Class of 2022 PF Maliq Brown (VA) COMMITTED/SIGNED TO SYRACUSE

[jordville]

Who is earlshmitty?

Knicks forward Aamir Simms (from Clemson)

 

[sutomcat]

Knicks forward Aamir Simms (from Clemson)

Simms is interested because he, like Brown, attended Blue Ridge HS.

For those interested, here are how Brown and Simms stack up with stats for their junior seasons:

Maliq Brown

• Points Per Game
  12.9
• Assists Per Game
  3.9
• Rebounds Per Game
  5.5
• Steals Per Game
  3.3
• Blocks Per Game
  1.6

Aamir Simms

• Points Per Game
  13.4
• Assists Per Game
  1.8
• Rebounds Per Game
  8.8
• Steals Per Game
  0.9
• Blocks Per Game
  2.0

Brown's numbers for steals and assists really stand out. They are really good for a power forward. If there is a concern, it is rebounding. He needs to post better numbers on the boards.

Simms was ranked the #115 player in the country by 247, the 26th best small forward and the 7th best player in Virginia.

Brown was ranked as high as the 81st best player in the country by 247 in July of 2020 but was dropped 62 places, then 55 more over the past summer.

Maliq Brown at Blue Ridge School Recruit Rank History

247sports.com

Given all that, he is ranked the 212th player nationally, the 45th best PF and the 7th best player in Virginia. Interesting how dramatically he was dropped over the summer.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[Trueblue25]

This is the type of kid that may be the factor we need to muscle up vs Duke and UNC. I’ll take another Roberson or the like.

 

[Orangezoo]

No need to go down to that dump of a program Gtown

 

[cusefan88]

Strikes me as a return to the classic four-year Cuse forward. Hope things work out.

 

[CardiacCuse]

seems like a real team player and high IQ/quick thinker on the court. I like his highlights. Might be a perfect compliment to some of the other players and I like what he says about Justin Taylor...I wonder how involved Justin is in his recruitment behind the scenes...

 

[Orangezoo]

Last year over 200 Freshmen averaged at least 6.5 pts per game. 225 freshmen averaged 20 or more mpg.

Right there for me points to a big reason why rankings are over played. Kid might be in the 200s but sure looks much more like an impact recruit. Plus at his size and weight he looks physically ready.

 

[007]

Simms is interested because he, like Brown, attended Blue Ridge HS.

For those interested, here are how Brown and Simms stack up with stats for their junior seasons:

Maliq Brown

• Points Per Game
  12.9
• Assists Per Game
  3.9
• Rebounds Per Game
  5.5
• Steals Per Game
  3.3
• Blocks Per Game
  1.6

Aamir Simms

• Points Per Game
  13.4
• Assists Per Game
  1.8
• Rebounds Per Game
  8.8
• Steals Per Game
  0.9
• Blocks Per Game
  2.0

Brown's numbers for steals and assists really stand out. They are really good for a power forward. If there is a concern, it is rebounding. He needs to post better numbers on the boards.

Simms was ranked the #115 player in the country by 247, the 26th best small forward and the 7th best player in Virginia.

Brown was ranked as high as the 81st best player in the country by 247 in July of 2020 but was dropped 62 places, then 55 more over the past summer.

Maliq Brown at Blue Ridge School Recruit Rank History

247sports.com

Given all that, he is ranked the 212th player nationally, the 45th best PF and the 7th best player in Virginia. Interesting how dramatically he was dropped over the summer.

Thanks for the stats comparison sutomcat. One of the first few things that jumped out at me when watching Brown's highlights were his game awareness, court vision, and BBIQ. This is best reflected in his Assists and Steals per game numbers.

On the other hand, although Brown is coordinated, he seems to lack explosiveness (based on very small sample size anyway). I wonder if some of that is playing into his drop in rankings.

 

[chugg21]

Last year over 200 Freshmen averaged at least 6.5 pts per game. 225 freshmen averaged 20 or more mpg.

Right there for me points to a big reason why rankings are over played. Kid might be in the 200s but sure looks much more like an impact recruit. Plus at his size and weight he looks physically ready.

There's 353 D1 teams. Not too surprising that 63% of them may have a kid able to come in and get 10 mins a half. We had one of those 225 freshman and he's already gone.

 

[Orangezoo]

There's 353 D1 teams. Not too surprising that 63% of them may have a kid able to come in and get 10 mins a half. We had one of those 225 freshman and he's already gone.

My point was that you can find a talented player than can help you immediately outside the coveted top 100.

What does that player not being here have to do with anything?

 

[cuseallday]

My point was that you can find a talented player than can help you immediately outside the coveted top 100.

Totally agree. Plus, Brown was four stars at one point, at least with Rivals. He's a top-30 PF, per Rivals. Yeah, he's in the 200s via the composite, but he could move up. And rankings aren't always telling the entire story.

 

[chugg21]

My point was that you can find a talented player than can help you immediately outside the coveted top 100.

What does that player not being here have to do with anything?

This is the same kind of circle jerk that happens each and every time any player shows any interest in us or looks like he may commit. We all watch a highlight reel, squint at some physical traits and start to group think that all of the services and every other major program is missing something and our staff are the only ones that can see it.

Could Brown become an ACC level starter? Sure. My problem is that instead of lotto tickets being the exception, they have started to become the norm on our roster and our standing as a consistent middle of the pack ACC team shows it.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

This is the same kind of circle jerk that happens each and every time any player shows any interest in us or looks like he may commit. We all watch a highlight reel, squint at some physical traits and start to group think that all of the services and every other major program is missing something and our staff are the only ones that can see it.

Could Brown become an ACC level starter? Sure. My problem is that instead of lotto tickets being the exception, they have started to become the norm on our roster and our standing as a consistent middle of the pack ACC team shows it.

You know this idea of lotto tickets is interesting.

Assume the portal is pretty active going forward. You're not going to keep every guy from every recruiting class once they get to campus.

Grab a 5 man class every recruiting year. That's 5 lotto tickets. Some of them will hit. The ones that don't jump ship. Reclaim someone else's lotto ticket here and there.

 

[orangefog]

You know this idea of lotto tickets is interesting.

Assume the portal is pretty active going forward. You're not going to keep every guy from every recruiting class once they get to campus.

Grab a 5 man class every recruiting year. That's 5 lotto tickets. Some of them will hit. The ones that don't jump ship. Reclaim someone else's lotto ticket here and there.

That's a lot of nicknames.

 

[chugg21]

You know this idea of lotto tickets is interesting.

Assume the portal is pretty active going forward. You're not going to keep every guy from every recruiting class once they get to campus.

Grab a 5 man class every recruiting year. That's 5 lotto tickets. Some of them will hit. The ones that don't jump ship. Reclaim someone else's lotto ticket here and there.

I'm usually in favor of it on centers. The 6'10+ guys that you can't really project what they will become. We have 4 of them on the roster now and another in Carey. Since anyone that size that is already skilled is ranked top 20 and is one and done, you don't really have much other choice.

 

[Cusefan0307]

This is the same kind of circle jerk that happens each and every time any player shows any interest in us or looks like he may commit. We all watch a highlight reel, squint at some physical traits and start to group think that all of the services and every other major program is missing something and our staff are the only ones that can see it.

Could Brown become an ACC level starter? Sure. My problem is that instead of lotto tickets being the exception, they have started to become the norm on our roster and our standing as a consistent middle of the pack ACC team shows it.

I partially agree with you, but also partially disagree. I think we have done a solid job recruiting the 2,3,4 positions.

I also think we have done a poor job recruting pg's and centers.

I also have an issue with the staffs developing talent.

There's schools recruiting talent below us that regularly finish ahead of us. That is on talent development.

I also think we are spending way too much time hemming and hawing over HS kids for no reason. This is the era we should be looking for transfers.

 

[Orangezoo]

This is the same kind of circle jerk that happens each and every time any player shows any interest in us or looks like he may commit. We all watch a highlight reel, squint at some physical traits and start to group think that all of the services and every other major program is missing something and our staff are the only ones that can see it.

Could Brown become an ACC level starter? Sure. My problem is that instead of lotto tickets being the exception, they have started to become the norm on our roster and our standing as a consistent middle of the pack ACC team shows it.

Interesting. I was simply liking that the kid could fit our program and has some tools that might be able to help us. Wasn't even remotely considering whether he is starting in the ACC in a year or putting up double doubles.

It's more that if you can bring in a kid with skills and abilities you want, it's a positive and if 225 kids a year can help in year 1 then it's absolutely a good gamble. Also we aren't the staff. So assuming they have done their homework, it's likely better than 50/50 odds he is worth it.

The two players that left after being frosh did so for their own reasons. Preventing transfers just got a lot harder. Kids will leave for a lot of reasons and many you can't predict or prevent. I think the positive mindset here is far from a circle jerk.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

That's a lot of nicknames.

Heavy is the head

 

[althea]

I also think we have done a poor job recruting pg's

Do you mean the quality of PG's or the quantity?

 

[Cusefan0307]

Do you mean the quality of PG's or the quantity?

A little bit of both. The main issue is trying to fit CG's or SG's at PG...Frank Howard...Kaleb...etc...Hopefully Girard changes that this year.

 

[chugg21]

A little bit of both. The main issue is trying to fit CG's or SG's at PG...Frank Howard...Kaleb...etc...Hopefully Girard changes that this year.

That's the position that drives me insane. PGs drive winning in college basketball more than any other position and we've prioritized trying to turn guys into PGs instead of recruiting actual floor generals with PG skills. It might work once in a while like we've seen but more often than not a PG is more of a born skillset than a learned one.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

That's the position that drives me insane. PGs drive winning in college basketball more than any other position and we've prioritized trying to turn guys into PGs instead of recruiting actual floor generals with PG skills. It might work once in a while like we've seen but more often than not a PG is more of a born skillset than a learned one.

Too many players don't want to be primarily distributors of the ball. They want to drive to the hoop or jack up threes. So many of the top guards in the NBA are really combo guards who do better with the ball in their hand. It's a slippery slope. In our offense, it's someone who is best that can penetrate and dish to an open corner (where I am visualizing Swider) where he can shoot or do the hockey assist to an open Buddy.

 

[chugg21]

Too many players don't want to be primarily distributors of the ball. They want to drive to the hoop or jack up threes. So many of the top guards in the NBA are really combo guards who do better with the ball in their hand. It's a slippery slope. In our offense, it's someone who is best that can penetrate and dish to an open corner (where I am visualizing Swider) where he can shoot or do the hockey assist to an open Buddy.

NBA is almost an entirely different sport. Not seeing an undersized guy like Shabazz Napier or Kemba just putting a team on their back and winning a championship there. It's possible in college ball because PGs control everything.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

NBA is almost an entirely different sport. Not seeing an undersized guy like Shabazz Napier or Kemba just putting a team on their back and winning a championship there. It's possible in college ball because PGs control everything.

Yes but our team has some of the same characteristics with at least three guys who are generalized as 3 pt shooters. I think we will surprise some people with Jesse/Sid/Junior/Benny and Cole. We have some height and some physical maturity
that we should be able to score inside the 3 pt line as well.