The Duke Blue Devils have the best player in college basketball right now. Cooper Flagg has been deemed as the first-overall pick in the NBA Draft for years, and while he hasn’t been perfect in Durham, the potential is evident.
That showed up again in the win over Auburn. The talented forward showcased his entire repertoire, took over the game, and scored 22 points to hand the Tigers their first loss of the season.
Of course, everybody expects Duke to run most of their action through their coveted player. Nevertheless, coach Jon Scheyer doesn’t want him to do all the heavy lifting.
Jon Scheyer doesn’t want Cooper Flagg to win on his own
“We put enough on him (Cooper Flagg) in the 37 minutes and it can’t just be him,” the coach said. “For me, coaching this team, I think maybe we got a little stagnant in the end of those games (losses). We have other really good players too.”
He still wants Flagg to be a factor
Needless to say, that doesn’t mean they’re not going to make the most of his unique skills. Even if it’s as a decoy, Flagg will continue to be at the forefront of what they do:
“You wanna get movement. But, look, at the end of the day you still want Cooper to touch it because Cooper’s gonna find the right guy,” Scheyer said. “We spend a lot of time on game situations, too. So, knowing what we’re gonna do where it’s not just calling something random. Being in those moments is helpful, but also getting some movement and then getting into our action and Cooper touching it. I think that’s the balance we have to strike.”
The Blue Devils made a big statement in the win over the Tigers. Conference play will start soon, and it’ll be interesting to see how the projected No. 1 pick deals with the pressure.