He tends to sub in for Maluach pretty quickly so I'm not sure how much difference that would really make. I suspect Maliq will play starter minutes and be part of the finishing lineup regardless of whether or not he starts though.
MBB: Duke 76, L'ville 65 Post Game Thread
- Thread starter scottdude8
- Start date
kshepinthehouse
Member
May keep us from having yet another slow start. We can’t keep going down double digits early.
While it wasn't pretty for most of the game, it was still a road win in the ACC. Maliq and Cooper played great. This team is still very much a work in progress. Duke's rotation players have played in 53 lineups and only 13 of the lineups have played for 10 or more possessions. Jon is still tinkering.
I think Brown is, somewhat quietly, becoming the MVP for the year thus far. I'm not as good as many others here at seeing some of the subtleties of the game, but the more I watch him, the more I appreciate his "under the radar" contributions. Among other things, his passing seems phenomenal!
Only a minor quibble that the 7 point spread going into last night's game was driven in large part by a Louisville team that no longer exists. They had played just 1 game since losing Kasean Pryor, who was one of their two best players so far this season. I suspect that Louisville's quality is going to drop a fair amount in his absence. So the spread should probably have been a fair amount more than that. I'd expect the SMU game to be a tougher matchup than the Louisville game.
That said, given that it was the first ACC road game, and the first game following the high-intensity Auburn game, and that Louisville got off to a bonkers shooting start, it was still a very impressive win. Heck, regardless of those caveats, any double-digit road win is an impressive win. But the computers are probably currently overrating Louisville based on their start to the season (when they still had Pryor).
For me, the amount of screaming I do at the Duke-on-my-screen has everything to do with whatever is bothering me in the rest of my life. I have had a stressful few days with work-related nonsense and I found myself losing my mind, and my voice, in the first half. It's a good mental health check, kind of like being aware of whatever keeps popping into your mind while you meditate.
DukieTiger
Member
The talking point that I’ve hear the most about the future of the transfer portal has been related to the expiration of the Covid rules - there won’t be any more Sions or Masons.
But I think it can’t be ignored that Duke’s best piece from the portal is one that, in theory, can be replicated again in the future. Maliq is the perfect addition - an all-conference defensive player who will be in the program for multiple years (I assume).
While a transfer of Maliq’s quality may be rare, he does show that it’s possible for Duke to get impact transfers in the future.
In posting this in the Louisville game thread because, holy moley, what a performance! Is NDPOY out of the question for Brown?
But I think it can’t be ignored that Duke’s best piece from the portal is one that, in theory, can be replicated again in the future. Maliq is the perfect addition - an all-conference defensive player who will be in the program for multiple years (I assume).
While a transfer of Maliq’s quality may be rare, he does show that it’s possible for Duke to get impact transfers in the future.
In posting this in the Louisville game thread because, holy moley, what a performance! Is NDPOY out of the question for Brown?
brevity
Member
Replicating a guy like this is particularly realistic because there is no question that Maliq will show off his skills to a much bigger audience than he would at Syracuse, and Duke can afford to play a defensive specialist more than a lot of teams because we have other weapons to compensate for his lack of premier offensive skill.
Atldukie79
Member
Regarding Man Man and his inability to dominate the jump balls…. I suspect it results from his relatively short tenure in basketball and a naive belief that you must wait to tap the ball after it hits its zenith, which obviously no one cares about anymore.
MChambers
Member
Sounds like something Pete Gaudet said.
It also could be that his vertical leap is not very high
bluedevilwildcats
Member
So physical deficiency vs. mental deficiency. I'm inclined to your explanation. At the 2024 Basketball Without Borders camp his maximum vertical jump was 25.5 inches.
Speaking of verticals, best estimate I could find for Cooper is 40-45 inches. I've noticed he doesn't get nearly the elevation on his dunks and layups that Zion did despite having a vertical that's only a few inches less. Curious if that 40-45 estimate is accurate. If so he should probably be doing jump balls.
ThirdDevil
Member
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kako
Member
Tommy Amaker and Wojo say that guards are always dismissed. The Landlord also may have a thing to say, but he was busy blocking shots...
Brown is a great defender. Hope he keeps it up. Let's hope that he does, and then let's see where he is on the pantheon of great Duke defenders...
9F
Probably before your time, but former point-guard, Steve Vacendak was a great defensive player. Surprise POY.
GoDuke!
jipops
Member
Interesting aspect to this game... Louisville started out shooting 8-11 from 3pt land. That's an insane 73%. They then proceeded to make 3 of their next 20 for the game (15%). So they finished higher (35.5%) than their season average (28%) as of this game, but at least they started to regress to the mean.
Indoor66
Well-known member
Steve was wonderful on the '66 team. He was the heart.