Why Cooper Flagg was the BEST Duke Freshman EVER & Perfect Player for the Dallas Mavericks
So, as we move into June and get closer to the NBA draft, everybody’s going to be talking about the fit between Cooper Flag and the Dallas Mavericks as he’s likely to be the number one selection in the NBA draft. Last week, I had the opportunity to team up with the guys over at Locked on Mavericks to talk about the fit, what it would look like moving forward, and what better thing to do than bring that conversation to you here today right here on Locked on Blue Devils. You are Locked on Blue Devils, your daily podcast on the Duke Blue Devils, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. On today’s show, what was impressive about Cooper Flag’s freshman year at Duke? How did he grow throughout the year? And how did he handle being the star of Duke basketball? We’ll talk about all that and more on today’s Lakam Mavs. All right, I got Martine back up. I mean, if we get top two, that’s insane. Fourth pick is the Charlotte Hornets. Charlotte Hornets and Philadelphia 76ers. Oh my god. Stop it. Stop. The number one pick will go on Dallas Mavericks. Cooper flag will fly in Dallas. You are Locked on M. Your daily Mavericks podcast. Part of the locked on podcast network. I still can’t leave you. Your team every day. I’m going to give a city like back and welcome. You are locked on to the Dallas Mavericks. Your team every day. My name is Nick Angad, medium member covering the Dallas Mavericks for 10 years. Thank you for being an everyday or making it locked on Mavs. Your first lesson. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can get $200 in bonus bets and your first $5 bet wins. Joining me on the show today from Locked on Blue Devils, JJ Jackson. What you got for me today? What a great day it is, Nick. I love the intro. I love the vibes in Dallas. There are Duke connections all over the place. I’m excited to be here, man. We’re back. It was great the day after the lottery for a million different reasons. Obviously, you could hear the excitement in my voice in the intro, but it was great seeing Duke post all the different like photoshops of Kyrie, Lively, and Flag all together like on different banners and screens and stuff like that. It was cool to see Duke get in on it. Yeah. No, Duke Shows has been incredible my entire life. They’re proudly promoting all the impressions that they’re able to get year by year and you got the guys at the NBA level. That’s what you want to sell if you’re Duke basketball. Like we can get you to the next and so yeah, add Cooper Flag to the list of top picks. Yeah, absolutely. So, we will talk to JJ. He followed Cooper Flag all throughout his freshman year. Obviously, watched all the games. He host Locked on Blue Devils, a daily show that covers Duke basketball. And so, if you are interested in I don’t know, you guys are getting a Boozer twin or like what are you what are you what are you looking at now for for Duke? you know, you just one number one recruiting class walks out the door, another one comes in. And so that’s uh we’re turning it over, doing it next year with the Boozer Twins. Yeah. So, if you’re interested in any of that, go check out Lockdown Blue Devils, anywhere you can get podcasts, anywhere you can get this show. But we’re going to talk about what was what, you know, how did Cooper Flag grow into his role throughout the year? How did he handle the pressure of being, you know, the face of Duke at 17 years old? I’m sure that was mentioned a few times during his during his freshman year. and uh just a bunch of things that he that JJ saw during his seasons. I just want to start with this though, just coming from somebody that watched him all through his watched him very closely and covered him. What’s impressive about Cooper Flag? It’s probably easier to tell you what’s not impressive about him because uh you know that that would be a very short list and I don’t know even where I would start that conversation. Uh, I think initially when you look at the recruiting world and him being such a high-profile guy that, you know, teams were going after and the fact that he’s from Maine, no one’s ever really made it from Maine and made it to the NBA level and he’s taking Maine to the highest of levels on a Peach Jam run throughout the recruiting circuits and people are really starting to talk about him and his twin brother Ace. And, you know, I talk about the Boozer Twins. That was a very active back and forth constantly, the Flag Twins and the Boozer Twins going at it one-on-one. So very quickly you saw that this was a guy the entire basketball world in the college circles we’re going to be trying to figure out where he was going to. Duke ultimately is the decision that he makes and when you watch him play immediately I think his competitiveness is the first thing that jumps off the screen to you and then just his ability to do literally every single thing that you could want on a basketball floor. It’s hard not to like this guy or be impressed. That’s the thing that I keep hearing from people is just that he he covers the whole landscape of of basketball. He can do he can do almost anything, which is why I’m so high on him obviously as a basketball player, but then just even his rookie year to be able to fill in whatever gap the Mavs need or whatever he can do as a rookie, like do that and then the Mavs will fill in the rest of it around him. I think that it’s just it’s just such a good fit right away. Uh what do you remember about the recruiting aspect of it of of getting him the day that you you know realized that Cooper Flag was going to come to Duke? Like what part of that do you remember? No, I mean I remember all of it. I remember the the conversations that you know Duke was obviously the number one leader to win Cooper flag and the sweep stakes. He grew up a Duke basketball fan. When you look at what Duke has been able to do in terms of sending players to the NBA and also now this line of number one picks that they’ve been able to send off to the league as well, it’s a very easy sell for John Shire and his coaching staff. Uh, I remember Nick that at one time it was thought that both Camboozer and Cooper Flag, the top two players in the class of 2025, were going to end up at Duke. And then after that Peach Jam run, we learned that that’s not really the timeline Cooper Flag wanted to have. He wanted kind of his own year at Duke. And so he makes the decision to reclass a year early so they can all be on their own paths and make the decision to recruit immediately after that. AJ Deansa made a decision to jump up a class. That’s kind of the world of college recruiting that we’re in right now. But for Cooper, as soon as he decided he was going to go to Duke, he was locked in all the way, made the commitment. It was incredible. We started promoting the main event all over the place. We’re raising the flag much like you are now in Dallas. I mean, it was incredible to think that this was going to be the guy that’s going to come and save Duke basketball once again. Not that it necessarily needed to be saved, but when you’ve got a guy as good as he is, like, yeah, that’s worth celebrating over and over again. It’s wild. It’s wild. Every time I talk to a locked on college host, like if I talk to our Auburn host, Zack Blackerby, about like you’re you’re you’re waiting on the decision of a 17-year-old like to change the life of your program or to like make this decision like they’re they’re going to English and you’re like waiting for them to make their recruiting decision. It is just so wild to uh Zach one time was like, “Yeah, you know, I was DMing this this player and he was like, “Hold on, I got to go take an English exam and then I’ll I’ll I’ll respond to this. It’s the life we live, man. It’s like school first. There’s such a different world. That’s our student athlete.” One of the s What that’s so funny. What one of the one of the things I heard about Cooper Flag when he chose Duke was that John Sher actually like was was critiquing parts of his game. What did you see from from Flag as far as the wanting to get better and did you hear any stories like that during or even throughout the year? That that’s one of the things that John Shy and his staff immediately want to talk about is that when you have the number one recruiting class every single year, you could think that, you know, it’s going to be easy to come in and make an impact right away. That’s not always the case. Um for for these players and for John Shy in his recruiting process, let me critique your game. Let me motivate you a little bit more. I’m already here. you clearly want to play for the program, but this is what we’re going to be able to do to help you get better. And so for a guy like Cooper Flag, who then took that on as a challenge himself and left his hometown of up in Maine to go to Mont Ver to play on a much larger national schedule, wins a national championship in high school, and then is able to continue to build on this by going to Duke. I mean, that was really big in what um Shy was doing in the recruiting process was finding different ways to challenge him early on. What were the reasons he chose Duke? And did you ever get a non-canned media trained answer from Cooper Flag? Because man, he it feels like every interview he knows exactly what to say. No, he’s definitely a pro. He’s definitely there. I I truly do believe that it was simply that, you know, he he loved Duke basketball uh growing up. He really liked the program. He liked the guys that he was around uh in his recruiting circles. Somebody like Jason Tatum was really close to him. And that has been something great that Duke’s been able to rely on are all these premier players that are already at the next level that you’re able to connect with and relate. They call it the brotherhood for a reason. I know Jason Tatum was really involved in his recruitment and that was a big thing for Cooper Flag to be able to pick his brain and kind of learn from him along the way. And then a guy much closer in age to him that Cooper Flag got to know throughout the AAOU world and then on visits to Duke and that sort of thing was Paulo Beno. another guy that had this, you know, great year, led Duke to the final four, became the number one overall pick. And so, there were guys your age that we can point to right away that can help you get there. Um, and then not to mention Duke had Grant Hill in the room to help with some of those conversations. Grant Hill running USA basketball sets up an opportunity for this high school guy before he ever even plays a game of college basketball to go and work with Team USA ahead of the Paris Olympics. like all of that is a big reason why he wanted to play at Duke. Hearing all the NBA players talk about how Cooper Flag played at that Team USA scrimmage was just insane. Was there one that stood out to you? Uh yeah, I mean just Anthony Davis and now thinking about the connection that’s going to be there uh with them being on the same team and a couple of like pullup jumpers that he’s got right there with AD. He’s going on the baseline and making plays, finishing around the rim. Uh, I I thought that his dad after the scrimmage in particular, Cooper’s dad that is, was really funny talking about the fact that, you know, Cooper was really nervous going into a workout like that. And his dad basically told him, “It’s just basketball. Go out there and do it.” Reporters came to talk to his dad after the fact the scrimmage. And his dad basically said, “I think he’s going to be okay in college basketball. I think he at least proved that today that this guy’s going to be fine in the college game.” He was right, by the way. Imagine your dad telling you, “Hey, you know, you’re going to play against the best players in the world.” It was like Anthony Davis, Drew Holiday, like Steph Curry. You’re like, “It’s just basketball, man. Like, it’s just the same.” Like, I don’t know, man. This is like the highest level basketball players that exist out there. Yeah. Uh, coming up, let’s get into how Duke used Flag. I think one of the most important things about about scouting, especially a basketball player, is how a team used that player and how they’re going to be used on the next level. Let’s talk about that and more coming up. [Music] Today’s episode of Lock Maps is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, FanDuel has all kinds of ways you can get in on the action and check out uh they got I’m sure they have college futures if you’re if you’re really into college basketball. But right now, we got the the NBA playoffs going right now, the Eastern Conference Finals after the Pacers had that insane game against the Knicks. Pacers are minus six uh minus 166 to win the series. I feel like that went up from last night. So maybe got some more money on the Knicks. under overreacting. Pacers are now plus 500 to win the title now. They are the favorites ahead of the Knicks obviously and then the Thunder minus 230 to win the title. All kinds of great stuff like that. Go check it out on FanDuel. If you’re new to FanDuel, it’s a perfect time to sign up. Head to FanDuel.com. Place your first $5 bet. If that one wins, you get $200 in bonus bets. Make every moment more of FanDuel, official sports betting partner of the NBA. Shut it down. Let’s go home. Thanks for hanging out with us on Locked on Maps, being part of the show, part of what we call the raccoon squad. That’s our listeners. We appreciate each and every one of you for checking out the show. Subscribe to the text line if you want to get alerts on rumors and all kinds of stuff like that. 214-6438637. Thanks for shaking your head along with that, JJ to get get the people to subscribe to the I love it. U we’re here with JJ Jackson from Locked on Blue Devils. How did Duke use Cooper flag? Let’s just start on offense or let’s just start with like position offense. Uh because I think the context of how a player gets used in college matters so much. You have these certain players that they’re used in one way and then in the NBA they might be something completely different. So how did they use flag just on offense? Yeah. At many different ways throughout the course of the season. At times he was the initiator. At times they’d be able to hit him up in a postup situation. At times he’d be more of a catch and shoot guy. The luxury that Duke had this season again was that they were a team that’s going to have three lottery picks this season on their roster. Here we are for Dallas talking about, you know, Cooper Flag being the selection. Had this not, you know, ended up being the number one pick, maybe I’m telling you about Khan Canipple or Kaman Malawatch because of what they’re going to be able to do at the next level. And so, uh, with Cooper Flag being the initiator oftent times, uh, with Malawatch setting a pick and roll, I mean, you can’t really stop that when a 7-2 guy is running to the rim in the college game and it’s Cooper Flag who could do anything he wants to with the ball in his hands, throwing it up or finishing through contact himself. I mean, they just found many, many different ways to get him the basketball. It’s kind of just pick and choose each time down the floor. when you had a Cougar flag like Malawash pick and pick and roll. How often did you did you see that and what kind of came from a lot of those plays? Yeah. No, you saw that definitely a good bit. I mean, it was something that Duke would go to late in the shot clock when they needed to get a good look if Flag had the ball out at the top of his key because Duke had so many great shooters around him as well. Cooper Flag led Duke in every statistical category throughout the season, which is just really unheard of in a college game when you’re talking about 40 minutes up and down the floor. Uh but he he let him in points, rebounds, steals, assists, blocks, everything. Uh and so for him to be able to know that I’ve got the screen and roll with Malawatch. He’s going to be available at the rim at 72 or I’ve got Canipple out on the wing. I’ve got Tyrese Proctor who’s shooting at greater than 40% on the opposite wing. Seion James is a great downhill driver. Like he had so many options available to him. It was easy to lead the team in assists and be one of the best passing guys in the sport this year. That’s going to be an interesting part of his first season, especially early on with the Mavericks with Kyrie out for at least a little while in the season. It’s it’s going to be interesting to see how they use Cooper Flag as an initiator. And so hearing those kind of things like hearing him run a pick and roll with a 72 center. He’s got Anthony Davis and now Derrick Lively and Daniel Gaffford and like that it’s something he’s probably going to be asked to do a lot this year. So that that to me is very interesting. What about his role? Go ahead. No, I was just going to say ab the fact that he’s got so many options to share the ball with and then you mention everybody that he’s going to walk in and join this Dallas Mavericks team. Like it’s going to be really fun to see. Yeah. What What was his role on defense? Did you see him as a as a point of attack defender, as just a as a help defender? Was he tasked with guarding the best perimeter player? Like what what did they ask him to do? I I hate that people might think I’m just a copy and paste guy here, Nick, but it was a whole lot of just everything. Like whatever you ask this guy to do, he was able to do that going into the year. So many people were talking about his defensive ability that just watching him play high school basketball, it wasn’t fair because no matter if he was guarding his own man or if he was playing help defense, like the ball was going to be altered at the rim. It was going to be swatted away because Cooper flag was just going to cover so much ground. And right away, immediately, first game of the season that Duke has, they’re playing Maine. What a fun dynamic that is to bring the Maine Bears down to play Duke for the first game of the year. and a couple of possessions in, he’s got a knock away already uh at the rim. And it was just something that he did throughout the entire season as a defender. I thought his ability to even get up and push pressure and play the passing lanes uh was really dynamic and special and something I don’t think that Duke necessarily thought he would be as good at that quickly. Uh but that was really impressive, too. Yeah. Were they surprised by how good Cooper Flag was early on? all throughout the year. I mean, it was just like coach would continuously talk about how the no moment phased him like he was ready for any challenge. He was ready to take over. Uh late in the year or early in the year, I should say, late in games, Duke lost a couple against Kansas and Kentucky, uh where Cooper Flag was dealing with some cramping issues, um and had some turnovers late in the game that cost Duke the game. But there was not a single doubt of doubting the decision to put the ball in his hands for him to make the play for him to come up big time and throughout the course of the year he was able to turn that around and go out there and win some games for Duke. It was It’s kind of hilarious going back and watching some of these Cooper flag games because the announcers are especially early in the season they’re like he’s just 17 years old. I feel like they say that every single possession. It’s like them saying Shay Gilders Alexander and Nquil Alexander Walker are cousins like in the Western Conference Finals right now. Um, how did Flag handle the pressure of being the face of Duke at 17? Like you said, he reclassified. He came in super young, wasn’t he? I think he was like the second youngest player in college basketball this year, right? Yeah. No, absolutely. I I think kind of what we’re talking about with it feels like there are a bunch of canned answers. That would be probably where you saw that the most to him. He, you know, this is my everyday life. I am 17. So what? I’m just out here playing basketball. Like I don’t think it’s that big of a deal to be doing the things that I’m doing. But then December 21st came along. He turns 18. We can stop that narrative. Duke played a game at Georgia Tech that day. And it was really cra as soon as he turned the one part of his game that was kind of slow to come along was the three-point shot. And as soon as he turned 18 years old, it’s like he figured it out all of a sudden. In the second half of the season, he was greater than 40% shooting from three-point range. even the one area where you could kind of point to and it’s like 30 I, you know, not ideal and then it’s like, okay, I’ll turn 18 years old and all of a sudden I figured out how to shoot the three ball and uh was kind of crazy how that it winded up that way. Was there anything that led to his three-point shot improving, do you think, or was it literally just he woke up one day and just said, “All right, I’m just going to shoot really well now.” Because he he shot 38%. And I I heard that as a question for him all throughout the year and then all of a sudden at the end of the year you go, “Oh my gosh, he’s like actually a really good three-point shooter by percentage.” I think it was just the work that he put in. That’s what Duke kept talking about throughout the season. Like you couldn’t get this guy out of the gym. If you go back and watch his high school highlights, which uh are really entertaining to go back and do I love doing that with these guys that are just clearly so good at basketball and you’ve got future just everydayers out there walking around and playing in these games, it’s so obvious this guy’s going to be the NBA player. Um, if you go back and watch those, his shot looks so different formwise to what it does today. Like, it just looked real clunky compared to what Duke’s been able to do putting the work in with him. and he just wanted to make it be a better part of his game. And so that was really big for him to do. Going back to how they used him, do you think they ever misused him in any way at Duke or is it possible? It’s really hard to get there for me to kind of mis to to criticize the way that they use the best player in the sport. I mean, there was this ongoing debate throughout the year if it’s Cooper flag or Janiah Broom at Auburn for national player of the year. And it was just so obvious with what Cooper is able to do in every area of the game that he’s the best player in the sport. Let’s give him all the national player of the year awards. I’m glad they ultimately got that right. And so, yeah, when I look at how Duke used him this year, I don’t know that I would have changed anything, man. Because, uh, it was truly incredible. Yeah, the Jai Broom stuff is going to be fascinating how that goes forward because I’m not sure he’s going to be I’m not sure where he’s going to get drafted or if he is going to get drafted in the first round. And yeah, that’s going to be an interesting comparison. We have that debate all the time, you know, how these college guys that are so great, but obviously don’t have the hype in NBA circles. How do you really compare the two? And for me, I guess this is the Duke in me, seeing all the Duke guys ultimately ending up at the next level and in the NBA. It’s like clearly if people want this guy at the next level, he’s the best player. Let’s make sure that he’s recognized with those awards with everything that he’s doing. And Cooper Flag did that. Coming up, let’s talk about Derrick Lively and Cooper Flag a little bit. Two two Duke two dookies coming together. Let’s talk about how they’re going to play together and then uh his competitive streak. Did it ever cost Duke throughout the year? We’ll talk about that in [Music] more. All right, here locked on Mavericks. I’m here with Locked on Blue Devil’s host JJ Jackson. You know, we have a we have like 80 colleges or something covered. I don’t know if everybody knows that we have so many different colleges covered. So, go check out your f if you have a school and you’re like, “This is my favorite school. Go check out and see if they have a show that covers your team.” It’s probably It probably is the case. Very likely. That’s insane how many you just keep adding them, too. It’s like Zack’s like, “Oh, we’re just adding another show. We’re adding another school.” Like, “Oh, okay, cool.” Um be like if I just added another NBA team like all right we’re adding the supersonics back. Um the maps have Derrick Lively. He was he played at Duke and he had a he had an interesting Duke season his freshman year. What did you when you imagine those two pairing to like pairing together? How do you see those how do you envision those guys playing off of each other? I’m so excited thinking about the pairing of Cooper Flag and Derek Lively together out there on the floor. I mentioned common mile to watch on this past year’s Duke team. Uh if basketball junkies out there want some good content, there’s a video that Duke put out this off season of Derek Lively coming back to campus and going through an entire workout with Malawatch. Like really impressive stuff that they’re both miked up. They’re both going through various drills. Lively is kind of teaching a future Duke center in the NBA what it’s going to take, how to be successful in the college game. And I can’t help but go back to that in my head right now, thinking about Cooper Flag, learning what Lively had said about pairing with Malawatch and now just being able to do that himself as the guy catching the lobs at the rim and being able to help him in defensive coverages on the help side and that sort of thing. So, the fact that those two guys are going to end up as teammates, uh, not to mention Kyrie Irving Duke going everywhere in Dallas, like that’s going to be so much fun, man. I’m so excited for that part of it. Yeah, that that pairing is gonna be very interesting because that’s the future of the Mavericks now. It’s it’s Cooper Flag and it’s Derrick Lively who are going to be I went through I did a crazy episode recently where I went through like the 10-year the next 10 years for Cooper Flag, like what that looks like when that next contract comes, when Anthony Davis and Kyrie’s contracts run out, things like that. And I was like, and here’s Lively growing right with him, like right alongside him. It’s going to be fascinating to see those guys play together. And I think they fit so well. You mentioned how he plays off of Malawatch and how he was able to run pick and rolls with him. defense between those two is just going to be insane as well. Yeah. No, the fact that they’re going to be able to kind of learn from one another and I I think Lively’s game obviously benefits from what Cooper Flag’s going to be able to bring to the table and then for Cooper himself knowing that I’ve got the experience of Derrick Lively right there with me. Anthony Davis is a good guy to have kind of in your corner as well going back to their USA mini camp days from a season ago. That’s going to be really exciting, too. I mean, I I think it’s an unbelievable fit that Dallas ends up with this number one pick. I will say the state of North Carolina and a lot of the surrounding Duke area a little upset it didn’t end up going Charlotte’s way. I know with him just making the hour trip down the road over to the Queen City to play for them, but Dallas is a good spot for him to end up. Not the only state that’s mad at the at the Mavericks, right? It’s like it was insane how mad David Lock got the Utah or locked on Jazz host. how mad the Wizards guys got, how bad everybody wasn’t. And I was like, another good thing happened to Mavericks. Raise the flag, man. Raise the flag. You mentioned his Cooper Flags competitive streak. We’ve seen a bunch of clips of him calling out like the VJ Edgecom clip of him calling him out was is just awesome. How did you see that benefit or cost Duke throughout the year? Really didn’t see it cost him in any area. I I think if anything, it did benefit them. I think if anything, it it brought kind of his teammates along with him. you know, hey, if this is our best player, Cooper, who’s out there running his mouth, trying to hype us up a little bit, like, let’s follow let’s follow his lead. Clearly, I think that ended up being just such a great thing for this Duke basketball team. They had a run in ACC play where Duke won seven, eight, nine games in a row by 20 plus points. I mean, it just was not competitive. It was a down year in the ACC. And in some ways, John Shire kept talking about, I really don’t want my team to start to sleepwalk through the season and then after the game, they’d win by 20 and he’d immediately go to, well, yeah, Cooper got them ready to go. They were ready to play. We were fired up for this one. I think that was kind of the big thing where you realize every single night it means something for the opposition to beat Duke, especially when they’ve got Cooper Flag who’s all over the highlights. He’s everywhere. That’s the only thing people are talking about. He’s the reason the gym is sold out tonight. He’s going to put on a show for these people and he’s going to make sure his team’s ready to play. Did you see that role from Cooper Flag as a vocal vocal leader or was it just lead by example where he was screaming at guys that he was playing against so everybody just followed along? Like how did you see that role play out him getting them? A little a little of both. I I don’t think he was uh as vocal of a leader as I’ve seen at Duke and at the college game, but when he needed to be, he definitely was. you know, uh I think the majority of it was he’s putting forth the most effort here against a game or a team that we’re winning by so much. Um I think Khan Canipple, who’s going to be a top 10 pick um alongside Cooper Flag, is just as competitive as he is. And that is one of the number one friendships that Cooper has talked about that he’s so excited to carry on for the rest of his life. And they kept talking after the games about just the competitive rivalry they had themselves. You know, Cooper wanted to be just as dynamic of a three-point shooter as Khan Canipple was. Let’s try to find ways to be competitive with one another within practice, within a game, and that sort of thing. So, I think that is where the competitiveness came from. When he needed to find a motivator, he would just kind of look in the locker room around him and find a teammate. Is Cooper Flag the best freshman that’s ever played at Duke? We you mentioned a couple of good ones. Paulo Beno, obviously Marvin Bagley had an incredible season that year at Duke. Is he the best one? He is. He is. Yeah. I think uh that was something that we talked about throughout the course of the year is like, is this guy going to ultimately leave an imprint on Duke basketball by being the best freshman ever? And when you look at every single thing he was able to do, I mentioned leading Duke in every statistical category throughout the season going and being 19-1 in ACC games. That had never been done before in the 20ame schedule. No team had ever won more than 17 conference games. Duke won 19. Uh winning the ACC regular season, winning the ACC tournament, leading them all the way to the final four. uh and then winning all of the national player of the year awards that had never been done by a Duke freshman before. Um yeah, he he definitely has done that. I think when you look at the closest it would be what Zion Williamson was able to do back in 2019, but some of those individual things in the team success that Cooper had this year kind of puts him a step beyond Zion. Here we are, you know, 20 plus minutes into this thing. haven’t mentioned Zion once, but you know, there’s another guy that Duke’s been able to point to in their long line of premier players. Yeah, talk about filling arenas and talking about a guy that made a huge impact. Um, how did you see Cooper Flag react or respond to missing that shot because that’s my the most visible thing he probably did last year that just that came up a bunch and I see it in comment sections now like, “Oh, he missed the shot. That that’s the number one pick. That’s the guy you’re going to get is the guy that missed that shot in the the final four. But how’d you see him respond to that? If you’re seeing it, I promise you I’m seeing it because it’s everywhere. I I want I want I want to look away at all places, Nick. U but for Cooper, I I think he just carried on like he understood immediately after the game. Said that was the shot he was looking for. Understands basketball is a hard game at the end of the day and sometimes they go in and sometimes they don’t. Duke wants to live with that shot each and every day. Uh that’s the look that they wanted to have when the season was on the line was putting the ball in number two Cooper Flag’s hands and ultimately it just didn’t go down in that moment. I know that it still eats at him. I know that it still eats at coach John Shier that this was a team that did not win the national championship when it felt like all season the stars were aligning for that to be the case. But yeah, man, that shot still bothers him to this day, I’m sure. JJ Jackson of Lockdown Blue Devils, thanks so much for hanging out with us. We’ll have lots of other shows all throughout the the week and the weekend. We’ll do extra shows, bonus shows, and like I said, wherever you get your podcast, you can listen to Locked on Blue Devils all over the place. Guys, thanks for hanging out with us on Locked on Mavs. Peace out. Flying the flag. Guess we’re flying the flag now.
Cooper Flagg and the Dallas Mavericks are set to make waves in the NBA. How will Flagg’s impressive freshman year at Duke translate to his rookie season with the Mavs? Nick Angstadt and JJ Jackson discuss Cooper Flagg’s growth at Duke, his potential fit with the Dallas Mavericks, and how he might pair with teammates like Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving, and Dereck Lively II. They analyze Flagg’s versatility, leadership, and competitive streak, while also touching on his performance in Team USA scrimmages and his impact on Duke’s successful season.
Twitter: @LO_BlueDevils | @_JJ_Jackson_
The Locked On Blue Devils Podcast with host JJ Jackson is a daily show that brings you the latest news & headlines from Duke Blue Devils Athletics. Every day, we will discuss the biggest stories from Duke Basketball and Football and feature special guests including athletes, coaches and insiders for an in-depth look. Locked On Blue Devils is a part of the Locked On Podcast Network.
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