Way-Too-Early Projected Lineups and Stat Lines for the 2024-2025 Season

azzefkram said:
Maliq is a horrible 5. He offers minimal rim protection and poor defensive rebounding for the position. Syracuse had a defense in the upper 80s and allowed opponents to shoot about 54% from 2 (in the 300 range). Maliq is an excellent defender but not at the 5.
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He played the entire ACC season at the 5 and was selected first-team All ACC defense.

You and I disagree on a few things. But this is one of your strangest takes that Maliq can't defend the 5.
 
brevity said:
I would be quite shocked if TJ Power averaged 14 points per game at Virginia. Wouldn't that be, like, half the team's total points?

Kidding aside, the Cavaliers scored 62.9 points per game last season, 356th in Division I. Reece Beekman was their leading scorer with 14.3, followed by Isaac McKneely with 12.3 and Ryan Dunn with 8.1.

Could TJ Power become the new leading scorer? I suppose it's possible, but he'd have to pick up Tony Bennett's defense pretty quickly to merit enough minutes. He'd also have to leapfrog every other non-freshman scholarship player on the roster, each of whom averaged more points in college last season.

Isaac McKneely (12.3 points)
Andrew Rohde (4.3)
Blake Buchanan (3.4)
Elijah Gertrude (3.4) -- will miss 2024-2025 season due to knee injury
Taine Murray (3.3)

Jalen Warley (7.5 at Florida State)
Elijah Saunders (6.2 at San Diego State)
Darrin Ames (5.2 at Kansas State)
TJ Power (2.1 at Duke)
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Yeah, I said I wouldn't be shocked. I think TJ is probably one of their two best offensive players. I'd peg him at 10-14ppg. We will see! I'm cheering for TJ.
 
SkyBrickey said:
He played the entire ACC season at the 5 and was selected first-team All ACC defense.

You and I disagree on a few things. But this is one of your strangest takes that Malik can't defend the 5.
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He was all ACC defense because he lead the league in steals. The defensive team is position less. There is a difference between can and should.
 
azzefkram said:
Well when Duke starts playing 5 on 0 in games that don't count he should be good to go.
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Of course I was playing around on the 96.6% shooting.

But in all seriousness, that was incredibly impressive what he did. That's basically a 3 point shooting contest. I can say pretty confidently that nobody has ever hit 28-29 in that drill at Duke. JJ, Kennard, Grayson, McCain. What he did was unreal.
 
azzefkram said:
He was all ACC defense because he lead the league in steals. The defensive team is position less. There is a difference between can and should.
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It's not just his defense. He's an incredibly efficient inside scorer but is completely unproven from 3. We mostly need Maliq finishing in the lane - and that's where Jon will play him with all our wing talent.
 
SkyBrickey said:
He played the entire ACC season at the 5 and was selected first-team All ACC defense.
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No, he didn't. He played the 4 for the entire first half of the season, and he played a dual-forward role for the second half of the season after three different injuries pared the Syracuse roster down to the point that there was no true center left. He was one inch taller than the other forward on the team, so he was labeled by people as the 5, but that's not how he played. Watch a few of those Syracuse games. He simply didn't play as a traditional 5, no matter how many times you want to say that he did.

Can he play at the post? Obviously. Is that his natural position? No. Is it his most likely assignment on a Duke team that has two traditional centers on the roster? Of course it is possible, but it's much less likely than you seem to think it is.

I understand your reasoning regarding roster construction next year, and I do NOT invite you to rehash it since there's no new ground here. But please stop saying that Maliq Brown has played an entire season at the 5. He did no such thing.
 
SkyBrickey said:
Think about it. His defense is questionable yet he's the 14th ranked recruit in the country. He led the EYBL- top HS competition - in scoring. He's now 6-7. He's getting mocked in first rounds. Multiple teammates are saying he's been the most impressive player this summmer. There's video of him knocking down 28-29 3s.

What do you need to see jipops? Lightning bolts shooting from his eyes? ⚡️⚡️⚡️😂
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Minor quibble: I think his teammates have said that Kon has surprised them the most, not that he’s been the most impressive. Big difference.
 
azzefkram said:
Kon shot 46% from 3 in EYBL. He shot 40% from 3 as a senior against Wisconsin farm boys.
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Alright, now you've gone too far. Kon played in Milwaukee, a metro area of 2 million, which has recently produced Brandin Podziemski, Jordan Poole, and Tyler Herro, among others. (Tyrese Haliburton, from an hour up the road, mostly schooled Wisconsin farm boys.) In the de facto state championship game, he dominated top-30 2025 guard Davion Hannah, and in the final, beat the state's perennial top program (anyone remember Jake Gohlke?), which was led by the top incoming recruit for Nebraska, an 8-seed last year.

Maybe you confused Wisconsin with Wyoming. Duke has had a lot of great players who didn't play for Montverde.
 
phaedrus said:
Alright, now you've gone too far. Kon played in Milwaukee, a metro area of 2 million, which has recently produced Brandin Podziemski, Jordan Poole, and Tyler Herro, among others. (Tyrese Haliburton, from an hour up the road, mostly schooled Wisconsin farm boys.) In the de facto state championship game, he dominated top-30 2025 guard Davion Hannah, and in the final, beat the state's perennial top program (anyone remember Jake Gohlke?), which was led by the top incoming recruit for Nebraska, an 8-seed last year.

Maybe you confused Wisconsin with Wyoming. Duke has had a lot of great players who didn't play for Montverde.
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Isn't Milwaukee in Minnesota? (crossing threads)
 
phaedrus said:
Alright, now you've gone too far. Kon played in Milwaukee, a metro area of 2 million, which has recently produced Brandin Podziemski, Jordan Poole, and Tyler Herro, among others. (Tyrese Haliburton, from an hour up the road, mostly schooled Wisconsin farm boys.) In the de facto state championship game, he dominated top-30 2025 guard Davion Hannah, and in the final, beat the state's perennial top program (anyone remember Jake Gohlke?), which was led by the top incoming recruit for Nebraska, an 8-seed last year.

Maybe you confused Wisconsin with Wyoming. Duke has had a lot of great players who didn't play for Montverde.
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I think it's great that he performed well in those match-ups, but I am more concerned about who he faced throughout the season. I am reluctant to post highlight videos since I never know if SkyB is sitting down, but check Kon's out. There is some D1 talent in there, but not a lot. Kon's skill and feel are evident. It is obvious why Jon recruited him. But watching those videos, I came away with the impression that Kon will face the biggest jump in talent. In baseball parlance, most of Duke's recruits are going from AA to AAA, while Kon is going from A+ to AAA. This does not mean that Kon won't make that leap.
 
azzefkram said:
In baseball parlance, most of Duke's recruits are going from AA to AAA, while Kon is going from A+ to AAA. This does not mean that Kon won't make that leap.
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Compared to Montverde and PVI? Maybe, but many top recruits still come from regular 4A/5A high school teams where D1 talent is not the norm, rather than basketball factories. Kon's background isn't an outlier; his high school competition wasn't that much different from that of many other great Duke players who didn't attend basketball prep schools.
 
phaedrus said:
Compared to Montverde and PVI? Maybe, but many top recruits still come from regular 4A/5A high school teams where D1 talent is not the norm, rather than basketball factories. Kon's background isn't an outlier; his high school competition wasn't that much different from that of many other great Duke players who didn't attend basketball prep schools.
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azzefkram said:
I think it's great that he performed well in those match-ups, but I am more concerned about who he faced throughout the season. I am reluctant to post highlight videos since I never know if SkyB is sitting down, but check Kon's out. There is some D1 talent in there, but not a lot. Kon's skill and feel are evident. It is obvious why Jon recruited him. But watching those videos, I came away with the impression that Kon will face the biggest jump in talent. In baseball parlance, most of Duke's recruits are going from AA to AAA, while Kon is going from A+ to AAA. This does not mean that Kon won't make that leap.
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Incidentally, ESPN ranked KK's high school team #25 in the final national rankings, just a few spots behind Evans' North Mecklenburg and ahead of many other heavy hitters.
 
Phredd3 said:
No, he didn't. He played the 4 for the entire first half of the season, and he played a dual-forward role for the second half of the season after three different injuries pared the Syracuse roster down to the point that there was no true center left. He was one inch taller than the other forward on the team, so he was labeled by people as the 5, but that's not how he played. Watch a few of those Syracuse games. He simply didn't play as a traditional 5, no matter how many times you want to say that he did.

Can he play at the post? Obviously. Is that his natural position? No. Is it his most likely assignment on a Duke team that has two traditional centers on the roster? Of course it is possible, but it's much less likely than you seem to think it is.

I understand your reasoning regarding roster construction next year, and I do NOT invite you to rehash it since there's no new ground here. But please stop saying that Maliq Brown has played an entire season at the 5. He did no such thing.
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My exact words were "entire ACC season" not "entire season".

I understand all your points as well. I've never said he played as a traditional 5 either. I've called him a small-ball 5. And I've said I expect him to be a hybrid 5/4 for us this season, maybe playing 15mpg at the 5 and 10mpg at the 4.

I haven't seen any analyst (outside of the Azz) project that Pat will share the minutes with Khaman at the 5. Most everyone seems to think, like me, that it will be Maliq.
 
So many conflicting reports, I'm going to have to wait and see who can do what.
In particular, a lot of people keep saying Big Pat is still recovering from his injury, while others say he's looking good and the injury is well behind him...wide range of opinions on his prospects this year (and I get it, he has a lot of competition)...
 
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