Maliq Brown to Duke

[jsshap]

he mentioned Kobe as being the last of the NBA players that will stay with one team, so no I don't see any flaw in the comparison and for that matter, If you think the Joker is going to wake up in 2 years and demand a trade to LA or Miami, I think you are straight up crazy or you don't follow the NBA much. he's not built like that. Did Dirk ever request a trade out of Dallas? did Cuban ever put him on the market or test the waters

There aren't many left but there are a few

And the point apparently is that joker and Kobe would not do what maliq did. Makes great sense.

 

[Newhouser]

I don’t care about Judah or Copeland. They are replaceable. The guy rumored to be replacing Maliq is not as good.

What N.C. State didn’t a great story, but it’s completely unsustainable. They are lucky they made the tournament. They hit a banked in 3 after a 90% free throw shooter missed 2 free throws. It’s not something we should model ourselves after.

UConn, Purdue, and Bama kept their best players from last year. So did most of the teams in the elite 8. You still need to keep your best players. Turning over everyone is not sustainable.

And Brown is not going to VT. They have no NIL. He’s going to end up in a good spot and it’s going to piss a bunch of fans off.

Winning cures a lot of ills associated with people leaving. UCONN had 3 guys drafted which opened up spots for guys who knew another NC was in play.

That is a tad different than say 90% of the schools that play D1 hoops.

In most cases I agree that turning over your entire roster doesn't work (but 2 or 3 guys is going to be the norm in the new era), but with our team from last year, a total flush may have been necessary.

i think Maliq will end up in a perfect spot. I don't think he will be an Alpha on a Top 10 team. He was an Alpha here because he was good and we stunk.

 

[billsin01]

Losing Maliq Brown is a huge loss for the basketball program. Eddie Lampkin is not a good enough player to replace him if that’s who we are going with. He’s just not. Stop
spinning that it is. Way too many people undervaluing how good Brown is are going to end up looking like fools next year.

I am going to go out on a limb and say Brown ends up at a school that has a better season than Syracuse next year.

The stench around the program needs to get fixed. Stop giving the Benny Williams of the world NIL money to keep around just because he was a good athlete in HS.

Monumental Failure. No 300 pound center who averages more turnovers per 40 than the 2 former point guards and had 5 blocks on the season is a quality replacement. The guy is maxed out. Brown has 2 more seasons where he likely will be more productive.

I slept on it and it appears even worse than yesterday.

Yeah, the Brown loss and whatever the situation was with Q are really disappointing. No other way to look at it.

In a broader sense I’m not sure it’s terribly unique in this world of college basketball, but even that is depressing for the sport as a whole.

I guess Red is now essentially recruiting an entire team unless we believe that JJ can be a lead dog (I don’t) and Patterson can play some real minutes at center (maybe, not sure).

The collective fit of the new guys, whoever they are, and whatever we get from guys returning will be the key. Last year’s group was a bunch of mismatched parts. Judah helped us avoid disaster early with some big games and then Brown and Q with an improved JJ and some outstanding shooting from Bell allowed us to be competitive in league play. It was OK but felt like a lot of individuals rather than some cohesive group.

Hopefully that changes this year but it will be interesting because there will be A TON of new faces. Doesn’t bode well, I wouldn’t think.

 

[Sherman20]

It’s unfair to judge the roster at this point. We have to see the full plan before we freak out.

It can be true that the staff views Maliq as an awesome glue guy but not a star and that Maliq wants to be more than that. That’s a reasonable position in both sides.

With Maliq, Donnie and our desperate need for a true 5, the pieces didn’t fit neatly together. Let’s see what pieces we bring in.

But what pieces will fit together then? We aren’t even a deep frontcourt as it is. Brown would’ve still played 30-35 mpg (at PF and center), Freeman would play 25 at PF and SF, and a portal center 25 mpg. There’s your minutes distribution.

 

[Newhouser]

he mentioned Kobe as being the last of the NBA players that will stay with one team, so no I don't see any flaw in the comparison and for that matter, If you think the Joker is going to wake up in 2 years and demand a trade to LA or Miami, I think you are straight up crazy or you don't follow the NBA much. he's not built like that. Did Dirk ever request a trade out of Dallas? did Cuban ever put him on the market or test the waters

There aren't many left but there are a few

I got confused on lumping Kobe in with the guys who play for the name on the front of the jersey rather than the back. Kobe - while obviously great - was one of the most selfish players I've ever seen.

For the college player - this is the time to cash in for most of these guys. They should play for the name on the back. That is the challenge Red and other coaches face. They know the game, they better play it well or they won't be coach long.

 

[br801]

Guys I get people are upset but let’s think of it. With our current roster of players we are barely an NIT team! Let that sink in a minute and I’ve had my share of criticisms but he won 20 games this year. Brown at best is a backup power forward. He can’t shoot the ball. We need to think differently about where we need to go and I’m pleased to hear Red is also understanding this and making some bold moves

I love how Maliq and Jesse suddenly were a lot less accomplished once they moved on from SU, even if their advanced metrics scream otherwise.

 

[Orangezoo]

Maybe the real question is how much $$ do we need in the NIL fund to say keep Maliq, bring in a top end portal pg and bring in someone like Lampkin to all take a role in the 25 mpg space so we can have a winning program?

 

[ssbriefcase]

If McLeod hadn’t got hurt he would not have started this year.

Disagree here. No way does Red not see the need to start Maliq over McLeod after a few games. Might be considered a hot take, McLeod is one the most unplayable players that I've seen on the hill. Yes he had some blocks, but also had the reaction time of a praying mantis, and the ability to not get rebounds at an astounding rate.

 

[Sherman20]

I'm definitely skeptical of the team, but I don't think Red is trying to build the team around JJ and Bell. They just happen to be the two starters that are staying. I'm sure the hope (maybe not the end result) is that they'll be the two worst starters on the team, or at best #3 and #4. The idea is to build around Freeman and the transfers. That of course requires actually landing good transfers though.

And yes, on a team where we had roughly 6 playable players, losing a starter would probably have cost us a lot of games. Particularly with Brown considering our starting PF was a 6'6" guard that shot 35% from the field and our backup C generally played 0 minutes. That hopefully will not be the case this season.

Maliq is a good player. He might be better than Donnie next season. We would still pick the potential of Donnie over Maliq 100 times out of 100. And once you pick Donnie over Maliq, Maliq is likely headed out the door. You're going to lose good players when they get recruited over in today's age outside of maybe a handful of schools.

Donnie might turn out to be a very good player. But he’s just a freshman. He has a very high ceiling but he won’t be better or more effective than a junior Maliq next year. That’s crazy talk. I’ve been assuming that Maliq would be rounding out his game this offseason.

 

[Melancer46]

Donnie might turn out to be a very good player. But he’s just a freshman. He has a very high ceiling but he won’t be better or more effective than a junior Maliq next year. That’s crazy talk. I’ve been assuming that Maliq would be rounding out his game this offseason.

I think it's absolutely possible for a top 10ish recruit to be better than Maliq. I don't know where I'd put the percentages on that, but I don't think it would be surprising if Donnie is better and don't think it would be surprising if Maliq is better. Regardless, I think roughly 99% of schools out there would take a Donnie commitment even if it means losing Maliq. Especially a school as desperate as us to get back on the national map.

 

[Cusefan69]

But what pieces will fit together then? We aren’t even a deep frontcourt as it is. Brown would’ve still played 30-35 mpg (at PF and center), Freeman would play 25 at PF and SF), and a portal center 25 mpg. There’s your minutes distribution.

And what if Brown told Red I am not looking to play Center again? It takes two to tango. People keep talking as if Red told Brown to walk. As another said maybe Brown saw GMAC (his recruiter) leave, his guy JT leave, got some bag offers to not play center and said "time for me to go"?

 

[Sbucketball]

But what pieces will fit together then? We aren’t even a deep frontcourt as it is. Brown would’ve still played 30-35 mpg (at PF and center), Freeman would play 25 at PF and SF), and a portal center 25 mpg. There’s your minutes distribution.

It’s concerning that we can’t sell an NBA talent freshman, a really solid college junior, and a solid college player portal to all get 25+ mins at mostly 2 positions. Especially when talking about Bigs and not guards. Ranked teams will pull that off.

 

[pearl31]

Some emotional takes in here for sure. Understandable, as Maliq was arguably our MVP this year. But I don't think the narrative that Red forced him out is founded whatsoever. With Freeman on deck, I really think that those of us paying attention at all saw something like this coming.

For those expressing their disgust- what if Red presented a vision to Maliq that he'd have to start at the 5 and play backup 4 minutes, which Maliq's camp mulled over and said no to?

What if his three closest teammates leaving just made him feel like it wasn't "home" anymore?

And do folks seriously think Red was like, "hmm I'm gonna get rid of Maliq in place of Lampkin"?? Come on

 

[Sherman20]

Winning breeds chemistry, losing everybody blames everyone else and everyone runs out.

But we made progress this year with a team loaded with sophomores and are adding two great freshman plus a couple of portal pieces. But the problem is that we needed to keep Maliq and get Q to buy in.

 

[walsh2012]

So Brown for Lampkin? Ugh

That's an upgrade

 

[IthacaBarrel]

That's an upgrade

at the 5 yes it is

 

[Scotch]

But what pieces will fit together then? We aren’t even a deep frontcourt as it is. Brown would’ve still played 30-35 mpg (at PF and center), Freeman would play 25 at PF and SF, and a portal center 25 mpg. There’s your minutes distribution.

The pieces that fit are an actual 5, Donnie at the 4 and another big that is comfortable coming off the bench to play significant minutes across the frontcourt. That's easier said than done but you can see that being the goal.

 

[billsin01]

Roster is set? That’s insane. Everyone in the know is saying we are adding a PG and big man at minimum. Let’s see who those dudes are before we get out the pitchforks.

Red is turning over a very mediocre roster. I love Maliq too and wish he was staying but I’m not going to judge until the process plays out.

Very rational take. My biggest concern is replacing two players who instinctively did a lot of good things to help a team win in Q and Brown. You needed to coach brown to be a bit more aggressive offensively and he got better defensively on the high ball screen as the year went along, but he also naturally helps a team win just by being on the floor. Q needed to be reigned in a bit on both ends but, again, his natural basketball instinct and energy and confidence helps the team the second he steps on the floor. Judah’s not quite the same because he’s a bit more worried about what Judah is doing than the team, at least at times, but he’s still a very instinctively player in many ways.

Who knows with Westry/Carey/Patterson, Cuffe may have a bit of these traits, but to me JJ and Bell are players who don’t have that feel or instinct. JJ is very robotic in many ways. Effective at times, but robotic. Bell is still learning to be more than a shooter. We’ll see with the rest of the guys returning and Freeman/Moore … but I fear those instincts and energy could be tough to replace.

 

[heresjohnny88]

i liked maliq a lot - but i agree with what's been posted about us possibly overrating guys as of late.

 

[Dcuse]

Donnie might turn out to be a very good player. But he’s just a freshman. He has a very high ceiling but he won’t be better or more effective than a junior Maliq next year. That’s crazy talk. I’ve been assuming that Maliq would be rounding out his game this offseason.

Well he'd better be because chances are very high he won't be here after next year. Welcome to the wonderful world of College sports. The excuse of " We had a whole team of sophomores" just can't cut it because you may as call them seniors. I think we should incorporate " Sophomore Night" into our last home game of the year where our sophomores are celebrated with their families before the last home game and the fans can say goodbye and at the same time celebrate that we learned how to pronounce their name.

 

[AZOrange]

i liked maliq a lot - but i agree with what's been posted about us possibly overrating guys as of late.

Maliq is not overrated by anyone. In fact he’s probably criminally underrated. He puts up
Some of the most balanced stat lines in college. In fact one that had not been seen in any level of basketball for 25 years.

 

[Sherman20]

Here’s how in envision the convo between Red & Malik -

Red: How about we have you start at the 5, play there for about 5 mins each half, and then the other ~20 minutes at your actual position?

Malik:

If I’m Malik (and/or his handlers) I’m looking for a solid, veteran, winning team that has a 5, and just needs a starting 4 to fill out the roster.

And that ain’t Cuse.

We have - maybe - 2 starters returning in JJ & Bell.

This whole Maliq vs Freeman conversation is stupid. Just tell the players what they want to hear. It’s about doing a good sales job and convincing them of your vision. “Sure, you’ll start at PF and play 30-35mpg and be a centerpiece of what we’re doing on offense and defense.” then when the season starts, you do what the team needs to win, depending on how individual players are performing and how they’ve developed. Once the team is winning, it’s irrelevant and everyone is happy as long as they’re playing the majority of minutes in the game. Clingan, who’s better than all these guys we’re talking about, only played 13 mpg as a freshman. He accepted his role on a championship team behind a veteran in Sanogo, and now he’s the man as a sophomore and about to be a top 5 pick in the draft.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Some emotional takes in here for sure. Understandable, as Maliq was arguably our MVP this year. But I don't think the narrative that Red forced him out is founded whatsoever. With Freeman on deck, I really think that those of us paying attention at all saw something like this coming.

For those expressing their disgust- what if Red presented a vision to Maliq that he'd have to start at the 5 and play backup 4 minutes, which Maliq's camp mulled over and said no to?

What if his three closest teammates leaving just made him feel like it wasn't "home" anymore?

And do folks seriously think Red was like, "hmm I'm gonna get rid of Maliq in place of Lampkin"?? Come on

There’s a disturbing trend of our guys leaving and the guys replacing them being worse. Guard who shall not be named, Quincy, Joe, Jesse and now Maliq. Guys will talk up Maliq’s replacement and say he’s a great fit and it won’t be true. We keep getting worse players every time. I’m not saying the guys who left were perfect, but we keep downgrading.

 

[AZOrange]

at the 5 yes it is

I’m not sure you guys understand what you are getting here and what you are giving up. It’s almost laughable…just take the heaviest guy!

 

[AZOrange]

There’s a disturbing trend of our guys leaving and the guys replacing them being worse. Guard who shall not be named, Quincy, Joe, Jesse and now Maliq. Guys will talk up Maliq’s replacement and say he’s a great fit and it won’t be true. We keep getting worse players every time. I’m not saying the guys who left were perfect, but we keep downgrading.

And if this is the trade we just made, we did it again