What we learned about Cooper Flagg and Duke during the Blue Devils’ season opener
In his highly anticipated Duke debut, Cooper Flagg — the projected No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft — scored 18 points as the No. 7 Blue Devils defeated Maine 96-62 on Monday.
Flagg made six of 15 shots and added seven rebounds and five assists. He left the match late with cramps.
All eyes were on Flagg, the reigning National Gatorade Player of the Year, who took part in the game. But it was fellow freshman Kon Knueppel who made his presence known early. Knueppel, a forward, finished with a game-high 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting, plus four rebounds and two assists.
It looks like Coop is enjoying those breakout dunks @JonScheyer pic.twitter.com/IEE3VeZ1kq
— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) November 5, 2024
Duke led by 11 points at halftime and maintained a double-digit lead for most of the game. Maine was hanging in there until an 11-0 Duke run early in the second half blew things open.
The Blue Devils host Army on Friday for a big matchup with No. 23 Kentucky on Tuesday in Atlanta in the Champions Classic.
Flagg, as expected, flashes in Duke debut
The most notable Flagg highlight from his first college game came late in the first half when Flagg dribbled over a screen and found the lane wide open. He wasted no time, immediately charging when he saw space and rising for a thunderous one-handed dunk; Unsurprisingly, this was the loudest Cameron Indoor Stadium all night.
COOOOOOP 👀👀 (ACCN) pic.twitter.com/K9gkbl04Xu
— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) November 5, 2024
Flagg had another full-court steal-and-slam midway through the second half, but at this rate it’s going to be difficult to keep track of all his “moments” pretty quickly. Shocker: The hype surrounding arguably the best high school prospects of the past decade was justified.
As for Flagg’s overall play, highlights aside? It also went largely as advertised, although he was somewhat passive again early in the match. The extra defensive attention he drew in the first half opened things up for Knueppel in a big way – more on him in a second – and Flagg didn’t force much before halftime. He had just eight points at halftime – although he would have had more if two NBA-style continuation games had counted – but still had four assists, three rebounds and a steal in the first 20 minutes.
The 17-year-old phenomenon was much more assertive in the second half and consistently showed the versatility that earned him so much praise. His ability to go from a back-to-the-basket post presence to a face-up perimeter driver is rarely seen in players his age.
The only people who could have possibly been disappointed by Flagg’s debut were those who expected him to lead the Blue Devils in scoring. But that’s never been his game, and he doesn’t need to put up points to be Duke’s most impactful two-way player. That said, if I predicted anyone would lead Duke in scoring this season, it would easily be Knueppel. — Brendan Marks, Duke beat writer
The Knueppel hype is real and has only just begun
Kon Knueppel scored a team-high 22 points in his Duke debut. (Lance King/Getty Images)
Duke coach Jon Scheyer has admitted that he and his staff didn’t expect Knueppel — the No. 18 recruit in the class of 2024, according to 247Sports composite — to be this good so early. But the 6-foot-4 wing has been a revelation this summer, quickly emerging not only as one of Duke’s best players, but as perhaps its most powerful scoring threat. That was seen in the Blue Devils’ two exhibition games and again against Maine.
Knueppel developed his scoring ability playing against older, stronger players in his father’s men’s league back home in Milwaukee, and that immediately translated to the college level. Most impressive of all, though, is his shooting potential. In one scene in the first half, forward Maliq Brown stole the ball and drove in transition, only to slip and lose his handle – but Knueppel, who was behind the play, picked up the ball and shot it almost without looking , causing one of his players to run out. ultimately three three-pointers.
He’s already shown the potential to pour in a barrage of three-pointers as soon as the first one drops, which is exactly the kind of microwave scoring Duke needs to balance its suffocating defense.
Knueppel’s hype train is already in full swing – The Athletics‘s NBA draft expert Sam Vecenie wrote that he is one of the most impressed players this preseason, but that he will only gain more steam if he continues this torrid scoring pace against better competition. He looks like another lottery ticket. – To notice
GO DEEPER
Marks: Duke star Cooper Flagg is actually part of a dynamic freshman duo
Duke’s ceiling is still sky-high, but there are still some issues to be ironed out
The final score — Duke even had a 30.5-point spread — may not reflect this, but Scheyer’s team was far from perfect in the season opener.
For starters, this was a single-digit game for most of the first half. Maine actually outscored Duke 18-16 in the first half, despite the Blue Devils not having a rotation player under 6-foot-1; Scheyer won’t be happy with his team’s early efforts on the boards.
Also worth following further is how Duke’s shot diet changes in close games. After committing seven fouls in the first seven minutes on Monday, Duke committed just one more personal foul in the first half, squandering an early bonus that could have easily increased the lead.
Duke has the ability to hit 3s at a high rate (he made 11 against the Black Bears, after all), but he can’t fall in love with the deep ball at the expense of his interior penetration. – To notice
Required reading
(Photo: Lance King/Getty Images)
