Duke-UNC 4x4 Preview: Cooper Flagg pick-and-rolls, UNC's Wedge Roll and Wide action, scheme options

A few of the things to keep an eye on when Duke and UNC meet up for the first time in the 2024-25 season

Duke and North Carolina meet for the first time this season on Saturday. There are lots of angles to consider in this matchup. Before the action starts at Cameron Indoor, here are four items to keep an eye on when Duke has the ball and four things to monitor when UNC has the ball.

When Duke has the ball

KenPom adjusted efficiency rankings: No. 6 offense vs. No. 47 defense

Invert the action

As Duke and Jon Scheyer have built the boat around Cooper Flagg this season, the star freshman has been used in a variety of ways, including post-ups, off of movement and pick-and-roll initiation.

The screen-roll combination of Flagg and Khaman Maluach has been powerful. Flagg has 10+ assists to five teammates this season, including 16 to his 7-foot-2 teammate. However, Flagg’s pick-and-roll activity may strike more fear in an opposing defenses when he sets the ball screen and slips into space on the short roll, or when he initiates inverted ball screen actions. In these inverted pick-and-roll plays, Flagg operates as the ball handler while a smaller guard sets the pick.

Both play types present opportunities for Flagg to either get a crease going downhill to the rim, which is a problem for the defense, or create a switch against a smaller defender, which is also a problem.

The Blue Devils will often use Sion James, Kon Knueppel or Tyrese Proctor as screeners in these inverted actions. The objective is to target the smallest/weakest defender on the floor, though, so any of Duke’s guards and wings can be used as screeners for the 6-foot-9, 205-pound product of Maine.

In the case of Auburn, that’s freshman point guard Tahaad Pettiford (6-1, 175). On this play, Duke gets an off-ball switch of Johni Broome on Flagg with a screen from Maluach, which is followed by a ball screen from Knueppel, who lifts up from the right corner. Flagg draws the switch with Pettiford in the middle third of the floor, which is spaced with three guard shooters and Maluach in the dunker spot. This is a healthy creation environment for Flagg; there are no great areas for Auburn to send help. With his court mapping and heady decision-making, Flagg will beat teams as a passer when he pulls in extra attention. Auburn mostly lets Pettiford handle Flagg 1-on-1. Flagg goes wot work in the middle of the floor, knocking Pettiford back with a spinning, bumping drive and a finish in the lane.

According to CBB Analytics, Flagg averages 7.0 field goal attempts per 40 minutes in the paint (86-of-140 FGA, 61.4 FG%), including 4.4 attempts at the rim (within 4.5 feet). Flagg also averages 8.5 paint points per game, which ranks in the 93rd percentile nationally.

Here’s the same thing vs. Notre Dame, a game that saw Flagg repeatedly go at Markus Burton (6-0, 190) in ball screen switches. James screens for Flagg, Burton switches out and Flagg scores with a spinning finish in the lane

This is Flagg in apex Big Wing Creator Mode, and it’s one of the most promising aspects of his status as an elite NBA prospect: Flagg projects as the type of offensive hub that can drive late-game, leverage-situation offense. Flagg is shooting 69.2 percent at the rim this season with 0-10 seconds on the shot clock, per CBB Analytics. Plus, he’s the only player in Duke’s rotation that averages more than 3.0 unassisted field goals per 40 minutes.

Even when Flagg doesn’t score directly out of the inverted ball screen switch, it’s an easy way for him to draw fouls. Duke isn’t a high free throw rate team; the Devils rank outside the Top 200 nationally in free throw attempt rate (32.0 percent). Flagg, however, is the exception. Through the first 20 games, he’s drawn 6.3 fouls per 40 minutes, a Top 50 number in the country, including 3.3 shooting fouls per 40 minutes (95th percentile).

With his foul creation, Flagg can jeopardize key players for the defense and help get Duke into the bonus.

Even if the first defender is able to switch out and keep Flagg in front for a moment, the initial on-ball defender that’s being screened must be ready to fluidly swap assignments. If not, Flagg’s passing (26.7 percent assist rate) can take over.

Knueppel sets a hard screen for Flagg here at Wake Forest. Parker Friedrichsen switches out, but Ty-Laur Johnson gets stuck on the screen. Knueppel gets easy inside leverage and Flagg passes over the top of the shorter defenders with ease for a short-roll layup on Duke’s final offensive possession of the first half.

Wake Forest was -6 in nine minutes with Johnson (6-0, 170) and Friedrichsen (6-4, 185) on the floor at the same time. Those lineups presented one too many targets for Flagg.

On other occasions, Wake Forest — instead of switching — tried to have Johnson or Friedrichsen show-and-recover when Flagg initiated inverted pick-and-roll. This tactic requires the having the smaller guard quickly lunge out at Flagg in an effort to stymy his drive and pressure him for one-two dribbles, buying the forward defender time to recover back to Flagg.

Wake Forest had some success with this maneuver, but there were other possessions when Flagg still glided his way to the rim.

A few minutes later in the game, Johnson is able to show while Tre’Von Spillers recovers on this possession. When the defense resets, Flagg uses his speed and drives by Spillers, an excellent defender, earning another trip to the foul line.

Under Kevin Keatts, NC State’s defense has always switched 1-4. During an upset attempt earlier this week at Cameron Indoor, though, the Pack mixed things up for Flagg.

When Flagg ran inverted pick-and-roll as the ball handler, NC State would show and recover, as Marcus Hill does on this initial screen from James.

If Flagg was the screener, NC State’s starting 4-man, Dontrez Styles, wouldn’t switch. Instead, Styles played below the level of the screen in drop coverage. The Wolfpack would toggle through these different concepts across the same possession as Flagg flowed from on-ball creator to screener.

If the defense uses drop coverage, it’s able to avoid switching a mismatch on Flagg, though it leaves other options open, like the short roll. Flagg gets a decent look here at the nail, but NC State can live with that as it takes away the rim and keeps Flagg off the foul line.

With Flagg roaming as a short-roll target, cutting into open pockets of space, his gravity can pull off-ball help defenders into the middle of the floor. In turn, this can open up the second side of the floor for a skip pass.

The defensive approach comes down to what a team wants to prioritize taking away. Some coaches may prefer to be in rotation as opposed to allowing Duke to dictate the terms of engagement: picking out its preferred matchups and locations on the court.

While the inverted ball screens allow Flagg to attack a switch with some steam going downhill, Duke can generate switches with Flagg as the screen-setter, too.

Unlike NC State, Boston College switches the inverted ball screen for Flagg. As James screens and dives to the rim, Flagg flows into an empty-corner ball screen with Proctor — now working as the screener. Once again, Boston College switches. Flagg takes his new matchup to the block and scores before a double team can arrive.

All of this presents an issue for UNC. Not only is this team guard-heavy, but the Tar Heels don’t have a lot of length on the wing, save for Seth Trimble, an athletic and talented defender, and NBA prospect Drake Powell. Jae’Lyn Withers could factor in here, too, though he’s averaging just 10.3 minutes per game in ACC play.

KenPom has tracked the average height of men’s college basketball rosters since the 2006-07 season, weighted by minutes played. Within that database, this is UNC’s shortest roster: a weighted average height of 76.3 inches, which ranks 322nd nationally. Often, the Heels play with three and sometimes four guards on the floor at the same time, all of which hover between 6-foot and 6-foot-4. Conversely, Duke leads the country with a weighted average height at 79.2 inches.

Despite the lack of size throughout the rotation, UNC has been solid in terms of its defensive rebounding (72.6 percent defensive rebound rate), thanks in part to its drop-heavy scheme and the efforts of the center rotation. When rounded up, all three of UNC’s primary centers — Jalen Washington, Ven-Allen Lubin and Withers — have defensive rebound rates of at least 20 percent.

Maluach and Patrick Ngongba are the most dangerous offensive rebounders on Duke’s roster, though Flagg — with his explosive second jump — can cause chaos as well, especially if there’s a smaller defender switched on him.

Late in the game, Louisville switches this empty-side action with Flagg screening for James, which puts Reyne Smith (6-2, 190) on Flagg. As Flagg catches the ball and faces up at the elbow, Louisville’s help defense gaps up with Smith applying ball pressure.

Flagg opts to bully his way to the rim. He sticks his shoulder into Smith, knocking him to the ground, and gets into a crease. James Scott does well to challenge at the rim, but Flagg is off the floor again in an instant — exploding back up for a put-back dunk on his own miss.

Flagg’s ability to get to this rebound ahead of Scott, one the best taller athletes in college basketball, is wildly impressive.

The Tar Heels don’t switch 1-5 a lot on defense, though it’s something they’ve gone to this season late in the shot clock or when their base coverages aren’t clicking, including in their most recent outing vs. Pitt.

UNC switches this 5-out handoff action with RJ Davis going to Guillermo Diaz Graham and Withers on Ish Leggett. As Diaz Graham starts to post on the left side against Davis, Ian Jackson comes over from the weak side to help Davis. Leggett ignores an open Damian Dunn on the right wing and decides to go 1-on-1 against Withers.

When the switches against a big come for Davis, UNC will also try to kick him out of the post, although unless it’s Powell or Withers scram-switching behind the play, UNC doesn’t really have the ranginess to nail these types of rotations.

In an effort to stay out of rotation and avoid another pick-and-pop 3 against UCLA’s Tyler Bilodeau (39.6 3P%), Davis switches to Bilodeau. As UCLA loads up for hi-lo action, Jackson switches underneath to Bilodeau and Davis takes Kobe Johnson along the perimeter. There’s still a serious size disadvantage for UNC, though it takes Davis out a vulnerable position, one where he’s liable to commit a foul. Right on cue, as the entry pass is lobbed in, Jackson grabs and fouls Bilodeau.

Duke could also try to pick at this size advantage in the guard matchups without using a screen or attacking switches. With Knueppel (6-7, 217) and James (6-6, 225), the Blue Devils have guards that are taller and heavier than anyone in UNC’s backcourt room.

Pitt used Dunn in the post some against North Carolina’s guards; so, too, did Wake Forest, which loves to empty out a side of the floor for Cameron Hildreth isolations.

Touching the second side

When North Carolina defends pick-and-roll, Hubert Davis prefers to play drop coverage — with his centers several feet below the level of the screen. For instance: Washington is dropped inside the paint as Hunter Dickinson sets this ball screen for Dajuan Harris.

This math-friendly tactic is designed to encourage the offense to take contested off-dribble jumpers, while closing down the paint and allowing off-ball defenders to hang closer with perimeter shooters.

When the ball is on the sides of the floor, UNC will look to “Down” or “Ice” ball screens — an effort to pin the ball on one side of the floor. Notice how Davis positions his body here against Stanford. His defensive stance is parallel to the sideline as he angles himself between the ball handler and the slot ball screen from Maxime Raynaud. Once again, Washington is dropped below the screen. North Carolina wants to keep the ball and the action on the right side of the floor for as long as possible on this possession.

When North Carolina has the opportunity, its guards will also look to “Weak” ball screens. In this setup, the on-ball guard will again angle his body to push the driver to the sideline. This time, though, the objective is to force the driver to go in the direction of his weaker left hand, which is what Davis does here against Louisville’s Terrence Edwards.

Washington is below the level of the screen but higher up the floor, closer to Scott.

All of these structures are in place to, in theory, keep the ball out of the middle of the floor and out of the paint. UNC wants to force opposing offenses to spend as much time in the outer thirds of the floor as possible.

This base approach was effective last season for the Tar Heels, who finished Top 10 nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency despite not having that many plus defenders, nor really causing that much havoc: blocks and steals. (UNC ranked outside the Top 100 in block rate and outside the Top 200 in steal rate.) It was the collective execution of the scheme that proved so fruitful.

So, the questions for opposing offenses become: how will you get the ball to the middle and can you change sides of the floor, making the defense move and rotate against weak-side skips and ball reversals.

One of the best ways to attack these coverages is with the pick-and-pop and a stretch-5. Raynaud didn’t have his best shooting performance against UNC, but Kyle Smith put him in the action as a pick-and-pop threat and made North Carolina deal with his gravity. UNC ices this screen for Jaylen Blakes as Davis angles his body between Blakes and Raynaud. To counter, Raynaud slides to the top of the key and Blakes hits him with a pocket pass. Trimble stunts in Raynaud’s direction and Lubin hurries to closeout, but the 7-foot-1 Frenchman is unbothered.

These were the types of shots Duke was able to generate for Kyle Filipowski against UNC last season. He just happened to have a rough perimeter shooting performance in Chapel Hill: 0-of-4 on 3-point attempts against UNC’s ice or drop coverage, all of which were uncontested or lightly contested shots.

To that point, this is a great look at the rim for Flip as UNC ices this empty-side action with Jared McCain in Duke’s continuity ball screen offense.

The short roll is another good option to get to the middle of the floor when UNC weaks ball screens, especially when the defensive 5 is closer to the level of the pick.

NC State’s Michael O’Connell hits Ben Middlebrooks with a pocket pass. Middlebrooks makes a good read on the short roll, kicking out for an open Jayden Taylor 3-point attempt.

Duke doesn’t really have a stretch-5, though they can open some of that stuff up when they go small and play Flagg and Mason Gillis as the de facto 4 and 5.

Maluach is an impactful roll man, but — despite some flashes — he doesn’t really make plays on tight pockets of space on the short roll — not yet at least.

While his status is up in the air for this weekend, Brown is an excellent short-roll playmaker, going back to his time at Syracuse. In fact, Brown did damage as a short-roll passer against UNC last season, tossing out four assists in Syracuse’s upset win in February over the Tar Heels.

Cadeau and Armando Bacot weak Brown’s ball screen for Judah Mintz here, so Brown slides into a pocket of space and makes himself available on the short roll. When Corman Ryan collapses on Brown in the lane, Brown sprays out to Justin Taylor in the corner, which leads to a JJ Starling 3-pointer. Brown gets the hockey assist off the short roll.

Ngongba has great hands and a good feel for the game. He made plays on the short roll when he was at Paul VI, and he’s shown some good bits of processing in limited opportunities this season. Flagg misses the layup, but this is a great find from Ngongba on the short roll, which creates the catch-and-go opportunity.

If Brown is unable to go, this feels like an area — along with the offensive glass — where Ngongba can have an impact as the backup center.

There are other ways to chisel at this out of high ball screen action, especially if the offense has a guard who can hit the weak-side corner with a skip pass.

Wake Forest runs Hildreth off of staggered screens against UNC. Johnson passes to Hildreth, who immediately flips the ball back to Johnson. Efton Reid sets a quick step-up screen for Johnson and Lubin is in drop coverage, although he’s higher up the floor on this play. To bring more bodies into the paint, Trimble peels off of Spillers as he fills to the weak-side corner. As Johnson turns the corner, two of UNC’s weak-side defenders — Davis and Trimble — have at least one foot in the paint. Reid’s roll to the rim helps pull in Trimble. Johnson responds with a skip pass, which results in a Spillers corner 3.

Out of this Horns set for Pittsburgh, Cam Corhen screens for Jaland Lowe. Ty Claude is in drop coverage, though it’s not a deep drop. Lowe starts to drive at the drop, and Claude’s attention is on Pitt’s speedy point guard. Corhen dives, which again pulls Trimble further off of Leggett in the weak-side corner. Leggett is more of a volume scorer than he is a long-range sniper, but this is too much space. Lowe sees his backcourt mate and skips it for an open 3-ball.

Duke doesn’t have a pure breakdown point guard like Lowe, nor a pass-first speed option like Johnson. However, the Blue Devils have several tall guards who can scan the defense and hit those skip passes. Proctor, especially, is good at mapping the floor. These opportunities could be there for Knueppel, James, Proctor and Caleb Foster.

There are also drop-beater plays to throw at these coverages. NC State and Alabama each ran multiple possessions of Spain/stack pick-and-roll against UNC.

Here, the Crimson Tide run their “Ram” Spain pick-and-roll action, with Aden Holloway setting an off-ball screen for Clifford Omoruyi, who lifts out to set the ball screen for Mark Sears. As Sears dribbles left and Omoruyi rolls, Holloway lifts to set a back screen and pop out. With Claude and Davis on Sears and Cadeau in the paint for Omoruyi’s roll, Holloway is wide open for an uncontested 3-ball.

Duke has run some Spain pick-and-roll this season, too. This set was especially impactful with Knueppel and Maluach hooking up in the Georgia Tech game.

Smaller lineups, big importance?

With Brown out of the lineup, Duke has gone to more small-ball configurations that feature Flagg, Gillis and three guards or Flagg and four other guards. For the season, Duke is +17 in 19 minutes with Flagg on the floor and all three of the centers — Maluach, Brown and Ngongba — on the bench. Gillis has been on the floor for 17 of those minutes, too, per CBB Analytics.

Gillis provides a combination of size, strength, defensive mobility and shooting, which allows him to occupy multiple frontcourt positions and create added lineup flexibility around Flagg.

Maluach has some long-term upside/potential with his 3-point shot, and Duke’s staff has empowered him to shoot (same with Brown), but there’s a lot of work to be done. Meanwhile, Gillis brings some quick-trigger stretch to the frontcourt that none of the centers can really offer.

This possession occurs with Gillis functioning as the nominal 3, next to Flagg and Ngongba, defended by Hunter Sallis. To start the possession, Wake Forest bottles up a Proctor-Flagg ball screen. The Demon Deacons then handle a Knueppel-Ngongba ball screen. Finally, with eight seconds left on the shot clock, Gillis lifts to bail out this possession. Instead of screening for Proctor in left slot, Gillis slips the screen to the top of the key; Sallis and Johnson are both caught off-guard, unsure of how to handle the slip. Eventually, Johnson scrambles to switch and closeout on Gillis, but it’s too late: he has more than enough airspace to let this fly.

If UNC is able to keep Duke out of the paint and stay out of rotation defensively, the small-ball lineups with Gillis as spacer, one who could navigate some pick-and-pop offense, are a card to play, potentially.

After the Boston College game, I did a deep dive on the small-ball lineups around Flagg, so feel free to check that out if you haven’t already. At this point, those lineups remain more of a wildcard than a core component of Duke’s approach, but there’s no denying the challenges it presents for an opposing defense.

The small-ball lineups open up inverted pick-and-roll opportunities for Flagg, while surrounding him with even more shooting. Gillis doesn’t even need to be involved in the action; his gravity as a spot-up shooter (46.2 3P% in ACC plays) allows him to space to the corners and keep the paint open for Flagg’s playmaking.

Duke has started to use more of this “Pistol” action with Flagg as a 5-out initiator. After receiving a pass from Proctor on the left wing, Flagg will fake a handoff back to Proctor. Gillis spaces to the right corner, which keeps Styles on the fringes of the lane, not the middle, thus leaving more room for this slip cut from James.

When Flagg turns and faces on this after-timeout play, it looks as though James will set a flare screen for Knueppel to exit out to the right side of the floor. Instead, James slips the screen and darts toward the rim. Flagg hits him in stride for a cut dunk.

UNC has played 88 minutes this season with Davis, Trimble, Cadeau and Jackson on the floor together (+2), per CBB Analytics. It’s a long shot, for sure, but we may get to see some four-guard small-ball lineups matched up for both teams.

On The Move

With his touch and shot-making abilities, Ian Jackson has marked himself as a Top 20-25 prospect for the 2025 NBA Draft and a selection on the ACC All-Rookie Team — along with Flagg, Knueppel, Maluach and either Donnie Freeman, Samet Yigitoglu or Jacob Cofie.

Jackson plays with good verve on the defensive side of the floor. At times, he’s been disruptive when chasing guys off of screens; however, there are other possessions when he loses touch with his assignment, gets caught on screens or takes a poor path when trailing an off-ball shooter.

For this baseline-out-bounds (BOB) play, Jackson starts on Stanford’s Ryan Agarwal while Davis has Oziyah Sellers, one of the best shooters in the ACC. Agarwal initiates things by coming off a screen out to the left side, which Powell switches. Right after, Sellers trails behind Agarwal and runs off two staggered screens, the first of which Jackson and Davis switch. As Sellers curls off the second screen from Raynaud, Jackson tries to chase over the top, but his route is much too long. With a tight curl, Sellers creates easy separation for an open 2-point jumper.

A few minutes later, it’s the same BOB play from Stanford: Box formation with two sets of staggered screens and Sellers as the target on the trail pattern. Jackson tries to shoot the gap this time, but because he’s so late to react to the initial screen/switch with Trimble, Sellers has a head start, which he uses to get another curl jumper in the midrange.

Ball watching and getting stuck on screens: these are normal things for a young guard defender. The fact that Jackson plays with a good motor on that side of the floor matters a great deal, too. That, however, doesn’t mean offenses won’t try to take advantage of him.

Once more, Stanford runs the same BOB play against UNC, all within the span of 10 minutes of game play — this time to the opposite side of the floor. On all three plays, Sellers gets quick separation from Jackson and scores on a curl.

Here against Louisville, this is more of a read-and-react play from the Cards — with Scott setting a flare screen for Noah Waterman into the right corner. Jackson loses track of his man, Waterman, and takes too long to recover on the movement, resulting in another catch-and-shoot 3.

It’ll be interesting to see how UNC matches up defensively along the perimeter, but Knueppel — with his strength and off-ball skills — could prove to be a challenge for Jackson.

This is one of the go-to plays for Duke, going back to last season, which I now refer to as “Down Flare.” It’s a 5-out set that’s designed to get a look on the left wing for a player coming off a flare screen. On this possession, Knueppel is the recipient as Maluach clears more than enough space with his flare screen.

Off the bench, Isaiah Evans is a little more one-dimensional, but that dimension is a scary place for a defense if Evans gets rocking and rolling. Evans is in the midst of a two-gam cold spell, but since his addition to the rotation he’s cooked with this Down Flare set.

If Evans shakes loose and sees one go through, it changes the tenor the game, immediately. He’s liable to make three more 3-pointers over the next four minutes. All of a sudden the defense must account for this 6-foot-6 microwave (or crock pot, I guess) that’s flying around the floor hunting catch-and-shoot triples.

The Blue Devils also like to feature Evans in their “Down Circle” action, which is another 5-out movement set. It looks a lot like Down Flare, starting with a pindown screen (Down) for the guard coming out of the right corner. That’s that followed by staggered screens (Circle) for the guard in the right corner — who runs across the formation.

Proctor is in a bit of a shooting slump; outside of the Boston College game, the last two weeks haven’t been kind to his efficiency numbers. However, there’s more than enough data to support Proctor’s prowess as a shooter: 35.0 3P% and 80.7 FT% for his career.

The roll gravity of Maluach is crucial in the Down Circle set, too. If the screen defender has to worry about Maluach on the dive, it opens things up for the player running off of the staggered screens.

Proctor is an excellent connective passer: hit-aheads in transition and making the extra pass once Duke’s half-court offense has the defense in the blender — swinging the ball to an open teammate shooter. However, more creation out of the ball screen or running off of down screens would go a long way, too.

If Proctor draws a second defender to the ball when he curls off the staggered screens, he’ll look to pass, which Ngongba is the recipient of here against Miami.

Duke will get guys in motion off of the ball, regardless of the matchups. Currently, the Blue Devils rank Top 30 nationally in both 3-point attempt rate (47.2 percent) and assist rate (60.3 percent). Their motion game is a big piece of this puzzle. That said, Jackson could be a defender Duke targets to work as a chase defender.

When UNC has the ball

KenPom adjusted efficiency rankings: No. 48 offense vs. No. 3 defense

Early Offense: Wedge Roll and Wide

This isn’t a vintage UNC offense — in the sense that its half-court attack isn’t centered around a frontcourt hub. More specifically, North Carolina doesn’t have its usual power game. Given the program’s track record, this is partly a product of grading with such a steep curve: an offense can rank Top 50 nationally with multiple future NBA players and still feel like it hasn’t quite found its true identity.

Despite some of the unease, there’s still a lot of talent on the perimeter, including two prolific shot-makers in Davis and Jackson — along with Trimble’s athleticism and rim finishing, Cadeau’s drives and passing, and Powell’s powerful face-up game. That’s still a lot to deal with.

Adapting for its personnel,UNC plays fast, averaging 15.6 seconds per possession, a Top 20 offense nationally in terms of pace, according to KenPom. The Tar Heels spread the floor and go uptempo with a series of clever, quick-hitting play designs, including “Wedge” pick-and-roll and “Wide” action.

The Wedge roll was something UNC started to mix in a lot during the 2023-24 season. It’s an empty-side ball screen action with the 2 (Davis) setting a screen on the defensive 5 (Raynaud) while UNC’s 5 (Washington) runs out to smack the on-ball defender with a screen, which the 1 (Cadeau) will dribble off of — usually to the middle of the floor.

Stanford is in a deep drop here with Raynaud hugging the paint as Cadeau dribbles free. As Cadeau approaches his area, though, Raynaud takes a step up and that’s all the sophomore point guard needs — hitting Washington on the empty-side dive for a dunk.

Pittsburgh started its matchup with UNC in drop coverage, too, against Cadeau. Ultimately, the defense will live with Cadeau taking these types of shots — a contested runner in the lane isn’t the most efficient look — but if he hits a few, then it can help open things up on the roll.

Duke did well defending this action last season, though Cadeau hits a similar shot here with Filipowski in drop coverage as well. Flip is more concerned with Bacot on the roll, though, and so it’s up the McCain to contest this shot from behind in rearview pursuit.

Louisville defends actions differently from Stanford. The Cards primarily hedge ball screens, sending their center out above the level of the screen in the direction of the point guard.

It’s the same action on this play, but Cadeau gets two defenders on the ball with Louisville hedging the wedge screen and slips a little pocket pass to Washington for another rim finish.

Duke will have to think about how it wants to handle these actions with Maluach as the screen defender. If Ngongba is in against the Wedge, he’s likely hanging back in drop coverage. If Brown is able to play, he provides more optionality with his ability to hedge and recover or switch out on guards.

Maluach can do different stuff when guarding pick-and-roll. His base defense is drop coverage, but when he’s active and in a good stance, Maluach can occupy so much real estate and be disruptive with his length. If he’s in the drop against UNC’s Wedge roll, it’s a lot of responsibility to essentially be in two places at one — bothering the guard driving toward the paint while not losing sight of the 5 rolling to the rim with an empty corner.

Another go-to for UNC this season is “Wide” action, which is a high pindown screen set near the top of the key for a guard to cut across from the weak-side wing toward the ball. For example: Lubin sets the Wide screen against UCLA for Davis, who curls from the left wing toward Cadeau, who initiates on the right flank. With Bilodeau dropped in the paint, Davis will curl Lubin’s screen toward the middle of the floor.

Trimble ends up missing this open corner 3-pointer, but it’s a good look for UNC, set up by the initial curl from Davis.

If the chase defender is too high on the top side, the player who is set up to use the Wide screen can reject it and cut backdoor into space. Louisville’s Edwards is on the top side of Jackson — between the UNC guard and Lubin’s screen — so the freshman darts into the paint for a cut finish.

Cadeau is good at reading this progression and delivering quality passes. Out at Kansas, it’s the same thing — this time with Cadeau hitting Trimble for a floating cut layup.

If the player comes off the screen flat and doesn’t curl into the paint, there are a variety of pick-and-roll actions UNC will flow into, one of which is a quick step-up re-screen from the center.

Here, Davis comes off the Wide screen from Washington and receives a pass from Jackson. Stanford weaks the ball screen from Washington, pushing Davis to his left. However, Davis is such a good pull-up shooter that’s he’s able to glide right into a 3-ball from atop the key.

(I refer to this as Wide Step.)

Another option for UNC is to throw the ball to the player (Jackson) coming off of the Wide screen, and then have that player pitch the ball back to the initial ball handler (Cadeau), which is followed by another step-up screen from the 5 (Lubin).

Wake Forest hedges the Cadeau-Lubin ball screen, which forces Hildreth to tag in the paint, leaving Jackson alone on the wing.

(I refer to this play as Wide Touch.)

Louisville is in drop coverage on this defensive possession as UNC runs Wide Touch: Jackson comes off the pindown cross screen and flips the ball back to Cadeau. Washington sets the pick for Cadeau, who drives downhill into the drop coverage and scores at the rim.

These are only a few of the things UNC will go to from Wide action. This series of option is essentially an entire playbook onto itself.

Absence of Maliq Brown, the ability to switch 1-5

With an offense that’s oriented around several talented guards but lacks a reliable interior frontcourt scorer, UNC profiles as an offense that could be neutralized with a switch.

Earlier this week, Pitt adjusted its defensive scheme on the fly vs. UNC. The Panthers downsized, slid Zack Austin to the 4 and platooned Corhen and Diaz Graham at the 5, as opposed to playing them side-by-side at the 4 and 5. Similar to what Duke did to Pitt a few weeks ago in Durham, Jeff Capel’s club also opted to aggressively switch 1-5.

This is another go-to look for UNC out of Wide, which I label as Wide Flex Zoom. Trimble rejects the Wide screen and cuts down to the right block, where he sets a Flex screen for Jackson, who cuts across the lane. After the Flex screen, UNC flows into Zoom action: Cadeau sets a down screen for Trimble into a handoff from Lubin (Zoom action). Pitt switches every single one of these action. Corhen keeps Trimble away from the rim on his switch. The possession ends with Jackson forcing it 1-on-1 against Austin and driving right into Dunn, a nasty habit of his that results in a turnover.

After scoring 44 points in the first half, UNC scored just 21 points after halftime, finishing with an offensive efficiency of 0.98 points per possession: 7-of-24 3-point attempts (29.2 3P%), only nine free throw attempts and 14 turnovers (21.2 TOV%).

The Tar Heels don’t really have a switch-beater in the frontcourt, though Powell’s physical profile and skill make him an interesting option, nor do they really have a big that can just take the game over on the offensive glass. Washington missed the Pitt game with an injury and his presence on the glass was felt: UNC recorded 10 offensive rebounds — none of which came from any of the centers: Lubin, Claude, Withers and James Brown. Trimble, Powell and Jackson accounted for nine offensive rebounds.

Switch 1-5 against UNC and it puts a lot of pressure on Davis and Cadeau to create. Davis must take advantage of his speed and hit tough off-dribble shots, while Cadeau is tasked with getting in the paint and either making shots or spraying out to open teammates when the help arrives.

If an opposing 5 switches out on Cadeau, the defense can try to mitigate Cadeau’s quickness advantage by having the center play a few feet off of Cadeau when he has the ball, hoping to turn him into a jump-shooter instead of a driver.

Plus, if the defense is able to keep the ball in front and stay out of rotation against UNC, it takes away some of the weak-side catch-and-shoot opportunities for a bomber like Jackson, who crushed NC State a few weeks ago with a handful of 3-pointers out of the far corner.

Maluach has displayed good versatility as a pick-and-roll defender throughout the season, but the Pitt and Notre Dame games really showcased his ability to switch out against awesome point guards like Lowe and Burton.

If Brown is available, though, it would improve Duke’s flexibility when it wants to switch 1-5, or hedge ball screens for that matter. Brown’s impact as a switch defender was monumental during the comeback win against Louisville in early December — resulting in a single-game defensive box plus-minus of 11.4. Those bits of scheme versatility, along with his quick hands and short-roll passing, would make Brown as a really useful player against UNC.

Duke could also put a switchable lineup on the floor when it goes small with Flagg and Gillis as the frontcourt.

The Cadeau Conundrum

Cadeau is in the midst of a solid sophomore season, and he’s made strides as a shooter: 50.0 percent effective shooting, up from 43.8 percent last season. While he’s still under 30 percent from deep, Cadeau is a more willing 3-point shooter this season, too: 31 percent of his field goal attempts have come from beyond the arc, an increase from 22 percent last season.

Trimble started the season shooting the ball well from deep: 50.0 percent on 3.1 3-point attempts per game across the first eight games. However, Trimble has shot just 10.3 percent from downtown (2.9 3PA per game) since the win over La Salle. He’s made only three 3-pointers since December 14.

Similar to last season, this presents a bit of an issue for UNC, now with less interior scoring and 3-point shooting from the frontcourt sans Bacot and Harrison Ingram. It’s also an opportunity for Duke this weekend. The Tar Heels are a perimeter-oriented offense; however, two of their main guys are shaky 3-point shooters. It gives the defense pressure points to help off of when it wants to load up on certain players, like Davis.

(It doesn’t help that Cade Tyson, who was brought in to add some stretch to the frontcourt, has struggled all season, too.)

This concern was highlighted during the NCAA Tournament last season when data-driven Alabama and head coach Nate Oats played their starting center, 6-foot-11 Grant Nelson, on Cadeau and stationed him in the paint. Alabama dared Cadeau and Trimble to shoot from beyond the arc, and those two combined to hit four 3-pointers. They’re good, skilled players. To an extent, a defense temps fate by leaving them so wide open. They can make shots.

Alabama, however, kept the approach going, opting to live with Cadeau or Trimble making an open 3-pointer if it meant making life more difficult for Davis (4-of-20 FG) and Bacot (8-of-18 FGA). That said, UNC’s offense was good enough to win that epic game, scoring 1.21 points per possession. Alabama’s offense was just a little bit better.

While he hasn’t been as audacious as Oats was last March, Scheyer has been willing — across multiple seasons — to play off of weaker shooters in UNC’s rotation.

This approach can also make it easier to switch 1-5. If the defense has off-ball players that it can help off of, it can load up behind the play and show the perimeter player numbers. With Dereck Lively switched on Davis in 2023, look how far Filipowski roams off of Leaky Black — spaced to the weak-side corner. Flip is in the middle of the lane.

From earlier that season in Cameron, Flip switches out on Caleb Love while Lively handles Bacot in the paint. Jacob Grandison is assigned to Black, but he lets Leaky cut all across the baseline — from right corner to the left — without even following him, despite the game-time situation: a one-possession game with a minute remaining.

During the 2023-24 season, Duke left Cadeau alone in space. At times, it worked to Duke’s advantage. The Blue Devils switch this 1-5 UNC ball screen: Flip takes Cadeau and McCain goes to Bacot. As UNC tries to work the ball inside to Bacot, who has a size advantage against the Duke guard, Flip digs down off of Cadeau and doubles the post. Bacot kicks it out to an open Cadeau. Flip rotates back, but he closes out well short of Cadeau’s location.

UNC adjusted nicely to this defensive approach, though. The Tar Heels turned Cadeau into an off-ball screener, which worked as a counter to Duke’s lack of defensive attention. (This is similar to what Duke would do when opposing defenses played off of Mark Mitchell last year, too.)

Here’s another Cadeau-Bacot screen-roll, which Duke switches again with Flip and McCain. As Bacot starts to operate in the post, Flip comes off of Cadeau. It’s not a hard double team, but Flip is there to support McCain. Cadeau doesn’t remain stagnate; he moves without the ball, cutting right to set a flare screen on Jeremy Roach for Davis.

With Filipowski sagging off, there’s no help defender to check Davis when he comes off the screen, which puts a lot of strain on Roach against an excellent shooter. Davis gets a clean look off of the screen and Bacot kicks out for an open 3-ball.

This is just one of the ways an offense can counter these types of tactics. Cadeau maps the floor well with good vision and he’s a capable driver. If you play off of him, he can also take advantage of the coverage by attacking the space with a drive or using the lack of ball pressure to scan the floor and make passing reads.

Trimble is a good cutter. If a defense extends too far off of him when he’s spaced to the corners, he can use that lack of attention to find cut lanes — again, similar to Mitchell last season.

Regardless, these are things to consider for Duke’s defense, especially if it means greater ease switching out, or more opportunities for Flagg to ball hawk. If UNC starts or plays with four guards at the same time, Duke could place Flagg on Trimble and let him float around the floor in Free Safety Mode — getting in passing lanes and helping at the rim.

Do we see any zone from Duke?

For the moment, it’s a little tricky to gauge what Duke’s relationship will be with its half-court zone defense. Through the first 18 games of the regular season, Duke essentially didn’t use any half-court zone defense — save for garbage time of blowout wins and one after-timeout play at Arizona.

That said, it’s proven to be wildly effective while helping swing a couple of conference games over the last week. During both last Saturday’s win at Wake Forest and the Monday meetup with NC State, Duke went zone for key stretches of the second halves.

According to my own charting, Duke played 16 total possessions of half-court zone defense against the Demon Deacons and Wolfpack, allowing a combined four points (0.25 PPP), 2-of-13 shooting from the floor (15.4 FG%) and three turnovers.

Duke mostly packed in the zone defense against the frigid perimeter shooting of Wake Forest, keeping a tight shell with all five defenders stationed inside the act. At home against NC State, though, the Blue Devils were slightly more aggressive and let James apply ball pressure.

During the month of January, UNC faced some 1-3-1 zone looks from Stanford and Wake Forest. The Tar Heels worked good offense at times — overloading a side of the floor and running triangle concepts.

Davis and Jackson are zone-busters with their ability to shoot from deep. Powell can do damage at the nail when he faces the basket. Trimble and Cadeau can cut and drive into gaps. But UNC lacks punch on the offensive glass, which makes them a little less worrisome to zone.

I’m not sure I see this as something Duke trots out unless UNC’s spread pick-and-roll concepts and 3-point shooting are truly humming.