Long before he announced his commitment to play for the Duke Blue Devils, Cooper Flagg was already the most talked-about player in the college basketball scene.
That hasn’t changed during his first — and most likely only — season at Durham. However, as good as he’s been, he struggled mightily in the loss to the Clemson Tigers.
Flagg finished the game with 18 points on 35% from the floor, and he had a crucial turnover down the stretch. When asked the secret to stop him, however, coach Brad Brownell admitted that they didn’t do anything.
Clemson coach says Clemson didn’t do anything special to stop Cooper Flagg
“We didn’t do anything nobody else hasn’t done before,” Brownell told ESPN after the win. “The second half,” the coach continued, “that’s about as good as we can play.”
Sometimes, there’s no right answer. You can have a perfect game and still struggle to contain a player of Flagg’s talent, and that’s what sets him apart from other players.
More often than not, you can do anything but play the best brand of basketball you can play and hope that the other player has an off night. It certainly worked for Clemson.