The Maine Event is at Duke, and he reminded everyone of it as he went coast-to-coast and put the Pitts’ number 25 on a poster. Flagg commanded both ends of the court in Tuesday’s matchup against the Pittsburgh Panthers while generating explosive highlights. He dropped 19 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 blocks. An all-round performance, from a young explosive prospect. However, some people in the Blue Devils organization feel that performances like this could have come earlier.

Duke’s assistant coach Chris Carrawell speaks his mind on the young NBA prospect on ‘The Adam Gold Show’. “I was expecting what happened against Pitt to happen like a while ago…He’s having a heck of a year, but like in terms of the highlight dunks and the stuff that we’ve seen in high school? We hadn’t seen that yet. It kind of caught everyone by surprise. People have been waiting. I have been waiting, like when is this guy gonna show me something, y’know?”  

And what he’s saying is valid. Flagg is known for his jaw-dropping dunks, high-effort blocks, and insane motor. No seventeen-year-old attempts a put-back dunk on Bam Adebayo, but Flagg did. The type of highlights we were accustomed to seeing from him had been missing, and it seems some of the coaches felt the same way.

Carrawell had nothing but praise for Flagg, however, as he continued. “It got people out of their seats because they were surprised. It was an unbelievable play, man. You can watch it from whatever angle you wanna watch it from…It was impressive man, it was impressive.”

Cooper Flagg said that his dunk was a result of his anger at foul troubles. In the post-match press conference, he said, “I was kind of mad at myself for a stupid foul, early. And then the second half, late third foul. Definitely was a little angry and took it out on the rim.” When asked how he would grade it, he had a cheeky smile on his face. “I haven’t seen [the dunk] quite enough, only saw the one angle so far. Right now I would put it at like an 8.5, but that might change a little bit when I see a different angle.”

Even if he took a little bit of time, Cooper Flagg is back to providing us with entertaining highlights and jaw-dropping feats of athleticism. Many are comparing his recent highlight to Zion Williamson, which is sparking debates of its own. The projected first overall pick has a long way to go with Duke, and fans are excited to see what all that may entail.

The sharpshooting Blue Devils?

While Cooper Flagg is grabbing the headlines, the entire Duke squad has been performing well. Against the Panthers, they shot 55% from beyond the arc. Kon Kneuppel and Tyrese Proctor took a high volume of threes, while Sion James made both of his attempts.

But how do they compare to other teams? Duke’s season 3-point percentage stands at 36.8%—respectable, but far from the best. The top three-point shooting team in Division I is the University of Bradley, followed by North Dakota State. Houston and Villanova aren’t far behind, ranking third and fourth, respectively. All these teams shoot between 41% and 42% from deep, leaving Duke trailing behind in the three-point evolution.

However, even though shooting 55% is not the norm for Duke, their long range shooting is definitely something to talk about. Over the last 5 games against Pitts, SMU, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, and George Mason, the Blue Devils have converted over 40% of 3pt attempts. These improved shooting splits bode well for Duke moving forward, as 3pt shooting nowadays is the key to winning.

All we know is that with Cooper Flagg on the team, Duke stands a chance to win this year. Cooper Flagg and his teammates are working hard, and it’s showing. Whether they win it all or lose it all remains to be seen. Do you think the Blue Devils will win it all? Which NBA team will get Cooper Flagg? Comment below.