Sometimes, it feels like the only way to beat the Duke Blue Devils is for something unexpected to happen. One of the most unexpected things that could happen in sports is that dreaded “I” word that fans across all sports and nations hate: injury. Duke forward Maliq Brown was injured Monday night against Virginia, suffering a dislocated shoulder. Brown is not a flashy player, but the loss may be far costlier than his numbers appear on the screen. Brown won’t put up big numbers like his teammate Cooper Flagg, but he has proven to be extremely important to the Blue Devils. Their quest for 20-0 in the ACC may be over at the hands of the Clemson Tigers, but they have much more to play for in March. They will need him to make a championship push.
Duke Forward Maliq Brown Injured: Why it is a Devastating Loss
Maliq Brown’s Role as a Glue Guy
Brown’s numbers don’t pop off the screen: 2.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game. However, Brown does so much more for the Blue Devils. His defensive presence pulls together the entire unit. At 6-foot-8, he can guard every single position on the floor, giving Duke the ability to easily switch every single screen on defense. This has led to Duke having the fourth-ranked defensive efficiency according to KenPom. He is a constant menace on the defensive side of the ball, poking and prodding at passes, while also deflecting passes at an elite rate. When the Duke forward was injured late in the first half, coach John Scheyer was more anxious than a lot of fans were. Brown means a lot to this team.
I have tried to find a way to quantify his presence on defense. One number is his defensive rating, which quantifies the estimated number of points scored by the opponent per 100 possessions. His defensive efficiency rating is 86.6. That would rank him second in the country if he played 20 minutes per game, but he only plays 17.5. Defensive box plus/minus is another statistic that describes how many points a given player adds on the defensive end of the floor against a league-average player on an average team. Brown sits at 8.1, a number that would lead the country if he played three more minutes per game. Last year at Syracuse, he led the conference in defensive box plus/minus. He is a defensive menace.
Previous Injury Showed Mixed Results
Brown previously suffered an injury against Notre Dame. Duke played the rest of that game and four other games without him. Outside of Clemson, their biggest conference tests so far, Wake Forest and North Carolina State, came during that stretch. Duke looked a little shaky without Brown. The Duke forward’s injury will once again force the Blue Devils to dig deep and compete without him.
Duke still has to face Illinois in a rare February non-conference game. A road game at Chapel Hill will also be a tough test. However, none of that matters more than the March tournaments. Duke will make the NCAA Tournament and be a high seed. They want championships, plural. Maliq Brown’s injury makes that more difficult since they will be facing better competition than Notre Dame in that stretch.
The Last Word
Brown may be the most underappreciated player in college basketball. His numbers aren’t jaw-dropping, and he only plays 17.5 minutes per game. However, he impacts the game every minute he is on the floor. Duke has the star power to push through such injuries, but that doesn’t mean that they won’t feel it. Duke seemed destined to steamroll the rest of their schedule, but that appears unlikely now. There is no timetable for his return, but the Blue Devils hope it’s soon. They probably won’t win a championship without him.
Photo credit: © Ken Ruinard-Imagn Images
