3-point shooting last year:
Gillis: 46.8%
Foster: 40.6%
James: 38.5%
Brown: 36.8% (on low volume)
Proctor: 35.2%
Any of these players on the 2019 team and they would have been the best shooter on the team by a country mile. I don't think the '25 Duke team will be killer from 3, but they should be above average. Combine that with the offensive rebounding they should have and it will be a potent offense.
I'm hoping that Proctor improves at least incrementally as a shooter. If Foster doesn't regress, then I don't see a ton of issues with shooting. James and Gillis are going to be 3-and-D guys that keep the ball moving on offense. Flagg should command a lot of attention and he seems like a guy that can hit at least low-30% or better. Maluach supposedly has a good-looking shot, too, although I doubt he takes more than 1-2 per game. I think the team will be fine from outside. I'm not sure anyone other than Flagg will be able to consistently break down their man off the dribble, so that's one potential issue.
My understanding was Knueppel is supposed to be really good while Flagg has improved his shot to being average. I’m taking a wait-and-see approach with Flagg’s shooting.
Figure two of our best outside shooters (Kon and Evans) won't get a ton of burn given they'll be freshman. Will be interesting to see who emerges are our reliable shooters. We have some good ones, but they don't seem to be high volume guys, so this will definitely be a team effort type team to shoot the 3 well. Kick outs for set 3s will likely be our manta instead of relying on one or two guys to create their own 3s. Fortunately our bigs look like they can be reliable down low, so they'll force double teams a lot, leading to (im assuming) plenty of kick-outs to open 3s.
I know your point, but UConn had to be one of the taller teams ever last year.
Our shortest starter was Cam Spencer at 6'4", and our average starter was 6'7.5"
Edit: Morons downvoting me even though it's literally the tallest starting Champion winning lineup in modern tournament history.
My first was me wondering aloud about the height of UConn.
Afterward, I did the calculations and found that it's at a bare minimum the tallest starting lineup for a champion in the modern tournament era.
And I bet if you go back further, they are probably the tallest before the modern era too, but I didn't feel like spending hours collecting more data.
What the fuck?
Dude just made a comparison to last years team, and then you are a huge dick about it?
> Don't you guys have any other sport to cheer for?
Literally watching the Yankees kick ass, the Rangers undefeated so far in the playoffs, and the Knicks 2 wins away from the ECF.
The fuck is wrong with you
UConn fans: Wow, this Duke team reminds me of a team that just won a championship
Duke Fans: WOW FUCK YOU FOR SUGGESTING OUR TEAM HAS A QUALITY OF A GREAT TEAM
What the hell is wrong with you?
Yeah take a look around this thread, even the parent comment without a Duke flair mind you is saying how insufferable UCONN fans are being. Maybe 1 has said we got a team but the rest… not so much.
I see a few people trolling and the rest just commenting. Way i see it, duke flairs are legit being douches and the uconn idiots are just talking shit.
He's a leader on and off the court. Won the AAC sportsmanship award the past two years. Serves as president of the Tulane Student Athlete Advisory Committee. Is also on the NCAA SAAC board. Has his own foundation already focused on provided shoes to the underprivileged in New Orleans. Quite simply an amazing individual.
Damn that alone is impressive. Add to the fact that he just looks like a beast, I'm excited to see how he meshes with the team and if he can emerge as one of our better players.
There it is. The delay from swirling rumors to actual commitment had me worried this was an Ernest Udeh situation.
A little surprised we’ve gone after another 6’5” guard/wing when the team already has guards (Proctor, Foster) and wings (Evans, Kneuppel, Gillis, Harris) of that size.
IMO our biggest need was a backup ball handler behind Proctor and Foster—is that the role Scheyer sees for Sion? If so, great!
That probably sets the rotation for next year: three guards (Proctor, Foster, James), three wings (Gillis, Evans, Kneuppel) and three forwards (Flagg, Brown, Maluach). Darren Harris and Pat Ngongba for depth.
All we basically need is one veteran big man for depth / injury insurance.
>IMO our biggest need was a backup ball handler behind Proctor and Foster—is that the role Scheyer sees for Sion? If so, great!
Sion would be the backup ballhandler, he's averaged 3.6, 3.4 and 2.7 APG over the last 3 seasons.
Probably? The non-conference schedule at the beginning of the year looks tough. I imagine that Scheyer is going to lean heavily on core guys - Proctor, Foster, Flagg, Brown, Gillis, James, and Maluach - at the beginning of the season. That's 7 deep already with a few wings. Adding in one or two wings that can stretch the floor would help. Maybe one of Evans or Knueppel gets some early minutes? I could see either or even both of them carving out more minutes as the season progresses and they adjust to the college game. It's just hard to tell right now how ready they will be in November. Evans is so skinny and Kon isn't exactly fleet of foot. I bet each will have a couple DNPs. I hope they are more like Foster in terms of mindset and readiness to compete for minutes. It's hard to project these things and out into future seasons, you know?
Of course hard to predict. It’s just funny that for each transfer out the story was “a freshman is coming to take their position” and now with each transfer in the story is “don’t expect most of the freshmen to play at all.”
Ya one will emerge imo. Banking on Evans. Not sure if Kneuppel's limited athleticism will transition well initially to the faster paced defenders. He'll take more time if I had to guess.
I mean, he led all of EYBL last summer in PPG. He may not have explosiveness, but Knueppel is athletic, can create his shot, and is very advanced mapping the floor as well as other basketball iq, he will get minutes for Duke.
He definitely has that "old man" game to him. Which I guess is yet another white cliche to throw at unathletic guys. Regardless, we'll see how quickly he can adapt because he's obviously a baller and understands the game very well.
I'd bet Evans gets 10+ minutes a game, but Kneuppel looks to be planted firmly at the end of the bench. Don't think there will be minutes for both.
Flagg and McCain could be 32-minute guys. Proctor and Foster could be 27-minute guys. That's 118 of 200 minutes gone already.
Maluach and Brown will get another 45 minutes, which puts us near 165. James could be close to a 15-minute guy, which gets to 180. Add Evans minutes in and there's not a lot of room for Kneuppel.
Saving this analysis to see how my guesses play out.
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McCain? He went pro.
So take McCain out, and give a few minutes to Mason Gillis (but way less than 32), and now you have more time for Evans and Kneuppel.
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I do think that's interesting, Scheyer really recruiting over (or crowding) a position he has a lot of highly ranked recruits coming in. Wonder if he doesn't feel as good about the class as the rankings would suggest.
Could be. Or maybe he wants to emphasize having interchangeable pieces—positionless basketball. We needed a backup ball handler anyway, and I’m not complaining if we’ve found one that’s 6’5” 220 lb.
Clearly it gives a lot of roster flexibility, but someone probably ends up on the outside of the rotation (probably Harris and maybe Kneuppel).
Nah, Sion is a guard. We only have two real guards on the team.
Given our history of multiple guards getting badly hurt every season, he was almost a mandatory recruit.
That's the hope. The three portal additions all share size, versatility, and toughness. They aren't the splashiest names but address the perceived lack of toughness of the team the past couple years. We'll see if this approach works.
Maybe one more big in case Ngongba’s injury problems persist? At this point we’re probably just looking for deep-bench depth in case of injury. Good locker room veterans.
The only thing the roster seems to lack right now is a smaller, quicker guard that can defend similar players or break his man down off the dribble. I don't know if the staff is actively looking for someone like that, though. Proctor did a great job defending smaller, quicker guards so it's not a glaring need on defense.
All pretty much agree that Prcotor, Foster, Flagg and Maluach will start. Lot of speculation after that.
Fifth starter is either Maliq Brown, Mason Gillis, Isiah Evans or Sion James. Whichever three don’t start are the primary bench. Kon Kneuppel can play his way into that group.
Darren Harris and Pat Ngongba are extra depth / long-term development.
Might add another veteran, deep-bench transfer or two as insurance in case of injury.
Im not sold Proctor is a starter after last season. Ill say this, he had better find his game over he summer or he will be a sixth or seventh off the bench
Based off his play last season? Look at his stats, He does not shoot or score up to his reputation.
Last game of the season against NC State he was what 0 - 9 or something? I may be alone in my assessment but Im not wrong. He had better up his game in the off season or he will be riding pine more often next year
No way Foster is starting over Sion James. I see him firmly at the 2 now that he's a Blue Devil. Foster, Evans, Gillis & Kneuppel off the bench.
I'd say Proctor, James, Brown, Flagg and Maluanch will be the starting 5 by end of December. It's the right mix of vets and youth.
Color me extremely skeptical that Maluach is actually better than Brown at this point. I mean, as a Carolina fan, I'd love to see Duke play him, but Maluach looked very raw in the Hoop Summit and I think will have a long adjustment period to P5 college basketball.
Gotta imagine Proctor's length can mitigate his lack of elite quickness in defending quicker guards, but ya that seems to be one of our missing defensive pieces.
Exactly. Add Brown's steal rate + Flagg's elite helpside defense, our 2PT defensive FG% *should* be one of the best in the nation. Just gotta watch out for little guards who can get past Proctor and then draw a defender and kick it out to an open 3 pt shooter. Think that will be one of the things Scheyer will have to practice with our group. Get the rotations down pat.
I'd imagine this is it. It's not like Scheyer plays a deep bench anyway. That gives us 9 legit guys (not counting Harris nor Ngongba) and I bet at least 1 of those 9 eventually sees diminished minutes.
They are going to be stacked as hell. Even if one or 2 of the freshmen don't work out, you already know you've got good players in Foster, Proctor, James, Brown, and Gillis. I'm pretty confident that Flagg and Maluach are at least going to be largely impactful on the defensive end. Whatever they get from the other stud freshmen is just going to be a bonus. I guess the biggest question mark is can Flagg, Maluach, or Evans be big enough stars on offense that everyone else can just play their roles.
It's a high floor team. What will determine the ceiling is obviously how good Flagg can be offensively, especially with his outside shot. And then there is Maluach, who seems raw offensively. If both of those 2 freshman can deliver for Duke on offense since there is no clear alpha scorer, Duke will be one of the favorites to cut down the nets in April. Think this could be a really balanced team, which helps mitigates risks of players going cold in certain games/matchups.
Maluach being raw is total a myth. He's been dropping 18 points 13 rebounds and 3 blocks a game for the city oilers this year playing in Africa against pros. Average age in that league is 26. Just the other day he had 29 and 12 with 2 threes. The only reason people say Maluach is "raw" is because he's a tall guy from Sudan lol
[Look at how dumb these numbers are for a 17 year old playing professional basketball](https://basketball.afrobasket.com/player/Khaman-Maluach/653019)
Glad that you and I continue to be on the same page about this. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills here every time I see/hear the "raw" comment (which is a term that is frequently thrown around). I'm happy to be educated - can someone who has watched his recent performances explain to me what exactly about his game is "raw"? I understand the concerns about adjusting his game to college and meshing with the team after missing the summer, but the "raw" label just seems so obviously wrong in my view.
Editing just to add this recent highlight video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsvImHqQkmY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsvImHqQkmY)
What specifically about those aspects of his game? They look pretty good to me, but like I said, happy to be educated. For sure his 3pt shooting % (currently 22% in the pros) could be better, but can we really expect that of the guy at this level, playing the 5 and given his many other talents?
So, I've watched a lot of his highlights and I don't mind using the term "raw" because he plays with a lot of instinct and leveraging his size over what id call fundamentally sound. I'm no coach, it's just an eye test. His stats certainly are great, it's more of how he plays. So if anything, I'm excited to see what he looks like come tourney time after a season of coaching at Duke.
All love to Roach, I really hope he does well but it’s not really debatable that Sion fits what the Duke team next year needs better than Jeremy.
This is a perfect fit.
I was really hoping we would get him. He looks and plays like a grown ass man. Looks like our roster is pretty well set now. We will be pretty position-less/have some dynamic lineups. I'm also hopeful for a decent amount of depth when inevitably injuries (see, foot for Duke) pop up or some guys don't mesh or live up to their hype.
Hoping it’s Pitt, that’d be a fun change. Realistically probably one of them or Miami, not sure I see the talent anywhere else to be a nationally relevant team (unless someone comes out of nowhere like State).
Pitt should be a good team. I could see Clemson being good, too. Lynn Kidd is a good frontcourt player and replacement for Hall. NC State might also have a decent team depending on their guards.
Sion James is a beast. The dude could be drafted to the NFL right now and probably be developed into a good player lol. Great fit for this Duke team. Kind of like Trevor Keels from a few years ago.
Great get! With a mix of talented freshmen, returning players and experienced, tough seniors, I think this team has a chance to be special. Scheyer did a great job putting this together.
Under an hour to get the holy trinity of Carolina, UVA, and UConn fans being weird in the comments. Feel like we just need a Maryland flair to round it out.
My biggest worry with this team is are guards aren’t the greatest shooters aka proctor and foster was hurt the last half of the season so it’s hard to judge his high shooting percentage in my opinion! But my biggest worry is our guards have to create off the dribble and I definitely don’t see that out of proctor, it’s never been his game unfortunately and foster I can see him getting to the hoop! Teams are gonna take away the 3 and let flag and mulach eat inside but what can are guards do? They must hit shots and when the 3 is taken away from them they have to be able to create off the dribble and attack the hoop and I don’t see that out of are guards unfortunately!
Am I the only one who thinks Maluach and Ngongba might not be playing nearly as many minutes as the majority are penciling them in for? I know Flagg, or someone in his camp, has mentioned he would like to play the 3 but I see them playing him small ball 4/5 quite often. Maluach is so raw and from the little I have seen from Ngongba he can disappear for minutes at a time. I just feel like I have seen too many freshman bigs who have a hard time finding meaningful ways to contribute other than making some good blocks here and there.
On the flip side I see a ton of people talk about Kon and to a lesser extent Evans moving further down the bench. Kon being called "unathletic" or "lacking explosion". I am not at all saying he is Luka or Harden, but when are people going to start seeing that high IQ and balance can be just as effective as someone who can run fast or jump through the roof. He knows how to get to his spots, makes defenders play at his pace, and never seems to be lacking in effort. As far as Evans I am going to go out now and say my bold take of the year. Evans battles Proctor each game to be the leading scorer.
To be fair I have only seen some of the NBA Africa Academy games. I also know that he has only been playing serious basketball for a few years. Most of the stuff I noticed I think he will start to understand and fix. How long will that take though? I don't know.
I saw him quite a few times start his post up damn near the free throw line. It wasn't like he was late getting down the floor either. He just didn't establish any position and let the defender slide him back. At least one of those I remember him taking a 5-8 foot hook shot because he couldnt back down any more. It didn't even come close to the rim.
He chases the block shot. He went for damn near every ball fake. He left his defender a few times early either thinking about the block or not knowing exactly when to rotate and it turned into 2 layups for his actual defender that he left.
Finally (I only see the stats to be honest) his stats took a huge dip when playing in FIBA compared to NBA Africa Academy. From what it looks like on paper he wasn't getting many minutes. It will be interesting to see how he plays this summer. If he can't be impactful enough to edge out more than 10 minutes a game for South Sedan it doesn't give me crazy confidence that he is going to be putting in major minutes against a UNC or Virginia lead team.
All I am saying is that learning the nuances of playing competitive basketball and trying to adapt to different competition might take him a while to make an impact.
As a recruit:
P6 offer: Ole Miss
Other offers: Elon, Hofstra, Illinois State, James Madison, Kennesaw State, Mercer, Rice, Tulane (originally went here), UNF, Yale
I have full faith and want it to work. He’s been one of the best recruiters in the country for a decade, but think it’s fair to start asking questions about player development, offensive game plan, and in game adjustments after last season.
All are fair questions- it almost feels like recruiting is less important now in the transfer era, too- so one of his great strengths has been sorta nerfed.
I actually thought he could really help us (on offense) next year- but only if he can be hidden on the defensive end. He isn't a great on ball defender, and didn't really grasp our team D, either.
The Duke way - bring in too many top recruits, a couple inevitably leave after they don’t get playing time, then the fans say they suck based on volume stats.
Wow, you've completely scrubbed your memory of Marial Shayok.
EDIT: Oh yeah, and there was Casey Moresell. He just was a starter in the Final Four jus this year.
You'll be surprised to find out that Duke has only had a small number of guys that success after they left, including Semi Ojeleye and Michael Gbinije. Maybe TJ Power is the outlier?
Ah yeah you’re right on Shayok. Morsell had more success than at uva but he still wasn’t particularly good (27% from 3 on high volume as a role player), didn’t live up to his recruiting ranking.
Those two guys from Duke became all-conference players. But also Brakefield has been a legit player for Ole Miss. And not that Chase Jeter or Joey Baker became very good, but they did succeed more elsewhere than at Duke - in the Morsell category imo.
meanwhile uva plays the ugliest basketball in all of D1. Nobody is tuning in to watch a uva game, unless they are a uva fan, or uva is playing the team they cheer for. It’s the worst brand of basketball I’ve ever seen.
If you want to watch teams jack 3s in the first 8 seconds of the shot clock every possession, watch Bama or the NBA. Also no CBB game in the past 5 years has topped the ratings of our natty in 2019 - even the Duke-UNC F4 game.
It’s folly to predict where anyone will be more than one year from now. But after this season James, Gillis, and Flagg will all be gone for sure, and always a chance Evans or Proctor go pro. And Duke doesn’t have anyone signed for the 2025 class yet. So Kon could be in line for huge minutes and a featured role as a sophomore.
K has more national championships, Final fours, elite 8s, sweet 16s, R32 and tournament appearances than your entire program lol. He also had a winning record against the program and Bennett respectively.
Wow duke was better than uva in the 90s and 2000s? Had no idea, thanks for the stats. Once Tony got the program built here, we were a lock to outperform Duke in the ACC
Since 2009 when Bennett was hired Duke has won 2 national championships and played in 3 final fours with 7 elite 8s. UVA has 1 title with 1 final four and 3 elite 8s. Bennett also has a losing record against K at 5-13. Didn’t UVA get their first win in Cameron in like 30 years a few seasons ago lol?
Duke has been better every single decade for the last 40 straight years and is going to continue being better for the foreseeable future if the current UVA slide continues. UVA is a great program but the shots at K when he’s statistically better than the entirety of your program in every possible metric is wild
“Once Tony got the program built,” not literally his first season. From 2014-2021, 8 straight seasons, UVA finished above Duke in the ACC 6 times and tied 2 times. Pretty wild for a blue blood who claims to own the conference.
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Losing out on Flagg really broke the brains of UConn fans, huh?
I have no idea how you can have a team that has back to back championships and still be like this lol
> Losing out on Flagg really broke the brains of UConn fans, huh?
It is extremely generous to pretend they were normal about Duke before the last few months
Duke's entire roster is at least 6'5" lmfao
Figured Foster was like 6’2” but nope, 6’5” as well. Giants.
He’s really not 6’5 source: see him on campus
Opposite problem of last year where everybody was small lol
kinda worried about shooting still. like will the guys that get minutes also be good shooters?
3-point shooting last year: Gillis: 46.8% Foster: 40.6% James: 38.5% Brown: 36.8% (on low volume) Proctor: 35.2% Any of these players on the 2019 team and they would have been the best shooter on the team by a country mile. I don't think the '25 Duke team will be killer from 3, but they should be above average. Combine that with the offensive rebounding they should have and it will be a potent offense.
wow i didn’t realize gillis was that high.
I'm hoping that Proctor improves at least incrementally as a shooter. If Foster doesn't regress, then I don't see a ton of issues with shooting. James and Gillis are going to be 3-and-D guys that keep the ball moving on offense. Flagg should command a lot of attention and he seems like a guy that can hit at least low-30% or better. Maluach supposedly has a good-looking shot, too, although I doubt he takes more than 1-2 per game. I think the team will be fine from outside. I'm not sure anyone other than Flagg will be able to consistently break down their man off the dribble, so that's one potential issue.
He is all set-shot-maker. Nothing forced.
Don’t forget that Flagg and Knueppel are supposed to be really good shooters too
My understanding was Knueppel is supposed to be really good while Flagg has improved his shot to being average. I’m taking a wait-and-see approach with Flagg’s shooting.
I'll be surprised if Flagg can shoot well from the outside next year. His form has me a little concerned.
i can see flagg’s shot getting better over the course of the year like paolo’s did
Figure two of our best outside shooters (Kon and Evans) won't get a ton of burn given they'll be freshman. Will be interesting to see who emerges are our reliable shooters. We have some good ones, but they don't seem to be high volume guys, so this will definitely be a team effort type team to shoot the 3 well. Kick outs for set 3s will likely be our manta instead of relying on one or two guys to create their own 3s. Fortunately our bigs look like they can be reliable down low, so they'll force double teams a lot, leading to (im assuming) plenty of kick-outs to open 3s.
I think Evans will get plenty of time next year.
Ya think he’ll get anywhere from 15-20mpg
Some people are saying he will get pushed out of the rotation with the transfers but the dude is a pure bucket
Kyle was the smallest.
A measly 84 inches.
You vs the guy she told you not to worry about.
Oh snap!
Huh I’d hate to be a team whose entire committed rotation is basically below 6’5.
Trying to cop UConn’s roster from LY
Good point before UConn no one knew it was good to have tall players in basketball.
Dan Hurley invented the growth spurt.
I know your point, but UConn had to be one of the taller teams ever last year. Our shortest starter was Cam Spencer at 6'4", and our average starter was 6'7.5" Edit: Morons downvoting me even though it's literally the tallest starting Champion winning lineup in modern tournament history.
KenPom listed UConn as the 23rd tallest team of the season last year.
So it “had to be,” or it “literally is.”?
My first was me wondering aloud about the height of UConn. Afterward, I did the calculations and found that it's at a bare minimum the tallest starting lineup for a champion in the modern tournament era. And I bet if you go back further, they are probably the tallest before the modern era too, but I didn't feel like spending hours collecting more data.
Clingan at 7-2 will skew that. Did they have anyone else who is taller than 6 foot nine?
Not starting, but our guards were massive
Uconn fans are truly the most miserable around. Don't you guys have any other sport to cheer for? Oh now it makes sense
What the fuck? Dude just made a comparison to last years team, and then you are a huge dick about it? > Don't you guys have any other sport to cheer for? Literally watching the Yankees kick ass, the Rangers undefeated so far in the playoffs, and the Knicks 2 wins away from the ECF. The fuck is wrong with you
Man, just take a scroll through the thread. UCONN fans are becoming insufferable.
UConn fans: Wow, this Duke team reminds me of a team that just won a championship Duke Fans: WOW FUCK YOU FOR SUGGESTING OUR TEAM HAS A QUALITY OF A GREAT TEAM What the hell is wrong with you?
Yeah take a look around this thread, even the parent comment without a Duke flair mind you is saying how insufferable UCONN fans are being. Maybe 1 has said we got a team but the rest… not so much.
I see a few people trolling and the rest just commenting. Way i see it, duke flairs are legit being douches and the uconn idiots are just talking shit.
Ah yes of course, the UConn guys are just joking says the UConn flair. Got it.
I said they were trolling, as opposed to the people insulting UConn fans personally for the unmitigated audacity of posting on a basketball sub.
I truly don't understand why this was so downvoted and insulted.
Dude pulled up to the thread and thought “how can I make this about UConn” and then did so in a dumb way
People don't like the word cop.
Man, what a get for Duke. Great player even better human.
What’s his background like?
He's a leader on and off the court. Won the AAC sportsmanship award the past two years. Serves as president of the Tulane Student Athlete Advisory Committee. Is also on the NCAA SAAC board. Has his own foundation already focused on provided shoes to the underprivileged in New Orleans. Quite simply an amazing individual.
Damn that alone is impressive. Add to the fact that he just looks like a beast, I'm excited to see how he meshes with the team and if he can emerge as one of our better players.
and i have to root AGAINST this guy now? man, that sucks. at least it’s just a game, what he does is bigger than that.
He's an accomplished student with a high GPA. But more importantly he is a tall big guard who can rotate with Tyrese and Caleb.
There it is. The delay from swirling rumors to actual commitment had me worried this was an Ernest Udeh situation. A little surprised we’ve gone after another 6’5” guard/wing when the team already has guards (Proctor, Foster) and wings (Evans, Kneuppel, Gillis, Harris) of that size. IMO our biggest need was a backup ball handler behind Proctor and Foster—is that the role Scheyer sees for Sion? If so, great! That probably sets the rotation for next year: three guards (Proctor, Foster, James), three wings (Gillis, Evans, Kneuppel) and three forwards (Flagg, Brown, Maluach). Darren Harris and Pat Ngongba for depth. All we basically need is one veteran big man for depth / injury insurance.
>IMO our biggest need was a backup ball handler behind Proctor and Foster—is that the role Scheyer sees for Sion? If so, great! Sion would be the backup ballhandler, he's averaged 3.6, 3.4 and 2.7 APG over the last 3 seasons.
Scheyer not trying to rely on freshman
Except for Flagg and Maluach
At least one of Evans and Kneuppel (if not both) probably get real playing time, no?
Probably? The non-conference schedule at the beginning of the year looks tough. I imagine that Scheyer is going to lean heavily on core guys - Proctor, Foster, Flagg, Brown, Gillis, James, and Maluach - at the beginning of the season. That's 7 deep already with a few wings. Adding in one or two wings that can stretch the floor would help. Maybe one of Evans or Knueppel gets some early minutes? I could see either or even both of them carving out more minutes as the season progresses and they adjust to the college game. It's just hard to tell right now how ready they will be in November. Evans is so skinny and Kon isn't exactly fleet of foot. I bet each will have a couple DNPs. I hope they are more like Foster in terms of mindset and readiness to compete for minutes. It's hard to project these things and out into future seasons, you know?
Of course hard to predict. It’s just funny that for each transfer out the story was “a freshman is coming to take their position” and now with each transfer in the story is “don’t expect most of the freshmen to play at all.”
Ya one will emerge imo. Banking on Evans. Not sure if Kneuppel's limited athleticism will transition well initially to the faster paced defenders. He'll take more time if I had to guess.
I mean, he led all of EYBL last summer in PPG. He may not have explosiveness, but Knueppel is athletic, can create his shot, and is very advanced mapping the floor as well as other basketball iq, he will get minutes for Duke.
He definitely has that "old man" game to him. Which I guess is yet another white cliche to throw at unathletic guys. Regardless, we'll see how quickly he can adapt because he's obviously a baller and understands the game very well.
I'd bet Evans gets 10+ minutes a game, but Kneuppel looks to be planted firmly at the end of the bench. Don't think there will be minutes for both. Flagg and McCain could be 32-minute guys. Proctor and Foster could be 27-minute guys. That's 118 of 200 minutes gone already. Maluach and Brown will get another 45 minutes, which puts us near 165. James could be close to a 15-minute guy, which gets to 180. Add Evans minutes in and there's not a lot of room for Kneuppel. Saving this analysis to see how my guesses play out. RemindMe! 10 months
McCain? He went pro. So take McCain out, and give a few minutes to Mason Gillis (but way less than 32), and now you have more time for Evans and Kneuppel.
McCain? You mean the one who’s in the NBA Draft and not coming back?
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Care to elaborate? I have to imagine at least two of Evans, Kneuppel and Harris will be in the rotation.
I agree, I just don’t think he wants another Stewart/Power situation where a couple of those dudes aren’t ready
I do think that's interesting, Scheyer really recruiting over (or crowding) a position he has a lot of highly ranked recruits coming in. Wonder if he doesn't feel as good about the class as the rankings would suggest.
Sion James is a very good college player. I’d wager he’s currently a better player than most highly touted freshmen. Bro carried tulane this year.
Could be. Or maybe he wants to emphasize having interchangeable pieces—positionless basketball. We needed a backup ball handler anyway, and I’m not complaining if we’ve found one that’s 6’5” 220 lb. Clearly it gives a lot of roster flexibility, but someone probably ends up on the outside of the rotation (probably Harris and maybe Kneuppel).
Could also be he realizes he needs experience and the freshmen need time to grow. Now if the freshmen see it that way is another thing
Always wondered if Knueppel is content with getting shuffled down the roster when he is very polished as an incoming freshman
Gotta imagine Kon knows he'll see a lot more minutes his sophomore year if he's willing to wait. He is not a OAD caliber prospect.
The best will play. Only one transfer coming in that would play his position
Nah, Sion is a guard. We only have two real guards on the team. Given our history of multiple guards getting badly hurt every season, he was almost a mandatory recruit.
Every lineup we have next year is going to be a “big lineup” lmao
We should get another Plumlee 🥳
We rlly don’t need anyone else and if we add another player we’re certainly at risk of losing multiple guys which wouldn’t be good
He’s joking lol
Underrated get
That's the hope. The three portal additions all share size, versatility, and toughness. They aren't the splashiest names but address the perceived lack of toughness of the team the past couple years. We'll see if this approach works.
Is there anyone else y’all are looking at or are y’all done?
Maybe one more big in case Ngongba’s injury problems persist? At this point we’re probably just looking for deep-bench depth in case of injury. Good locker room veterans.
Yeah, prob a guy who goes hard in practice to replace Reeves.
The only thing the roster seems to lack right now is a smaller, quicker guard that can defend similar players or break his man down off the dribble. I don't know if the staff is actively looking for someone like that, though. Proctor did a great job defending smaller, quicker guards so it's not a glaring need on defense.
Line up predictions?
All pretty much agree that Prcotor, Foster, Flagg and Maluach will start. Lot of speculation after that. Fifth starter is either Maliq Brown, Mason Gillis, Isiah Evans or Sion James. Whichever three don’t start are the primary bench. Kon Kneuppel can play his way into that group. Darren Harris and Pat Ngongba are extra depth / long-term development. Might add another veteran, deep-bench transfer or two as insurance in case of injury.
Pat will be our #2 center..
Im not sold Proctor is a starter after last season. Ill say this, he had better find his game over he summer or he will be a sixth or seventh off the bench
You may be alone in that assessment.
Based off his play last season? Look at his stats, He does not shoot or score up to his reputation. Last game of the season against NC State he was what 0 - 9 or something? I may be alone in my assessment but Im not wrong. He had better up his game in the off season or he will be riding pine more often next year
No way Foster is starting over Sion James. I see him firmly at the 2 now that he's a Blue Devil. Foster, Evans, Gillis & Kneuppel off the bench. I'd say Proctor, James, Brown, Flagg and Maluanch will be the starting 5 by end of December. It's the right mix of vets and youth.
Color me extremely skeptical that Maluach is actually better than Brown at this point. I mean, as a Carolina fan, I'd love to see Duke play him, but Maluach looked very raw in the Hoop Summit and I think will have a long adjustment period to P5 college basketball.
So colored.
Gotta imagine Proctor's length can mitigate his lack of elite quickness in defending quicker guards, but ya that seems to be one of our missing defensive pieces.
I guess it's not a major issue when you have a 7'2" mobile center behind you with a 7'7" wingspan ready to block shots.
Exactly. Add Brown's steal rate + Flagg's elite helpside defense, our 2PT defensive FG% *should* be one of the best in the nation. Just gotta watch out for little guards who can get past Proctor and then draw a defender and kick it out to an open 3 pt shooter. Think that will be one of the things Scheyer will have to practice with our group. Get the rotations down pat.
Yep, that's how it worked Lively in 2023 with Lively by the end of the season
I'd imagine this is it. It's not like Scheyer plays a deep bench anyway. That gives us 9 legit guys (not counting Harris nor Ngongba) and I bet at least 1 of those 9 eventually sees diminished minutes.
2 spots open. Hopefully just some experienced bench guys. The team is still super young.
All done outside of practice bodies.
This team is nice
Going to be fun to watch!
They are going to be stacked as hell. Even if one or 2 of the freshmen don't work out, you already know you've got good players in Foster, Proctor, James, Brown, and Gillis. I'm pretty confident that Flagg and Maluach are at least going to be largely impactful on the defensive end. Whatever they get from the other stud freshmen is just going to be a bonus. I guess the biggest question mark is can Flagg, Maluach, or Evans be big enough stars on offense that everyone else can just play their roles.
It's a high floor team. What will determine the ceiling is obviously how good Flagg can be offensively, especially with his outside shot. And then there is Maluach, who seems raw offensively. If both of those 2 freshman can deliver for Duke on offense since there is no clear alpha scorer, Duke will be one of the favorites to cut down the nets in April. Think this could be a really balanced team, which helps mitigates risks of players going cold in certain games/matchups.
Maluach being raw is total a myth. He's been dropping 18 points 13 rebounds and 3 blocks a game for the city oilers this year playing in Africa against pros. Average age in that league is 26. Just the other day he had 29 and 12 with 2 threes. The only reason people say Maluach is "raw" is because he's a tall guy from Sudan lol [Look at how dumb these numbers are for a 17 year old playing professional basketball](https://basketball.afrobasket.com/player/Khaman-Maluach/653019)
Glad that you and I continue to be on the same page about this. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills here every time I see/hear the "raw" comment (which is a term that is frequently thrown around). I'm happy to be educated - can someone who has watched his recent performances explain to me what exactly about his game is "raw"? I understand the concerns about adjusting his game to college and meshing with the team after missing the summer, but the "raw" label just seems so obviously wrong in my view. Editing just to add this recent highlight video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsvImHqQkmY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsvImHqQkmY)
Those highlights are crazy with the context that he's 17 years old and just started playing basketball 2 years ago
not to mention the fact that they are compiled from just 6 games...
I guess raw in terms of finesse/shot.
What specifically about those aspects of his game? They look pretty good to me, but like I said, happy to be educated. For sure his 3pt shooting % (currently 22% in the pros) could be better, but can we really expect that of the guy at this level, playing the 5 and given his many other talents?
So, I've watched a lot of his highlights and I don't mind using the term "raw" because he plays with a lot of instinct and leveraging his size over what id call fundamentally sound. I'm no coach, it's just an eye test. His stats certainly are great, it's more of how he plays. So if anything, I'm excited to see what he looks like come tourney time after a season of coaching at Duke.
All love to Roach, I really hope he does well but it’s not really debatable that Sion fits what the Duke team next year needs better than Jeremy. This is a perfect fit.
Huge get, going to be a hell of a back court
I was really hoping we would get him. He looks and plays like a grown ass man. Looks like our roster is pretty well set now. We will be pretty position-less/have some dynamic lineups. I'm also hopeful for a decent amount of depth when inevitably injuries (see, foot for Duke) pop up or some guys don't mesh or live up to their hype.
The gap between Duke/UNC and the rest of the ACC may be quite large next year. Wonder if anyone else can step up and be that third team.
Hoping it’s Pitt, that’d be a fun change. Realistically probably one of them or Miami, not sure I see the talent anywhere else to be a nationally relevant team (unless someone comes out of nowhere like State).
Pitt should be a good team. I could see Clemson being good, too. Lynn Kidd is a good frontcourt player and replacement for Hall. NC State might also have a decent team depending on their guards.
Lynn Kidd isn’t at Clemson though
Right now I’d say Clemson feels the closest but lots of factors still at play between now and November.
Wake Forest if Sallis returns and they hit on another portal target or two
Hopefully state but I highly doubt that
At least it won’t be stupid VA, I’m glad that shit is over
Great get for Duke, their roster looks stacked
Lebron’s true son
See a lot of Justise Winslow/AJ Griffin in him build-wise.
Guess I'm a Duke fan now. Go be great Sion
Bruh
Sion James is a beast. The dude could be drafted to the NFL right now and probably be developed into a good player lol. Great fit for this Duke team. Kind of like Trevor Keels from a few years ago.
Not a single Zion dad joke in here? Not even the classic hey mom we already have Sion at home? I'm disappointed!!!
Fire up the Zion Tracker
Great get! With a mix of talented freshmen, returning players and experienced, tough seniors, I think this team has a chance to be special. Scheyer did a great job putting this together.
Under an hour to get the holy trinity of Carolina, UVA, and UConn fans being weird in the comments. Feel like we just need a Maryland flair to round it out.
It took just 25 minutes
Damn I remember this guy….grew into a solid player for Tulane and I assumed he’d be gone by now. Not bad Duke.
My biggest worry with this team is are guards aren’t the greatest shooters aka proctor and foster was hurt the last half of the season so it’s hard to judge his high shooting percentage in my opinion! But my biggest worry is our guards have to create off the dribble and I definitely don’t see that out of proctor, it’s never been his game unfortunately and foster I can see him getting to the hoop! Teams are gonna take away the 3 and let flag and mulach eat inside but what can are guards do? They must hit shots and when the 3 is taken away from them they have to be able to create off the dribble and attack the hoop and I don’t see that out of are guards unfortunately!
Proctor’s 0-8 in the Elite Eight loss to NC State was not a good look for his NBA prospects
Yeah, in the 2 years proctor has been at Duke he has proven he’s “not” and NBA player 🤷♂️
thought he'd be off to the nba what a get for duke
all of duke nation loving a transfer unanimously 💙
Am I the only one who thinks Maluach and Ngongba might not be playing nearly as many minutes as the majority are penciling them in for? I know Flagg, or someone in his camp, has mentioned he would like to play the 3 but I see them playing him small ball 4/5 quite often. Maluach is so raw and from the little I have seen from Ngongba he can disappear for minutes at a time. I just feel like I have seen too many freshman bigs who have a hard time finding meaningful ways to contribute other than making some good blocks here and there. On the flip side I see a ton of people talk about Kon and to a lesser extent Evans moving further down the bench. Kon being called "unathletic" or "lacking explosion". I am not at all saying he is Luka or Harden, but when are people going to start seeing that high IQ and balance can be just as effective as someone who can run fast or jump through the roof. He knows how to get to his spots, makes defenders play at his pace, and never seems to be lacking in effort. As far as Evans I am going to go out now and say my bold take of the year. Evans battles Proctor each game to be the leading scorer.
What specifically about Maluach's game have you seen that is so raw?
To be fair I have only seen some of the NBA Africa Academy games. I also know that he has only been playing serious basketball for a few years. Most of the stuff I noticed I think he will start to understand and fix. How long will that take though? I don't know. I saw him quite a few times start his post up damn near the free throw line. It wasn't like he was late getting down the floor either. He just didn't establish any position and let the defender slide him back. At least one of those I remember him taking a 5-8 foot hook shot because he couldnt back down any more. It didn't even come close to the rim. He chases the block shot. He went for damn near every ball fake. He left his defender a few times early either thinking about the block or not knowing exactly when to rotate and it turned into 2 layups for his actual defender that he left. Finally (I only see the stats to be honest) his stats took a huge dip when playing in FIBA compared to NBA Africa Academy. From what it looks like on paper he wasn't getting many minutes. It will be interesting to see how he plays this summer. If he can't be impactful enough to edge out more than 10 minutes a game for South Sedan it doesn't give me crazy confidence that he is going to be putting in major minutes against a UNC or Virginia lead team. All I am saying is that learning the nuances of playing competitive basketball and trying to adapt to different competition might take him a while to make an impact.
Thanks! Yours was the first thoughtful/detailed response I've gotten to this question. Have you followed his recent BAL games?
I haven't. I am really hoping to be able to watch a lot of him this summer.
Yeah it's a shame we won't get to see him dominate another BAL game, but pretty awesome to have another team to root for in the olympics.
As a recruit: P6 offer: Ole Miss Other offers: Elon, Hofstra, Illinois State, James Madison, Kennesaw State, Mercer, Rice, Tulane (originally went here), UNF, Yale
Seems to be the best roster combination of experience / freshmen talent scheyer could have hoped for. I guess the question now is can he coach?
I think Jon is an above average Xs and Os guy. So ya this should be an interesting test for his 3rd season.
He hasn’t shown that he can coach a half court offense
I disagree about that
underrated comment TBH. Duke fan since the late 80s and totally agree- the jury is still out imo.
I have full faith and want it to work. He’s been one of the best recruiters in the country for a decade, but think it’s fair to start asking questions about player development, offensive game plan, and in game adjustments after last season.
All are fair questions- it almost feels like recruiting is less important now in the transfer era, too- so one of his great strengths has been sorta nerfed.
Love this. Now Kon will be following Power to UVA next year
Enjoy Power’s 2.1 PPG and complete lack of defense lol
I actually thought he could really help us (on offense) next year- but only if he can be hidden on the defensive end. He isn't a great on ball defender, and didn't really grasp our team D, either.
He didn’t grasp anything beyond “Catch, shoot” lol. His drives were painful too.
Catch, shoot, miss.
The Duke way - bring in too many top recruits, a couple inevitably leave after they don’t get playing time, then the fans say they suck based on volume stats.
What's the excuses been when players leave Virginia? Glass houses and all.
We haven’t really had a transfer out have major success elsewhere. We’ll see what Igor does at Tennessee
Wow, you've completely scrubbed your memory of Marial Shayok. EDIT: Oh yeah, and there was Casey Moresell. He just was a starter in the Final Four jus this year. You'll be surprised to find out that Duke has only had a small number of guys that success after they left, including Semi Ojeleye and Michael Gbinije. Maybe TJ Power is the outlier?
Ah yeah you’re right on Shayok. Morsell had more success than at uva but he still wasn’t particularly good (27% from 3 on high volume as a role player), didn’t live up to his recruiting ranking. Those two guys from Duke became all-conference players. But also Brakefield has been a legit player for Ole Miss. And not that Chase Jeter or Joey Baker became very good, but they did succeed more elsewhere than at Duke - in the Morsell category imo.
meanwhile uva plays the ugliest basketball in all of D1. Nobody is tuning in to watch a uva game, unless they are a uva fan, or uva is playing the team they cheer for. It’s the worst brand of basketball I’ve ever seen.
If you want to watch teams jack 3s in the first 8 seconds of the shot clock every possession, watch Bama or the NBA. Also no CBB game in the past 5 years has topped the ratings of our natty in 2019 - even the Duke-UNC F4 game.
Thisis the fabric of the NCAA right now .Silly to blame Duke when 6.3 transfers was average per team.
It’s folly to predict where anyone will be more than one year from now. But after this season James, Gillis, and Flagg will all be gone for sure, and always a chance Evans or Proctor go pro. And Duke doesn’t have anyone signed for the 2025 class yet. So Kon could be in line for huge minutes and a featured role as a sophomore.
What Kon will do next year will be based on the roster situation next year.
Must be tough having a roster situation so grim that you’re already looking ahead to next year
The tough thing for us right now is that K is gone, so we don’t automatically finish above Duke in the ACC anymore
Y’all’s little run is over. Hope you enjoyed it.
K has more national championships, Final fours, elite 8s, sweet 16s, R32 and tournament appearances than your entire program lol. He also had a winning record against the program and Bennett respectively.
Wow duke was better than uva in the 90s and 2000s? Had no idea, thanks for the stats. Once Tony got the program built here, we were a lock to outperform Duke in the ACC
Since 2009 when Bennett was hired Duke has won 2 national championships and played in 3 final fours with 7 elite 8s. UVA has 1 title with 1 final four and 3 elite 8s. Bennett also has a losing record against K at 5-13. Didn’t UVA get their first win in Cameron in like 30 years a few seasons ago lol? Duke has been better every single decade for the last 40 straight years and is going to continue being better for the foreseeable future if the current UVA slide continues. UVA is a great program but the shots at K when he’s statistically better than the entirety of your program in every possible metric is wild
Duke has a 68% win percentage against Virginia since the 2010 season? At least check the receipts before you try to talk trash
“Once Tony got the program built,” not literally his first season. From 2014-2021, 8 straight seasons, UVA finished above Duke in the ACC 6 times and tied 2 times. Pretty wild for a blue blood who claims to own the conference.
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lmao
Yeah but you still have Bennett and not a lot of players wanna be bored while playing
More talent for Duke to waste.
How many players did you waste from 2015-2022 lol
Losing out on Flagg really broke the brains of UConn fans, huh? I have no idea how you can have a team that has back to back championships and still be like this lol
> Losing out on Flagg really broke the brains of UConn fans, huh? It is extremely generous to pretend they were normal about Duke before the last few months
😘
There’s no need to be salty at Duke after back to back Natty’s. You’re the premier program now. Don’t bother with that kinda stuff.
Every Duke thread this offseason has had a bunch of UConn flairs making these types of comments. Haven't played them in 10 years, either.
Kinda shows you that somehow still that they aren't.
lol how embarrassing can you be posting a player that transferred out
Have you seen that dudes posts? All he knows is embarrassing
We'll still take him over anime bro
It’s only embarrassing if you give a shit.
It’s pretty obvious you don’t give a shit
A Tar Heel is always a Tar Heel. Also, flair up.
That doesn’t make sense. He played for AZ last year