How Duke can navigate its final stretch without injured Maliq Brown -- again

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — What looked like a normal occurrence — Maliq Brown deflecting the ball away from an opponent — instead has thrown a wrench into Duke basketball’s final stretch of what’s been a sterling regular season.

A key to Duke’s solid defense, the 6-9 Brown dislocated his left shoulder on an otherwise innocuous play where he didn’t make contact with any other players.

With a grim look on his face and his left arm in a black sling, Brown left Duke’s locker room following an 80-62 win over Virginia at John Paul Jones Arena accompanied by team athletic trainer Jose Fonseca, headed to get imaging to assess the injury.

“He’s a big loss for us,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said.

No timetable has been announced about his recovery. But everything points to Brown’s availability being in doubt as Duke (23-3, 15-1 ACC) navigates its final five regular-season games and attempts to finish off an ACC regular-season championship.

It’s the second time the Blue Devils have faced an extended period of time without Brown, who missed four games and all but one minute of a fifth in January due to a sprained knee. The Blue Devils won all five of those games and how they played then offers clues about how they’ll manage games until Brown returns from this injury.

Brown has been Duke’s first reserve off the bench when healthy this season, routinely checking in to give 7-2 freshman center Khaman Maluach a break. But he’s been more than a simple backup. He leads the team in deflections and his ability to guard anyone on the court allows Duke’s players to switch who they are guarding in man-to-man defense even as the opponent attempts to use screens to create space and mismatches. Brown disrupts that plan.

Duke is able to switch with Maluach but he’s not as experienced or adept at guarding smaller, quicker guards as Brown. Doing so also exposes Maluach to foul trouble.

When Brown was out in January, 6-11, 250-pound freshman center Pat Ngongba received additional playing time behind Maluach in the post rotation. Over a three-game stretch in mid-January, when Duke beat Miami, Boston College and Wake Forest, Ngongba played 18, 14 and 21 minutes over those three games.

After Brown returned for Duke’s 87-70 win over North Carolina on Feb. 1, Ngongba didn’t play more than nine minutes. That changed Monday night at Virginia when, after Brown suffered his injury with 1:21 remaining in the first half, Ngongba played 11 minutes, scoring eight points.

Ngongba will be a key factor until Brown’s shoulder is healed enough for him to return.

“For Pat to step up and be ready,” Scheyer said, “I’m just proud of him and what he’s done.”

Ngongba provides good news out of the bad situation for Duke. The experience he gained in January has him more prepared to see extra playing time now, with less than three weeks remaining in the regular season.

Scheyer mentioned Ngongba’s progression when addressing his team after the win at Virginia, with everyone concerned about Brown’s health.

“Pat, he’s always had natural, just God given abilities and talents,” Scheyer said, “but I’ve seen such growth from him throughout the whole season.”

On Jan. 25, Duke faced a serious challenge at Wake Forest when Maluach hit the bench with four fouls, Brown was out with his knee injury and the Demon Deacons held a second-half lead.

But, with Ngongba in the post and playing a season-high 21 minutes that day, Duke rallied to win, 63-56.

In addition to the playing time he received last month, Ngongba benefitted from what Scheyer calls “stay-ready games,” which are drills in practices designed to sharpen reserve players who aren’t getting as many game minutes.

“He’s been in some big-time moments, at Wake Forest,” Scheyer said. “He really was in there in a big way. I’m just proud of his work ethic, just how he continues to push through sometimes. And he’s done that at a high level.”

Fellow Duke freshman Isaiah Evans, who scored 17 points off the bench in the win at Virginia, said Ngongba has the skills to succeed.

“I have known Pat for a little while now,” Evans said. “He’s really good. Like, I don’t think you guys can understand how good he really is. So just to see him come into his own and get the shot, like the rest of us, is amazing.”

That said, Duke also resorted to playing some zone defense in the second half at Wake Forest. It wouldn’t be shocking to see the Blue Devils go away from their traditional man-to-man and utilize the zone at times while Brown recovers.

The bottom line is Duke has no one else on its roster that provides what Brown gives it; Duke’s defense, No. 4 nationally in defensive efficiency according to KenPom.com, is at its best when Brown is available.

The Blue Devils don’t start postseason play at the ACC tournament until March 13. The NCAA Tournament doesn’t begin until a week after that. So there’s time for Brown to heal and, perhaps, be available for those games.

In the meantime, as Duke attempts to win the ACC regular season and keep itself in position for an NCAA Tournament No. 1 seed, it will rely on Ngongba and it’s own internal toughness to finish off the regular season strong without Brown.