Duke’s defense dominating ACC

Length, footspeed give the Blue Devil defense a chance to be special

7-foot-2 Khaman Maluach (9) defends Incarnate Word forward Shon Robinson, who is five inches shorter, after Duke made a switch on defense during an early December game. Maluach has the footspeed to keep up with smaller ball handlers and the length to block a shot from behind if the opponent gets past him. (Matt Kelley / AP Photo)

Last week, Duke got plenty of national attention for all the wrong reasons.

The No. 3 Blue Devils seized control of the ACC with wins over Pitt and Notre Dame, opening up a one-game lead in the first full month of the conference season. In the process, Duke provided plenty of grist for the highlight film mill. ESPN ran clips of Cooper Flagg’s emphatic dunk against Pitt on every platform it has, and the Flagg followed that performance with a record-setting 42 points against the Irish, the most by a freshman in ACC history.

If Duke is to contend for a national title, however, it won’t be because of the offensive exploits that have been getting the lion’s share of the attention this week.

“They are elite defensively this year because of their size, their ability to switch and be in gaps,” said Pitt coach Jeff Capel, who knows a thing or two about elite Duke defenses. He played for a Coach K Final Four team and was an assistant on Coach K’s staff for the 2015 National Champions.

“Jon [Scheyer] would probably shudder at me saying this,” said Virginia Tech coach Mike Young. “I think this is the best Duke team I’ve seen in a bit, in my humble opinion. I think the best defensive team I’ve seen in my six years in this league.”

While Flagg’s dunk got all the air time, Pitt entered the game against Duke with the third-highest scoring output in the league, then watched the Blue Devils hold them to 47 points. It was Pitt’s lowest-scoring first half and second-half of the season and the seventh foe Duke has held to a season low in points.

As the opposing coaches have pointed out, a big reason Duke has dominated on defense is its size.

Caleb Foster, a 6-foot-5 sophomore, has started seven of Duke’s 16 games and averages 18.1 minutes per outing. Other than him, every Duke starter and rotation player is 6-foot-6 or taller.  In fact, other than 5-foot-6 walk-on Spencer Hubbard, who enters blowouts in the final minute as a human victory cigar, Foster is the shortest Blue Devil on the team.

Freshman center Khaman Maluach is the most obvious representation of Duke’s size advantage. At 7-foot-2, with ,a wingspan of nearly seven and a half feet and a flat-footed standing reach of 9-foot-8, he’s a threat to catch a lob pass pretty much as soon as Duke sets up on offense. Already an outstanding rim protector, he has the potential to be dominant. Plus, unlike many freshman shot blockers blessed with other-worldly height and length, Maluach is able to do it without running into foul trouble. He’s only reached the three-foul mark in six games this season and has never picked up a fourth.

While teams struggle to match up with Duke’s size, they can’t take advantage of being the smaller, faster players. That’s because Duke’s defenders also have the versatility to guard almost any spot on the floor. That includes Maluach, who frequently finds himself on a point guard after one of Duke’s never-ending string of switches on defense.

They can really disrupt you with their length and with the ability to switch everything,” said Young. “I think [Khaman Maluach] will be able to do it. He’s a wonderful player. They’re very disruptive. There’s a reason they’re number one in the country defensively,”

“Khaman is a little bit of a unicorn, right?” said coach Jon Scheyer. “You want to keep him at the rim to protect, but we’ve known from the beginning, he can move his feet too. Even if you get by him as a guard, even if you get a step, you still have a 7’2” guy that can move, and has timing, that’s coming to chase after your shot.”

In addition to Maluach, the 6-foot-9 Flagg, himself an athletic unicorn, and large-for-their-position defenders Tyrese Proctor and Kon Knueppel, Duke has three veteran transfers more than willing to play a role on defense. Former Big Ten sixth-man of the year, guard Mason Gillis and wing player Sion James, who set Tulane’s school postseason record with six blocks in a game in 2023, are both reliable defenders at multiple positions. However Maliq Brown, described by Scheyer as a “menace” on defense, may be the key to the Duke D. Brown tied for third in ACC defensive player of the year voting at Syracuse last season, but he’ll miss extended time after spraining his knee against the Irish. It’s worth noting that Duke allowed its highest opponent effective shooting percentage of the year and second highest points per possession against Notre Dame.

“He’ll miss weeks,” Scheyer said. “Could be longer, but obviously he’s going to be out for the next several games.”

That will give Duke’s defense a full test of just how versatile it is.