I can’t keep in mind an elite NBA prospect fairly like Cooper Flagg.
Let’s not get into any sort of hyperbolic, pointless “finest prospect since [fill in the blank]” debate. Let’s not attempt to make Flagg into something he isn’t. Let’s simply take just a few hundred phrases to understand precisely what he could possibly be – the very best “glue man” for the trendy NBA.
I simply completed watching each second of Flagg’s delicate obliteration of the Arizona Wildcats on Friday evening. He didn’t shoot very properly – he missed 12 of his 22 pictures, together with eight in a row at comparatively shut vary within the first half – and he didn’t get to the road a lot (simply 4 makes an attempt), however Flagg made his presence felt for all the 38 minutes he spent on the ground. This type of dominance doesn’t translate to conventional field scores.
This was a legit, hostile, loud, not-friendly highway sport towards an enormous, gifted Arizona squad, and Flagg made it appear like gentle work, particularly within the second half. The Wildcats had no solutions for Flagg’s exercise and nostril for the ball.
Flagg was seemingly in all places, on a regular basis. Individuals mistake elite protection with gaudy shot-blocks into the fifth row, pick-six steals, or straight-jacket man-to-man lock-ups. Flagg can do all that, certain, however it’s the way in which he positions himself on each possession that takes him to new stage.
Individuals usually excuse star gamers for momentary lapses on protection. “Oh, he has to hold such a heavy offensive load! We will’t count on him to know what to do on protection, too!” Flagg clearly thinks that’s nonsense.
There have been two possessions the place Flagg merely determined “Arizona just isn’t going to cleanly inbound this basketball.” He knew who the security valve was imagined to be, and he caught to him like Velcro. He stole one inbounds go and deflected one other.
Flagg’s positioning is so glorious that it virtually works towards him within the TikTok/YouTube highlights compilation sense. It jogs my memory of how Darrelle Revis wouldn’t lead the NFL in interceptions regardless of being one of the best defensive again in soccer. Groups knew higher than to even strive it.
Offensively, Flagg doesn’t have the deepest “bag” – not but. He can get a bit sloppy with the ball, as we noticed towards Kentucky. He has good kind and a fast launch on his perimeter jumper – it simply doesn’t go in on a regular basis. Not but.
In contrast to different presumptive No. 1 picks, although, Flagg has little interest in heliocentricity. He doesn’t hesitate. If he has the angle, he’s gone. If he doesn’t, he passes it and resets. The ball doesn’t stick. Flagg at present approaches offense just like the highest-level position participant, which can assist him alter to any NBA roster building possible. If a workforce wants a foundational star (Brooklyn, Portland), Flagg might be that. If a workforce already has a star and he wants a co-captain (San Antonio, Charlotte), Flagg might be that.
Flagg kind of jogs my memory of the very best variations of Aaron Gordon, Oklahoma Metropolis’s Jalen Williams, or Dyson Daniels – do-everything wings who hold the ball shifting and love turning protection into simple offense. That’s Flagg’s flooring, thoughts you. I feel he steps into the league on day one no less than nearly as good as Daniels and improves towards a less-thick Gordon after the All-Star break. By yr two, he’s in Williams’ class and ascending.
By the point he hits his prime, do I dare invoke Scottie Pippen?
In contrast to 99% of rookies, Flagg will step onto an NBA roster as a difference-making defensive drive. A coach gained’t have to tug his hair out watching his high-profile rookie constantly blow it on rotations or discover himself out of place. He’ll earn enjoying time immediately.
I inform this to my son, Andrew, on a regular basis. If you wish to be sure to get minutes, concentrate on protection. It’s onerous. It’s not enjoyable. It’s not cool. However a coach won’t ever pin your butt to the bench in the event you play sensible, hard-nosed, basically sound protection.
Flagg has that each one found out already. He turns 18 subsequent month.
And 1’s.
• I’m not speaking about anybody, particularly, essentially. I’m talking usually, as a approach I strategy my life and the way in which I hope individuals strategy their interactions with me. Simply be on time. Your time just isn’t extra worthwhile than mine. And if I’m a part of a workforce, and the workforce requires my presence at a sure time, I get there once I must be there. I hate lateness a lot, in actual fact, that I’m usually sooner than I must be. And if my occupation is NBA basketball participant, and my place within the workforce’s pecking order is “highest paid man” and “face of the franchise” and “one-time MVP,” I be sure that I’m the primary one there. I set the tone. In any other case, my workforce may find yourself 3-13 to begin the season. Hypothetically.
• Don’t look now, however there’s something attention-grabbing happening in Houston. The Rockets are certainly one of solely 5 NBA groups with some extent differential over eight (+8.7) with a protection that’s corresponding to the category of the NBA – OKC, Orlando, Boston. They’re younger, athletic, deep, and able to win proper now.
• Stat of the week: 0. That’s what number of factors Mark Sears scored in Alabama’s 100-87 win over a high 25 opponent in Illinois on Wednesday. Sears, a possible All-American and probably the most productive gamers within the historical past of Alabama basketball, didn’t have it, and he knew he didn’t have it. He sat for the ultimate 11 minutes and alter and let his teammates carry issues. He didn’t pout. He didn’t complain. He didn’t derail the momentum. The win mattered greater than his field rating.
