Maliq Brown to Duke

[CousCuse]

Yeah, sure. he shot that playing the 5 where rival centers didn't go out to the top to guard him. He won't get that open shot at the 4.

Every team that plays Duke is going to have to double their new center and Flagg. Maliq is going to get a lot of open looks.

 

[50YRsofCuse]

Am I on Syracuse.com? Lots of kvetching going on for an offseason still going and a coach who just finished year 1 after our HOF coach stayed around 6 years to long. Oh and he has the schools first 5 star coming in how many years?
Also it’s not like Red showed Brown the door. One board insider said he was definitely coming back when suddenly he went portal. So for all the bitchin about Red, I am surprised no one is complaining about Brown taking the bag. Because that is most likely how this went down. His recruiter leaves, his best friend from childhood is shown the door and he likely finds out coaches will throw him a big ass bag. People acting like Red told Brown to walk. Usually the simplest answer is the right answer and Brown found out teams will pay him AND his friend and coach he trusted left. Why wouldn’t he go? That said let’s not act like Carmello hit the portal on us here.

What bag?

 

[50YRsofCuse]

Okay. Your choice. You can have Malik Brown back or you can have one of these three players leave or not come. Freeman, Lamkin or Bell. If you keep Brown and you keep him by making him a starter, do you take that with one of the other three leaving?

I would take Maliq over Bell but I know that I’m in the minority here.

 

[Cusefan69]

Coping… let’s just admit red blew it here

Weak sauce. Get out of here with that . Blaming Red like Red pushed him out the door. Go back to your Rutgers board.

 

[50YRsofCuse]

He takes all day to get his shot off. If he is forced to shoot quicker, that % will go way down.

Would you take him back if he decided to come back? If you say yes, that speaks volumes.

 

[AZOrange]

More minutes than he thought he'd get next year at Syracuse. And not at the 5.

Maliq knew this was out there. Thats why he left. Immediate upgrade for him.

 

[Sbucketball]

Maliq knew this was out there. Thats why he left. Immediate upgrade for him.

The tampering is sickening. My only solace is that we do it too.

 

[billsin01]

I've tried to stay out of this discussion, due to my disappointment about Brown's departure, and the fact that he's my favorite player on the team these past two years.

But I think some of it has to do with some posters not recognizing what he brought to the table, and how unique his skill set was. He's a unicorn. An amazingly versatile player, who passes much better than a big man should be able to, defends in a unique way for a player his size, and has a preternatural hoops IQ that always allowed him to think one step ahead and be in the right place at the right time.

The trap that a lot of posters seem to fall into is looking at him and saying -- eh, he only scored ~9.5 ppg -- that's replaceable. Or concentrating on him not being ideal for a center in certain situational matchups. Or look at incoming Freeman, and rationalize that we're better off with him at the 4 than Maliq anyway.

But when I look at those advanced stats on BOTH sides of the ball...

When you watch the kid play and see how impactful he is, doing things that most big men can't...

I just don't think that many fans recognize what a unique talent Maliq was. I mean, this season he accomplished something that's only been done in the NBA something like 10 times in the last 25 years. Maliq's skills set is so different, so diversified, so unusual, that people under-value the package.

Sickens me that he's potentially going to be bringing those skill sets to Duke. As I said when the announcement first came out that he'd entered the portal, he could start for any team in the country -- and he's the type of player who might not be a team's focal point, but who could elevate a contending team and put them over the top. And that appears to be how things are playing out.

Sickening.

Brown is nuance and subtlety. He makes things that are really difficult look easy. He doesn’t draw attention to himself or put up huge numbers. I guarantee some of the folks insisting before the season that this could be our most talented roster ever were in the thread saying 8 kids needed The Talk. Brown will never be properly appreciated in that world.

Brown leaving is a double-whammy and a massive blow to anything we’re hoping to accomplish next season. Beyond that he’s an incredible add to a team that has good talent because he is a player who doesn’t need the ball, doesn’t need shots, and doesn’t need attention. He’s purely additive. Duke made a really smart addition here.

My honest opinion — and yes, I realize lampkin is bigger and stronger — is that every effort should have been made (including not bringing lampkin in, if that was a key factor here) to ensure Brown returned. If it meant freeman or brown at the 3, let’s figure it out. And nothing against Lampkin, by the way. He appears to be a good player. My only point is whatever it took to keep brown and freeman happy, I would have tried to figure it out.

So, we can wait and see, but a huge loss.

 

[billsin01]

The rivalries for today's players is not the same as years gone by. Blame it on college sports becoming more and more lucrative each year and every player, no matter of ranking, believing that they should be playing more and can make it to the NBA, also NIL. Fans and analysts can tout the old rivalries to stir up excitement but todays players could care less.

The days of real rivalry are gone. Now it’s just fans being jealous and petty (I am both, of course). But hating a peer in Georgetown or UConn in the old days was a way of life. Now I’m just annoyed and find myself saying ‘huh, well, that sucks. Smart move by Duke tho.’ It’s a shame.

 

[billsin01]

He takes all day to get his shot off. If he is forced to shoot quicker, that % will go way down.

It will also likely go down with volume. Taking anything from such a small sample is absurd. His shot looked good and he looks like he can make it. Brown is such a talented kid that maybe he works hard and becomes a good shooter at a higher volume, but all we know from last season’s performance is that it looks like a tool he can add to his game in some form or fashion.

 

[billsin01]

Boeheim flat out said it

i feel like im not overly interested in what the specific reason was and more interested in why we didn’t do whatever it took? Within reason of course but if there was a chance he would come back, make whatever adjustments. If we’re playing brown and freeman with a 5, let’s at least try and figure that out. If Bell wasn’t on board, we wouldn’t be able to replace his shooting. He’s an exceptional shooter. But I’d be willing to try and figure it out.

 

[CousCuse]

i feel like im not overly interested in what the specific reason was and more interested in why we didn’t do whatever it took? Within reason of course but if there was a chance he would come back, make whatever adjustments. If we’re playing brown and freeman with a 5, let’s at least try and figure that out. If Bell wasn’t on board, we wouldn’t be able to replace his shooting. He’s an exceptional shooter. But I’d be willing to try and figure it out.

Bell is an established shooter, you just can't insert another player to replace that confidence, unless they are also an established shooter.

 

[billsin01]

Okay. Your choice. You can have Malik Brown back or you can have one of these three players leave or not come. Freeman, Lamkin or Bell. If you keep Brown and you keep him by making him a starter, do you take that with one of the other three leaving?

I like all those guys but freeman and brown are my priorities by a country mile. And I think bell has potential to be more than a shooter offensively (defense and rebounding in not sure). But I like Bell and I’ll keep an open mind on lampkin.

That said, Brown brings more to the table and freeman’s upside appears to be enormous (fingers crossed). If I was forced to set priorities among that group it would be easy for me.

 

[rrlbees]

The tampering is sickening. My only solace is that we do it too.

What tampering?

 

[billsin01]

Bell is an established shooter, you just can't insert another player to replace that confidence, unless they are also an established shooter.

Could not agree more. Kid is very likely irreplaceable from a shooting standpoint. But if Bell had decided to move on because we kept Brown and Freeman and he didn't like something about that, I'd be willing to try and figure something out. I just don't like losing a kid who brings so many different things to the table.

 

[hoopsupstate]

The tampering is sickening. My only solace is that we do it too.

The big problem is you have to have enough money to tamper.

 

[Hopkins16]

Transferring happens in even the elite programs. With this new landscape, we should always see our roster as year to year so we don't have a meltdown comparable or greater than this year when Copeland and especially Maliq hit the portal. So, let's hope Freeman has a great year and get drafted because if he isn't one and done, there's a great chance he will portal.

 

[Bayside44]

i feel like im not overly interested in what the specific reason was and more interested in why we didn’t do whatever it took? Within reason of course but if there was a chance he would come back, make whatever adjustments. If we’re playing brown and freeman with a 5, let’s at least try and figure that out. If Bell wasn’t on board, we wouldn’t be able to replace his shooting. He’s an exceptional shooter. But I’d be willing to try and figure it out.

I don't know any details on the interactions with MB and the team after the season outside of what I read here and JB's public words.

I do know that SU took a raw and toolsy kid and recruited and developed him into a nice player who can do a bunch of things. If he was asked to do something to help the team that helped him for three years and decided to play for a conference opponent he can piss up a rope.

 

[Hopkins16]

Perhaps we should go after Jeremy Roach. He's better than the St. Mary's guy we are waiting on (we've fell off but geez, not that far for this low tier school and talent to take this much time to decide). Roach for Maliq makes me feel better.

 

[Bayside44]

Transferring happens in even the elite programs. With this new landscape, we should always see our roster as year to year so we don't have a meltdown comparable or greater than this year when Copeland and especially Maliq hit the portal. So, let's hope Freeman has a great year and get drafted because if he isn't one and done, there's a great chance he will portal.

There's a great chance why? His TTO guy is with us.

 

[djcon57]

There's a great chance why? His TTO guy is with us.

Did that help with Mack?

 

[Bayside44]

Did that help with Mack?

I didn't say we were going to corner the market.

If the asking price is true it's a big overpay, but a risk Georgetown needs more than we do.

Everyone saw Mack in HS, and he ended up at Harvard. Hard to think that was an accident.

 

[djcon57]

I didn't say we were going to corner the market.

If the asking price is true it's a big overpay, but a risk Georgetown needs more than we do.

Everyone saw Mack in HS, and he ended up at Harvard. Hard to think that was an accident.

So someone could overpay for Freeman in the same scenario?

 

[grepal]

Yeah, but he makes 6 players for 3 spots. Four of the other 5 are much more highly thought of than he is. I don't know if being a valuable depth piece at Duke is worth developing by playing a lot at Syracuse.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I see a lot of takes by our “fans” on SM congratulating Maliq and wishing him well at Duke. gtfoh with that sht.