DBR Bites #54 - More practice intel!

The 2024-25 Duke Blue Devils (www.dukebasketballreport.com/) are in the gym for summer workouts, and we have some intel from one of the practices courtesy of a listener! We discuss what we learned on DBR Bites Episode 54.
Jason was able to speak to one of our listeners, who gave us some fantastic information about a practice they were allowed to watch. We go through each of the players and discuss what our listener saw from them. And there are some general insights on how the team looked and what some of the themes may be this season. One thing's for sure: we're going to learn a lot more about this team as the summer goes along!
After the break, Cooper Flagg is leaving Duke to play for another team. That team: the USA Select team, which is a group of players who help the USA Basketball team prepare for the Olympics. Cooper's the only non-pro on the team and has made the team before playing a second of college basketball. It's a huge honor and we are excited at Cooper getting able to go up against some of the best players in the world and learn from them.
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[@ravongore3496]

i do remember them telling latner to sit down over in the corner 😂

[@DukeFan1971]

The 2 lineups you mentioned, including switching the 2 centers, are EXACTLY--player for player--the starting and 2nd squads I have been talking about and advocating for since before the team's roster even became finalized (in other words, before we added Sheffield as the final piece).
1) I said repeatedly that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to keep both Sion James and Maliq Brown out of the starting lineup, rather than Caleb Foster and whoever else various websites had as our starting 4 (or 3, in the cases of those who had Flagg as our starting 4). Here's why:
A) Both bring top-shelf experience to the starting lineup--1 on an ACC team, the other as a main option for a solid Tulane team.
A) James has shown to be potentially one of the 2 or 3 best players on this team so far. That might change as the season progresses, depending on the improvement in other players...but he's the PERFECT guy to complement the other starters.
Flagg and Maluach will both feed off of his energy, he is an incredibly disruptive defender on the perimeter, he can score at all 3 levels--hits 3s at a 38% clip, drives the lane like it was built for him, and bullies opposing defenders with his 6'6", 220 lb frame. And all one needs to see is the 6-minute highlight reel video from the first 5-on-5 that Duke put out--specifically, his block on 7'2", 250 lb Khaman Maluach AT THE RIM--to see just how good this guy can be.
B) Maliq Brown was an All-ACC Defensive Team member, and 3rd in votes for Defensive POY. He played as much center as PF for Syracuse in his 2 years there, and can defend anybody, regardless of size. Also, he led not just Syracuse, but the entire CONFERENCE, in steals (2.2 spg) and effective FG% (nearly 70%) at 6'8" and 222 lbs. Those are BOTH incredible stats that no one should ignore.
Also, if you pair him up between Flagg and Maluach, 2 of the best defenders in the 2024 class--who averaged 2.4 and 3.1 bpg, respectively--both of whom have ALSO significantly improved their offensive games of late...and you have arguably one of the top 3 frontcourts in the country.
2) Even Flagg's mother said he would be best and most effective at the 3, not the 4, so those who think otherwise should think about that.
He has a top-notch outside-in style, is still too thin to be banging around with guys who are likely to be 240-300 lbs inside (he's only 205 lbs so far, after adding 10 lbs since he came to Duke). His biggest strength is VERSATILITY, on both ends of the court, and at 6'9", he could easily be a far better version of someone like Mike Dunleavy or Year 2 Matthew Hurt, who can shoot 3s at 38%, but can hurt you from ANYWHERE on the court.
Add some more weight to him, get him up to 230 at least, and he becomes the most dangerous weapon in Duke's arsenal...not that he already ISN'T that right now.
3) I think this year will be Proctor's breakout year, for 2 reasons. One, despite being a junior, because he upclassed, he's basically the age of a sophomore. And two, last year was a debacle in multiple ways...one of which was forcing 3 starters--including Proctor--to play positions or games they weren’t good at...all because we failed to secure a starting center replacement for Dereck Lively, despite repeated efforts (we approached or offered everyone from Kel'el Ware, to Kadin Shedrick, to Jesse Edwards, and several others...all in vain).
Proctor was forced to become a primary scoring option, something he never was. He's a top-notch facilitator. Yes, he can score if need be, or get us some timely shots. But being forced to focus on scoring, to the exclusion of his primary strength, made it impossible for him to have the breakout year most of us expected to see from him last year.
But THIS year, that's no longer a problem. We have 3 guys who can legitimately play center in Maluach, Ngongba and Brown. There are scorers and lob threats GALORE on this team. And with Proctor FINALLY able to return to what he does best...although it may take him a bit to readjust to playing like that again...I see him being one of, if not THE, best PGs in the ACC this year.
4) Although the 2nd unit may APPEAR to be somewhat undersized, with a 6'5" and three 6'6" guys in the lineup...it's really NOT. For one, 6'6", 225 Mason Gillis played the 4 extensively off the bench for the 2nd-best team in America last year, and was the Big 10's 6th Man of the Year. He also, not to put too fine a point on it, can shoot the HELL out of the 3-ball, averaging 46.8% for the season last year.
Also, look at who was ON that squad, and how well ALL OF THEM shoot--Caleb Foster (40.6%), Isaiah Evans (43%), Kon Knueppel (40%), Mason Gillis (46.8%)...even NGONGBA shot 54% on limited shots (13-24) in his last full year of play as a junior. Imagine how much THAT squad can spread the floor.
Also, for those not familiar with what OTHER teams have done...check out several of the Villanova squads under Jay Wright, specifically the 2016 team that won 'Nova's 2nd championship.
That entire TEAM was undersized. In the championship game, they started 4 guys who were 6'3", 6'3", 6'5", and 6'6" around one 6'11" center...AND IT WORKED. Just like the 2nd squad we fielded, they were all great 3PT shooters, and spread the floor. In fact, it was 6'6", 240 lb Kris Jenkins, their undersized 4, who hit the buzzer-beating 3 that won the game.
'Nova regularly ran 4-guard offenses under Wright, and was one of the 2 or 3 best teams in the Big East using that strategy. And with a more traditional-style starting squad, we can easily throw off opposing teams by changing it up with a 4-guard offense. And when was the last time you remember Duke playing a squad with 4 guys who all shot above 40% from distance? EVER?
5) Despite several pundits attempting to predict the stat lines for these players, I think they're ALL wrong, and here's WHY:
Last year was just the worst year all-around, despite our Elite 8 outcome. We lost 9 games, 2 each to Carolina and NC State, NONE OF WHICH we should have lost. After all, 7 of the 9 were decided by 5 pts or less.
Also, we were widely expected to be the 2nd-best team in the country after Kansas, as we were Preseason #2. And why not? After all, we brought back our top 4 scorers, and 5 of the top 7...more scoring and offense than any Duke team had brought back in more than a decade. If we'd only been able to get a starting center...that team could have EASILY gone undefeated in the regular season and at LEAST made the Final 4, if not won it all. We had THAT much talent at our disposal.
But one of the OTHER big mistakes made was, Jon couldn't trust the bench players beyond Foster to step in and do what needed to be done to win. We had not one but TWO Top 20 players in Sean Stewart and TJ Power who averaged less than 8.5 mpg each, and MULTIPLE players who rarely saw the court, or had any chance to get in a rhythm or develop as players. Honestly, I think THAT--more than anything--was behind the mass Transfer Portal exodus we experienced this spring.
But THIS team seems to be 100% bought-in to Jon's vision for the team and what it can do, and all of them signed on to return, sign with Duke, or transfer in, after having one-on-ones with Scheyer as far as him telling them where he saw them on this team, and them accepting their individual roles on it.
And we FINALLY have what looks like the perfect balance of talent, experience, 3PT shooting, rebounding, rim protection, and defense...at least on paper, and so far in scrimmages.
And because of all of that, I expect Jon will do things considerably differently this year. I would expect NOT to see only 6 players getting the lion's share of the playing time while everyone else rides the bench.
We legitimately have 11 players who SHOULD get a minimum of 8 mpg, including those 2 squads and Darren Harris, if for no other reason than we can literally BURY teams with 3s from nearly every player (9 out of 11 shoot at least 35%--47% from distance). On top of that, the team energy, togetherness, and the way they complement each other is unlike any Duke team I've seen since Scheyer was a player instead of a coach.
The ceiling of this team is unlimited. Yes, Flagg is the centerpiece, and everything will flow through him, and is built to maximize his potential. However, he is FAR from alone on the court. He is SURROUNDED by some of the best players on both sides of the ball that have ever come to Duke, and even if EVERYBODY doesn't become the best player they can be...there are plenty enough other players who likely WILL.
And despite those 2 lineups, there are at least a DOZEN potential lineups we can fiddle around with, depending on what we're facing. And 11 players are good enough to start for pretty much ANY team in the country. That makes us extremely talented, versatile and dangerous...three things that easily put us in the top tier of college basketball this coming season, not to mention one of the frontrunners to win it all.

[@plumberlance]

way too early.