Cooper Flagg vs. Bronny James takeaways: No. 1 pick struggles to find his shot in Summer League debut

The hottest ticket on the day of opening the NBA Las Vegas Summer League It turned out to be worth the admission price, while the Dallas Mavericks won an 87-85 victory against the Los Angeles Lakers Thursday in the beginnings of the overall choice n ° 1 Cooper Flagg. The former Duke star finished with 10 points, six rebounds and four assists against the Lakers of Bonny James.

“It’s just a different match,” said Flagg for the ESPN after the match. “Different the rhythm, a different feeling, a different spacing. Just a lot of adjustments, but we will go well.”

Traditionally, the marquee game during the opening evening of the summer league presents global choices n ° 1 and n ° 2 of the draft by playing against each other, but not this year. The NBA has scheduled a match with Flagg who accumulates against the son of the top scorer in the league, LeBron James.

The media threshing of this game was real. According to TickpickTickets for the beginnings of the Flagg Summer League were the most expensive in the history of the event, with lower Bowl seats, selling $ 650 and tickets on the land costing $ 2,500. The fans present began to align at 5:45 am at Thomas & Mack Center of Sin City to secure their place.

Flagg received his moment “Welcome to the NBA” a few seconds from the match. After Dallas won the opening council, he was blitzé by two defenders when he tried to initiate the offensive. He then missed his first two shots before throwing a powerful dunk with a hand in transition for his first points.

Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said Flagg would get representatives during the summer league as an initiator and main ball eater. One of the largest fields of improvement in Flagg during his only season in Duke was his ability to create his own shot in a half-terrain setting. Despite the shooting only 5 out of 21 on the ground on Thursday and not doing a goal on the field in the second period, Flagg regularly arrived in his place.

With the highly anticipated game of Flagg with the young James in the books, here are some points to take away from the game.

Flagg will eventually find his shot

When you look at the box score, you can notice the FLAGG DULGG numbers: 5 for 21 shots, 0 for 5 3 points, 0 for 1 of the franc launch line. As mentioned above, a majority of these shooting attempts occurred in the mid-range area. It was a must from Flagg to Duke. He would step back the small defenders and were going to work in the position. His shot had not fallen on Thursday, but it should not be a great cause of concern in the future.

“Not up to it,” said Flagg when broadcasting. “New feeling, new environment, new teammates. … I didn’t have my best game, but I’m just going to continue, before.”

What Flagg showed during his summer in the summer league is that college basketball fans already knew. He was an underestimated playmaker in Duke and would regularly do the right readings in the flow of the offense. This summer should be considered trials and errors for Flagg because it develops more leader skills.

“I think that when you have someone like Cooper who can manage, who can shoot, who can pass, you want the ball in his hands. He is a big decision maker. He did it in Duke and also in high school.” Kidd told the ESPN broadcast. “He’s going to have some mistakes. We have all done it. We all threw him in the stands from time to time. But I think his balance at the age of 18 is incredible.”

A positive is that Flagg only withdrew the ball once (in the fourth quarter) while recording 32 minutes. It’s a good sign. He also had a clutch block in the last two minutes which led to a decisive pass on the shot of Ryan Nembhard.

An aggressive and confident bronny

After fighting in his last summer championship match at California Classic earlier this week, James looked like another player. Not only did he play with confidence, but he was also much more aggressive at the two ends of the soil. James overthrew a backcm in Flagg for the first points of the Lakers and struck a 3 -point pointer on the next possession of his team.

James was also twinned (sometimes) against Flagg on the defensive and despite his much smaller setting, he did not decide a challenge. James has not played much in the section, but his aggressiveness during the first half is something he can build for the rest of the event and until next season, whether in the NBA or League G.

James missed a deep 3 points with less than a second remaining that would have won the Lakers match. He finished with eight points, two rebounds and two assists in 21 minutes.

Nembhard could be a hidden gem

One of the biggest surprises on the 2nd day of the draft was to see Ryan Nembhard, the younger brother of the Indiana Pacers Andrew Nembhard goalkeeper, does not refer. However, it seems that he landed in a perfect situation with the Mavericks. Dallas has a clear need for a safeguard leader while Kyrie Irving recovers with a torn ACL, with the acquisition of off -season of Angelo Russell as an alleged starter.

If Nembhard plays as he did during his debut in the summer league, he could well put himself in the running for this place. He was the best floor player, finishing with 21 points, five assists and a flight. He is the kind of player who rarely makes mistakes, and this kind of stability is exactly what Dallas needs.