Here’s the latest on Pat Ngongba, as Coach Jon Scheyer says he’s making progress.
He talks about how analytics sees Ngongba, and what he has meant to Duke’s defense, especially inside.
And he also says things are “very positive,” but he doesn’t want to risk a setback.
It’s hard to know without more information, but our sense is that if he’s not back for the first round, that he maybe should be back for the second round, assuming that Duke makes it. And in this tournament, of course, there are no guarantees.
To us, Ngongba is really critical for Duke. He gives everyone up front a lot more flexibility, for one. Recall at UNC that things went south after Ngongba and Maliq Brown fouled out.
And second, he makes the defense much better. In the ACC Tournament, Florida State and Virginia put more points on Duke than anyone has done in some time.
And third, he takes a lot of attention away from Cameron Boozer and makes them play him more honestly. If you looked at the final sequence against Virginia, when Boozer missed that late layup and got his rebound, he was surrounded by five defenders.
That’s harder to do when Ngongba is around, so the sooner he’s back, the better.
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