NCAAB Insider has glowing reviews for "well-rounded" Cooper Flagg after his USA Basketball show out
The potential No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft, Duke's Cooper Flagg went head-to-head against some of the best basketball players in the world. He was part of the Select Team partaking in a scrimmage against the stacked Team USA that will head for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
In one of the clips from the practice game, Cooper loses Jrue Holiday with his dribble and sinks a 3 over Anthony Davis.
Right after the play, he helps in disrupting a touchdown pass to "AD", only to stride across the court and drop an athletic put-back over Bam Adebayo. While fans are yet to come up with a player comparison for Cooper, NCAAB Insider Jeef Goodman had high praise for the 17-year-old forward:
"Cooper Flagg is just such a well-rounded player. Does everything on the court. Terrific passer, rebounds, elite shot-blocker, can get to basket, the only part of his game that can be really critiqued is his perimeter shot – and much of that is because he hasn’t needed to shoot it from deep," Goodman wrote on X/Twitter.
Cooper Flagg's best sequence came as the game clock narrowed down. He was boldly calling for the ball and taking charge of the offense in the tight game. However, Team USA emerged victorious by a close 74-73 scoreline.
Cooper Flagg is months separated from a promising high school career and will be part of the Duke Blue Devils in the coming collegiate season. The 6-foot-8 forward has tight handles, quick first step and great floor vision like a point guard. He can score on all three levels, take care of the paint, time his blocks and is not afraid of physicality on both ends of the floor.
Cooper Flagg has high hopes for Team USA's Olympic journey
On the last day of the three-day Select Team endeavor, Flagg was asked about his views on the 2024 version of Team USA. Having exchanged pound-for-pound with the best in the game, Flagg believes that the star-studded roster can dominate its way in the Olympics:
"They can be any team they want to be. They have no weaknesses, no holes. They can play any type of way and dominate. So, it's just going to be a dominant team that asserts their will on everybody they see,” Flagg said.
With the pools now set, Team USA's first Olympic test will be against Nikola Jokic's Serbia on July 28.
However, they will first embark on a five-game trip to face Canada, Australia, Serbia, South Sudan and Germany from July 11 to July 23.