Does Kentucky's three-heavy offense neutralize Cooper Flagg?
- Thread starter FurdTurgason
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Yes, I think Flagg will be fighting an up hill battle the whole night as UK will come at duke in waves.
Flagg doesnt have a great supporting cast IMHO.
Our depth will wear Duke down and Kentucky will win going away by say 16 points.
And if the Zebras allow Flagg to get into early foul trouble we could beat Duke by 30.
Flagg doesnt have a great supporting cast IMHO.
Our depth will wear Duke down and Kentucky will win going away by say 16 points.
And if the Zebras allow Flagg to get into early foul trouble we could beat Duke by 30.
Flagg will get his — partly on pure talent and partly because the 3/4 is our weakest spot defensively. But yes, with our ability to put points up in a hurry, I’m not scared of anyone. Not saying we can’t lose that game, but it won’t be for lack of scoring. We have an embarrassment of riches in that department.
No. He will likely eat. The rest of the team will determine how they compete.
We can win if the 3s are falling. They are more "talented" and athletic in general. We may struggle to guard them off the bounce.
We can win if the 3s are falling. They are more "talented" and athletic in general. We may struggle to guard them off the bounce.
Between Oweh and Williams, I feel like the frontcourt will be well-defended. We'll see if both can live up to their billing as defenders against top talent.
I'm worried it's going to be the opposite. Flagg will get the Golden Whistle all season long, imo. Although not having a screaming lunatic on our sidelines anymore could help us a little with the zebras too.
With Oweh, Williams and Butler UK may have the best 3 on ball defenders In the country.
Truly an embarrassment of riches.
But blushing is better than cussing.
If we can keep the rebounding battle in a +-5 range…then I think we win the majority of games.
Getting beat on the offensive glass is when we will lose imo. Limit second chance points and I think we are an extremely tough out
Getting beat on the offensive glass is when we will lose imo. Limit second chance points and I think we are an extremely tough out
I really think we're going to boat race them. I know the opponent last night is D2, but they are apparently a very good D2 team, that beat UofL last year, and it wasn't just like, some 40 pt win.
Yep, Flagg will probably be the star, and he will have some plays that not only wow us, but also be something we have no answer for.. however the rest of the team is either unproven/inexperienced freshman, or transfers who seem to be a step or two behind ours (I think our transfer class is firmly ahead of theirs). Duke isn't a team i want to see in March. But November, I think they will look lost at times in this game.
Pope seems to have his team well prepared, and I'm about ready to say he's a better coach than Scheyer is, pound for pound. Obviously I can't say I know it for certain, it's only been one exhibition game. But I'm pretty confident in that assessment. Pope seems like a Pitino/Hurley type who can do more with less talent, and as we all know, he got a bunch of Mormons to a 6-seed while playing in the Big12. If he wins a game or two in the tournament, he might have been on the list for COY honors.
Yep, Flagg will probably be the star, and he will have some plays that not only wow us, but also be something we have no answer for.. however the rest of the team is either unproven/inexperienced freshman, or transfers who seem to be a step or two behind ours (I think our transfer class is firmly ahead of theirs). Duke isn't a team i want to see in March. But November, I think they will look lost at times in this game.
Pope seems to have his team well prepared, and I'm about ready to say he's a better coach than Scheyer is, pound for pound. Obviously I can't say I know it for certain, it's only been one exhibition game. But I'm pretty confident in that assessment. Pope seems like a Pitino/Hurley type who can do more with less talent, and as we all know, he got a bunch of Mormons to a 6-seed while playing in the Big12. If he wins a game or two in the tournament, he might have been on the list for COY honors.
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Wait did you just say if Zebras allow Flagg to get into early foul trouble?
I love your general optimism here. But get a hold of yourself. And if your life ever depends on refs giving Duke’s star player early foul trouble against Kentucky then sit down in a quiet place, put your head between your knees, and kiss your *** goodbye because it’s already over.
Making 21 of 42 3s will neutralize anybody. 
No, a up and down style favor athletic players like him. That game will be about Kentucky neutralizing everybody else, because Flagg will get his.
Speaking of transfer Team rankings.. Kentucky is 5th and Duke is 22nd.. that's a big gap. I'm not going to downplay their additions, they very well could be right there with ours.. But it sure seems quite a few tiers behind us.
But more importantly, how is UK at 5th with EIGHT 4-star transfers? lol. How are we not 1st, and 2nd.. and then whoever else can take 3rd?
But more importantly, how is UK at 5th with EIGHT 4-star transfers? lol. How are we not 1st, and 2nd.. and then whoever else can take 3rd?
According to an article today, UConn’s head coach Dan Hurley said Flagg being voted as a member of the AP Preseason All-American team is “emblematic of a societal issue with sports.” He says Flagg being chosen reflects the fact that they “don’t value champions,” and instead the selection is based on media attention. [EssentiallySports, by Dimple Guptia].
Wow, didn’t Hurley recruit Flagg hard?
Wow, didn’t Hurley recruit Flagg hard?
I think there's some contention in that recruitment battle. I don't think it's the only kind of jab Hurley made to Flagg and how Duke recruited him.
After losing Flagg to Duke, Hurley said: “We don’t win a lot of popularity contests at UConn, we just win championships.”
Reading between the lines here, Hurley see's that Duke and/or Flagg went with the "popular" choice, maybe even the safest choice, instead of being apart of actual winning basketball. Sort of falls in line with their entire recruiting pitch in modern basketball, doesn't it?
Was UConn perceived to be the 2nd choice of Flagg? I feel like that was the situation, but I haven't tried to look it up.
I just have a feeling that a new era is beginning for us with referees. I'm biased as a UK fan, but Pope just seems very likable. It's amazing what treating other human beings like human beings can do for you versus screaming and cussing at them for 40 min.
Oh big time. It was down to those two, and many thought Uconn was very close to pulling it off.
It sort of seems that what swayed Flagg, was having him present for some Duke visit and all students, a bunch of 3s and 4s came out to greet him. I guess he really liked that.
Flagg is from Maine so he has many ties to New England and the Northeast basketball circuit.
I'm hopeful too. Refs feared Coach K so he could get away with dog-cussing them, but man, think about if we could even get in the same ballpark as Bill Self and Roy Williams with referees. A new beginning indeed.
That's not to say we won't get hosed on some random SEC road games when the refs get caught up in the hype, but I genuinely think we'll see a better whistle with Cal gone. Refs absolutely despised him.
Bold take! A lot of talent on both sides. It's difficult for me to see either team being boat raced. I just wish the game would hurry up and get here.
Seems like Hurley becomes more and more unlikeable as the world learns more about him. I know enough to know I didn't want him here. Just seems like an unhinged Richard, TBH.
Talking trash to and trying to fight fans in the stands is a really bad look.
Just seems like a whinny tiny man.
If its worth anything, I DONT want to face Duke later in the season because that's when their talent really might come through. Felt the same way when Cal was here: I hated playing Duke/Kansas/MSU early on because we were always young, but I often thought UK was playing better than all of them come March (last few UK years aside).
But Dukes already got one of it's best recruits out. Proctor just isnt the type of talent that Duke fans and some media members thought. And their transfers are pretty modest. On top of this, I just don't know if Scheyer is this next great coach, one who can take a brand new team every year and have them ready in November. Where as, it *seems* that Pope is the kind of coach who DOES have his guys and his system in place early. Last nights exhibition was probably the most "ready" UK has looked in the last 15 years, sans for maybe 2 or 3 seasons.
Yeah I'm not in love with Hurleys attitude. Always yelling at refs, flipping our constantly. He's got a lot of "beef" with other coaches already. He's like, way too young to be this much of a crumudgeon lol.
I’m not understanding why Flagg is getting all the lebron type hype, yeah he’s a good player that has all the tools but never got that “omg” feeling watching the few games I saw on tv.
If we can come out and knock down some 3s and put that pressure on them defensively, I’m not sure of their response but I also feel that is our key to success in big games this year. That and keep them off then offensive glass are keys the entire season I feel.
If we can come out and knock down some 3s and put that pressure on them defensively, I’m not sure of their response but I also feel that is our key to success in big games this year. That and keep them off then offensive glass are keys the entire season I feel.
Boys playing against grown men could be at play. At least it was for us last year.
It will be nice having veterans in this game for once. It all comes down to defense and the refs I believe. I doubt we boat race them but I’ll just take a win for once.
Agree. I think this will be the factor. We're no longer the young guys getting pushed around.
Bad news is we will still be new to a game of this level. Only butler will have big game experience.
If we shoot good, we win.
I'd like to think our experience gives us an edge, but then I remember what their three freshmen did to us that one year. Now that they have just one guy that good, I'm hoping the sheer volume of threes neutralizes his impact on the game.
Flagg is a good player, and one day will probably be a star. But that day is NOT now!
He’s not going to physically dominate you like a Zion or Shaq. He’s not going to light you up and bury 8 3’s like a Curry of Durant. He’s not going to blow by everyone like a Wall or Fox.
I don’t get all of this fear, fear of a guy who shoots from outside just ok, fear of a guy who doesn’t dominate on the blocks, fear of a guy who’s best at scoring on the break.
Don’t turn it over!! So fewer breaks. That is rule 1 to limiting Flagg. The other break opportunities will be long rebounds off missed 3’s. That is a potential area of concern for us.
But I bet a bigger indicator of the outcome of that game will be how many Duke guys not named Flagg score double-digits (or 8+), than how many Flagg scores. I think he will get his 15-20, on 8-12 shots.
He’s not going to physically dominate you like a Zion or Shaq. He’s not going to light you up and bury 8 3’s like a Curry of Durant. He’s not going to blow by everyone like a Wall or Fox.
I don’t get all of this fear, fear of a guy who shoots from outside just ok, fear of a guy who doesn’t dominate on the blocks, fear of a guy who’s best at scoring on the break.
Don’t turn it over!! So fewer breaks. That is rule 1 to limiting Flagg. The other break opportunities will be long rebounds off missed 3’s. That is a potential area of concern for us.
But I bet a bigger indicator of the outcome of that game will be how many Duke guys not named Flagg score double-digits (or 8+), than how many Flagg scores. I think he will get his 15-20, on 8-12 shots.
He was an egomaniac before he won back to back titles. I am sure he is difficult to even be around now.
I would put oweh on him and help if he posts him up. Carr can't guard him
Oweh is about half a foot shorter than Flagg and Williams would have two fouls quicker than you could say Aaron Bradshaw. Granted, I do think Oweh is the best shot at guarding him. Flagg is no joke fellas. He's not like Justin Edwards. He's a legit NBA player right now. If the Cats shoot it well, it will be a dandy of a game.
Rebounding and 2nd chance points may be a issue
Guarantee you Coach Pope will stress that. As good as we looked the other night, he was quick to point out we’ll need to improve on the glass.
This game is simple. Let Flagg get his just play Amari, Carr, Garrison and Almoror on him honestly. that's 15- 20 fouls we got to throw at him. Flagg is 6-8 200 lbs. We got...
Carr 6-11 230
Almoror 6-7 235
Williams 7-0 270
Garrison 6-11 250
Give them all a shot at guarding him and whoever does best put them on him at crunch time. As long as Flagg doesn't have a 30 plus scoring 15 plus rebounding game I think we will be fine.
We hit 12-15 3's and matchups well with the rest of there squad I don't think they beat us in the 3rd game of the season.
Carr 6-11 230
Almoror 6-7 235
Williams 7-0 270
Garrison 6-11 250
Give them all a shot at guarding him and whoever does best put them on him at crunch time. As long as Flagg doesn't have a 30 plus scoring 15 plus rebounding game I think we will be fine.
We hit 12-15 3's and matchups well with the rest of there squad I don't think they beat us in the 3rd game of the season.
That’s never happened. It’s illegal for a key Duke player to be in foul trouble.