Maliq Brown for National Defensive Player of The Year

He's my favorite player at the moment. I mentioned in the gameday thread he gets guys out of rhythm when he is guarding them. He just makes winning plays. He might be our best defender since Battier.

The Louisville student section started chanting “overrated” towards Flagg after he picked up
his 4th foul in the game tonight.

Big mistake by the Cardinals fans.

Watching the 10 minute highlights.
1. Want to know why teams hit 3's against us? They have room. You give a Div. 1 player 5 feet and they can hit it. Holding your hand up does not effect them. need to tighten that up.
2. Proctor being very aggressive with the ball, in a good way.
3. Mal looks a little lost out there; esp. on D.
4. I was watching Gillis. He denied his man the ball, then slid over, blocked a shot, and led to a Kon lay up. Kid is smart and solid.
5. Big play with Cooper getting the steal, then getting the 2nd foul on their big man.
6. Sion with some big boy plays. My goodness. That dunk down the lane.
7. My dad the coach would love Brown. Every play he makes is a positive. Creates havoc defensively. Gets guys out of rhythm.
8. Flagg taking over. He has guard skills.
9. Kon had a solid game after the early misses. Made some crafty passes.
10. I'm seeing a mean streak in Flagg I didn't see earlier. Very nice on some tough finishes.
We took their best shot and won by double digits. Good job team.

Duke got off to a rough start in Louisville, but they turned it on in the 2nd half and secured the win.

We got a “Let’s Go Duke!” chant going towards the last 5 minutes of the game and the Louisville fans did not appreciate it, they started “booooing” us. Duke Nation showed up at the KFC Yum Center.

We got a picture with Isaiah “Slim” Evans (Brandon Ingram 2.0) and we told him to keep shooting the 3 ball 👌🏽🏀

He nodded his head yes and said “Bet”

Jon mentioned in the presser that he was +24 in the game tonight. Beast

kingbluedevil said:

He just makes plays no showboating great teammate.

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This interview just shows you the way he is... Cool, calm and collective. Looks like he doesn't get emotional on the court and seems down to earth. Just goes out there and does his job. Great pick up by the staff.

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so the transfer portal ''officially'' opens tomorrow. it seams there will be a few kids leaving us but mainly benchers who want to go and get playing time somewhere.

He just makes plays no showboating great teammate.

First quarter of the season done. Went about as expected; I never really bought into the superteam hype as we had too many new pieces. Room for improvement for sure but a good start. Will the pieces come together? Right now I'd peg us as a 2 seed. We are a possibly elite team but we are beatable as well. Will be a fun season.

The_Only_Blue said:

What a difference not having Bacot in there rebounding all the misses.

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Pushing. Bro hardly ever rebounds, dude pushes his way to boards lol

christophero said:

It's hard to say. We've had guys who improved rapidly (Lively, Williams). But we've had guys who, well; haven't. (Bolden, Jeter, Reeves is barely playing for Clemson) Obviously mal is a future pro but he looks like a project right now. He did not play in the second half. Still, lots of time, but Brown needs at least 25 minutes at the 5 right now. Not everyone improves at light speed like Lively.

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There will be games that Mal will be more effective and the same with Evans. We need to start games working inside little more and our starts will be better.

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It's hard to say. We've had guys who improved rapidly (Lively, Williams). But we've had guys who, well; haven't. (Bolden, Jeter, Reeves is barely playing for Clemson) Obviously mal is a future pro but he looks like a project right now. He did not play in the second half. Still, lots of time, but Brown needs at least 25 minutes at the 5 right now. Not everyone improves at light speed like Lively.

bleediteveryday30 said:

Right now, he's probably still taken high on potential. I do believe he will break out this year, though.

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We would have to revamp our entire offense in order for Mal to even have a chance to break out.

That ain’t happening and the breakout ain’t happening,

He is a project who runs well straight ahead but can’t slide quickly and is very weak.

Not to mention his processing the play is not quick enough yet, on most occasions.

I like him, don’t think I don’t, but he is a long way away.

We wore them down. Jon played 9 guys decent minutes. Our best 5 right now are Proctor, Sion, Cooper, Kon, and Brown.

The 2nd half was a combination of Duke playing a little better and Louisville coming down to earth. We had very solid games by Sion and Brown.

This isn’t meant as a knock on Cooper, because he’s our best player, but I thought we looked our best when he went to the bench with 4 fouls. It was as if the others focused a little better, and noticed we had 5 on offense.

It showed we can play critical moments of the game without him, and don’t have to play him 36+ minutes.

We went inside a lot when we went on the run. Sion was getting it in the paint

christophero said:

Any chance Mal is a 2 year guy like Mark? Long year and all, but he's going to start sliding unless his play picks up. He has upside of course but he seems a step slow right now.

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Right now, he's probably still taken high on potential. I do believe he will break out this year, though.

Duke Blu said:

I am okay with Kon tonight. Yes, he missed a ton but hit two big shots from 3. But that's what I want from our "shooters." That's what I want from Evans. You in the game, you get an open look like that, let it go. HAVE to get your shooters attempts.

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Agree with this it puts pressure on defense. We don't want bad shooters putting up shots but I want Kon, Proctor and Evans letting it go

sheyduke said:

Brown and Sions performance won Duke the game .

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I think their defense was key.

bleediteveryday30 said:

Our defense in the second half won us this game.

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And rebounding, which is a defensive stat… out rebounded them by 8 in the second half.

Any chance Mal is a 2 year guy like Mark? Long year and all, but he's going to start sliding unless his play picks up. He has upside of course but he seems a step slow right now.

The_Only_Blue said:

Ugly win and still found way to cover thanks to a couple timely three's by Kon and Brown and James playing like animals.

I know Mal is a project but geez for someone 7'2 he disappears. Is it our players aren't looking for him? Or our system doesn't benefit his style?

Hopefully we have an easy game on Tuesday because that's a quick turn around.

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You answered your own question. Duke playing five out doesn’t suit Mals size and not looking for him down low or on the lob . Kinda hard to guard down low when opposing teams don’t have a true center . You’re starting to see the same effect with Kansas and Hunter . Someone you think should be easily averaging 15 and ten isn’t .