What will Duke miss the most with Maliq Brown out?

A deep dive on Maliq Brown's unique two-way impact and lineup flexibility, plus what this means for Patrick Ngongba and Duke's small-ball options

Duke’s 86-78 win over Notre Dame will be remembered for Cooper Flagg’s record-setting scoring performance. The game also marked another hyper-efficient outing for the offense, which eclipsed the 1.30 points per possession benchmark for the seventh time in 16 games this season.

However, Saturday’s matchup also has the unenviable distinction of being the game where Maliq Brown suffered a knee sprain that’ll keep him out of the lineup for several weeks, according to Duke head coach Jon Scheyer.

Brown played less than a minute against Notre Dame, exiting with his knee injury after Mason Gillis drove to the basket for a left-handed layup and rolled into Brown’s right knee. Like an offensive lineman in football that gets undercut on a running play, Brown fell awkwardly to the floor and exited the game shortly thereafter.

During the 2023-24 season, Brown emerged as one of the best frontcourt defenders in the ACC. Following his transfer to Duke, Brown’s electric play through the early stages of the 2024-25 season demonstrated why he’s one of the best defenders in the country, regardless of his position.

Of course, Brown is a backup; he’s played 20+ minutes in only five games this season. Duke’s center rotation — even without Brown — is still ferocious, featuring two future NBA centers: 2025 lottery pick Khaman Maluach and the highly-skilled Patrick Ngongba, who has played sparingly this season as Duke has continued to rehabilitate his foot following surgery in November 2023. Ngonga did play a season-high 17 minutes against UIW when Brown sat out to nurse a toe injury.

That said, Brown is an incredibly valuable player. Before you even factor in his toughness, experience and feel for the game, Brown offers a unique set of skills: a combination of defensive flexibility and frontcourt playmaking on offense. According to Bart Torvik’s database, he’s one of only 13 high-major players this season currently with 3.0 percent block rate, 3.0 percent steal rate, 15 percent defensive rebound rate and 10 percent assist rate.

(That list of players includes some top-flight NBA prospects, like Cooper Flagg and VJ Edgecombe, along with several other talents that have next-level potential: Cameron Matthews, Brooks Barnhizer, Norchad Omier and Adou Thiero.)

The Blue Devils have the roster to withstand Brown potentially missing a significant period of time. The rest will also allow Brown added time to recover from the toe injury, which has limited him in recent weeks, per Scheyer.

That said, Brown offers a special blend of a skills and it doesn’t take much to think of just how useful he’d be against other ACC offenses, including North Carolina’s guard-heavy attack. The season is long and injury luck is cruel. To be fully operational and hit its ceiling, Duke needs Brown. In the meantime, as he recovers, here’s what Duke will miss most without Brown, plus some of the ways the Blue Devils can reconfigure their lineups — starting with a major opportunity for Patrick Ngongba.

Where it hurts most: Defensive Versatility

As Duke has passed the baton for No. 1 defense in the country back and forth with Houston this season, the center platoon of Maluach and Brown has been dynamic as both guys have taken turns anchoring this unit. While there’s some overlap between the two, the differences in their skill set makes for a potent partnership, one that allows Scheyer to mix and match with his scheme on both sides of the floor.

With the 7-foot-2 Maluach, Duke can do all kinds of stuff defensively. Maluach is mobile enough to switch out and defend in space. However, the base defense for the freshman center includes a fair amount of drop coverage. This approach is designed to take away the rim for opposing offenses and help work the glass — with his production as a defensive rebounder trending upward, which is encouraging. In many ways, Maluach is the archetypal defensive anchor for the modern game: tall, long, mobile and a strong communicator. That’s part of his pitch for the next level.

Brown doesn’t offer the same game-altering length of Maluach, which changes how Duke operates on both sides of the floor. Moreover, he isn’t the same above-the-rim lob threat as Maluach, a key ingredient for Duke’s Top 10 offense. At 6-foot-9, though, with excellent lateral quickness and the fastest hands in the country, he’s a very disruptive defender.

One of my sneaky favorite things to chart this season has been Brown’s ability to create deflections when opposing centers try to initiate 5-out offense or operate in the high post.

With the ubiquity of 5-out offense in college basketball, it’s quite the luxury for Duke to have a veteran center who can switch around, defend all five positions, and also create chaos at the point of attack.

Despite playing only 269 minutes this season (7th most on Duke’s roster) and being teammates with an elite help defender in Flagg, Brown is the team’s deflections leader by a lot. This level of production isn’t the result of reckless gambling (3.9 fouls committed per 40 minutes), though. With great precision, Brown is measured when he jabs at the ball and knocks it loose before others can react — sending shockwaves through the game like Peanut Tillman playing a round of Egyptian Rat Screw.

Those deflections don’t happen in a vacuum. There’s a correlation with steals and turnovers, which are fuel for Duke’s go-go fast break offense.

Brown was a force in the comeback win at Louisville, recording 11 rebounds, one block and three steals, including this deflection against James Scott. Duke’s defense allowed less than 0.78 points per possession in the 29 minutes with Brown on the floor, according to CBB Analytics. As the Cards try to initiate late-clock offense at the right elbow through their talented sophomore center, Brown punches the ball loose, blowing up a handoff action and leading to a Gillis transition 3-pointer.

Wall-to-wall Coverage: Guarding the ball screen

Duke is +91 in 269 minutes with Brown on the floor this season, including a defensive rating of 93.4 points per 100 possessions — an elite number that ranks in the 95th percentile of CBB Analytics lineup data. The lineups with Brown also have a strong defensive rebound rate of 73.5 percent (83rd percentile).

Digging further into the numbers, though, paints a more detailed picture of Duke’s defense with Brown flying around the floor. The Blue Devils have forced a turnover on 18.5 percent of their defensive possessions when Brown’s in the game. This includes a steal rate of 14.2 percent (96th percentile), a number that drops to 8.4 percent in minutes without Brown (24th percentile). Given the importance of the transition offense, this is an indicator worth keeping an eye on as it relates to Duke’s ability to play complementary basketball.

This is a tad reductive, but essentially, when Maluach is in the game, Duke is near impossible to score on at the rim. When Brown is in, though, Duke is less potent at the basket and on the glass (for obvious size reasons), but the defense is far better at generating turnovers. Brown provides an alternative gear.

Those different styles reflect how they guard ball screens, too. Maluach is still plenty versatile in terms unlocking different ways to defend screening actions; in fact, during last week’s wins over Pittsburgh and Notre Dame, he showcased his ability to corral opposing guards as a switch defender in space.

Duke switched with greater frequency in the second half vs. Notre Dame. On this 5-out possession for the Irish, Maluach handles two different switches, with the second one landing him on Markus Burton. Malauch sticks with Burton, one of the zippiest ball handlers in the country, and contests a tough, off-dribble midrange jumper shot.

Scheyer and Duke prefer to be multiple with their ball screen coverages. They don’t want opposing offenses to get comfortable and see the same thing every time down the floor. As such, Maluach is also tasked with going up to the level of screen or above when Duke elects to hard hedge the action.

Given his size and Duke’s mathematical approach to taking away the rim, Maluach makes practical sense as a drop defender, guarding ball screens below the level and sinking into the paint. When Maluach makes the leap to the NBA, this will continue to be his baseline coverage.

Here, Maluach is up pretty high on this Baye Ndongo screen, but as Naithan George drives, Maluach is in a stance as he back pedals into the paint — keeping the ball in front — and alters George’s attempt at the rim.

While Maluach is still working to improve his feel and positioning in space, Duke’s opponents are shooting just 50.4 percent at the rim (98th percentile) when he’s on the floor, per CBB Analytics. A lot of things are baked into this cake, but Maluach’s commanding presence in the paint is a standout ingredient.

Brown, on the other hand, doesn’t have the 9-foot-8 standing reach of Maluach. The Blue Devils will use Brown in drop coverage, too, but that’s not his base approach. Instead, Duke wants to leverage the speed and anticipation components of Brown’s game to cause havoc with opposing pick-and-roll offenses. Often, this means having Brown hedge ball screens — coming above the level of the screen and redirecting the ball handler away from the from. Brown is a fluid athlete and his footwork is excellent. He fits the bill for a center you’d want hedging the ball screen.

Going up against George Mason: the action starts toward the left side of the floor as Brayden O’Connor (4) cuts across the Iverson screens, moving right to left, and receives a pass. As the ball is swung back to the right and KD Johnson (0) comes off a ball screen in the right slot, Brown hedges out — staying with Johnson for a dribble and giving Sion James time to get back to his man. Johnson drives, Brown recovers to the paint and challenges Johnson at the rim, which forces a pass and results in a steal from James, who digs down and rips the ball out.

Brown’s nimbleness really pops when he needs to hedge and recover: sliding in space 23+ feet from the rim and then getting back to his primary assignment on the roll.

Earlier this season, Duke used the hedge as its primary coverage against Arizona’s Caleb Love. As Love comes receives the ball on this Zoom action (a down screen into a handoff) set, Brown lunges out in the direction of Love, who thinks he has Motiejus Krivas open on the roll. Love tries to lob a pass to Krivas on the dive, but Brown is on a string — recovering back to the paint and slapping this pass out of bounds.

In the span of one second, Brown takes away the drive and denies a pass back to the roll man. For the game, the Wildcats scored a lowly 27 points in the 23 minutes of action for Brown (0.65 points per possession), while shooting 31 percent from the floor and committing 10 turnovers to eight assists.

Opponents can scout and prepare for Brown’s combination of mobility and hand speed, but it’s different when he starts doing these things during real game play. It’s legitimately surprising how quick and decisive he is when attacking the ball.

Brown is beaten here at Louisville. As he loads up to hard hedge Scott’s screen on Isaiah Evans, Terrence Edwards rejects the ball screen and drives left — going away from the pick. Caleb Foster does a nice job as a helper and he leaves his man to cut-off the drive, which buys time for Evans to get back to his man. Edwards picks up his dribble and makes the mistake of spinning back in the direction of Brown, who digs down with two hands and rips the ball out. Once again, a Brown steal results in a transition 3-pointer for Foster on the other end.

After coming off a wide pindown on the left side of the floor, Zeke Mayo receives a pass and quickly flows into a step-up screen from Hunter Dickinson. Brown hedges to his right, in the direction of Mayo. Thinking his teammate is open on the roll, Mayo tries to thread a pocket pass to Dickinson. If this pass gets through, it’s likely a layup for Dickinson. Brown, however, has other ideas: he reaches back with his left arm and get his hand on the ball — creating another deflection and another steal.

Flagg has been on the floor for 213 of Brown’s 269 minutes (79.2 percent) this season, and the two pair rather well together as a defensive 4-5 combo. Part of why these two work so well is because of what Flagg is able to do as a help defender when Brown is out near or above the 3-point arc hedging ball screens. When Duke commits two defenders to the ball in pick-and-roll — the on-ball guard and Brown — it leaves three defenders to defend four offensive players on the back side of the action.

For instance: Virginia Tech runs drag ball screen action between Ben Hammond (11) and Mylyjael Poteat (34) early in this possession. Hammond drives left off the pick and he’s immediately met by the hard hedge of Brown, who stays with him for several dribbles — pushing the freshman guard out toward mid-court.

Next, Flagg goes to work as the low man help defender. He sets up shop between Poteat and Tyler Johnson (10) in the corner. Hammond tries to squeeze a pass over the top into Poteat. Flagg slides over and helps in the paint before Brown can recover back to Poteat. With an impromptu double team in the post against Poteat, an open Johnson cuts to the rim. As Johnson corrals a pass from Poteat, Flagg rotates back to his initial assignment. Johnson tries to finish at the rim, but Flagg’s contest causes Johnson to leave the floor and come back down with the ball, resulting in another turnover.

Switch Gears

While Duke has explored more 1-5 switching with Maluach in recent games, those coverages have been a major part of the defensive menu for Brown from the jump. Duke will see a variety of different spread pick-and-roll and 5-out offenses this season. Brown, when healthy, can be the antidote for many of these looks. He would’ve been very useful against Notre Dame’s offense, which features 5-out actions, inverted pick-and-rolls, plus a non-stop series of guard-guard ghost screens and step-up screens. Brown is built for that type of matchup.

The Blue Devils have the positional size up and down the roster to switch 1-5 with relative comfort, including the 6-foot-6, 225-pound James at point guard. James is strong, fast and physical. He isn’t a liability when switched against most college centers, which means Duke doesn’t have to problem solve around those same switch matchups with James as it did with, say, Jeremy Roach in recent seasons.

That said, the absence of Brown makes it trickier to hit the sweet spot between 1-5 switch flexibility and keeping enough size on the floor to work the glass, while also having a screen-roll big on the floor for the offense. Brown checks all of those boxes. So, too, does Maluach, though he isn’t as fluid or disruptive in space as Brown.

Late in the shot clock at Louisville, the Cards set up high pick-and-roll with Chucky Hepburn, an excellent college point guard who can get by defenders with a live dribble, and Scott, a dangerous screen-roll 5. Hepburn dribbles off of Scott’s screen. Duke switches the ball with James going to Scott and Brown taking Hepburn. This isn’t a soft switch for Brown, though. He’s in Viper Mode. Brown flies out at Hepburn, who is caught off guard trying to dribble between his legs and immediately gets his pocket picked.

Brown’s handiwork as a switch 5 has allowed Duke stay out of rotation and keep the ball in front against some of the top playmakers in the country, including Auburn’s Tahadd Pettiford (42.1 3PA%). Once again, Brown catches an unsuspecting guard by surprise with his ability to reach in and bother/deflect a live dribble without fouling.

Brown’s utility as a switch defender proved pivotal in multiple contexts against Auburn, the most efficient offense in the country. As the Tigers worked their modified Flex offense on the road, Brown was integral in denying one of the Auburn’s primary reads, which I wrote about after the game: the baseline Flex cut with the screen set by the 5.

Duke opted to switch this action with Brown. While this meant switching a smaller defender onto the powerful Johni Broome, the Blue Devils were willing to live with that tradeoff as the switch allowed them to take away the rim on Auburn’s initial Flex cut. Take away the rim, make the opponent hit jump shots.

Here in the first half, Broome sets the Flex screen on Flagg for Denver Jones on the left side of the floor. Jones cuts to the lane and Chris Moore looks to hit him for a rim finish. But with Brown switching the action, no advantage is created, and he’s able to deflect Moore’s entry pass harmlessly out of bounds.

The Offense of Maliq Brown

Brown’s impact on offense is less pronounced than what he does defensively; however, he’s damn good on that side of the floor, too. Brown’s unselfish activity level, quick processing skills and interior finishing combine to make him an important contributor to Duke’s half-court blend. Brown doesn’t need the ball to help get his teammates open, nor does he require a token play run for him to get his motor going. He’s going full tilt, no matter what.

Late in the shot clock against Auburn, Duke goes to empty-corner pick-and-roll with Foster and Brown. After setting the initial ball screen, Brown dives toward the rim. When Foster drives into the paint, Brown is there to get in the way of Chad Baker-Mazara, which helps carve a little more room. Foster misses the shot, but the rim attempt forces a help contest from Broome and leaves Brown open for the put-back dunk.

Similar to Maluach, Brown rarely posts up. Instead, Brown generates most of his usage (12.1 percent usage rate) out of the pick-and-roll, on the offensive glass (12.8 percent offensive rebound rate, a Top 100 number nationally) or as a cutter. However, Brown is more than just a screen-roll 5. He’s a non-stop mover, a connector, and he consistently helps build and maintain advantages through his willingness to cut around the floor, set flare screens and make the next pass. Brown facilitates ball movement and helps changes sides of the floor.

As Tyrese Proctor resets the offense late in the shot clock against Virginia Tech, Brown tries to free Knueppel up with a random flare screen into the left corner. Next, Brown lifts for an elbow touch. Proctor and Brown, two veterans, snap into some de facto give-and-go action: Brown catches the ball near the elbow, looks left to Knueppel and then dribbles right into a handoff with Proctor. Tech hedges Brown’s handoff. Proctor patiently waits for the screen defender (Patrick Wessler) to retreat back into the paint — then he stikes. With a crease and a step on his defender, Proctor slashes downhill into the lane.

Proctor drives and Brown continues to find ways to build the advantage. As the Aussie goes to his right, Brown sets a deep seal in the paint — one that would make both Marcin Gortat and Daniel Theis proud. He cracks back on the Wessler, eliminating the 7-footer from contesting at the rim and clearing the runway for a Proctor dunk.

Regardless of location — whether he’s at the elbow, spaced to the left wing or atop the key — Brown can function as a bit of high-post hub, something that Maluach doesn’t quite have the feel for at this stage of his career. The Blue Devils can play through Brown in the high post, running handoff actions or cutters off of him. This allows Duke to generate some more movement in the half court and turn Brown into a passer.

Out in Tucson: Duke runs its go-to Gut Stagger (“L”) series for Knueppel, who starts in the left corner and run up through the middle of the lane — off of two staggered down screens from Flagg and Brown. Knueppel’s pattern looks like the letter L, hence the name of the play.

Instead of passing to Knueppel, as would usually be the case, Proctor enters the ball to Brown in the middle of the floor. The Blue Devils have 5-out spacing around Brown: two players in each corner (Flagg and James) and two guards on the wings (Proctor and Knueppel). As soon as Brown receives the pass from Proctor, James lifts from the right corner as if he plans to set a flare screen for Knueppel. Before he makes contact with KJ Lewis, though, James split cuts and slips toward the rim.

The design is clever and Duke’s timing is perfect. James cuts right in front of Love, who is unsure whether he should stick with his man or prepare to switch onto Knueppel if the flare screen takes place. Before Love gets a sense of what’s happening, it’s too late. Brown hits James for a cut dunk.

One month later, it’s the same setup. Knueppel runs off the staggered screens from Flagg and Brown. James enters the ball into Brown in the high post. Now, it’s Proctor’s turn to lift from the right corner. This time, though, instead of slipping, Proctor sets the flare screen for Knueppel.

Following the flare screen, Brown kicks the ball out to Knueppel, who catches in space on the move, attacks downhill and scores in the paint.

Brown’s passing shows up in Duke’s pick-and-roll offense, too. Going back to his time at Syracuse, Brown has been a solid short roll decision-maker. This is another area where his processing speed shows up: 4-on-3 short-roll scenarios when the defense commits two defenders to the ball.

Duke runs its “Spain”/Stack pick-and-roll action against Virginia Tech. Brown lifts to set a ball screen for Foster and Gillis trails behind Brown, waiting to either set a back screen on Virginia Tech’s 5 or slip out above the arc. Foster rejects the screen and dribbles right. Brown flips his hips and offers a re-screen opportunity for Foster to go left, back to the middle of the floor. The Hokies hedge the screen and Brown slips into a pocket of space. Foster hits Brown on the short roll — near the right elbow. As soon as Brown receives the pass and help comes from Rodney Brown (4), James cuts hard to the basket from the weak-side corner. Without a dribble, Brown turns and immediately hits James in stride for a cut dunk.

Brown has three or more assists to five different teammates — led by James, who Brown has dished five assists to this season. James was an excellent cutter during his career at Tulane and he’s ability to forcefully move without the ball fits well with Brown’s high-post passing.

Here, Duke initiates 5-out offense with Brown spaced to the left slot (“5 Slot”). After passing over to Brown, James and Proctor engage in a little split action. The two off-ball players run in the direction of one another — before splitting out in different directions. James slips his screen and cuts to the rim. Once more, the timing is perfect; Browns snaps a bounce pass that clears the defender and hits James in stride for another rim bucket.

Patrick Ngongba

Without Brown, Duke will likely need to do a few different things in terms of lineup management. Maluach will play more. Duke can try a few more center-less small-ball lineups, too. Assuming he’s physically ready for the added strain, this is also an opportunity to find extra minutes for Ngongba. While he lacks the quick-twitch mobility and hand speed of Brown, Ngongba is an incredibly skilled offensive 5.

Ngongba can’t replicate Brown’s defensive impact, which limits Duke’s flexibility and high-end ceiling on that side of the floor, but he can continue to work as a frontcourt passing and handoff hub.

On this possession against Wofford, Duke plays Ngongba and Brown together with Brown as the 4 and Flagg at the 3. The ball is swung to Ngongba on the left wing as Duke launches 5-out offense with Zoom action: Brown will screen for Flagg, who will sprint into a handoff with Ngongba.

Flagg receives the handoff and Ngongba follows with another screen, flipping the angle of his body and screening Flagg back to the middle of the floor. Wofford’s defense collapses on Flagg as he enters the paint, which creates an opening for Ngongba on the rim run. Next, Flagg displays his manipulation skills as he jumps into the air and forces Wofford’s center to leave his feet for a would-be contest — before dropping off a pass to Ngongba for an easy layup.

Ngongba has excellent hands and ball handlers can trust him when he rolls into space. He may not be as snappy of a decision-maker as Brown (most college centers aren’t), but his live-ball passing shows up from both the high post and on the short roll.

During this possession against Wofford, Duke runs its 5-out “Floppy” action with Knueppel and Evans running off of down screens on both sides of the floor. Ngongba sets the down screen for Knueppel on the left side. Knueppel curls and Gillis passes over to his teammate.

Ngongba sets an excellent screen. As Knueppel exits and curls off the screen with separation, Wofford is forced to switch. Wofford’s center switches out to Knueppel and the initial guard defender takes Ngongba, though he’s a step behind as Duke’s center rolls to the rim.

Knueppel hits Ngongba with a pass, which forces a help rotation from a weak-side Wofford defender, the guy assigned to Evans. When his man leaves him to help in the paint on Ngongba, Evans wisely relocates to the right corner. Ngongba kicks out to Evans, who builds the advantage and makes the next play — an extra pass to Proctor for an open catch-and-shoot 3. Credit the hockey assist to Ngongba.

Ngongba also provides another dimension to Duke’s offense with his ability to work down in the low block. Through the first half of the season, Flagg has been Duke’s most reliable post-up scorer. With Ngongba in a larger role, though, it makes sense to involve him in designed post-up actions. Duke doesn’t have to look to hard to find inspiration for these possessions types; the Blue Devils can break out some of the stuff they ran for Kyle Filipowski.

That’s exactly what Duke does on this after-timeout play sequence against Notre Dame. From its “Thru” series, Foster starts the action by passing to Knueppel on the left wing and then cutting through the lane to the right wing. As Fosters moves right, Evans comes off the right wing and enters the paint to set a cross screen for Ngongba. Knueppel swings the ball to Gillis atop the key.

This is where Duke catches Notre Dame off-guard. Instead of using the cross screen from Evans, which looks like a classically-designed post-up, Ngongba fakes right and cuts back left, sealing deep in the paint. Gillis swings the ball back to Knueppel on the wing. Knueppel is in an ideal position to throw the post entry pass to Ngongba, who catches in the post and scores 1-on-1 with a soft, righty hook shot over Garrett Sundra, his former high school teammate.

I refer to this series from Blue Devils as “Thru Punch” — designed post-up action out of their Thru alignment.

Here’s Filipowski running this same Thru Punch set during the 2023-24 season. Proctor cuts through the lane to the left side of the floor at NC State. Jared McCain swings the ball to Mark Mitchell while Roach — like Evans above — cuts to the low block, ready to set the cross screen for Flip. Mo Diarra anticipates the screen coming and fights over Roach. Flip, however, counters, cuts in the opposite direction and gets a deep seal in the paint. He’s open right at the rim as Mitchell swings the ball back to McCain, who has good real estate to zip in a quick post entry pass.

And, here’s the same Thru Punch action from Duke’s blowout win over Virginia last year, although on this possession Flip catches further from the basket and has to handle a partial/early double team from Jake Groves.

Back to the Notre Dame matchup: one possession later, Duke runs the same action, albeit with a slight twist. Scheyer likes show a defense one setup and then over the next few possessions run plays that look similar but branch out to different actions. On this bit of misdirection and play sequencing, Ngongba actually uses the cross screen from Evans. Gillis swings the ball right to Foster, who punches the ball into Ngongba. This time, a double team arrives and Ngongba makes the right play — kicking out to an open Foster for a 3-point attempt.

This is part of why Ngongba’s low-post talents are so intriguing. Not only can he score and draw fouls around the basket, but Ngongba may be able to command double teams and spray out to open shooters.

In the waining minutes of the road win at SMU, Duke ran another designed post-up for Ngongba. This is a simple action — just a little slice/wedge screen that rolls Ngongba down to the left block. Ngongba displays his combination of strength, coordination and touch as he works 1-on-1 in the post — powering closer to the rim and then spinning off for a left-handed hook. He misses the shot, but Ngongba manages to gather his own miss and score on the put-back.

This is a rather vanilla post-up action, but it does look similar to a post-up play Duke ran countless times for both Paolo Banchero and Filipowski.

At full hum, Duke can play so many different styles. If the Blue Devils can make Ngongba fully operational as conference play progresses, then he brings a new element to the mix. This, in turn, could raise Duke’s ceiling for when Brown returns later this season.

Give me a five…or don’t

Aside from the added playing time for Ngongba, Duke will likely have to try some lineups without a true 5 on the floor, too. Scheyer has several wings on this roster that can unlock these small-ball configurations: Flagg, Gillis and James, in particular. In theory, Duke could run out a four-guard lineup, play James as its de facto defensive 4, while switching every screen, next to Flagg or Gillis at the 5.

So far, we’ve seen some of these groupings, though the sample is quite small. Excluding garbage time at the end of games, the Blue Devils have played only four minutes this season (+1) with Maluach, Brown and Ngongba on the bench at the same time, per CBB Analytics.

Flagg and Gillis can form a dynamic small-ball frontcourt when needed, one that allows Duke to switch 1-5 defensively and space the floor on offense. The Blue Devils could really empower Flagg to attack slower mismatches along the perimeter in these scenarios, especially if Gillis can start to hit some shots (29.3 3P%) and get going as a wide-bodied floor-spacer.

During the Notre Dame game, Scheyer tried — for the first time this season — that small-ball lineup with Flagg at the 5, flanked by four guards: James, Proctor, Knueppel and Foster. You could also imagine a version of this lineup with Evans as one of the four guards, too. This would allow Duke to put a lot of shooting around the slash-and-kick brilliance of Flagg.

Notre Dame went small for much of this contest, operating with Tae Davis as the primary frontcourt player, alongside four guards. For the most part, Duke stayed big with Maluach in the game, but in the second half, the Devils opted to go small vs. small for a stretch, too.

The Irish were in zone for some of these possessions, but when Duke got a man-to-man look, Scheyer elected to invert the offense, use Flagg as point-center and play matchup ball — bringing whomever Burton, the smallest guy on the floor, was guarding up to set a screen for Flagg.

Defensively, Duke will switch just about every action with this lineup on the floor as it does here against Notre Dame. What these groups lack in size, they can make up for with length across all five positions (every player is between 6-foot-5 and 6-foot-9), communication and a switch scheme that’ll keep the ball in front and force teams to play 1-on-1 late in the shot clock.

Of course, Flagg provides Duke with the ultimate swing piece in these 5-out lineups. He’s a crisis matchup for opposing defenses to handle when he’s able to work in space against slower defenders, while simultaneously dragging the rim protection away from the restricted area.

Flagg’s defense offers high-end impact, too. He’s guilty of over-helping at times, and occasionally his closeouts aren’t nearly as tight as they should be — with drivers gliding right by him. That said, he’s a terrific defensive rebounder, fighting for loose 50-50 balls all over the floor and soaring above the rim to pluck down contested rebounds.

Currently, Flagg has a defensive rebound rate of 22 percent, a block rate of 4.5 percent and a steal rate of 3.0 percent. Since the start of the 2007-08 campaign, only 12 players have finished the season hitting the benchmarks of 20 percent defensive rebound rate, 3.0 percent block rate and 3.0 percent steal rate. If Flagg is able to stay above those numbers, he’ll be the first player to do so since Tari Eason — a promising young forward for the Houston Rockets and one half of the “Terror Twins,” along with Amen Thompson — in 2021 with Cincinnati.

Over the course of the next two weeks, Duke has only three games, headlined by a Saturday showdown (Jan. 25) in Winston-Salem against a Wake Forest team that’s found some footing with Ty-Laur Johnson taking control of the point guard position. Before that Tobacco Road battle, Duke will get to try some of its new lineups against Miami and Boston College, two bottom-tier ACC squads.