How can you stop Cooper Flagg? How can you beat Duke? If you have the answer, there are at the very least 14 jobs available for you in the ACC conference. Jon Scheyer’s team has been nigh omnipotent and impenetrable this season. Aside from an upset loss against Clemson, they are undefeated in conference play. Slowly but surely, Flagg is cementing himself as the consensus best player in the nation. However, analysts are working overtime to figure out how to best the Maine Event.

On The Field of 68: After Dark, show hosts John Fanta, Rob Dauster, and Terrance Ogglesby discussed the NPOY front-runner and his insanely cohesive unit. The Blue Devils are the ‘tallest team in college basketball’ and they take full advantage of that fact. “Because of how much Duke changes the game physically, with how they defend you… you can’t get frustrated and turn into hero ball when you’re on offense or else you’re gonna fall right into what they want you to be in.” John Fanta said about the offensive woes of teams competing with Duke.

As Jon Scheyer puts it, the biggest question for them to focus on has been, how do you cover each other? With an average height of 6–7½ per player, the team is maxing out on the advantage, playing man-to-man. And this doesn’t include steals as much as it does limiting their opponents from taking shots; given they aren’t ranking in the top 200 in the aspect. A Duke Chronical report reveals the Blue Devils’ opponents record some of the longest possessions in the nation.

So while they average 82.6 points per game themselves, Duke is only giving away 61. Analysts, however, have a simple fix for teams going up against the no.3 ranked team. How easy it will be to implement, however, is not yet known.

John Fanta continued. “You gotta move the ball,” he advised, talking about how important off-ball movement is both on defense and offense. “You have to set ball screens, you have to move, you’ve gotta run intricate sets.”

Not only that, Ogglesby brought up a very important point that rival teams need to keep in mind. “You have to have a guy that can pull Maluach away.” Without a paint beast with decent spacing, Khaman Maluach’s defense will break teams individually. His shot-blocking ability is next level.

Needless to say, Duke is a tough team to matchup against. They are incredibly well-rounded, and incredibly well-motivated. Scheyer does not want to miss the golden opportunity he has in Cooper Flagg, and is pushing towards a championship right now.

Cooper Flagg’s sharpshooters!

What makes Cooper Flagg and his Blue Devils so dangerous is how the team works together like a well-oiled machine. Jon Scheyer’s team has been constructed around Flagg as a prospect, which is why they have such smooth functioning.

However, the real challenge comes in balancing the team’s ability to finish inside the paint as well as create shots outside of it. The second that Flagg catches the ball within the arc, it opens a lot of scoring options for the six-foot-nine forward. He can drive, he can shoot, and he can post up.

Before, you had the ability to double the guy. When the Blue Devils weren’t in full rhythm as they are now, you could sag off on one of the shooters to double Flagg inside. John Fanta explained why that’s no longer a viable option. “You no longer can double Cooper if Isaiah Evans and Kon Kneuppel are left open because they’re gonna cash in. Sion James is also capable of cashing in, he showed it.”

With so many great pieces around Flagg, the Duke team is looking very solid. There is no doubt that Jon Scheyer has created the perfect combination around Cooper Flagg in almost every circumstance. It will be very difficult for teams to figure out an answer for the Blue Devils and their tactics.