College basketball is one of the ultimate team sports. A single player cannot defend the opposing five, nor can that player win games on their own for a prolonged period of time.
Take Duke’s Champions Classic loss against No. 19 Kentucky, for instance. Freshman phenom Cooper Flagg had a marvelous night statistically — 26 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks. However, his late-game decision-making cost the Blue Devils the game, as he turned the ball over on back-to-back possessions to seal the game in the Wildcats’ favor. Ultimately, Flagg’s attempt to play the hero put Duke on the edge of a quality top-25 victory, but also doomed it in crunch time.
To be clear, I think Flagg has performed very well in the early season. He was ranked No. 1 on ESPN’s top 100 players list without having played a single minute of college ball, but his play through four games has more or less justified that placement. He leads the Blue Devils in every major statistical category — points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks — and it’s still very reasonable to believe he’s nowhere near his apex.
Once again, though, one player does not make a great team — nor do the five starters alone. Following Duke’s Nov. 16 win against Wofford, head coach Jon Scheyer stated that the Blue Devils “have 11 good players.” An 11-man rotation would be a dream come true for the Duke faithful following an inability to procure a quality bench lineup in the 2023-24 season. Just how realistic is that right now, and can it be fully realized by March?
Junior forward Maliq Brown has played the fifth-most minutes on the team thus far. While the Syracuse transfer has scored just eight points in four games, his pedigree as an elite defender has shown bright, with his nine combined steals and blocks second on the team behind just Flagg. Brown’s quiet impact for the Blue Devils has legitimized his share of minutes, and he should remain a consistent piece in Scheyer’s arsenal as a strong frontcourt contributor.
Staying on Duke’s transfers, graduate wings Sion James and Mason Gillis have played right around 70 minutes each and have paired well in the rotation. 15 of Gillis’ 20 field goal attempts have come from outside the arc, showcasing the fulfillment of his role as a pure shooter for the Blue Devils this year. Meanwhile, James has done a little bit of everything this season, averaging a healthy eight points and 2.5 assists per game off the bench. The Tulane transfer has proven to be a solid scorer and facilitator thus far, and his athleticism especially came through in an emphatic first-half dunk against Kentucky Nov. 12.
Flagg and fellow freshmen Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach have been staples of the starting lineup from day one, but what about the rest of their class? The Blue Devil faithful got a chance to see all six freshmen — including guard Isaiah Evans and center Patrick Ngongba II — against Wofford. In particular, Evans had a magnificent performance, scoring 14 points in 12 minutes, which included a 4-of-7 clip from 3-point range. Ngongba’s first game since his junior year of high school wasn’t too shabby, either, as the Manassas, Va., native notched six rebounds and a pair of assists in 11 minutes of play.
However, Evans and Ngongba have not been infallible thus far. The former’s defensive tape has not been consistent in 28 minutes of play, while the latter’s minutes will likely be limited this season as he continues to recover from a foot injury. Freshman guard Darren Harris, the projected “11th man” in this rotation, is even more of a question mark thanks to his limited timeshare. He has shown flashes of his scoring ability but has yet to see more than nine minutes in any game. Put another way, it is unclear at this point in the season if the Blue Devils will be able to consistently rely on Evans, Ngongba or Harris in March.
That much was true in the Blue Devils’ loss to Kentucky, where none of these three freshmen played a single minute, reducing an 11-man unit to an eight-man rotation. In the second half, this was whittled down even further thanks to James suffering a shoulder injury and persistent cramping issues from Maluach. Duke was only able to play six players plus a battered Maluach for most of crunch time. Meanwhile, Kentucky was able to spread its scoring burden around a healthier lineup, and the Wildcats’ bench outscored the Blue Devils’ 25 to six.
The Kentucky loss does not significantly hinder Duke’s championship aspirations. The defeat is attributable to growing pains, an uncharacteristically poor shooting night from Knueppel and bad injury luck. And in the Blue Devils’ three wins, all five starters plus Brown, Gillis and James have certainly shown what this Duke team can be at its best — efficient scoring combined with relentless defense. Junior guard Tyrese Proctor has made a compelling argument as one of the nation’s best 3-and-D players this season, while sophomore guard Caleb Foster has mixed flashy layups with savvy passing to prove himself as the captain of the Duke offense.
In the end, the sky's the limit for this rotation. An increase in Evans’ minutes going forward would add yet another shooter to a roster loaded with strong outside threats. As Ngongba gets more comfortable in Scheyer’s system, he could help take the burden off Brown and Maluach down low. It will be difficult to get all 11 players on the court for any significant in-game stretches, let alone in a marquee matchup, but it is nonetheless a good problem for Scheyer to have.
As the Blue Devils continue their early-season gauntlet with a road contest against No. 9 Arizona and longtime foe Caleb Love, how much Scheyer commits to this rotation will be a point to monitor. If Duke’s deep lineup lives up to the hype for the rest of the regular season, a sixth title may be just around the corner.
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