I don’t think they are all that talented. Won’t be a good shooting team. I call it Even.
How bad do we beat Duke in Nov and who guards Flagg?
- Thread starter HerrosHeroes
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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.
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.
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.
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? Almonor 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.
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Yeah we apparently shouldn't bother showing up for this game.
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?
Duke doesn’t scare me, I think we will physically wear them out on defense and the style of offense we will play..
You just lost ALL credibility with that one post.
You are saying there are only about 2 players per NBA team better than him.
We are the better shooting team for sure, but their athleticism could negate that.
If you go down the 2 rosters, Flagg may be the only advantage they have, it’s close everywhere else. And I do think Flagg will be very good, but not great, maybe a top 10-20 player next year. I think Carr may be a top 50.
Holmgren and Wemby are on that list as rookies. Flagg is definitely in that discussion.
The 50ish line is around Draymond, DeRozan, Julius Randle...that sort of player. It's pretty short-sided to think Flagg doesn't belong in that crowd.
Short sighted? We are not projecting where he WILL BE in a few years. We are talking NOW! Randle was in the MVP discussion a couple years ago. It’s been unrealistic to think he is top 50 NOW. Even top 100 would be optimistic, but maybe.
Agree here on Duke Sucks but I will have to say that most of us are at least being realistic about this game more so than when we played Zion and company. There was a lot of crow that had to be swallowed after that game. Nice to see that many have learned a lesson on there homer takes.
I watched about 6 minutes of that game and went to sleep. I found out what it was like to be an opposing fan of when our 2015 team came to town.
I’m still glad I didn’t finish it.
I agree 100%. I just hope after we get destroyed that no one is questioning Pope. The man deserves much more than a game.
Yet at the McD game he couldn't stand out in the slightest. He looked like just another guy.
Duke is much more than Flagg an unproven freshman. With that said I have no idea who wins that game. How can anyone predict a game when one team has never played a game together. Who knows at this point
Flagg is the best HS player I have seen since Zion and it ain't close and honestly I'd take him 10 times outta 10 over zion too. Kid is a monster. Honestly we have could beat Duke ONLY because its the beginning of the season but If I had to wager I'd say Duke by 9. I think we lose 2x in non con - Duke andOhio St IMO and lose 5 games inSEC Play which is good for 2nd or 3rd place in league. we end up a 3 or 4 seed IN dance and make elite 8 .
You say "one team has never played a game together". Basically, NEITHER team has. Proctor and Foster are the only 2 Dukies that have played together.
Caneintally, I'm not disputing your opinion on Flagg's basketball skills. But, I think you would be wrong 10 times out of 10 to take Flagg over Zion Williamson as a college freshman. Flagg may be a better individually skilled basketball player in every way possible, but Zion Williamson’s freakish, almost never seen before, combination of power and athleticism made it nearly impossible to match up with him in college. His explosiveness at his size was eye-popping. The issue is not skills or who is the better basketball player. The issue is impact on winning.
Williamson led Duke in almost every offensive category – points (23), FG% (68%), rebounds (9), steals (2), blocks (2), assists (2) – despite not really being a great basketball player.
Before our early game against them that season, I really thought PJ Washington (no slouch physically himself) could handle Williamson. Well, I watched that game live, and it was clear almost from the beginning that neither Washington or anybody else in college could match up physically with Williamson. He was like an Alabama defensive end who could move like Dominique Wilkins. Trying to contain his movement and keep him out of the lane and off the boards was impossible. It threw the whole defense off.
Back then I said that I didn’t think there was anyway his joints/body could hold up long-term to that kind of explosiveness at his weight – and I think that’s been proven to be an issue. But, on the other hand, his weight, and being able to do what he did at that weight, was a big part of the success I think.
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McDonald’s game performance not a standout but held his own vs Team USA. Some say a standout performance. Still think we win in a close game. Go Cats!!!!
That's what I was saying about him being "inconsistent". TOP 50 pro's are not that inconsistent. Sure they may have an off night, but 9 out of 10 they are "on".
He'll be good. But not great. He won't be JR or SR version of Laettner, he won't even be AD.
I think he'll be more like Jabrari Smith at Auburn or Brandon Miller at Alabama. Very good (college) players, who will eventually be very good Pro's. But not light-years better than other good college players.
I agree.
Is Flagg more skilled than Zion was. I'm sure he is. Zion wasn't dominating in college because of his skills (which were good, not great). He was dominating because of his physical attributes adding to his skills.
I see Flagg more like Jabari Smith, whom I would take in a heartbeat on my team. But not dominating (usually), just very good.
Circling back, there is really no stopping Flagg, unless he turns out to be heading towards being a bust.. I think 99% of UK fans know this.
The hope, though, is that THIS early in the season is probably when you can get him at his worst, still inexperienced, getting used to the college game, etc (Not any different than when many other CC teams beat a talented-but-inexperienced Kentucky team in November, right?).
So Flagg will likely get his, just don't let him dominate as best we can, the rest of the team, we should be able to handle. They aren't transcendent recruiting types, and all will likely struggle a bit in the early going. I see no reason to think that, Flagg-aside, their roster is any better than ours. More talented, liekly, but probably will be starting too young and inexperienced and under-developed for the college game.
This game is almost the exact opposite of when Cal's ultra-talented teams would sometimes struggle with less-talented but experienced teams early. Flagg might be a machine come March, but if there's any time to get a win on him, it's early in the season.
The hope, though, is that THIS early in the season is probably when you can get him at his worst, still inexperienced, getting used to the college game, etc (Not any different than when many other CC teams beat a talented-but-inexperienced Kentucky team in November, right?).
So Flagg will likely get his, just don't let him dominate as best we can, the rest of the team, we should be able to handle. They aren't transcendent recruiting types, and all will likely struggle a bit in the early going. I see no reason to think that, Flagg-aside, their roster is any better than ours. More talented, liekly, but probably will be starting too young and inexperienced and under-developed for the college game.
This game is almost the exact opposite of when Cal's ultra-talented teams would sometimes struggle with less-talented but experienced teams early. Flagg might be a machine come March, but if there's any time to get a win on him, it's early in the season.
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^^Boy, I sure wish our rivals gave the same credence to OUR elite recruits over the last 15 years. I don't think I;ve ever seen one of them give that sort of fair assessment to guys like Wall. AD, Fox, etc... "Beat us now, because you might not get another chance". Glad that most Kentucky fans can see this situation for exactly what it is and call it fairly: Duke is going to have the talent.
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