Duke's Brown not 100%, set for Final Four action

SAN ANTONIO -- Duke reserve guardant Maliq Brown said he's acceptable for a bigger relation successful the Final Four this play aft his enarthrosis wounded importantly chopped his playing clip him successful the Blue Devils' games past weekend.

Brown missed 4 games -- 2 successful the NCAA tourney aft missing 2 successful the ACC tourney -- successful the aftermath of his 2nd near enarthrosis dislocation. That occurred successful the quarterfinals of the ACC tourney against Georgia Tech. His earlier enarthrosis wounded came connected Feb. 17 against Virginia.

Duke's program heading into the Sweet 16 against Arizona was lone to usage Brown if the crippled necessitated it. When Duke's frontline got successful foul trouble, helium played 4 minutes against Arizona and past 3 minutes successful Duke's ascendant triumph successful the Elite Eight against Alabama.

Brown connected Friday said that he's successful a amended spot aft a afloat week of signifier and a absorption connected much unrecorded reps from the aesculapian staff. He's said he's acceptable to instrumentality to adjacent to his aged role, which was an mean of much than 15 minutes per game.

"So I would decidedly accidental it's a antithetic position [than past week]," Brown told ESPN. "I'm not definite of my percentage, but to beryllium honest, I consciousness good, compared to past week I consciousness better."

Brown did admit that he's not 100%, portion declining to springiness a circumstantial percentage.

Part of the changed position for Brown volition beryllium mental. He admitted to being inhibited and reasoning astir interaction past weekend.

"It was decidedly a thought -- conscionable a thought," Brown said. "Obviously conscionable going backmost from a 2nd wounded similar that truthful quick. Definitely a thought that was going connected my caput the archetypal mates days, but I consciousness similar erstwhile the archetypal time I got up there, I deliberation it was deflection oregon thing and past I was conscionable locked in.

"Not trying to deliberation astir my wounded oregon anything, conscionable trying to support the squad connected the aforesaid leafage and conscionable spell retired determination and get that win."

Brown is simply a 6-foot-9, 222-pound guardant whose worth to the squad belies his humble stats -- 2.4 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. He's a cardinal antiaircraft chess portion for Duke, arsenic his quality to switch, defender aggregate positions and deflect passes makes him a disruptive unit and a pivotal relation player.

He plays an mean of 15.8 minutes per game, a fig that's watered down due to the fact that of a fistful of injury-shortened performances. He played 29 minutes against Louisville, 25 minutes successful Duke's triumph against Auburn successful December and 24 minutes astatine Arizona.

Brown transferred to Duke this twelvemonth from Syracuse, sacrificing much minutes and touches for much wins. That includes a accidental to play a cardinal relation successful the Final Four.

"I've been enjoying infinitesimal ever since I got present successful the summer," Brown said. "Everything that I beauteous overmuch thought was going to happen, different than the injuries, [has happened].

"I've been enjoying the infinitesimal since I've been here. It's decidedly a imagination travel existent from precocious school, conscionable wanting to evidently enactment connected a Duke uniform."