Dirk Nowitzki on Cooper Flagg: “My rookie season, I shot 29% from three and it ended up being okay. We’re not worried about Cooper’s three ball.”
That’s not exactly true, he actually shot 21% from three his rookie season (14 for 68 across 47 games)
revisionist history
Dirk didn’t think you were going to fact check him like that
Bro added a bit of mayo to the stats and thought r/nba wouldn’t notice
Nobody said that we’re doing fact checking here.
Nein, he is German
No matter what the context is. NBA players always gass their stats lmao.
looks like cooper is shooting 29%, so dirk probably knew that and was mostly saying “hey, i shot poorly from 3 as a rookie too” and just assumed he was near flagg
HRMC where you at when we need you
Flagg is ironically the most NBA ready prospect since Luka as a rookie because he’s already capable of bullying a lot of defenders. He’s so physically advanced for someone his age.
I don’t know if Flagg will put up 29/9/9 and be 1st Team All NBA in year 2 like Luka did, but Flagg may average like 25 ppg with really good defense and be All NBA next season. Hes that good. Already averaging close to 20 ppg without the ability to shoot threes, and on a terrible team.
All NBA at 25 ppg, but with elite defense, but no 3s. What Ben Simmons was supposed to become.
By all signs he’s every bit of dawg that Simmons never was.
Man his first 3 years were so promising. His defense was so good. Shame he didn’t have that dawg in him.
He really just did enough to get the bag.
a man after my own heart
lmao what?
they call it quiet quitting these days
It’s an old saying.
In genZ speak it means: ‘he’s just like me fr fr’
some people dream of being able to do just enough to get a bag. We don’t all strive to be maniacal workaholics trying to eek out extra percentage points of production.
It’s what he WAS bro. That’s what’s infuriating. He refused to get better at his shot, but then he ALSO regressed and wouldn’t dunk lol
Defense wasn’t as good as rookie Ben’s imo
Ben Simmons took a total of 11 3s his rookie season. and that was actually the most he’s taken in a season. that man is allergic to shooting
Kon Knueppel is way more NBA ready Coop will be the better player in the future. But I find it way more impressive that Kon was able to integrate into the offense seemsly with Ball and Miller. Coop can do whatever he want in that Dallas team and its fine.
that’s a double edged sword though, cooper has the offensive load of a first option, they were double teaming him in brooklyn the other week and he was making the right reads, i do agree though coop is still a rawer player than kon
I mean he was less NBA ready than Kon Knueppel
No he wasn’t and that is no slight against Kon, dude is awesome. It’s just so is Cooper
Kon is a better player this year
How?
Only if you think shooting is all there is to basketball.
Ok first of all Kon has been very solid on the defensive end, and secondly, shooting is pretty fucking important
Coop is leading him in every major statistical category except scoring which Kon leads by .2 Coop also has twice as many double-doubles…
Kon also is having absurd efficiency for anyone, let alone a rookie. He seriously might have a 50/40/90 season. Also should take into account he wasn’t just handed the keys entirely like Flagg was.
Flagg started the year playing out of position. Again though, none of this is a slight against Kon, dude is awesome, but Coop has been better this year, by measured stats.
I don’t think Flagg has been better so we’ll have to agree to disagree
He’s having the most efficient rookie season of all time afaik, 8 3pa on 42%, 20 a game
He’s also way way way better than Luka defensively. Mavs fans are and should be upset by losing Luka, but it’s a hell of a consolidation prize getting Cooper. He may very well be a better winning player than Luka when all is said and done
The type of guy that you just have a feeling will win some chips
defense and not fat
He’s Kawhite Leonard
Wemby easily
Well the reason why Luka had success it’s probably antagonist with Cooper
If Flagg puts up 29/9/9 in his 2nd season, he’ll be the goat. He’s 19 so his defense will get much better as frame fills out, and he’s already a great defender.
But Dirk…….You’re Dirk
He was nobody in his RC season. People would not announce him by his first name. He would not be in the same sentence as Duncan, KG or Webber.
Dirk really worked on his game and turned into a HOF career.
The only Dirk I knew growing up was Dirk Diggler
It was Dirk Benedict for me.
One of the best draft reaches. Only Mavs and Boston(?) were confident to pick him fast. RIP Tractor.
“There’s no ‘D’ in ‘Irk’” is what we used to say back in the day.
Dirk means DAGGER
Hearing Dirk say “we” makes my heart full. There have been rumors that the Mavs want to bring him into some kind of FO role and I hope they are true. Come home big fella, we miss you!
It’s definitely really nice to have the vets involved with the team. We’re lucky to have a lot with the Knicks.
Oh for sure, and Dirk is the man in Dallas, he loves the city and team, it’s a no-brainer, but our ownership can’t even seem to meet that low bar, so far anyway.
Dirk had no choice but to develop his shot since he’s weak down low.
Cooper has to have that kind of motivation as well if he wants to improve.
As of now, he can bully the defense just like Giannis. Shooting the 3s might just be an after-thought for the likes of them.
You want to be in the NBA, you gotta shoot the three. Even Wemby is shooting threes.
True. That should be enough motivation I guess.
I’ve been watching him all year and he really seems to have that drive to improve like Dirk did. Of course time will tell, but things look good so far.
the wemby, chet, flagg rivalry down there is gonna be wild
it wasn’t a case of developing, it was a case of a bad shooting slump, lack of playing time rhythm and a low sample size (68 shots total)
the next season on 306 shots he shot it a 38%, he already had that shot figured out.
Most of the people on here were not around or old enough to actually be watching his rookie season. He was a bench player and he was trying to fit into the way that NBA basketball was played as a 7 foot player. It wasn’t until a little bit into his 2nd year that he stopped trying to be an “NBA big” and just started being the player that he actually was/is.
Interestingly, as he got older he started playing closer to the basket instead of being the extreme outside shooter he was in his early years(a big part of why he was labeled as soft). Then as he became and old player he drifted farther from the basket again to become almost a spot-up shooter
Considering how good he already is, it’s clear his work ethic is pretty high.
Work ethic is one thing. Developing something is another.
There’s always a good chance that they may prioritize developing other factors of his game, rather than the 3s.
Weak down low?……….
Compared to the likes of KG, Duncan, Shaq, Yao, Bosh, Aldridge, Ibaka, Gasol, Stoudemire, Webber, Zach Randolph that he plays against?
He even had a chance to play against Rodman, Malone, Kemp, and Barkley.
To answer your question, BIG EFFIN YES.
Wasn’t that weak when he blew by Bosh
That was prime/veteran Dirk.
that was finessin’
It was your phrasing man
Sorry about that my man. English isn’t my primary language.
No need to apologize. Down low means something to most basketball fans.
Like sucking dick?
Folks who know ball aren’t worried about Coop’s 3 point shot.
They know he works and that it will improve.
Coops effort, his competitiveness and his overall game are really something at his young age.
There’s gonna be a lot of talk about Coop given the situation around how he got drafted. At the end of the day, the dude can’t even buy a beer and is out there playing against the best in the world with legit highlight reel footage already. He was NBA ready, and the kid is damn good. Give it time for the rest of his game to develop. You can learn to adjust your shot and shoot better. You can’t teach instincts, and he’s got em.
Finley thanking god about the beer
lol he’s giving himself way too much credit.
he actually shot 20.6% his entire rookie season…
3point game is a bit more important now than in 1998
greatest shooting big man of all time, definitely knows what he’s talking about
Couterpoint: Killian Hayes also shot 28% from three and it ended up being not okay.
I like Flagg but the next decade belongs to Wemby if he wants it and stays healthy. He’ll end up being Barkley to Wemby’s MJ.
Old timer forgets the league is completely different to when he was playing.
Flagg’s shooting form and fundamentals are great. It’s not like his shot is broken or that he has the yips.
Hearing Dirk use “we” warmed my cold heart.
I don’t see Flagg ever being more than a slightly above average 3 point shooter and that’s okay. Not really what he’s brought on to do. I would like he see him develop a stronger post and midrange game. I think he could be really dangerous in that 10-16 range
He already is, shooting 52% from that range. It’s the floater range shots 3-10ft that’s holding him back.
But I do agree, I think his 3pt just needs to hit a threshold and it’ll be good enough to open the rest of the game up for him. I’m also pretty confident he’ll get there.