Dallas Mavericks Are Creating A MONSTER

Cooper Flag just had his best game. He’s now the youngest player ever to score 35 plus points. Let’s take a look at the film. He starts it out with a trick that pretty much every elite scorer has in their bag. Isoing Jon Collins. He speeds up as he stops. We see the slight arm extension. If you don’t make it obvious, you can get away with it. Shay, Tatum, just to name a few, all have this in their bag. ample separation as a result. You could tell that first shot gave him confidence probably because the execution was perfect. Next three plays showcas his versatility. First on the basketball against Harden and James is expecting the screen. So now he can drive left. He gets back to his right hand with the behind the back. Amazing recognition from Pal to realize, oh, I can screen now. So Big Zoo was not expecting that. Now he has a clean look. Now he’s receiving a dribble handoff. Kawhai can’t keep up with the speed off ball. Great recognition to quickly go up because Kawhai can still block you in this position. But the quickness gave him no time to recover. He’s catching off the basketball this time. He has a three-pointer right away. Lazy close out from Kawhai. See you later. Then he just goes through this bump from John Collins to get to his spot. rise up with the weak hand. His size is just too much. Collins could not even get a contest. And my goodness, he’s starting to realize the physical force that he isoing James Harden again. Initially, Harden keeps him in front, but then Cooper sees this gap and he believes in his quickness to get around, but also his strength to absorb contact and go through it. Now, all of a sudden, he’s in the paint with clear sight on the basket. Also, you must respect his handle on that play. For a guy his size, it’s very elite. This time, John Collins is his next victim. He’s in front of him. That doesn’t stop Coupe from going through him to get a shot off. He misses, but he knew early, so he’s the first player off the ground. Tip in is successful. He’s setting a screen this time, hoping for the switch. He gets it. Two dribbles into the turnaround fade. clear vision due to the size advantage. Sorry CP3, he does not feel your contest at all on this one. I believe Harden was expecting to switch after the screen, except it’s a ghost screen. So, right away, Cooper has a step. He then locates Big Zoo and realizes he’s positioned to take away the right side finish, leaving the left side wide open. in transition. Wicked in andout dribble shifts hard and badly and then Dwight Pal just getting in the way. A highway screen. Two defenders on him. Meanwhile, they’re looking up at Cooper Flag scoring with the left hand finish. He was smoking James Harden. My question would be, has he been in the lab with Kyrie? Because we have another weak hand layup. This time it had some flare. After the screen, he slows up then a quick right to left crossover. He’s a goner. He rises up, dunks it on Big Zoo’s head. Now he’s going up against Kawi Leonard. Initially, Leonard sticks with him. Or does he? As he picks up his dribble, he has a slight edge. You can’t really tell though. Kawhai gets bumped a bit here. So, as he pivots back around, it’s opened up even more. Kawhi then bites for the slight up fake. Another pivot off the backboard and one. That was beautiful. staying composed and playing off two feet. Do we realize that he’s a young adult, 18 years old, just 18 years old, and he’s bullying James Harden physically, Big Zoo, John Collins, Kawhai, I mean that’s pretty ridiculous. Now we got some point forward highlights. John Collins switches. Take this behind the back. Great job avoiding the steel attempt from Chris Dunn. Now guess what? Wide open butt naked three from the corner. We got more versatility. He can grab the defensive rebound, push the pace, look up and locate, find the open cutters in the open floor. If he can find consistency in these off the dribble jumpers from the mid-range or in the paint, watch out because when he does, it’s going to be over. This time he keeps it in the right hand the whole time. And this displays the size well over the contest of a sevenfooter. He can get this over anyone at any point in time pretty much. He doesn’t even need separation all the time. So when he gets it, those contests are just not really felt. He also had eight rebounds. The Maverick’s record clearly not great. However, they are ranked fourth in defensive rating. And believe me, Cooper Flag is playing a big part in that. He’s going to be a force on both ends of the floor that does a little bit of everything. just 18 years old and physically looks the part and at his best he’s been doing the bullying. It’s not always going to look pretty for him. There’s going to be inefficient nights, but that’s expected. Can you imagine what he’s going to look like 5 years down the road? My goodness, that’s going to be a scary sight. Let me know your thoughts below.

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9 comments

  1. If coop can get that 3% up on those open looks then hell get even more of those easy cuts for his lays and dunks. Given his percentage on the midrange overall this season im not too hyped for how often he takes them. I dont need to see volume 3s from him just the % that gives him bigger openings for finishes at the rim instead of settling for the midrange unless he somehow gets to be a 55-65% midranger.

  2. From what I've seen so far in these 20 games from Cooper is a mixed between 2 players.

    LeBron's physicality and playmaking IQ

    Kawhi's scoring and defense

    Cooper is pushing guys around like LeBron when he attacks the rim.
    Copper has shown he can playmake and will almost make the right pass everytime.

    Surprisingly even to me that Cooper has a nice looking midrange, which he needs to go to more because it's a huge advantage for him given his size.
    Defensively, he's everywhere. Cooper isn't the 1% athlete like prime LeBron, Westbrook, Thompson twins, etc, but he's very athletic that he can pretty much guard any position and with his size and length helps a lot. Very good rim protecter and rebounder as well.

    He legitimately is one of the most complete players in the NBA and it's crazy he's showing to be this good already at his young age

  3. Keep in mind Lebron was playing way more minutes when he was scoring 30+ in the NBA as an 18 year old. Coop might not win ROY but he will be far in away the best player from this class and a top 5 player in the NBA in due time. Even without improving in any of his weaknesses he will be a great player for years to come simply by growing into his man body. I think what he needs to do is work on his reads, ballhandling, and shooting form outside of the mid-range. His mechanics are a bit inconsistent but when he had that 42 Point game back with duke where he was hitting a ton of threes his form looked way better. In any case I think his weaknesses are very fixable if he puts in the work and has the right people around him which is why I'm so high on him. I think his bread and butter should be in the mid-range though when he's not dunking on fools.

  4. He has so many Greats to learn from He looking like bits of Dirk… Then that left hand working with Kyrie…. Then him going into the bodies of the defenders he has learned from PJ Washington…. Imagine his handle from Kyrie and how to pull up from 3 like Klay he will be a complete Package

  7. When Jordan was 18 he was a 5’11” guard playing in High School and not even the best player on his team.

    Jordan had a growth spurt at 18, so it’s possible he gets even taller.

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