ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith shares his reservations about Duke’s Cooper Flagg after 75-72 loss against Kansas

Cooper Flagg has garnered national attention with standout displays this season. However, Stephen A. Smith remains reserved on how far the young Duke star can go.

During Tuesday's episode of "First Take" after the game between No. 11 Duke and No. 1 Kansas, which saw the Jayhawks win 75-72 in overtime, Smith expressed his thoughts about Flagg's performances six games into the Blue Devils' season. While he acknowledges the skills Flagg possesses, he is holding off on giving high reviews on his current level.

“Flagg’s got some skills," Smith said. "I mean, everybody’s been raving about him. I haven’t really seen it. I watched this game last night, and I haven’t really seen, he had 13 points, hit five of nine shots. Could have been a little bit more aggressive offensively, stuff like that. He’s young. He’s only going to get better. He’s going to be terrific. I have no doubt.

“But all the noise that has been made about him, I have no doubt that it’s true. I just need to see it on this level right now, because I haven’t seen it yet. And again, Kansas got athleticism. They’ve got size. Duke had trouble scoring in the interior. I get all of that, but I just found myself looking at them and I’m like, this is the number one team in the country?”

How Cooper Flagg and Duke have performed this season

While Stephen A. Smith may be correct in holding off judgment on Cooper Flagg until he sees more from him and Duke, the reasons that fans are fixated on the freshman star could be legitimate.

Flagg is averaging 17.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.6 blocks per game on 45.8% shooting, including 29.2% from beyond the arc. Against Kansas, he finished with 13 points, five rebounds and three assists on 5 of 9 shooting in 38 minutes.

This marked Duke's second loss of the season, both coming against ranked opponents. Cooper Flagg and his team will look to bounce back when they host Seattle at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Friday at 7 p.m. ET.

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