How bad do we beat Duke in Nov and who guards Flagg?

[JonathanW]

Have you not seen the talent Duke possesses? We are not beating them (IMHO). They might beat us by 15. There's always a chance though

I don’t think they are all that talented. Won’t be a good shooting team. I call it Even.

 

[nptb]

Catsfanbgky, I appreciate the way you discuss basketball and explain your position a little bit. Makes me value your opinion. I have watched video of Flagg (although perhaps not as much as you) and was impressed by how hard he played. I see skills that, when combined with a high motor, would probably make him formidable as a college PF even as a freshman (no small thing in its own right). But I don’t see a level of SF skills yet (although I can see the upside there) that worry me in our game or make me think he’s one of the better college SFs next season – and his projected (or actual) draft position doesn’t speak to how good (i.e., how much he impacts his team winning games) he is as a freshman.

Personally, I love the idea of Duke playing him at SF, rather than PF, in the early game vs UK. Just think it might be giving away productivity potential from a team standpoint. Meaning, for example, would Duke be a better team with Sion James at SF & Flagg at PF vs Flagg at SF & Brown at PF? Truthfully, I don’t know enough to have a real strong opinion on this, but I tend to think James at SF would be the way to go. Not to get into a Cal bashing thing, but playing Flagg at SF smacks of what Cal might do for his NBA draft positioning rather than what helps the team the most.

And I still think Carr won’t have any problem guarding Flagg, plus I think Carr’s length will cause Flagg to be frustrated and less effective.

Anthony Davis and Bam's length gave him some trouble. He was still able to get some buckets. Carr is not what Bam and Davis are athletically.

 

[nptb]

How do Flagg’s nuts taste? Serious question.

Flagg is the best player in college basketball. If you don't understand that, I'll make it easy for you. Flagg is one of the 50 best basketball players in the world right now. It is that simple.

 

[nptb]

I’m actually more interested in how UK can possibly exploit him on defense. Put him in pick and roll and pick and pop all night and make him make decisions and guard out in space.

He’s offensively gifted but I’m hoping Pope exploits him defensively all night long. Make him make reads in PNR defense and see if he’s willing to chase guys, hedge appropriately, and make rotations. Because physical strength and team defense will not be his strongest attributes that early in the season.

This is it right here. Get him in foul trouble. For those who don't know, Flagg's defense is the best part of his game. If he's in foul trouble that will hurt Duke's defense because he's an elite shot blocker and moves his feet well. He loves to help so this is where Pope's offense will really help with he constant motion.

 

[BigBlueManSouthCentralKY]

So all the non-stopping praise Flagg is getting I assume we have no shot at holding him down and he will almost beat us by himself? Alomor I suppose would be the best physically to guard the cocky big mouth all everything? Or go smaller with Oweh? I guess Krissa will have to do a lot of the jawing with him.

 

[Creed Bratton]

So all the non-stopping praise Flagg is getting I assume we have no shot at holding him down and he will almost beat us by himself? Alomor I suppose would be the best physically to guard the cocky big mouth all everything? Or go smaller with Oweh? I guess Krissa will have to do a lot of the jawing with him.

Yeah we apparently shouldn't bother showing up for this game.

 

[Eagles_Ball]

So all the non-stopping praise Flagg is getting I assume we have no shot at holding him down and he will almost beat us by himself? Alomor I suppose would be the best physically to guard the cocky big mouth all everything? Or go smaller with Oweh? I guess Krissa will have to do a lot of the jawing with him.

I don't think it's that. I think it's the foolishness that some bring by saying Carr > Flagg and that sort of stuff. That sort of stuff is just so off base it's hard to tell if the posters are serious or not.

Fact is, he'll see a lot of different looks and different guys. Oweh and Robinson are probably the best bets to slow him. Flagg will likely eat up and expose Carr or any of the other bigs. They're just not at his level athletically. But hell, not many are at his size. And here's the reality, defense hasn't exactly been a strength of Pope's teams. How do you beat Flagg and Duke then? Better make some shots and hope the supporting cast for Duke has a bad game.

 

[BigBlueManSouthCentralKY]

I don't think it's that. I think it's the foolishness that some bring by saying Carr > Flagg and that sort of stuff. That sort of stuff is just so off base it's hard to tell if the posters are serious or not.

Fact is, he'll see a lot of different looks and different guys. Oweh and Robinson are probably the best bets to slow him. Flagg will likely eat up and expose Carr or any of the other bigs. They're just not at his level athletically. But hell, not many are at his size. And here's the reality, defense hasn't exactly been a strength of Pope's teams. How do you beat Flagg and Duke then? Better make some shots and hope the supporting cast for Duke has a bad game.

Williams is suppose to be able to guard guards. His size would overwhelm. Carr could take their 5 on D. Just a thought. Lot of different scenarios we could do with the type of roster we have. Thankfully we can now go zone and make them beat us shooting, which some say may be their weakness?

 

[Kentucky2022]

Duke doesn’t scare me, I think we will physically wear them out on defense and the style of offense we will play..