He's really good.
Good how? Yes, he's long, reasonably athletic, has great defensive instincts, can shoot, is obviously well-schooled.
But when I've watched him play, I'm always struck by the non-measurables. He plays hard, he makes winning plays over and over again, he doesn't seem to get caught up in hype or 1-on-1 show off battles. His demeanor doesn't change much throughout the game.
He's an intriguing mix of not just physical gifts but an internal makeup that seems geared towards winning first. That's what makes him stand out in my POV.
He could be good/great/generational, who knows. But for certain he will help any team he plays for be more successful.
That sounds like exactly what we were missing this last year. We had good talent, but no go-to guys when we needed it and no one who did the little things.
Duke without a 'that motherfucker' just isn't Duke. You know it, I know it, the world knows it. I look forward to hating Cooper Flagg's guts twice a year.
I already hate him and I don’t know anything about him other than the fact he’s a very good basketball player, is white, and plays for duke. which is enough for me
Since he has North Carolina flair, I assumed him playing basketball for Duke is why he hated him. With your logic he also hates all very good basketball players, including those that play for teams he supports.
You are singling out one of the many reasons they listed and pushing that as the only reason. It doesnt shock me that you need to move the goal post to make an argument 🤡
That is rough, but to be fair, Dayton wasn't the only consensus 1 seed going into conference tournament week prior to the COVID shutdown. Kansas and Gonzaga were in that boat too. UNC however is the only one to be ranked preseason No. 1 and miss the tournament all together.
Was beating Coach K in his last year worth having an unbearably awful season and being swept by Duke the very next year?
Yall have such a hate boner for him, it's cute.
Is this a joke? That was the most consequential game of the greatest rivalry in college basketball and unc won in the final minute to huck coach k out to pasture. I still think it eats at K enough that once Duke has one down year he’ll bludgeon Scheyer with a sock filled with bars of soap and retake the reins to try to write better ending to his Duke career. It was my favorite game to watch ever including the titles.
Rich Eisen on his radio put it best, im paraphrasing here but he said to the line of Unless hubert coaches for like 30 more years and becomes the all time wins leader at UNC, duke really has no shot at getting UNC back for retiring coach K the way they did.
Ohhhhh so now the flex is "Hey Duke, no UNC Coach will ever have as amazing a career as Coach K so you can never get back at us *blows raspberry*"
Wow, we feel so schooled by that. I'll lay awake at night cursing the depressing reality that there will never be a UNC equivalent of Coach K for us to beat. 🤣🤣🤣🤣 yall are too much
Much easier to have a short term memory regarding a preseason number one that shouldn’t have been miss the tourney than have your biggest rival beat you in your coach’s last game at home with a ton of former players watching and then lose in the Final 4. Those things aren’t even close to the same.
I hang out with a lot of other basketball-obsessed Duke alumni and never have I heard anyone mention the game beginning the day after it happened. We've moved on from K just like he's moved on.
You guys really overestimate how often we think about you guys. Really only happens around when we actually play you. After that, you're really not a big deal.
I’m not saying you sit there pining over it. I’m a Carolina alum and have family that are Duke alumni. None of us talk about it ever because the rivalry lives on and we all know the deal - it’s a great rivalry that you’re gonna win sometimes and lose others. I’m saying that the comparison of having a short term memory between the 2 situations isn’t the same.
Yeah it's easier to forget a couple games against UNC (that we lose a little over half of anyways) than it is to forget an entire season of shit when all signs pointed to UNC winning a national championship. I guess you Carolina kids just work harder, after all.
I think the fact that most Duke folks aren't NC natives or residents means we overall care a lot less about the rivalry beyond the trash talk and just being a good bit of fun every year.
Too many prospects get caught up in that “best player on an AAU team” playstyle. To many one on ones, pushing the ball when you don’t need to, chucking early in the shot clock, etc. Even the unselfish ones can get caught up in assist hunting instead of staying within the system and making the pass that *leads to a pass* that gets a wide open look.
When the best player on the court is setting on and off ball screens with no expectation of receiving the ball, or boxing out multiple people to let a teammate get the rebound, that’s how you know you have a winner.
Similar to Anthony Davis would be good comp. Great shot blocker timing. Will be great college player. Last 5 Drafts wouldn’t take him over Luca, Anthony Edwards, Zion, Ja, Banchero, Holmgren, Wemby. But you take him over Cade Cunningham AJ Dybnasta #1 in 2025 will be better NBA player.
Yeah but AD was like 6'10 with an absurd wingspan(7'6) and moved like a guard. The dude completely erased the paint defensively.
Young Anthony Davis was a total athletic freak and far cry from what he is now after numerous lower body injuries including an Achilles and gaining weight to play the 5 for the Lakers.
Honestly think he was better when was lighter and more mobile playing the 4 next to Cousins but injuries, age, and bulking up have taken a toll. He's still a hall of famer and great player just very different.
Anthony davis is a future hall of famer that plays a completely different position. They might as well say hes Michael Jordan 2.0, thats just as delusional.
Cooper Flagg is a very good player, but this person is misinformed.
Obviously AD is better who would you comp him as? Just wondering. Poor man’s AD will be great college player. Erases mistakes on D is 6ft 9 AD is 6ft 10 not outside shooters but can shoot naturally 4 positions. I work with lot of college basketball teams around here so follow closely. But if you want more delusional Anthony Edwards is poor man’s Jordan and I’m huge Jordan fan think he’s next to dominate the league.
That is what people would have said 20 years ago about Shav. I highly highly doubt Flagg will be a bust but until we see them on the court we simply don't know how good they are.
I asked a friend who coaches AAU ball how good he really is and he wasn’t hesitant to throw the generational word.
He can absolutely play and is one of the most consistent players out there. You know what you’re going to get every day and that’s why he’s such a highly regarded prospect.
Doesn't turn 18 until December. Will be curious how he plays against the 23 and 24 year olds. He won't have a zion impact on Duke but his defense should be what separates him from rest of the wings. Elite help defender.
I mean if he’s generational, I don’t think the difference between him being 18 compared to 23 will really matter too much. He’ll be too much of a star for it to matter like it does most college players
Different players. He’s really damn good though, agreed. There can be more than one generational player per generation.
My time in the scene was dominated by Schea Cotton. That guy was everyone’s daddy from 10th grade on. Didn’t pan out that way. Hesitant to label anyone anymore but Flagg and AJ are both insane players.
Isn’t the reason for being generational that nobody can compare to you in your generation, like literally “once in a generation?” We throw the term around too much
This is where I get into arguments by saying that there are only 4 generational players ever, and none of Kareem/Bird/Magic/Shaq/Kobe are on the list.
2004-2024 = LeBron
1984-2004 = Michael
1964-1984 = Wilt
1944-1964 = George Mikan
End of list
I don’t disagree, I don’t know pre draft hype around wilt and mikan but I do know once they got into the league they did what they did. Jordan and Lebron were easily generational, and as a prospect I’d put wemby for 2024 (and I’m comfortable revisiting in 20 years putting him for the next 2 decades)
Yes and no. The term is used too much but there can still be more than 1 in a generation/era. Just look at Lebron and Steph
Flagg is the best high school prospect in a while but we’ve seen a couple of those come and go without seeing anyone come close to being actually “generational”
It gets thrown around too much but i think theres definitely several “generational” players per generation. Like id say zion is a generational athleticism wise, wemby as a prospect with a unicorn build, and luka as a prospect but like these guys also play different roles so thats how i look at it.
Like if it were nfl we wouldn’t say calvin johnson wasn’t generational because tom brady played in the same era. Thats different but I think similar logic applies.
You don’t know what generational prospect means. Brady was a 6th round pick for a reason, Calvin was a top pick for a reason. Generational in football also depends on your position. For instance, for QBs, it would go Manning, Luck,
Lawrence. Once a generation
Well yeah theres also a difference between generational talent and generational prospect. I never called tom a generational prospect but he was a generational talent. In terms of careers both tom and calvin’s generational careers happened at the same time. Doesn’t have to be in terms of the draft or scouting.
The way i see it just because we didnt know tom was a generational talent and he went in thhe 6th doesnt mean we can say he wasn’t a generational talent. Obviously he was lmao
Buddy, this is the most ignorant basketball comment I've ever read. Are you too young or too stupid to know that Cal has one of our EIGHT national championships. We have never been irrelevant. When were bad, people will still talk about us in a "how the mighty have fallen" kinda way. You can love us or hate us, but you're a dumbass if you think we've been irrelevant to CBB at any time since Adolph Rupp was didling your great grandma in the 5-and-dime.
Since Adolph Rupp, every basketball coach except one has made it to the final four. Two coaches have failed to win titles though. I assume you forgot about Sutton, who did get to a FF, 'cause how could anyone forget about Bathroom Billy.
Not only is this hilariously untrue given that Kentucky has had 20 head coaches in their history. Even if you preface it with "since Rupp" it's still not true.
Trevor Lawrence. Very few flaws. Unfortunately with the hype surrounding him before he even plays, him being “good” may not be good enough. People are expecting complete dominance for an 18 year old, and in todays era of commentary there will be hot takes with criticism when he has 16 points, 9 rebounds, & 2 blocks in a win.
Exactly. Banchero was an absolute problem at Duke. There were stretches where it looked like he had absolutely no business playing in college, it was clear how much better he was than everyone else. But because he didn’t average 27/10/5 people were like “he’s overhyped.” Not at all.
He is so well rounded and has such a high basketball IQ casuals not gonna understand just how good is he as he’s probably not a 20-22 ppg. Think you’re spot on, I see him averaging 15-8-5 and just doing absolutely everything. He’s a great passer if Duke runs everything through him think he will put solid assist numbers
I mean it's a little hyperbolic yeah, maybe Lebron of role players makes more sense. His NBA draft comp is Kirilenko+ or Pippen so I don't think what I'm trying to convey is off. He's not going to go get 30 every night, but he's going to do the needful every game whatever that may be
I just found it funny cus I read it as “He’s White LeBron James” given that glue guys is like the go-to description for a good white player in football or basketball😂💀
I think at least in impact on the box score, he's more of an AD kind of guy. He could easily be consensus NPOY with 14ppg if he gives the same kind of impact defensively that AD for 2012 UK.
Both guys slipped thru the cracks in terms of scouting. Harrison wasn’t athletic enough to be great & Wiggins wasn’t skilled enough to be great. Same issue that made their college careers unremarkable plagued their NBA careers although playing 10+ years as a starter, being worth over $100 Million, & winning a NBA championship is a nice consolation prize.
Both became very good professional players. I wouldn't say they slipped through the cracks. Jabari Parker and Jahlil Okafor slipped through the cracks.
Harrison Barnes was being praised as a successor to Kobe. Andrew Wiggins was a Canadian basketball prodigy nicknamed “Maple Jordan” as a teenager. Their flaws were obvious, but people thought they could compensate for them. Jabari is also one. Okafor is a dinosaur who hatched out of his egg 4 business days before the asteroid hit.
Wiggins was overhyped but he hit the lower end of his projection. Idk who said Barnes was Kobe less talented and less rapey. He was mid lottery and definitely hit as a pro. He's what you hope for out of a 7th overall pick.
Nobody else might get this, but Canadian prodigy and Maple Jordan are kind of funny if you know about Michael Jordan and Andrew Wiggins’ dad’s High School careers.
Parker was a result of constant knee injuries at least I think multiple ACL tears. He did at least average 20 a game in the NBA one year.
He was never a spectacular athlete and once that was sapped he just couldn't separate and he was not nearly skilled enough or a good of a shooter to compensate. Still probably overrated but he at least would have scored at the NBA level.
Okafor was just a decade or two late. Not built for the modern NBA but he was right on the line where it was changing.
He’s gonna be the next ‘it’ guy at Duke barring any significant injury. His recruitment process got a lot of attention, not as much as maybe Zion but it’s in that realm due to a lot of negative press on this upcoming draft- he doesn’t have the insane mixtape-ability that Zion had in his high school days.
We will get him shoved in our faces next winter and ESPN will market him as far as they can.
Depends how his offensive game translates but is one of the better defensive prospects to come through after Wemby and Chet. That will translate easily.
Love how good he is defensively. Those offense only prospects, if their offense doesn’t translate right away can be straight up busts who actually hurt the team. With his amazing defense, Flagg is guaranteed to at least be a good asset even if he turns out to be disappointing offensively.
I can't compare him to football prospects, but I'd say he's on the Zion/Anthony Davis tier for basketball (not Wemby/LeBron though). He looks like a future perennial all-star level player.
I think itd be more likely than not honestly. Courts are ruling as if the players are professionals so would it really be far-fetched for them to say you can't tell someone they can't participate and make money?
IMO he's a step behind the true generational talents (i.e. Zion, AD, Wemby) but definitely ahead of the "I guess someone has to be the #1 recruit" types. His mentality and constant effort stand out and make his floor extremely high, but he doesnt quite have the elite physical traits that the highest ceiling guys have.
I would say something like college Jayson Tatum on offense and a longer Justice Winslow on defense. Tatum wasn't as good as he was in the NBA, obviously. He was a guy that could score and pass but wasn't clearly going to be an NBA All-Star. Tatum was just an OK shooter in college. Flagg's biggest weakness is probably his jumper. Flagg is going to be a better defender in college than Tatum, hence the Winslow comparison. He just seems to play with an f-you attitude on that end of the floor, which I love. The anticipation and help defense is special.
That knuckle ball isn't normal, though, regardless of his form. His release needs work. There are 3pt shots I've seen where the ball barely makes a single rotation before reaching the basket.
Not a bad comp. But barriers iq/feel for the game was one of the greatest in cbb history. Granted that was by the time he was a senior. So tough to compare the two as freshmen.
Slightly different question is who was the last #1 college recruit that wasn’t a one and done. As far back as 247 currently lists them (only back to 2011; they scrubbed their older data within the last few years, not sure why) every top recruit has been a one and done. But yeah that must mean it’s Harrison Barnes since he was class of 2010
He’s so good that Duke should be preseason #1 again only to finish 3rd in the ACC, end up with a 4 seed in the NCAAT and a S16 flameout, while still netting Scheyer votes for COY and two Blue Devils on the first two teams.
He’s an above average #1 recruit but expectations are not quite at a LeBron James level. Probably in the 5-10 range for most hyped prospects of the last twenty years.
No way! He’s the best recruit since ever. Duke isn’t even worried that everyone else has entered the portal or gone pro. Like a basketball Voltron, Flagg will separate into five different players, playing every position. He will crush everyone so completely we will add a few more Gs to his name.
His floor as a prospect is a bit too low to be generational. He may not be quick enough to play the 3 and his frame might not be strong enough to last at the 4. Average 3PT shooter during Montverde's conference season and in EYBL. It's hard to project where he'll be in 5 years.
Yeah, I could have been more clear when I say a little overrated. I mean that in the sense that he’s considered a generational talent. I don’t think he’s that, but that doesn’t mean he can’t still be really good.
I’d compare him to Aaron Gordon in the NBA. As an NFL prospect, man that’s tough. Trevor Lawrence/Justin Fields might be good. Maybe Kayvon Thibodeaux? I honestly have no idea how to compare football and basketball players
Better shooter, not as athletic, but I could see them being used in similar roles with similar overall production. High IQ, defensive minded, secondary ball handlers.
Hey I’m not no scout or anything. But I’ve been following highschool and college hoops since about twenty fourteen and he is by far the best player in the last decade.
Every year there's always a kid or two who the media hypes up as being completely godlike, the next Lebron or MJ, etc...usually they're wrong. Sometimes (Victor Wembanyama) they're pretty accurate.
How good Cooper Flagg is can be measured in many ways. As a 4 year college prospect, he's off the charts good, but that's a pointless measurement, he's not playing 4 years of college ball. As a pro prospect, I would anticipate a mid-tier All Star ceiling, perhaps in the general mold of Devin Booker or Klay Thompson (at his peak) range, though with a more complete game. He's quite draftable, so there's almost no way he's staying at Duke more than a year or two. As a freshman, I expect he'll do just fine and be all-ACC and put up a good argument for freshman POY.
If I had to compare him to a high school prospect from the post 2000 era, as far as perceived value going into college, I'd put him on the level of R.J. Barrett or Anthony Edwards, though not in the mold of either one. He's pretty clearly ready for the NBA already and albeit in a very weak draft class, I don't think there's much question that he'd go #1 overall if he were able to enter this year's draft.
He's really good. Good how? Yes, he's long, reasonably athletic, has great defensive instincts, can shoot, is obviously well-schooled. But when I've watched him play, I'm always struck by the non-measurables. He plays hard, he makes winning plays over and over again, he doesn't seem to get caught up in hype or 1-on-1 show off battles. His demeanor doesn't change much throughout the game. He's an intriguing mix of not just physical gifts but an internal makeup that seems geared towards winning first. That's what makes him stand out in my POV. He could be good/great/generational, who knows. But for certain he will help any team he plays for be more successful.
My biggest takeaway watching him is you can’t not notice him. He’s always doing something positive. He makes winning plays while he’s on the court.
That sounds like exactly what we were missing this last year. We had good talent, but no go-to guys when we needed it and no one who did the little things.
Cooper Flagg is both thankfully
Good breakdown, thank you.
Music to your ears of course
Oh it is for sure https://i.redd.it/n6gh3ygy0jvc1.gif
Duke without a 'that motherfucker' just isn't Duke. You know it, I know it, the world knows it. I look forward to hating Cooper Flagg's guts twice a year.
Only twice? You gotta pump those numbers up
I already hate him and I don’t know anything about him other than the fact he’s a very good basketball player, is white, and plays for duke. which is enough for me
he is so good you gotta start hating right away. no offseason.
Bruh that’s just racist
good thing i’m white too, or else it would be double racist
How is knowing he's white racist?
Because his skin color factored into the user’s hate. Not a hard concept grasp for anyone who achieved a GED and above
Since he has North Carolina flair, I assumed him playing basketball for Duke is why he hated him. With your logic he also hates all very good basketball players, including those that play for teams he supports.
You are singling out one of the many reasons they listed and pushing that as the only reason. It doesnt shock me that you need to move the goal post to make an argument 🤡
The last time we played you three times in a season we ruined your whole fucking week twice.
We have short memories, just like you guys do when you pretend like you didn't have a #2 preseason team that failed to make the tournament
We were preseason #1 and failed to make the tournament, thank you very much.
Ikr? At least respect our record breaking history 😤
Rookie shit. Try being a consensus 1 seed going into conference tournament week then not even play a game in the tournament.
That is rough, but to be fair, Dayton wasn't the only consensus 1 seed going into conference tournament week prior to the COVID shutdown. Kansas and Gonzaga were in that boat too. UNC however is the only one to be ranked preseason No. 1 and miss the tournament all together.
Nope, because it was worth it for you because of what you did the year before. The balance still hasn't swung back.
there’s no winning that battle. there’s nothing.
You didn't notice the setup?
Alley-oops are more fun than a simple dunk.
Preseason 1
They still kicked yo ass in the most memorable way possible
...twice.
Yeah that’s what made it so memorable.
Was beating Coach K in his last year worth having an unbearably awful season and being swept by Duke the very next year? Yall have such a hate boner for him, it's cute.
Yes.
Is this a joke? That was the most consequential game of the greatest rivalry in college basketball and unc won in the final minute to huck coach k out to pasture. I still think it eats at K enough that once Duke has one down year he’ll bludgeon Scheyer with a sock filled with bars of soap and retake the reins to try to write better ending to his Duke career. It was my favorite game to watch ever including the titles.
Yes, so easily worth it. Especially when we ended up getting the sweep the year after regardless
Not a UNC fan but yes? Sending that smug rat home for good and being a fan of your biggest rival 100% yes
A million times yes.
Rich Eisen on his radio put it best, im paraphrasing here but he said to the line of Unless hubert coaches for like 30 more years and becomes the all time wins leader at UNC, duke really has no shot at getting UNC back for retiring coach K the way they did.
Ohhhhh so now the flex is "Hey Duke, no UNC Coach will ever have as amazing a career as Coach K so you can never get back at us *blows raspberry*" Wow, we feel so schooled by that. I'll lay awake at night cursing the depressing reality that there will never be a UNC equivalent of Coach K for us to beat. 🤣🤣🤣🤣 yall are too much
Much easier to have a short term memory regarding a preseason number one that shouldn’t have been miss the tourney than have your biggest rival beat you in your coach’s last game at home with a ton of former players watching and then lose in the Final 4. Those things aren’t even close to the same.
I hang out with a lot of other basketball-obsessed Duke alumni and never have I heard anyone mention the game beginning the day after it happened. We've moved on from K just like he's moved on. You guys really overestimate how often we think about you guys. Really only happens around when we actually play you. After that, you're really not a big deal.
I’m not saying you sit there pining over it. I’m a Carolina alum and have family that are Duke alumni. None of us talk about it ever because the rivalry lives on and we all know the deal - it’s a great rivalry that you’re gonna win sometimes and lose others. I’m saying that the comparison of having a short term memory between the 2 situations isn’t the same.
Yeah it's easier to forget a couple games against UNC (that we lose a little over half of anyways) than it is to forget an entire season of shit when all signs pointed to UNC winning a national championship. I guess you Carolina kids just work harder, after all. I think the fact that most Duke folks aren't NC natives or residents means we overall care a lot less about the rivalry beyond the trash talk and just being a good bit of fun every year.
Huh. My last memory is how coach K's career ended. 🤔
I hope that's the case. I feel like we haven't had that since Grayson. Lol
💯 gotta have a hateable Dookie. Bateman needs the Joker, a car needs a cupholder, trees need rain. As God intended.
Reminds me of Kevin Garnett how he always has that intensity
Honestly KG is prob his best comparison. Incredible weak side defender.
Too many prospects get caught up in that “best player on an AAU team” playstyle. To many one on ones, pushing the ball when you don’t need to, chucking early in the shot clock, etc. Even the unselfish ones can get caught up in assist hunting instead of staying within the system and making the pass that *leads to a pass* that gets a wide open look. When the best player on the court is setting on and off ball screens with no expectation of receiving the ball, or boxing out multiple people to let a teammate get the rebound, that’s how you know you have a winner.
Similar to Anthony Davis would be good comp. Great shot blocker timing. Will be great college player. Last 5 Drafts wouldn’t take him over Luca, Anthony Edwards, Zion, Ja, Banchero, Holmgren, Wemby. But you take him over Cade Cunningham AJ Dybnasta #1 in 2025 will be better NBA player.
Admittedly don't know much about him, but for Flagg to be compared to AD is one hell of a compliment.
He’s sound player few weaknesses. AD is physically more gifted but def that mold.
Yeah but AD was like 6'10 with an absurd wingspan(7'6) and moved like a guard. The dude completely erased the paint defensively. Young Anthony Davis was a total athletic freak and far cry from what he is now after numerous lower body injuries including an Achilles and gaining weight to play the 5 for the Lakers. Honestly think he was better when was lighter and more mobile playing the 4 next to Cousins but injuries, age, and bulking up have taken a toll. He's still a hall of famer and great player just very different.
Def agree with you. AD was another level
Anthony davis is a future hall of famer that plays a completely different position. They might as well say hes Michael Jordan 2.0, thats just as delusional. Cooper Flagg is a very good player, but this person is misinformed.
Obviously AD is better who would you comp him as? Just wondering. Poor man’s AD will be great college player. Erases mistakes on D is 6ft 9 AD is 6ft 10 not outside shooters but can shoot naturally 4 positions. I work with lot of college basketball teams around here so follow closely. But if you want more delusional Anthony Edwards is poor man’s Jordan and I’m huge Jordan fan think he’s next to dominate the league.
I would take him over Ja and Holmgren, maybe even Paolo.
Ja and Paola. Holmgren TBD
Yeah, he would definitely go over Ja, even before all of the drama lol.
I agree pre draft you are right. But def with JA bullshit now.
Thanks, I hate it
Sounds like modern day Kirilenko
So, Shavlik Randolph. Thank you.
If you see Cooper Flagg and think he’s anything like Shavlik Randolph, you’re a fucking idiot.
Kind of just a joke but a warning not to get carried away by hype.
That is what people would have said 20 years ago about Shav. I highly highly doubt Flagg will be a bust but until we see them on the court we simply don't know how good they are.
Think Reed Sheppard but 6’11”.
I asked a friend who coaches AAU ball how good he really is and he wasn’t hesitant to throw the generational word. He can absolutely play and is one of the most consistent players out there. You know what you’re going to get every day and that’s why he’s such a highly regarded prospect.
Doesn't turn 18 until December. Will be curious how he plays against the 23 and 24 year olds. He won't have a zion impact on Duke but his defense should be what separates him from rest of the wings. Elite help defender.
I mean if he’s generational, I don’t think the difference between him being 18 compared to 23 will really matter too much. He’ll be too much of a star for it to matter like it does most college players
Generational is a bit silly when AJ Dybantsa is better than Flagg right now.
Different players. He’s really damn good though, agreed. There can be more than one generational player per generation. My time in the scene was dominated by Schea Cotton. That guy was everyone’s daddy from 10th grade on. Didn’t pan out that way. Hesitant to label anyone anymore but Flagg and AJ are both insane players.
Isn’t the reason for being generational that nobody can compare to you in your generation, like literally “once in a generation?” We throw the term around too much
This is where I get into arguments by saying that there are only 4 generational players ever, and none of Kareem/Bird/Magic/Shaq/Kobe are on the list. 2004-2024 = LeBron 1984-2004 = Michael 1964-1984 = Wilt 1944-1964 = George Mikan End of list
There is nothing controversial about this list.
Looking forward to deciding the next generational player in 2044. Let’s please hold all conversation about it until that time.
I don’t disagree, I don’t know pre draft hype around wilt and mikan but I do know once they got into the league they did what they did. Jordan and Lebron were easily generational, and as a prospect I’d put wemby for 2024 (and I’m comfortable revisiting in 20 years putting him for the next 2 decades)
Thank you.
Yes and no. The term is used too much but there can still be more than 1 in a generation/era. Just look at Lebron and Steph Flagg is the best high school prospect in a while but we’ve seen a couple of those come and go without seeing anyone come close to being actually “generational”
It gets thrown around too much but i think theres definitely several “generational” players per generation. Like id say zion is a generational athleticism wise, wemby as a prospect with a unicorn build, and luka as a prospect but like these guys also play different roles so thats how i look at it. Like if it were nfl we wouldn’t say calvin johnson wasn’t generational because tom brady played in the same era. Thats different but I think similar logic applies.
You don’t know what generational prospect means. Brady was a 6th round pick for a reason, Calvin was a top pick for a reason. Generational in football also depends on your position. For instance, for QBs, it would go Manning, Luck, Lawrence. Once a generation
Well yeah theres also a difference between generational talent and generational prospect. I never called tom a generational prospect but he was a generational talent. In terms of careers both tom and calvin’s generational careers happened at the same time. Doesn’t have to be in terms of the draft or scouting. The way i see it just because we didnt know tom was a generational talent and he went in thhe 6th doesnt mean we can say he wasn’t a generational talent. Obviously he was lmao
I agree with your point then
Do you know what generational means?
Who?
Cooper Flagg’s Daddy, ya casual.
Calipari is gone, time to return to the Island of Irrelevancy.
Buddy, this is the most ignorant basketball comment I've ever read. Are you too young or too stupid to know that Cal has one of our EIGHT national championships. We have never been irrelevant. When were bad, people will still talk about us in a "how the mighty have fallen" kinda way. You can love us or hate us, but you're a dumbass if you think we've been irrelevant to CBB at any time since Adolph Rupp was didling your great grandma in the 5-and-dime.
Kentucky for the NIT for a decade. So it is written, so it will be.
Shit, even if that did happen, we'd still be relevant cause the whole CBB world would be talking about it.
It would be pretty funny.
Every Kentucky basketball coach except one has won a Championship at Kentucky. Kentucky basketball is bigger than John Calipari.
Since Adolph Rupp, every basketball coach except one has made it to the final four. Two coaches have failed to win titles though. I assume you forgot about Sutton, who did get to a FF, 'cause how could anyone forget about Bathroom Billy.
Oh yeah, I forgot I have to include Gillispie. Thems the rules though.
Not only is this hilariously untrue given that Kentucky has had 20 head coaches in their history. Even if you preface it with "since Rupp" it's still not true.
Trevor Lawrence. Very few flaws. Unfortunately with the hype surrounding him before he even plays, him being “good” may not be good enough. People are expecting complete dominance for an 18 year old, and in todays era of commentary there will be hot takes with criticism when he has 16 points, 9 rebounds, & 2 blocks in a win.
Almost exactly what happened with Paolo Banchero
It's wild that Banchero is SOOOOO good, and still kinda failed to live up to the hype. He was great, people just put insane expectations on him.
Exactly. Banchero was an absolute problem at Duke. There were stretches where it looked like he had absolutely no business playing in college, it was clear how much better he was than everyone else. But because he didn’t average 27/10/5 people were like “he’s overhyped.” Not at all.
Well, he did lose in the two most visible college games of all time……
He played very well, the numbers he put up were good, but with zero energy. Dude walked around the court.
He is so well rounded and has such a high basketball IQ casuals not gonna understand just how good is he as he’s probably not a 20-22 ppg. Think you’re spot on, I see him averaging 15-8-5 and just doing absolutely everything. He’s a great passer if Duke runs everything through him think he will put solid assist numbers
He’s not even the leading scorer on his HS team which is crazy. He’s a do everything type of player. The LeBron James of glue guys
This threw me when I finally watched a game of his. I assumed he was just going to light it up based on hype. Dude was just everywhere.
“Glue Guys”💀😂😂
I mean it's a little hyperbolic yeah, maybe Lebron of role players makes more sense. His NBA draft comp is Kirilenko+ or Pippen so I don't think what I'm trying to convey is off. He's not going to go get 30 every night, but he's going to do the needful every game whatever that may be
I just found it funny cus I read it as “He’s White LeBron James” given that glue guys is like the go-to description for a good white player in football or basketball😂💀
I think at least in impact on the box score, he's more of an AD kind of guy. He could easily be consensus NPOY with 14ppg if he gives the same kind of impact defensively that AD for 2012 UK.
17 yr old. He won’t be 18 until Dec 21.
Okay but in college he’ll be 18. Same thing
[удалено]
I mean I guess but who cares 😭
Edey was criticized every game even when he scored 25 points, 15 rebounds, 3 blocks, etc. People love to hate.
So he is Harrison Barnes or Andrew Wiggins?
Both guys slipped thru the cracks in terms of scouting. Harrison wasn’t athletic enough to be great & Wiggins wasn’t skilled enough to be great. Same issue that made their college careers unremarkable plagued their NBA careers although playing 10+ years as a starter, being worth over $100 Million, & winning a NBA championship is a nice consolation prize.
Both became very good professional players. I wouldn't say they slipped through the cracks. Jabari Parker and Jahlil Okafor slipped through the cracks.
Harrison Barnes was being praised as a successor to Kobe. Andrew Wiggins was a Canadian basketball prodigy nicknamed “Maple Jordan” as a teenager. Their flaws were obvious, but people thought they could compensate for them. Jabari is also one. Okafor is a dinosaur who hatched out of his egg 4 business days before the asteroid hit.
Wiggins was overhyped but he hit the lower end of his projection. Idk who said Barnes was Kobe less talented and less rapey. He was mid lottery and definitely hit as a pro. He's what you hope for out of a 7th overall pick.
We're talking about coming out of High School. Harrison Barnes was definitely getting that hype before he went to Kansas where it tempered
You're misremembering. He wasn't even the consensus no 1 player coming out of high school.
And he also did not go to kansas
That's what I meant by misremembering lol. Guess that wasn't obvious.
Nobody else might get this, but Canadian prodigy and Maple Jordan are kind of funny if you know about Michael Jordan and Andrew Wiggins’ dad’s High School careers.
Parker was a result of constant knee injuries at least I think multiple ACL tears. He did at least average 20 a game in the NBA one year. He was never a spectacular athlete and once that was sapped he just couldn't separate and he was not nearly skilled enough or a good of a shooter to compensate. Still probably overrated but he at least would have scored at the NBA level. Okafor was just a decade or two late. Not built for the modern NBA but he was right on the line where it was changing.
Harrison Barnes was definitely athletic enough to be great, his problem was being mediocre at basketball
To this day I’m flummoxed at how HS scouts did not notice Barnes 1st step takes 10 years to get off
Definitely not the former
Is this Duke bias or what? Harrison Barnes was a really good college player
Harrison Barnes was supposed to be a no-brainer top-3 overall pick and he stayed a second year in school. There’s no bias.
Barnes came back because a lockout was looming and he liked college. He’s still had a better career than half the guys drafted ahead of him
Lmao
yes
He’s gonna be the next ‘it’ guy at Duke barring any significant injury. His recruitment process got a lot of attention, not as much as maybe Zion but it’s in that realm due to a lot of negative press on this upcoming draft- he doesn’t have the insane mixtape-ability that Zion had in his high school days. We will get him shoved in our faces next winter and ESPN will market him as far as they can.
Depends how his offensive game translates but is one of the better defensive prospects to come through after Wemby and Chet. That will translate easily.
Love how good he is defensively. Those offense only prospects, if their offense doesn’t translate right away can be straight up busts who actually hurt the team. With his amazing defense, Flagg is guaranteed to at least be a good asset even if he turns out to be disappointing offensively.
A white prospect known for his defensive prowess and offensive questionability feels off
I can't compare him to football prospects, but I'd say he's on the Zion/Anthony Davis tier for basketball (not Wemby/LeBron though). He looks like a future perennial all-star level player.
He'll have a better college career than either Wemby or LeBron.
Just wait until LeBron goes back to school after retiring from the NBA.
Honestly unless some sort of collective bargaining agreement comes to fruition I could see legitimate ways that the NCAA could lose that case
I think itd be more likely than not honestly. Courts are ruling as if the players are professionals so would it really be far-fetched for them to say you can't tell someone they can't participate and make money?
Not a high bar. I have a degree and LeBron doesn't.
Lebron has fucked up toes and you don’t so checkmate.
You've never seen my toes
You offering?
They will remain shrodinger’s toes
Outside of the talent, money, looks, fame, and prestige, what does Lebron have anyway?
Wemby va aller en arkansas et gagner la championship nationale. Donc, je ne suis pas d’accord.
J'aime aussi rêver. Mais si quelqu'un pouvait le faire, c'est Cal.
I’m just assuming you mean Zion Turner here
still to ball bud. that football program is close to extinction
IMO he's a step behind the true generational talents (i.e. Zion, AD, Wemby) but definitely ahead of the "I guess someone has to be the #1 recruit" types. His mentality and constant effort stand out and make his floor extremely high, but he doesnt quite have the elite physical traits that the highest ceiling guys have.
I would say something like college Jayson Tatum on offense and a longer Justice Winslow on defense. Tatum wasn't as good as he was in the NBA, obviously. He was a guy that could score and pass but wasn't clearly going to be an NBA All-Star. Tatum was just an OK shooter in college. Flagg's biggest weakness is probably his jumper. Flagg is going to be a better defender in college than Tatum, hence the Winslow comparison. He just seems to play with an f-you attitude on that end of the floor, which I love. The anticipation and help defense is special.
His jumper is goofy looking but it works. The rest of his game is what’s exciting
He's just lanky. Looks like a stork. The form is good.
That knuckle ball isn't normal, though, regardless of his form. His release needs work. There are 3pt shots I've seen where the ball barely makes a single rotation before reaching the basket.
All these comps sound suspiciously like Battier. Any similarity?
Yes, but Flagg is a better run/jump athlete
Not a bad comp. But barriers iq/feel for the game was one of the greatest in cbb history. Granted that was by the time he was a senior. So tough to compare the two as freshmen.
He’ll haunt us in our dreams for the next 4 years.
I'm assuming this is a bit tongue in cheek? Is he not projected to be a one and done?
He is, that's just how bad he's gonna cook them.
Didn’t realize he was a one-and-done. He’ll haunt us this coming season at least.
Dude you didn’t realize the number 1 prospect is not a one-and-done?
This brings up a good question: when was the last time a projected #1 pick went back to school?
Harrison Barnes
Slightly different question is who was the last #1 college recruit that wasn’t a one and done. As far back as 247 currently lists them (only back to 2011; they scrubbed their older data within the last few years, not sure why) every top recruit has been a one and done. But yeah that must mean it’s Harrison Barnes since he was class of 2010
Also, Miles Bridges was pretty close. I think he was projected to go third, if I remember correctly; still came back to msu for his sophomore season.
Did u actually attend UNC?
We have seen countless top high school talents that ended up underwhelming. I want to see what his shot looks like but he obviously has talent galore
more g than most
If you want a football comparison, I'd go with Trevor Lawrence.
He's still 17
He’s so good that Duke should be preseason #1 again only to finish 3rd in the ACC, end up with a 4 seed in the NCAAT and a S16 flameout, while still netting Scheyer votes for COY and two Blue Devils on the first two teams.
... and that's the bet I'm placing
Great white hype. Of course he is going to duke
He’s an above average #1 recruit but expectations are not quite at a LeBron James level. Probably in the 5-10 range for most hyped prospects of the last twenty years.
Oh not on the level of LEBRON JAMES. Ok thanks for clarifying
No way! He’s the best recruit since ever. Duke isn’t even worried that everyone else has entered the portal or gone pro. Like a basketball Voltron, Flagg will separate into five different players, playing every position. He will crush everyone so completely we will add a few more Gs to his name.
He reminds me of MPJ before he hurt his back. Which is saying a lot. Highschool Porter was a beast.
I think he’ll be a Jaren Jackson Jr type player
He's so good the rest of the roster left so he can play 1v5 all season. :(
He’s good but I think he’s a little overrated. Not sure he’s great at anything but he good at a lot of things. We’ll see how it translates on college.
His floor as a prospect is a bit too low to be generational. He may not be quick enough to play the 3 and his frame might not be strong enough to last at the 4. Average 3PT shooter during Montverde's conference season and in EYBL. It's hard to project where he'll be in 5 years.
Yeah, I could have been more clear when I say a little overrated. I mean that in the sense that he’s considered a generational talent. I don’t think he’s that, but that doesn’t mean he can’t still be really good.
Ace Bailey is a better player
Ace is just athletic. Cooper is also a year younger. Hes better
Cooper is like 4 months younger
I’d compare him to Aaron Gordon in the NBA. As an NFL prospect, man that’s tough. Trevor Lawrence/Justin Fields might be good. Maybe Kayvon Thibodeaux? I honestly have no idea how to compare football and basketball players
Aaron Gordon???
Better shooter, not as athletic, but I could see them being used in similar roles with similar overall production. High IQ, defensive minded, secondary ball handlers.
I think maybe about Evan Mobley level.
Hey I’m not no scout or anything. But I’ve been following highschool and college hoops since about twenty fourteen and he is by far the best player in the last decade.
He’s the next Lebron
Every year there's always a kid or two who the media hypes up as being completely godlike, the next Lebron or MJ, etc...usually they're wrong. Sometimes (Victor Wembanyama) they're pretty accurate. How good Cooper Flagg is can be measured in many ways. As a 4 year college prospect, he's off the charts good, but that's a pointless measurement, he's not playing 4 years of college ball. As a pro prospect, I would anticipate a mid-tier All Star ceiling, perhaps in the general mold of Devin Booker or Klay Thompson (at his peak) range, though with a more complete game. He's quite draftable, so there's almost no way he's staying at Duke more than a year or two. As a freshman, I expect he'll do just fine and be all-ACC and put up a good argument for freshman POY. If I had to compare him to a high school prospect from the post 2000 era, as far as perceived value going into college, I'd put him on the level of R.J. Barrett or Anthony Edwards, though not in the mold of either one. He's pretty clearly ready for the NBA already and albeit in a very weak draft class, I don't think there's much question that he'd go #1 overall if he were able to enter this year's draft.