seeing with him :D. Props to the Duke staff for probably changing his diet a bit.
Click to expand...

First thing I noticed, too. At that age, with the amount of playing/lifting these guys do and the teenage metabolism, I have to imagine that weight melts off if the diet is proper.
 
Billy Dat said:
On the latest Duke Basketball round-up, Donald and Jason had the Athletic's Brandon Marks and he, at length, talked about fans not getting to excited about Kham out of the gate as he is RAW. I am sure we'll get a solid taste watching him in Paris this summer...they have a group-stage game against Team USA.



First thing I noticed, too. At that age, with the amount of playing/lifting these guys do and the teenage metabolism, I have to imagine that weight melts off if the diet is proper.
Click to expand...

Agree Khaman will be raw. Lively was very raw too. Lively averaged 5ppg, 5rpg and 2.5bpg in 21mpg.

I'd be thrilled if Khaman gives us similar points and blocks with slightly better rebounding in 20mpg. And I'd expect Brown would put up better points and rebounds than Lively if he plays 20mpg at the 5.
 
It's a good day on Dukembb instagram. First look videos posted for Maluach, Flagg, Gillis, James, K2, Proctor.

Has K2 already been christened Baby Luka? You can see it in the way he dishes out contact on his drives to the basket.

Also, it may just be hopeful thinking but Tyrese looks stronger. Maybe he's added 5-10 lbs of muscle?
 
SkyBrickey said:
Agree Khaman will be raw. Lively was very raw too. Lively averaged 5ppg, 5rpg and 2.5bpg in 21mpg. I'd be thrilled if Khaman gives us similar points and blocks with slightly better rebounding in 20mpg.
Click to expand...

This past season Luka Doncic had a quote about Lively, saying something like "he's been training to be a pro since he was a kid" as a way to explain how seamless Lively's transition to the NBA had been. Khaman has been at the NBA academy in Africa, but he started playing basketball at a much later age and will have to adjust from the international game. All that to say, I think Khaman will be even more raw than Lively was, especially on defense. Lively struggled with staying out of foul trouble early on, and I have the same concern for Maluach. Offensively Maluach shows more skill, but we shouldn't forget that in high school Lively was reported to have a reliable shot out to three point range. So we'll see.
 
2024-25 roster

1 - Caleb Foster, 6-foot-5, 197-pound sophomore guard
2 - Cooper Flagg, 6-foot-9, 205-pound freshman forward
3 - Isaiah Evans, 6-foot-6, 185-pound freshman guard/forward
5 - Tyrese Proctor, 6-foot-5, 183-pound junior guard
6 - Maliq Brown, 6-foot-8, 222-pound junior forward
7 - Kon Knueppel, 6-foot-6, 205-pound freshman guard/forward
8 - Darren Harris, 6-foot-6, 195-pound freshman guard/forward
9 - Khaman Maluach, 7-foot-2, 250-pound freshman center
13 - Cameron Sheffield, 6-foot-6, 195-pound senior guard
14 - Sion James, 6-foot-6, 220-pound graduate guard
18 - Mason Gillis, 6-foot-6, 225-pound graduate forward
20 - Neal Begovich, 6-foot-9, 230-pound walk-on graduate forward
21 - Patrick Ngongba II, 6-foot-11, 240-pound freshman center
52 - Stanley Borden, 7-foot, 241-pound walk-on senior center
55 - Spencer Hubbard, 5-foot-8, 157-pound graduate guard

https://www.si.com/college/duke/bas...es-official-2024-25-blue-devil-roster-6-19-24
 
we'll see

UrinalCake said:
This past season Luka Doncic had a quote about Lively, saying something like "he's been training to be a pro since he was a kid" as a way to explain how seamless Lively's transition to the NBA had been. Khaman has been at the NBA academy in Africa, but he started playing basketball at a much later age and will have to adjust from the international game. All that to say, I think Khaman will be even more raw than Lively was, especially on defense. Lively struggled with staying out of foul trouble early on, and I have the same concern for Maluach. Offensively Maluach shows more skill, but we shouldn't forget that in high school Lively was reported to have a reliable shot out to three point range. So we'll see.
Click to expand...

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.
 
MChambers said:
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.
Click to expand...

Yeah, while highlights always bias things, I too was struck by some of the things Maluach was able to do in the BAL. Most guys his size, let alone with his limited experience, don't make the type of turnaround jumpers he made out of the post, even if we didn't see another 4-5 shots that he missed. Same thing with his ability to shoot in rhythm and handle the ball... even the successes we saw in highlights are things most players his size never put on tape at all.

I'm on the optimistic side when it comes to Khaman... he may be raw, but completely raw players that are not ready to compete at a high level aren't consensus projected Top 5 NBA draft picks. I think where Khaman will struggle more is adjusting to the different style of the American/college game, so it may be more about the mental side of the game rather than developing the tools.
 
roywhite said:
1 - Caleb Foster, 6-foot-5, 197-pound sophomore guard
2 - Cooper Flagg, 6-foot-9, 205-pound freshman forward
3 - Isaiah Evans, 6-foot-6, 185-pound freshman guard/forward
5 - Tyrese Proctor, 6-foot-5, 183-pound junior guard
6 - Maliq Brown, 6-foot-8, 222-pound junior forward
7 - Kon Knueppel, 6-foot-6, 205-pound freshman guard/forward
8 - Darren Harris, 6-foot-6, 195-pound freshman guard/forward
9 - Khaman Maluach, 7-foot-2, 250-pound freshman center
13 - Cameron Sheffield, 6-foot-6, 195-pound senior guard
14 - Sion James, 6-foot-6, 220-pound graduate guard
18 - Mason Gillis, 6-foot-6, 225-pound graduate forward
20 - Neal Begovich, 6-foot-9, 230-pound walk-on graduate forward
21 - Patrick Ngongba II, 6-foot-11, 240-pound freshman center
52 - Stanley Borden, 7-foot, 241-pound walk-on senior center
55 - Spencer Hubbard, 5-foot-8, 157-pound graduate guard

https://www.si.com/college/duke/bas...es-official-2024-25-blue-devil-roster-6-19-24
Click to expand...

Holy size on the roster. Yikes.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top