Tag: Maliq Brown

Duke forward Maliq Brown ‘just isn’t close yet’ during knee sprain recovery, Jon Scheyer says

Duke basketball coach Jon Scheyer gave a positive update on Maliq Brown on Thursday, but the forward still has a ways to go in his recovery.

Duke basketball coach [autotag]Jon Scheyer[/autotag] gave Blue Devils fans a somewhat promising update about veteran forward [autotag]Maliq Brown[/autotag] on Thursday, but it doesn’t sound like a return to the court is imminent.

The Syracuse forward suffered a sprained knee against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on January 11, an injury Scheyer said would keep him out for multiple weeks. While this weekend’s game against Wake Forest would mark two weeks from the injury, Scheyer said the Syracuse transfer isn’t ready for game action yet.

“He just isn’t close yet to doing anything five-on-five,” the third-year coach said.

According to The Athletic’s Brendan Marks, Scheyer did say that Brown’s been on the court in practice this week. He’s been limited to shooting and straight-line mobility exercises as he works his way back.

With Brown only playing one minute against the Irish and missing each of the last two games, freshman center [autotag]Khaman Maluach[/autotag] averaged 13.0 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks with two double-doubles. Fellow first-year big man Patrick Ngongba II played 16.0 minutes per game last week after tallying just 17 minutes over the previous six games, and he’s amassed 4.0 points and 4.5 boards per night.

Jon Scheyer confirms Duke forward Maliq Brown will miss multiple games with knee injury

Duke basketball coach Jon Scheyer confirmed on Monday that junior forward Maliq Brown would miss extended time with a knee sprain.

The Duke men’s basketball team will need to play without defensive star [autotag]Maliq Brown[/autotag] for an extended period, head coach Jon Scheyer confirmed on Monday.

Brown only played one minute of Saturday’s game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, exiting swiftly after he took a hit to the knee and never returning.

At the start of this week, Scheyer said the Syracuse transfer would miss a handful of games with a knee sprain.

“He’ll miss an extended period of time here,” Scheyer said. “He’s going to be out for the next several games here, minimum.”

Brown averaged 2.5 points so far this season, but he tallied 4.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.5 steals in just 17.9 minutes. A 6-foot-9 forward with the lateral quickness to handle perimeter assignments, Brown constantly harassed Duke’s opponents. Even those numbers understate his impact on the game as he constantly swats the ball away from his assignment, resetting the opposing play even if he doesn’t create a turnover.

The Blue Devils play the Miami Hurricanes, who have lost 12 of their past 13 games, at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Tuesday before a road game against 9-7 Boston College on Saturday. Starting January 25, however, Duke starts a three-game run of Wake Forest on the road before hosting the NC State Wolfpack and North Carolina Tar Heels.

There are still 19 days until the first UNC game of the season, but Brown’s absence would be a major blow to Duke’s chances for an undefeated run through the conference.

Freshman superstar [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] and 7-foot-2 center Khaman Maluach will likely handle the majority of the frontcourt work in Brown’s absence. Fellow first-year center Patrick Ngongba II could see increased playing time, but Scheyer made it clear earlier this season that the Virginia native is on a firm minutes restriction as he recovers from a foot injury.

Maliq Brown injury vs Notre Dame: Latest news on Duke forward

Here’s what Duke basketball coach Jon Scheyer had to say about Maliq Brown’s knee injury after Saturday’s game.

Duke basketball forward [autotag]Maliq Brown[/autotag], one of the best defenders on the Blue Devils roster, spent almost the entire game on the sidelines this Saturday.

Brown took a hit to the knee just one minute after he checked in against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and despite a relatively normal stride on the court during second-half warmups, he never returned.

Head coach [autotag]Jon Scheyer[/autotag] praised Brown’s toughness after the game, but the third-year Blue Devils coach sounded reluctant to dismiss the injury entirely.

“The fact that he couldn’t go back in the game, I don’t think is a good sign,” Scheyer told the media after the game. “We’re going to get imaging and get him looked at (as soon as possible).”

Scheyer said he didn’t see the play when Brown got hurt.

“I’m concerned,” Scheyer continued. “Maliq just provides such a different versatility with his defense.”

Brown averaged 2.6 points through Duke’s first 15 games of the season, but he contributed 4.8 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.6 steals in just 19.1 minutes. He already missed a December game against Incarnate Word with a foot injury.

Freshman center [autotag]Khaman Maluach[/autotag] tallied 19 points and 10 rebounds in Brown’s absence, his first double-double since the second game of the season against Army.

Scheyer praised fellow freshman Patrick Ngongba II (two points and a rebound in five minutes), but he’s admitted that the first-year center is on a strict minute limit as he recovers from a foot injury, so Maluach and superstar [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] should get a majority of the frontcourt work if Brown misses time.

Who leads the Duke basketball team in points per minute so far this season?

Who leads the Blue Devils in points per minute through the first 12 games this season?

No sport can be completely distilled into mathematical formulas, but basketball benefits from a number of ways to quantify performance. One of the most interesting ways to measure efficiency, for example, is to calculate how many points a player scores per minute on the floor.

[autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] leads the Blue Devils with 16.3 points per game, and the top-ranked freshman has obviously been the focal point of the offense in year one. He’s also the only player on the roster averaging more than 30 minutes per game. While that volume always limits efficiency, it’s a fun thought experiment to see which Blue Devils have made the most of their time on the floor.

Some of the math involved shouldn’t surprise any Duke basketball fans. This metric favors freshman microwave [autotag]Isaiah Evans[/autotag] more than anyone considering his small role and emphatic green light. Anyone who makes six first-half threes against the Auburn Tigers off the bench will probably dominate per-minute scoring metrics, and a 51.2% rate from behind the arc will boost anyone’s math.

Per-minute scoring splits also punish veteran forward [autotag]Maliq Brown[/autotag] more than anyone else. The Syracuse transfer can get the ball in the hoop, but he’s at his best on the defensive end of the floor. His 1.9 steals per game lead the roster, and he constantly disrupts opposing offenses with his deflections, so he gets a lot of playing time without a major offensive focus.

But some of the math might surprise the Cameron Crazies. Freshman center [autotag]Khaman Maluach[/autotag] got off to a somewhat slow start (by Olympian standards) with 7.0 points through the first nine games, but a reasonable minute-management program and an increased pick-and-roll presence over the last two weeks flung him back toward the top of the metric.

Nine different Blue Devils have played at least 100 minutes this season. Here’s how they rank in points per minute as of December 22.

Player Points Minute Points/Minute
Isaiah Evans 78 123 0.634
Cooper Flagg 196 368 0.533
Khaman Malauch 101 222 0.455
Kon Knueppel 146 358 0.408
Tyrese Proctor 135 349 0.387
Caleb Foster 89 236 0.377
Sion James 94 250 0.376
Mason Gillis 43 168 0.256
Maliq Brown 32 225 0.142

Is Maliq Brown playing today? Injury updates for the Duke forward

Here are the latest updates on Duke forward Maliq Brown, who was battling a toe injury ahead of Tuesday’s game vs George Mason.

The Duke Blue Devils won their fourth straight game last week, a 72-46 triumph over Incarnate Word, but they did so without forward [autotag]Maliq Brown[/autotag].

The Syracuse transfer had been one of Duke’s best defenders through the first nine games, averaging 5.9 rebounds and a team-leading 2.1 steals, and he helped hold Auburn Tigers star Johni Broome to five first-half points in the Blue Devils’ best win of the season thus far.

However, before last week’s game against the Cardinals, Duke announced that Brown would be held out with a toe injury. The Blue Devils labeled him day-to-day with the injury, and with a week-long break before the next game, it seemed logical to assume he wouldn’t miss much time.

The team affirmed that belief with a positive update on Brown’s status ahead of Tuesday’s game against George Mason.

Maliq Brown injury update

The Blue Devils confirmed ahead of Tuesday’s game that Brown would play against the Patriots. Barring any setbacks, the toe injury will keep him out of a single game.

Duke forward depth chart

Freshmen centers [autotag]Khaman Maluach[/autotag] and Patrick Ngongba II played a larger role in last week’s win over Incarnate Word in Brown’s absence, but the Syracuse transfer should spell them both against George Mason. Maluach has started every game in the paint, but Brown averages more minutes per night than the 7-footer, a role that should resume with his return to the lineup.

Is Maliq Brown playing today? Injury updates for the Duke forward

Duke basketball forward Maliq Brown is dealing with a toe injury. Here are the latest updates.

The Duke Blue Devils play their 10th game of the 2024-25 season and their third game in seven days on Tuesday night against Incarnate Word, so naturally, we’ve reached the point in the season when injuries start to emerge.

Duke stayed relatively healthy for the first month of the campaign, but the team announced its first major absence of the year when it declared Maliq Brown out with a toe injury against the Cardinals.

The Syracuse transfer has already made himself an indispensable part of the Blue Devils rotation. He hasn’t started a game yet, but he averaged 21.0 minutes across the first nine contests and led the team with 1.9 steals. He’s anchored the defensive end of the floor, constantly breaking up opposing plays and helping hold Auburn Tigers star Johni Broome to five points in the first half last week.

Here’s everything we know about Brown’s injury ahead of the midweek game against UIW.

How long will Maliq Brown be out?

The team ruled Brown day-to-day with his injury. Considering that the Blue Devils won’t play again until December 17 after Tuesday’s game, odds seem likely he’ll only miss the one night.

Duke forward depth chart

With Brown unavailable, five-star freshman [autotag]Khaman Maluach[/autotag] will probably play more minutes than usual. The South Sudanese 7-footer has started all nine games for the Blue Devils, but he’s only played 17.3 minutes per night. Maluach hasn’t seen the floor for more than 15 minutes since the November 26 game against Kansas, but he’ll certainly jump over 20 minutes against UIW.

Fellow freshman Pat Ngognba II, another center in the 2024 recruiting class, will also probably play in Brown’s absence, but head coach [autotag]Jon Scheyer[/autotag] said Ngongba will be held on a strict minute count for his entire freshman season as he battles a foot injury.

Duke coach Jon Scheyer admired how his team fought back into the game against Kansas

While the Blue Devils didn’t take down No. 1 Kansas on Tuesday night, Jon Scheyer appreciated how his team battled back from a rough start.

The college basketball world saw the Duke Blue Devils come up short against the Kansas Jayhawks on Tuesday night, an effort doomed by a turnover in the final five seconds. Head coach Jon Scheyer saw his team battle back from a nightmare start.

The Blue Devils dropped into a quick 16-3 hole when the Jayhawks made six of their first seven shots, including a trio of 3-pointers, in the opening four minutes. Despite facing a mountain from the opening bell, however, Duke scratched and clawed to hang around before rattling off a 16-4 run of its own to tie the game with 3:34 left until halftime.

“It would have been easy to fold in that kind of game,” Scheyer said. “We just kept fighting and kept fighting… I thought the character and the heart of our team really showed tonight.”

Veterans Maliq Brown and Tyrese Proctor really engineered the first-half comeback. The duo combined for 16 points after making five of their six shots, including three 3-pointers from Proctor. Brown also tallied three steals before the midway point.

“To me, it’s character,” Scheyer said. “It’s either you have a competitive spirit or you don’t…I think it says a lot about our group that we just kept fighting.”

The best Duke basketball photos from Tuesday’s loss to the Kansas Jayhawks

Check out the best photos from Tuesday’s game between the Duke Blue Devils and Kansas Jayhawks.

The Duke Blue Devils clawed back from an early hole against the No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks on Tuesday night, but freshman superstar [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] and his teammates couldn’t close the deal on a trajectory-changing upset.

Kansas scored 16 of the game’s first 19 points after it made six of its first seven shots from the floor, burying three 3-pointers in the first 4:11 of game time.

Despite Flagg only scoring two points in the opening half thanks to some constant double-teams, the Blue Devils put together a 16-4 run late in the opening half to tie the game. [autotag]Tyrese Proctor[/autotag] made five of his first six triples, and veteran forward [autotag]Maliq Brown[/autotag] constantly swatted the ball away in a game he ended with four steals.

However, five-star freshman [autotag]Kon Knueppel[/autotag] couldn’t find a gap in the Kansas defense in the final five seconds for a crucial turnover, letting the Jayhawks build a three-point lead. When Knueppel’s final gasp ducked out of the rim, his eighth miss on eight 3-point attempts, the Blue Devils walked away with a second tally in the loss column.

Here are the best photos from Tuesday’s game.

Hunter Dickinson getting ejected from Kansas-Duke surprised ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla

Did Hunter Dickinson deserve to get ejected for this?

During one of the biggest men’s college basketball games of the 2024 season so far, Kansas star center Hunter Dickinson was assessed a flagrant 2 technical foul and ejected from the contest against Duke.

The two college hoops powerhouses faced off in the Terry’s Chocolate Vegas Showdown on Tuesday night.

Late in the game’s second half, Dickinson and Duke forward Maliq Brown got tangled up on the ground after what was a foul on the latter.

However, the entire sequence got upended when Dickinson’s foot struck Brown in the head while the two were down on the court.

The officiating crew judged that Dickinson’s action was bad enough for an ejection and sent him out of the game early with the flagrant 2 technical foul, which surprised ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla.

“The rule is it has to be severe and extreme. I would’ve given it a flagrant 1,” Fraschilla said on the game broadcast. “I’m surprised it’s a flagrant 2.”

Kansas still held on for a razor-thin victory against Duke, 75-72, but Dickinson’s ejection will loom large over this whole affair.

Feature image courtesy of ESPN. 

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Caleb Foster, Maliq Brown named among ACC’s most underrated in player poll

The Fayetteville Observer asked players to name the most underrated ACC basketball stars, and two Blue Devils made the list.

All of the attention around the Duke men’s basketball team will focus on top-ranked freshman [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] this season, but players among the ACC think two other Blue Devils deserve more credit.

The Fayetteville Observer’s Rodd Baxley published an anonymous player poll on Monday asking the conference to name the most underrated basketball players across the league.

Returning starters [autotag]Caleb Foster[/autotag] and Syracuse transfer Maliq Brown came to mind for their ACC foes, two members of the Duke roster who should play a large role in the 2024-25 season.

Foster, now a sophomore, started 15 of his 27 games as a freshman in 2023-24. The 6-foot-5 guard averaged 7.7 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game, making more than 40% of his 3-pointers before a stress fracture in his ankle brought his season to an unfortunate end a few weeks early.

He and fellow returner Tyrese Proctor are expected to start in the backcourt, and Foster will be a reliable perimeter presence and ball-handler for the Blue Devils in 2024-25.

Brown has actually flown quite a bit under the radar before his first Duke season. He made 69.8% of his shots in both seasons with Syracuse, leading the conference in effective field goal percentage last year, and he scored 26 points against the Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Foster and head coach Jon Scheyer think Brown’s best asset is his defense, with the sophomore saying Brown could be the best defender in the country.

Two other names listed in Baxley’s poll should be familiar to Duke basketball fans. Stanford’s Jaylen Blakes and Virginia’s TJ Power, who both played for the Blue Devils last season before transferring, also made the underrated list.