A Conversation About Cooper Flagg's Defense

Cooper Flagg has rocketed on the global basketball scene. He is a do-it-all forward whose offensive ability leads the way for a fantastic Duke team. Yet, many people point to his defense as the main reason he will be the number one pick in the NBA draft. How good is Cooper Flagg's defense really?

The Good

For a player of any age, Flagg is impressive on the backline of Duke's defense. He processes rotations and switches smoothly, even making complex switches look routine.

Here's an example of Flagg's understanding as a help defender. Stanford's talented big is posting so Flagg points for Proctor to help from the baseline while Flagg zones up the weakside.

This time, Flagg is the low man on the weakside which means he has baseline responsibilities. He is there to stop the drive but recognizes an opportunity with the offensive player turning his back. Flagg gets the steal plus a little showtime!

Flagg is opportunistic but not reckless in the area of defensive playmaking. If drivers don't see the floor, Flagg often lurks behind ready to pounce. Flagg shows more restraint as a secondary rim protector, something that is both a good and bad thing. While focused on the positive aspects, I will say that Flagg rarely over helps.

The final area that sticks out is his rebounding. I love that Flagg is constantly around the defensive glass and always primes his jump to pursue rebounds. He has built great habits that make me confident in his help side value at Duke and in the NBA.

The Bad

The point of attack (POA) defense raises some questions for me, especially versus quick guards. His center of mass feels high which sticks out when he bites on fakes or whiffs on a reach-in.

I think his on-ball concerns has led Duke to use him primarily on the weakside. That leaves Flagg in an interesting archetype as a defensive prospect. He isn't the crazy rim protector like a Anthony Davis, nor is he a on-ball hound like Stephon Castle was last year.

Something indicated by Duke putting him on the lesser offensive weapons. Favoring guys like Kon, Sion, or Khaman to guard the other teams leading scorer. Now, in the context of Duke's switching defense, this point isn't enough to raise an alarm, but it is worth noting.

The final aspect of his on-ball defense worth mentioning is some of his closeout struggles. He rarely gets out of position so he doesn't need to make long closeouts very often but his technique still needs to improve.

He closes out with his left hand up and at an angle with his left foot closes to the offensive player. The problems come with his angle towards the defender and he doesn't stop his forward momentum when the ball reaches his man. The angle is important because he doesn't take away any options from the offense. His momentum is important to stopping straight line drives. Compare the above clip with this closeout from Dillion Mitchell.

His ability to guard in the pick and roll is an interesting area of focus when evaluating Flagg. How flexible is he with the number of coverages that he can play? Is his future team just going to switch with him and live with what happens or will they experiment with different coverages?

Conclusion

To plant the figurative flagg on this conversation, let's answer the question about Flagg's overall defense. He is a fantastic communicator and backline defender for his age. The rebounding and defensive playmaking is impressively balanced with him picking his spots and doing his job within Duke's scheme.

Team success is really important for me evaluating guys value, and Flagg is a big part of Duke's top-five defense. He is a key piece for a really talented defensive team. I put Flagg as a good to great defensive prospect who needs to improve his technique in certain areas while building out his frame.

Projecting his value in the future leaves me feeling a tad more pessimistic. I don't project him as elite protecting the rim or guarding the ball which leaves him more as a flexible defender that compliments other defensive talent. My NBA comparison/ defensive ceiling is a slightly less effective Giannis Ant... (you know who I'm talking about).