Duke basketball hopeful to drop 'emergency' label on key reserve prior to Final Four
The Duke basketball team was at full strength for the first time in over two weeks during the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 – but that was not supposed to be the case.
Maliq Brown returned to the lineup after re-dislocating his shoulder in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament against Georgia Tech and did not play until the Sweet 16 against Arizona.
Jon Scheyer said prior to tipoff between the Blue Devils and Wildcats that Brown would be day-to-day and there was a chance he could play. He did get in the game after first half foul trouble struck Khaman Maluach and Patrick Ngongba but it was very clear that he was trying to avoid contact.
Still, Brown had a rebound, assist, and a steal in just four minutes of action and did not play in the second half.
“I think it speaks a lot about who Maliq is and what he's all about,” Scheyer said the day after Duke’s victory over Arizona after Brown was put in the game. “He's not 100 percent. He's not close to it. And ideally, he wouldn't have played in last night's game. It was more in an emergency.”
The Blue Devil head coach explained that Brown would have to be ready to play against Alabama, but it was more of the same. A three-minute cameo resulted with one rebound, and he didn’t play in the second half.
“It's an incredible thing what Maliq did, to make himself available for these two with games. The intention was not to play him again,” he said after the win over the Crimson Tide.
“We need to get him right this week. That's the main thing, just to get him stronger, more stability as much as possible. It's not going to be what he or I would hope, of course, but I think another week will do him a lot of good.”
Duke’s matchup with Houston on Saturday night at the Final Four would mark 23 days since he was sent to a local Charlotte hospital for further evaluation after the injury, but his versatility would be a massive boost for the Blue Devils against the physically demanding Cougars.
“We need to get him stronger, healthier, and I think I'm more confident in what he can do next weekend.”
