Maliq Brown to Duke

[RyanCuse44]

Why? A kid that couldn't start here left to go to Duke. How is that all that bad a look for us? It would be one thing if a starter of ours left to go sit the bench there. But that isn't what is happening. I don't think he will end up at Duke either. He has to want to start at this point. But maybe not.

 

[Melancer46]

I feel like all the comments glossing over his steals sound like the old guys in Moneyball talking about walks. I do get your point though. The defensive rating being better with Maliq on bench? That’s pretty shocking. How did you find those numbers?

The site that I used to use for advanced college stats has gone behind a paywall, but they allow you to sample one school to see if you think the data is worth paying for (but it's very expensive so I'm good with just Syracuse). You can technically change the school 5 times before they charge you but I haven't bothered to change it from Syracuse.

On the Lineups tab, you can filter the sample down on various parts of the year, such as non-conference play. And then you can pull in all the lineups that include Maliq and all lineups that exclude him and do the math. Unfortunately the On/Off tab, which would theoretically make it a lot easier, does not allow you to filter on non-conference games, but rather last 5 games, last 10 games, or conference games.

Anywho, they have an amazing set of data; seems to be the only place nowadays you can get college players' shot charts and there's a ton of other stuff there too. Really bummed they went behind a paywall but I get it.

CBB Analytics - College Basketball Stats and Analytics Platform, Scouting & Research

cbbanalytics.com

 

[Cheriehoop]

Let’s be realistic - almost every program, even ones who made the sweet 16 and further are losing key players that were thought to be a valued part of their program’s future. Just in the ACC - Duke lost Mark Mitchell (updated Roach too), UNC lost Trimble, Clemson lost Godfrey, Wake lost Carr and Miller, Virginia Tech lost almost their entire team, Fla St lost Corhen, Miller, Spears, GT lost Gapare, Coleman, Notre Dame lost Booth. Louisville lost almost everyone, Miami saw a purge - on and on - this is just in the ACC and all were ranked higher than MaliQ. Unexpected, unanticipated and unwanted losses to the portal are now just a part of basketball. We are adjusting as other teams are attempting to do.

 

[Newhouser]

If he ends up at Duke I’m not sold he wouldn’t start. They could put him at the 4, Flagg at the 3, and Ngonba/Maluach at center.

That is a possibility but that would be a worse shooting team than we put out there last year. I think Duke's main goal is to get Flagg space.

 

[Cusefan0307]

That is a possibility but that would be a worse shooting team than we put out there last year. I think Duke's main goal is to get Flagg space.

It wouldn’t matter because nobody would score on them at all.

 

[Cusefan69]

This thread:

 

[chugg21]

It isn't damage control. They would loved to have him stay. They won't lose sleep over him leaving.

That's cool. Hope they don't mind losing their jobs instead of sleep after another crap season or 2.

 

[Jake]

How does one quantitate this? You would think is this was that big of an issue that it would show

lol ok

Maybe we should start him at point. He’s now Bill Brasky.

 

[Nicknack]

It is hard for me to agree with the second half of this post when it looks like we won't have a true point guard on the roster. Leffew is a combo and the closest thing to a PG after him is a kid whose knees haven't held up since high school.

So you don't believe Red is trying to get guys who fit their natural position, as best he can? Okay. We can just agree to disagree then. The last few years have been horrific in terms of roster management. I see Red doing his best to correct that. Not every move will be perfect.

 

[cuseincincy]

So you don't believe Red is trying to get guys who fit their natural position, as best he can? Okay. We can just agree to disagree then. The last few years have been horrific in terms of roster management. I see Red doing his best to correct that. Not every move will be perfect.

Injuries certainly contributed to the roster management issues last season. Bottom line is if the McD AA we had signed was a center, small forward , point guard or shooting guard, Maliq would have been penciled in at the 4 spot and I'd have been happy about it and so likely would he and the coaches. But coaches don't get to pick who says "yes." And Syracuse certainly is not in the position to say no thank you to any McD AA that wants to come there.

 

[CU44SE]

1- It’s pretty simple. If he does end up at Duke, he will have the same exact role as he would have had here next year. So it is a kick in the groin because he isn’t transferring for more playing time. It’s strictly money related or he didn’t enjoy his time here. Not great when you lose a player to a similar (slightly higher all time program, but not astronomically different) program for the same playing time, situation.

2- It’s playing out exactly as I laid out previously in this chat. He is going to be a monster if he goes to Duke. He is the perfect 5th or 6th option for them. Surround by studs and he does the dirty work. Great perimeter defender away from basket for his size. Gets deflections and loose balls. Rebounds great. And now he is the forgotten about offensive guy that will clean up and be left in better scoring positions.

I hate it, but totally understand the idea around it. Not a guy you can build a team around. But a guy that will turn a top team into an immediate championship caliber team.

 

[CousCuse]

I still don't see where Maliq is going to get many shots from the perimeter. They have so many high level shooters on that team, it's going to put a lot of pressure on him when he does shoot.

 

[Brooky03]

1- It’s pretty simple. If he does end up at Duke, he will have the same exact role as he would have had here next year. So it is a kick in the groin because he isn’t transferring for more playing time. It’s strictly money related or he didn’t enjoy his time here. Not great when you lose a player to a similar (slightly higher all time program, but not astronomically different) program for the same playing time, situation.

2- It’s playing out exactly as I laid out previously in this chat. He is going to be a monster if he goes to Duke. He is the perfect 5th or 6th option for them. Surround by studs and he does the dirty work. Great perimeter defender away from basket for his size. Gets deflections and loose balls. Rebounds great. And now he is the forgotten about offensive guy that will clean up and be left in better scoring positions.

I hate it, but totally understand the idea around it. Not a guy you can build a team around. But a guy that will turn a top team into an immediate championship caliber team.

We were going to make him play Center again. Maybe not full time, but some of the time, at least. Which is a borderline human rights violation. Duke won’t do that. So, it’s not exactly playing time, it’s where he’ll be playing in his time on the court.

Bell has the potential to put up insane 3pt shooting numbers. He can’t do a whole lot other than that, but that’s enough these days to lock in a starting spot. At least, it’s enough that the coaches let Maliq know he has to just eat it. Donnie obviously is a locked in starter and I’m of the opinion Donnie and Maliq together would have worked. Time will tell if the coaches are right, but Maliq’s choice was made for him. The staff chose Bell.

 

[Cuse2023]

We were going to make him play Center again. Maybe not full time, but some of the time, at least. Which is a borderline human rights violation. Duke won’t do that. So, it’s not exactly playing time, it’s where he’ll be playing in his time on the court.

Bell has the potential to put up insane 3pt shooting numbers. He can’t do a whole lot other than that, but that’s enough these days to lock in a starting spot. At least, it’s enough that the coaches let Maliq know he has to just eat it. Donnie obviously is a locked in starter and I’m of the opinion Donnie and Maliq together would have worked. Time will tell if the coaches are right, but Maliq’s choice was made for him. The staff chose Bell.

To put it nicely... you have no idea what your talking about and couldn't be more wrong.

 

[Brooky03]

To put it nicely... you have no idea what your talking about and couldn't be more wrong.

So he was not going to be asked to play Center at all? I'm not holding myself out to be an expert or in-the-know here. I don't preface comments with 'I think' because that's to be assumed for everybody. Seems like I might've rubbed you the wrong way based on your insincere "to put it nicely." Sorry if that's the case.

I suppose the other possibility is that Maliq was okay with playing Center and Lampkin kicked him out of that starting spot, so he bounced. We all recognized the timing relative to Lampkin's commitment. This clearly wouldn't work within your “couldn’t be more wrong” comment, though, and doesn't seem to align with Maliq's potential landing spots and roles he'd have, so I'm happy to learn what else it was if you can share (I mean this genuinely). Ultimately, it still seems to boil down to the staff choosing Bell. Even if Maliq was okay with playing Center, he would still undoubtedly prefer Forward.

Duke can't/won't play him at Center, Bell is 'only' a 3pt shooter unless he improves a lot from what we saw this season, Donnie is starting (having to ‘earn it’ this Summer doesn’t change that fact because c'mon, we're not newborns here; we know better), Donnie and Maliq could have played together, and Bell was chosen to remain the starter at SF by every indication available, which covers my other assertions (in case any of these were the parts I was also wrong about).

At the very least, this doesn’t seem to be a money play because Duke wouldn't be the front runner in bag dropping in this scenario. They have more pressing needs to fill, bigger fish to fry(pay), and shallower NIL pockets than one might expect.

 

[Brooky03]

Although, the idea that Maliq was like, “Yes! I’m the starting Center!… Oh no! Big Eddie Lampkin took my job. I gotta get outta Dodge!” is objectively funny and bizarre, true or not.

Cartoonish is the word that comes to my mind. Again, true or not.

 

[zilo]

So he was not going to be asked to play Center at all? I'm not holding myself out to be an expert or in-the-know here. I don't preface comments with 'I think' because that's to be assumed for everybody. Seems like I might've rubbed you the wrong way based on your insincere "to put it nicely." Sorry if that's the case.

I suppose the other possibility is that Maliq was okay with playing Center and Lampkin kicked him out of that starting spot, so he bounced. We all recognized the timing relative to Lampkin's commitment. This clearly wouldn't work within your “couldn’t be more wrong” comment, though, and doesn't seem to align with Maliq's potential landing spots and roles he'd have, so I'm happy to learn what else it was if you can share (I mean this genuinely). Ultimately, it still seems to boil down to the staff choosing Bell. Even if Maliq was okay with playing Center, he would still undoubtedly prefer Forward.

Duke can't/won't play him at Center, Bell is 'only' a 3pt shooter unless he improves a lot from what we saw this season, Donnie is starting (having to ‘earn it’ this Summer doesn’t change that fact because c'mon, we're not newborns here; we know better), Donnie and Maliq could have played together, and Bell was chosen to remain the starter at SF by every indication available, which covers my other assertions (in case any of these were the parts I was also wrong about).

At the very least, this doesn’t seem to be a money play because Duke wouldn't be the front runner in bag dropping in this scenario. They have more pressing needs to fill, bigger fish to fry(pay), and shallower NIL pockets than one might expect.

My best guess is he didn't love the idea that an 18 year old freshman who's never stepped foot on a college court is going to start over him, an experienced junior. Likely feels that he's paid his dues and deserves to start. That is why I'm quite surprised by the Duke interest considering he won't start there, but maybe it's one of those things where if Duke wants you, you don't pass it up. Sucks...but this is the way it is now with portal/NIL.

 

[hoopsupstate]

My best guess is he didn't love the idea that an 18 year old freshman who's never stepped foot on a college court is going to start over him, an experienced junior. Likely feels that he's paid his dues and deserves to start. That is why I'm quite surprised by the Duke interest considering he won't start there, but maybe it's one of those things where if Duke wants you, you don't pass it up. Sucks...but this is the way it is now with portal/NIL.

I wouldn’t go to Duke, because freshman come in every year and start over upper class man .

 

[CousCuse]

My best guess is he didn't love the idea that an 18 year old freshman who's never stepped foot on a college court is going to start over him, an experienced junior. Likely feels that he's paid his dues and deserves to start. That is why I'm quite surprised by the Duke interest considering he won't start there, but maybe it's one of those things where if Duke wants you, you don't pass it up. Sucks...but this is the way it is now with portal/NIL.

It is likely that Freeman is a 2 year guy which means no chance of starting and probably less PT in 25-26. So, portal to Duke for bigger NIL and see if a starting position is available the next year. If not, portal again for one in 25-26.

 

[Jzsshuttles]

It is likely that Freeman is a 2 year guy which means no chance of starting and probably less PT in 25-26. So, portal to Duke for bigger NIL and see if a starting position is available the next year. If not, portal again for one in 25-26.

dude freeman is 1 and done..stop

 

[Brooky03]

dude freeman is 1 and done..stop

That’s what I’ve been assuming.

 

[CousCuse]

dude freeman is 1 and done..stop

We'll see what he's got when he faces high level college defenses.

 

[Brooky03]

The Duke guys I chat with on a national board don’t seem to think a) Maliq is getting much of a bag (though it’s not peanuts) or b) that Duke has exceptionally deep NIL pockets to the point of splurging on a reserve Forward intended to be recruited over.

But they could be idiots and/or the Syracuse NIL offer could be worse. Money seemed like the least likely motivator but that’s antithetical to the current environment and just generally not true in life. Maybe that’s where I’m way off.

 

[CousCuse]

The Duke guys I chat with on a national board don’t seem to think a) Maliq is getting much of a bag (though it’s not peanuts) or b) that Duke has exceptionally deep NIL pockets to the point of splurging on a reserve Forward intended to be recruited over.

But they could be idiots and/or the Syracuse NIL offer could be worse. Money seemed like the least likely motivator but that’s antithetical to the current environment and just generally not true in life. Maybe that’s where I’m way off.

Duke doesn't have to treat their high level recruits the same as Syracuse.

 

[Brooky03]

Duke doesn't have to treat their high level recruits the same as Syracuse.

Depends what level we’re taking about. If Duke gets a McD’s AA, that guy starts unless there’s a former McD’s AA ahead of him. Duke does have the gravitas to dink around with some McD’s AA’s here and there but you can’t do that too much or you risk not getting them, or not getting as many. Burger boys sign up to play early and often, usually.