Tag: Maliq Brown

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.

Caleb Foster says one new teammate could be the ‘best defender in college basketball’

Caleb Foster thinks first-year Blue Devil Maliq Brown could be the best defender not just on the Duke roster, but in the entire country.

Even though it’s only [autotag]Jon Scheyer[/autotag]’s third full season as the Duke basketball head coach, he’s been around long enough to take most media questions in stride.

During Wednesday’s press conference at ACC Tipoff, however, an inquiry about Syracuse transfer Maliq Brown got him to light up.

“I’m glad you asked about Maliq,” Scheyer said. “I haven’t been asked about him as much.”

“Great versatility, really does whatever you ask him to do,” Scheyer continued. “Great competitor, but just such a great teammate. Selfless, doesn’t care about his own stats…I’ve loved coaching him.”

Brown averaged 9.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per game with the Orange last season, including a season-high 26 points against the Blue Devils in Cameron Indoor Stadium. He’s remarkably efficient, shooting 69.8% from the floor in both of his collegiate seasons, and according to KenPom, he led the ACC with an effective field goal percentage of 71.3%. No other player in the conference finished better than 61.8%.

Scheyer praised Brown’s intelligence and passing ability, but he really focused on the other side of the ball. The Blue Devils coach said he and his staff measure deflections during offseason scrimmages, and the junior forward does better in that category than any player he’s ever had.

“Somebody should ask these guys if they like trying to score on him,” Scheyer said, pointing to returning starters Caleb Foster and Tyrese Proctor.

Foster, somehow, sounded even more complimentary of his new teammate.

“Maliq is one of the best defenders I’ve ever played against,” the sophomore said. “His activity on and off the ball is just unmatched, and I think he has a chance to be the best defender in college basketball this year.”

While Brown won’t make his regular-season debut with the Blue Devils until November 4, he’ll take the court at Cameron again in an exhibition game against Lincoln on October 19.

Cooper Flagg says Kon Knueppel impressed him the most in first Duke basketball practices

During a Tuesday episode of The Brotherhood Podcast, Cooper Flagg said fellow freshman Kon Knueppel impressed him the most so far in practice.

He’s been lost in the shuffle of [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] Summer, but five-star Duke basketball freshman [autotag]Kon Knueppel[/autotag] received another vote of confidence on Tuesday.

During an appearance on The Brotherhood Podcast, Flagg said Knueppel impressed him the most through Duke’s first practices together as a team.

“I knew he was tough, I knew he had the skill,” Flagg said. “He’s very consistent with what he does every day, his ability to just knock down shots, get into the paint. He’s way more athletic than I expected, to be honest.”

Knueppel, Wisconsin’s Mr. Basketball and one of the top 20 players in the Class of 2024, has already received plenty of hype through the offseason. The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie said he thinks Knueppel might be the second-best freshman on the roster, even beyond South Sudanese Olympian Khaman Maluach.

Knueppel frequently ends up in the lottery range of 2025 NBA mock drafts as he’s become a popular pick for a breakout 2024-25 star.

Flagg also highlighted Syracuse transfer Maliq Brown, who led the ACC in effective field goal percentage last season, as someone growing into Duke’s offense well.

Duke basketball posts photo of Cooper Flagg dunking on two teammates

The Duke Blue Devils shared some photos from the men’s basketball team practices on Wednesday and Cooper Flagg threw down on two teammates.

It might not compare to him looking like the best player on the court against the U.S. Olympic Team, but the [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] hype machine gained a little steam again on Wednesday.

The Duke men’s basketball team posted some photos from team practice on Wednesday, and one of the later slides in the Instagram post showed Flagg rising for a dunk over two different teammates.

These weren’t nameless teammates, either. Transfer Sion James and Maliq Brown, two upperclassmen and two presumed starters on next year’s squad. The two players both partially came to Durham with promise centered around their defense.

Between the photo and his time at Olympic training camp, it’s clear Flagg can still look like the generational talent he is promised to be against top competition.

The upcoming Duke freshman remains the presumed No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA draft, and one FOX Sports talk show host actually renamed next year’s NBA season ‘Capture the Flagg’ in honor of how many teams he assumes will tank for the Blue Devils star.

The photo is the ninth slide down below.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C9iMjAvRrF4/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Fans also got good looks at Kon Knueppel, Tyrese Proctor, and head coach Jon Scheyer sporting some glasses in the slideshow.

Jon Scheyer explains why he wanted Duke basketball to get bigger in new podcast appearance

Every Duke basketball player will stand at least 6-foot-5 next season. Head coach Jon Scheyer explained the commitment to size in a recent podcast.

The Duke basketball team is going to be huge in 2024-25, and head coach Jon Scheyer explained that the size of the Blue Devils roster is no accident.

During a Monday episode of The Devil’s Den podcast, Scheyer said the team consciously targeted height to maximize the team’s athletic ability on defense.

“I want us to create more turnovers,” Scheyer said. “In order to be more aggressive like the teams that I’ve been a part of here, the more athletic you are, the more you’re able to do that because you can cover ground, (you have) the length to make up for it.”

“So that’s why we’ve gone bigger…and that’s my style for how I’ve been taught here under Coach (Mike Krzyzewski) but also how I want to play for us going forward.”

Scheyer also highlighted Syracuse transfer Maliq Brown, who averaged 2.2 steals per game last season as a 6-foot-8 forward, as someone he immediately targeted because of his ability to create chaos. [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] and [autotag]Khaman Maluach[/autotag], two standout freshmen and presumed 2025 lottery picks, fit the same bill at 6-foot-9 and 7-foot-2, respectively.

Sophomore guard Caleb Foster, at 6-foot-5, will be the shortest player in the rotation next season. Check out every player on the 2024-25 roster ranked from tallest to shortest here.