When Jon Scheyer attacked the transfer portal, he did so with San Antonio in mind. He got Final Four experience in swiss-army knife player Mason Gillis. He got toughness and poise at the guard position in Scion James and he got an elite defender and post presence in Maliq Brown. Each player has been the perfect compliment to the Blue Devils’ top-ranked freshman class. Each player an important component to Duke’s goal.
Maliq Brown, an integral part of Scheyer’s National Championship plan, will be sidelined indefinitely after dislocating his shoulder during the Blue Devils’ 80-62 win over Virginia this past Monday.
“There’s nothing abnormal that you aren’t ready to see with a dislocated shoulder,” Scheyer said. “We’re optimistic that we can get him back this season. The hardest part is a lot of it has to do with his stability, which right now he’s pretty sore still. So we have to see how much time that takes. Is it a couple of weeks? Is it more? He’s going to be out in the next week or so, at a minimum. I’d say it’s a few weeks, but Maliq will do whatever he can to get back on the floor.”
This isn’t the first stretch where the Blue Devils will be without Brown’s veteran post presence. Maliq was sidelined for four games during January after injuring his knee against Notre Dame January 11th. He returned for Duke’s first matchup against UNC February 1st, making an immediate impact when he stepped on the floor.
During Brown’s first absence, freshman Patrick Ngongba saw increased minutes, which will likely be the case this stint as well. Scheyer also tinkered with his line-ups, going smaller at times with a four guard lineup. Both were effective.
With five games remaining in regular season play followed by the ACC Tournament the Blue Devils should be fine without Brown, but his presence and experience will be crucial for Duke if they plan on making a Final Four run. Only time will tell if he’ll be healthy enough to go.
