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Does Kentucky's three-heavy offense neutralize Cooper Flagg?

Flagg is a good player, and one day will probably be a star. But that day is NOT now!
He’s not going to physically dominate you like a Zion or Shaq. He’s not going to light you up and bury 8 3’s like a Curry of Durant. He’s not going to blow by everyone like a Wall or Fox.
I don’t get all of this fear, fear of a guy who shoots from outside just ok, fear of a guy who doesn’t dominate on the blocks, fear of a guy who’s best at scoring on the break.
Don’t turn it over!! So fewer breaks. That is rule 1 to limiting Flagg. The other break opportunities will be long rebounds off missed 3’s. That is a potential area of concern for us.
But I bet a bigger indicator of the outcome of that game will be how many Duke guys not named Flagg score double-digits (or 8+), than how many Flagg scores. I think he will get his 15-20, on 8-12 shots.
I was invited by an Iron Duke friend to go see them play last Saturday against the Lincoln Lions. Cooper Flagg was certainly as advertised; however, the guy that stood out for me was #7 Kon Knueppel. I believe he'll be as much a factor for Duke this year as any freshman has been.
 
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Pooper Fag' can score 50 if he wants. Its the rest of the Dukies poo's (lead by Faces of Shire) that's going to have to do something. Their coach is a joke. I don't think anybody should be losing to them.
 
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I bet Pope has Oweh play defense on Cooper Flagg. Then Almanor as well. Carr might have to give it a go. Not sure Robinson can guard well or not yet.
 
Yes, I think Flagg will be fighting an up hill battle the whole night as UK will come at duke in waves.
Flagg doesnt have a great supporting cast IMHO.
Our depth will wear Duke down and Kentucky will win going away by say 16 points.
And if the Zebras allow Flagg to get into early foul trouble we could beat Duke by 30.
Surely you jest….. Officials and Duke go together like peanut butter and jelly man. Now, each of OUR starters may have 4 each by halftime.
 
According to an article today, UConn’s head coach Dan Hurley said Flagg being voted as a member of the AP Preseason All-American team is “emblematic of a societal issue with sports.” He says Flagg being chosen reflects the fact that they “don’t value champions,” and instead the selection is based on media attention. [EssentiallySports, by Dimple Guptia].

Wow, didn’t Hurley recruit Flagg hard?
Souring grapes?
 
You’re saying Flagg is the best player in the Nation? What do you base that statement on; and do you mean among freshman, college players or the professional ranks too?
He’s the front runner for national player of the year, will most likely be the #1 pick in the next NBA draft, and plays for one of the premier basketball schools in the country and has the machine working in his favor. Obviously that doesn’t include NBA players, I mean I assumed that went without saying.
 
He’s the front runner for national player of the year, will most likely be the #1 pick in the next NBA draft, and plays for one of the premier basketball schools in the country and has the machine working in his favor. Obviously that doesn’t include NBA players, I mean I assumed that went without saying.
It's not always obvious what people mean when they say “best player in the Country” because quite a few use that phrase in regard to every #1 ranked high school player – and it’s very rarely, if ever, true. It's not always clear who the “best” player in CBB is, but by my definition that would be a guy that has the biggest impact on winning games during the season. And that won’t often be a freshman. Now the guy selected player of the year after the season has a great argument, but being projected as, or even being picked as, the #1 player in the NBA draft is not at all corelated with who the best player in CBB is/was. Making a statement at this point that Flagg is the best player in CBB is rather obtuse and recruiting fanboyish in my opinion. You might very well have a better current player on your own team.
 
Yes, I think Flagg will be fighting an up hill battle the whole night as UK will come at duke in waves.
Flagg doesnt have a great supporting cast IMHO.
Our depth will wear Duke down and Kentucky will win going away by say 16 points.
And if the Zebras allow Flagg to get into early foul trouble we could beat Duke by 30.
Did you make this post before or after a trip to your favorite bar? All kidding aside, I expect UK to win, but it won't be a blowout.
 
According to an article today, UConn’s head coach Dan Hurley said Flagg being voted as a member of the AP Preseason All-American team is “emblematic of a societal issue with sports.” He says Flagg being chosen reflects the fact that they “don’t value champions,” and instead the selection is based on media attention. [EssentiallySports, by Dimple Guptia].

Wow, didn’t Hurley recruit Flagg hard?
Yeah. It wasn’t necessarily a diss on Flagg so much as to say he hasn’t earned that recognition yet and that they are basing that pre-season vote on hype alone, no incoming freshman should have that consideration until they’ve played some games and earned it. The vote is more a diss on current great players who have earned it.
 
Yeah. It wasn’t necessarily a diss on Flagg so much as to say he hasn’t earned that recognition yet and that they are basing that pre-season vote on hype alone, no incoming freshman should have that consideration until they’ve played some games and earned it. The vote is more a diss on current great players who have earned it.
Much like the MVP awards. It's became more about hype and popularity than actual production.
 
It's not always obvious what people mean when they say “best player in the Country” because quite a few use that phrase in regard to every #1 ranked high school player – and it’s very rarely, if ever, true. It's not always clear who the “best” player in CBB is, but by my definition that would be a guy that has the biggest impact on winning games during the season. And that won’t often be a freshman. Now the guy selected player of the year after the season has a great argument, but being projected as, or even being picked as, the #1 player in the NBA draft is not at all corelated with who the best player in CBB is/was. Making a statement at this point that Flagg is the best player in CBB is rather obtuse and recruiting fanboyish in my opinion. You might very well have a better current player on your own team.
Have you watched him play?
 
People sure seem scared of this kid. There are 5 players in the floor for each team. It ain’t one on one. People might ought to wonder what he and his team are gonna do to stop us.
 
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Have you watched him play?


Nobody has ever watch him play in a single Div 1 basketball game, as he hasn’t played in one. Justin Edwards was the projected #1 pick before last season started and he was barely our 4th best freshman on our team alone. He could be a world beater, he could be a flop, he could be anything in between. Who knows really, I’ll just take a wait and see approach.
 
Nobody has ever watch him play in a single Div 1 basketball game, as he hasn’t played in one. Justin Edwards was the projected #1 pick before last season started and he was barely our 4th best freshman on our team alone. He could be a world beater, he could be a flop, he could be anything in between. Who knows really, I’ll just take a wait and see approach.
It will be early in the season for a 17 yr old kid with big, tall 22 yr old grown men hawking him the whole game.
 
Have you watched him play?
Yes. I think Flagg has a lot of talent (good defensive instincts) and will likely be a good Pro in a few years - maybe even sooner rather than later. I've watched a good deal of the top ranked high school recruits for as long as the ability to do so via video has existed - many times in person for guys UK was recruiting, but mainly by video (and sometimes just highlights). I don't have anything negative to say about Flagg other than he's 17 and still has a way to go to reach his potential - although I think he might be closer to his ceiling than most freshmen. In fact, if my team was forced to rely heavily on an OAD freshmen, he might be the guy I would pick (maybe?). Flagg may even end of being the best freshman in CBB - it certainly seems that the role he will be given at Duke will give him that opportunity if he good enough now - but I think even that is not assured by any means. But again, in my opinion, stating today that Flagg is the best player in the Nation is not justified by anything seen to date and is reflective of what someone might believe if they (1) don't comprehend that recruiting rankings are forecasts of future professional potential expected to be realized multiple years from the date of the ranking; and (2) think recruiting rankings of high school players indicate who the best players in CBB will be in the upcoming season.
 
Oweh does too.
Indeed. Oweh played against top opponents in the Big 12 night in and night out ... as did Garrison ... and Robinson (in the SEC too) ... and Kriisa (and in the Pac-12 too, where he started on NCAA tournament teams) ... Carr played the likes of Duke and UNC at Wake Forest ... Almanor guarded Zach Edey when #16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson upset #1 seed Purdue ... Williams was on a Drexel team that upset Villanova ... Brea and Dayton won a fairly evenly matched NCAA game against Nevada last year before losing to Arizona ... and then everyone remembers what Butler did in the Final Four.

Big game experience is one thing we have in abundance.
 
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