The first important summer film from Duke Basketball has been released, and the first thing that comes to mind is the old joke about not telling the players without a scorecard.
Well, that is not fully correct. Malik Brown, with his distinctive long hair, stands out, as does Khaman Maluach, who is the only 7-2 player on the floor.
Caleb Foster (#1) and Tyrese Proctor (#5) are the only returning players from the previous year. Everyone else, save for Spencer Hubbard, Neil Begovich, and Stanley Borden, is new. In fact, we’ll provide a quick reminder at the end of article.
As we’ve mentioned from time to time, this is one of the biggest Duke teams in history. The 1978 team was 6-11, 6-8, 6-8, 6-5, and 6-3, which is nothing compared to this group.
What interests me the most is the defensive potential of the athleticism on display. We’ve previously said that Maluach’s vertical isn’t terrific, but based on what we see here, it’s not too horrible. We believe that joining Duke’s very sophisticated training system will significantly improve his game. It’s too early to tell, but he appears good here.
We got a few views of Cooper Flagg performing stuff we’ve seen before, but what was most enjoyable was seeing Kon Knueppel work his game. He’s not a tiny run/jump athlete; he’s quite solid. But it’s evident he knows how to play. It’ll be fascinating to see how he adjusts at Duke. He’s a good three-point shooter, but it appears he can also play some bully ball. Stay tuned.
We also witness one quick pass from Patrick Ngongba, which was not advertised. Isaiah Evans is extremely skinny, but so was Mike Dunleavy his first year (and still is today), and he performed admirably as a freshman. In fact, he was Duke’s whole bench that year until he caught mono. That was how adaptable he was.
Sion James, Malik Brown, and Mason Gillis have all played at a high level, giving Duke a core of at least five experienced players to rely on.
