00:00Cooper Flagg's amazing nights, and are you invested in him winning Rookie of the Year?
00:07Let me start with that.
00:08Do you care, in what's been a crap season otherwise, if Cooper Flagg wins Rookie of the Year or not?
00:15I do. Here's why.
00:18For what I predict is going to be many superlatives to add on to this kid,
00:24whatever they're going to be, and many superlative awards, if you will.
00:28I think he's going to have an MVP in his career.
00:31I think he's going to have lots of good, positive things in his career.
00:37I don't know. I just don't know, because I have no clue what direction this team actually is building towards.
00:44It looks like they have everything in order, but man, we see how this falls apart so many different times.
00:49Philadelphia's never won since they were like, trust the process.
00:53So, all these things being said, I think that he's going to have a very good career,
00:59and I think that Rookie of the Year puts the stamp on the beginning of it, and then everything else
01:05comes with it.
01:05So, Rookie of the Year is very important to me.
01:08Jason Kidd said something kind of similar, so I'm going to see if it's unanimous here.
01:12Alec, are you invested? Do you care if Cooper Flagg wins Rookie of the Year?
01:18100%. You know, because as a Mavs fan, we lost our one thing that always gave us something to look
01:24forward to during Mavs games,
01:26even in a lost season, even in Luka's rookie year when I knew there was no expectations.
01:30I was like, this kid is special. I'm still going to watch.
01:32So, yeah, I do, and especially considering that he missed time a good amount of time,
01:37it's even more incredible to me if and when he does win, because I'm like, he missed time.
01:42He was inconsistent to start his rookie season, and now he's looking otherworldly.
01:47It's just an even cooler story to me at this point.
01:50Yeah, and you know, we had talked about this a couple months ago.
01:52Could Luka be a top 30 player, or excuse me, sorry.
01:56Could Cooper Flagg be a top 30 player by the end of the season?
02:00And now it's looking like that is very possible.
02:04And we'll talk about the ceiling for him another time.
02:06But it is wild to see how much these odds ebbed and flowed in the span of 72 hours.
02:14So when we did this show on Friday, live from Globe Life Field, by the way, thank you very, very
02:20much.
02:21And, Corey, I know you feel the exact same way.
02:23You're welcome.
02:24To everybody who stopped by, said hello, wanted to take pictures, brought stuff.
02:30Like, it was so cool to see the Tolo love.
02:33And I had another media member show up and tell us how much of a Tolo she is.
02:39And then she went to high school with me.
02:40That was awesome.
02:41I had a great week, dude.
02:43The show of the people.
02:44Great Friday.
02:45And on Friday, see, I like that.
02:47On Friday, they put out the straw poll that 80 of the voters would vote for Knepple for Rookie of
02:55the Year.
02:56Are we still using straws?
02:57Yeah, I don't.
02:59Do they really have, is there a short straw in this situation?
03:03No, they're paper now.
03:05That's a good question.
03:06All right.
03:07Whatever you're...
03:08What kind of straws are we using in these polls?
03:09If you want to come up with another way to say it, I'm willing to adopt it.
03:14All right.
03:15I don't know why I did it like that.
03:16All right.
03:16Anyways, the point is, Knepple was ahead of Flag 80 to 20.
03:22And I know all kinds of people were posting Adrian Brody from Winning Time telling Magic Johnson how he got
03:30three votes for Rookie of the Year against Larry Bird.
03:33And he was like, oh, the hell with that.
03:35And they were like, that's exactly what happened with Cooper Flag.
03:39And so because of that poll, whatever you call it, you got up to minus $1,800 for Knepple to
03:48win Rookie of the Year, which means you would have had to bet $1,800 to win $100.
03:53So it was overwhelming.
03:56Then Cooper Flag goes out there and he has 51 points, surpassing his previous career high, the Mavericks' previous rookie
04:04record.
04:05He became the 10th rookie in NBA history to score 50-plus points since the merger in 1976-77 and
04:13became the only teenager to score 50-plus points.
04:17Now, all of a sudden, it's 68% for Knepple, 32% for Cooper Flag.
04:24And you're like, ooh, okay, got closer.
04:27Still about a 2-to-1 margin.
04:29But then, give me cut number five.
04:32You get Sunday night for the Dallas Mavericks and Cooper Flag is right back at it.
04:39And he scores 45.
04:42Flag on LeBron.
04:43Now the switch.
04:45Flag goes.
04:46Gets.
04:46And one.
04:47Give him 34 points.
04:50And now, he is the favorite to win Rookie of the Year.
04:5672 hours ago, it was minus $1,800 for Knepple.
05:03And now, Cooper Flag is the favorite.
05:07Although, I believe there's a 3% play out there right now that it'll be a tie.
05:11And I actually think that would be really fascinating because the Dallas Mavericks head coach, Jason Kidd, he also tied
05:19for Rookie of the Year with Grant Hill.
05:21And so, I just think that that would be...
05:24He tied with a dude that he demolished in one of the NCAA tournaments?
05:29That's fair.
05:31That's fair.
05:31All right.
05:31And then we go...
05:33Now he'd be tied with a teammate.
05:34That's weird.
05:35Yeah.
05:35But there are all three of them from Duke.
05:36Yes.
05:37It is weird.
05:38For sure.
05:39Now, Najee Marshall might love Cooper Flag the most.
05:44He tweeted out after the 51-point game,
05:46Hard to appreciate greatness while going through hard times.
05:50But that boy is one of none.
05:52Not one of one.
05:54One of none.
05:55And then he followed up.
05:56He might be the best rookie ever.
05:58To which P.J. Washington jumped in and said no cap.
06:01So, you have his teammates talking about how he could be the best rookie ever.
06:08And here are some comparisons.
06:10I just go back to, Kevin, the first five shots I ever saw from him were...
06:16Whenever he was in the practice room against Team USA.
06:21Right.
06:22Like, they showed five shots, essentially, of him just destroying Team USA.
06:26And all the players that came out of that room were just like,
06:30That dude's insanely good.
06:32Right.
06:32Like, this guy's already 17 at the time.
06:35Yeah.
06:36And you're just like, Oh, my gosh.
06:38But all these professionals were already doing what P.J. Washington
06:41and his other teammates are doing.
06:42And that is, we've never seen anything like it.
06:44Go ahead.
06:45Yeah.
06:45Yeah.
06:46I mean, look.
06:46And I kind of like this.
06:48My Cooper flag numbered card out of 250 cares about him winning rookie of the year.
06:53From the 469, whose game style do y'all like more?
06:56Cooper or Luka?
06:58And, I mean, I'll say Cooper just because I think he has the opportunity to be more well-rounded.
07:05But there's no doubt.
07:06Obviously, before Luka got hurt, which that's a whole other topic that we need to discuss,
07:10he was playing out of this freaking world offensively, but these are the comparisons stat-wise, just stat-wise.
07:20Not to say he will become any of these players, but that is crazy to me.
07:26Cooper flag, last two games, 96 points.
07:29Oh, by the way, he also had 14 rebounds total in those two games.
07:34And I will argue, this might sound crazy.
07:37I will argue the biggest number from those two games is 50 in terms of 50%, not 51 points.
07:46It's 50%.
07:47In those two games, he was 5 of 10 from 3.
07:52Shot 50%.
07:53And as we've discussed, his three-pointer has not been good this year.
07:56If he ever gets to a 39, 40% consistent three-point shooter, look out.
08:03He will be, every single year, in the discussion for best player in the NBA.
08:08Yeah, but will he ever have a triple-double, you know?
08:10Is that what's really holding you back?
08:12Yeah, those triple-doubles are important, Kevin.
08:14Are they?
08:15Yeah.
08:15Yeah, that's how you win MVP, Russell Westbrook.
08:18Well, I mean, that's true.
08:19But I was going to say, Nikola Jokic is about to have a triple-double for the season.
08:23He's not going to win MVP.
08:24Is that a shot he made over Wemby, though?
08:26Oh, my gosh.
08:27Wemby is still in disbelief about that.
08:29That was a terrible-looking shot until it went in.
08:33And I don't think Wemby should feel bad.
08:35His defense was exquisite on that shot.
08:37I saw somebody post there like, if Wemby can't defend it, then it can't be defended.
08:41Yeah, exactly.
08:42I don't know how you defend that shot.
08:44Now, Cooper Flagg, last two games, 96 points.
08:48Here's a fun way to look at it.
08:50In a two-game span, do you know that's only the six most points ever scored by a rookie?
08:55The top five are all held by Wilt Chamberlain.
08:59So, he scored the second most points in a two-game stretch behind only Wilt Chamberlain.
09:05He has more 40-point games than the rest of the rookies combined.
09:09He has multiple 45-plus-point games this year.
09:13The last rookie to do so since the merger, the only rookie to do so, Michael Jordan.
09:19And he just surpassed Luka Doncic for the second most 35-5 games by a teenager in NBA history,
09:26behind only LeBron, but now ahead of Luka.
09:29Those are crazy comparisons, and we'll talk some more about the Allen Iverson comparison
09:35yesterday, tomorrow.
09:37But the statistical category he's next to is Iverson, Wilt, Luka, and Jordan.
09:43And doing it while being on a winning team.
09:45Well, no.
09:47They are not a winning team.
09:48From the 4-6-9, I'm sorry, Cooper's great.
09:51Don't be sorry about that.
09:52But, I don't think he puts up these type of numbers if Kyrie's playing.
09:56I don't know if he will be able to share the ball with another dominant player.
10:00I disagree.
10:02I do, too.
10:02The guy that I'm...
10:03First off, we've watched Kyrie around here for a long time.
10:06He loves the fourth quarter.
10:08He's like, hey, give me the ball in the fourth quarter.
10:11Then I will dominate games for you.
10:12Sure.
10:13And that's kind of been the vibe.
10:14But that was a problem, right, when Luka was cold early.
10:18It was like, well, who do we turn to offensively?
10:21I think Cooper is more of a pass-to-pass to get to the shot.
10:27You know, he might not get the assist, but he'll have the play that sets up the assist.
10:31Yeah.
10:31A lot of times.
10:32And that's what I think about Cooper.
10:34He's a very team-oriented basketball guy.
10:36And good off the ball.
10:38And really good defensively, too, when it comes to the try-hard part of the defensive side.
10:43But also, Kyrie has proven, when he was with Luka, that he can defer and be a two.
10:50Yeah.
10:51And then you add into that the mindset of what these two can do together.
10:58And I think that they will work very well together if Kyrie's still...
11:03You know, the whole process of when he's ready next season and all of that.
11:06I think he and Kyrie will be just fine together.
11:08Yeah, and also, just to be fair, it depends on what kind of numbers you mean.
11:13Scoring 96 points in the span of two games, that is probably not something you're going
11:18to see a whole lot.
11:19But for the season, he's averaging 21 points.
11:22I definitely think he can average more than that if Kyrie is the point guard, because Kyrie
11:28is the perfect person to control the point for Cooper to be off the ball.
11:32Yeah.
11:32They can play a two-man game together, for sure.
11:34A hundred percent.
11:35And then I'd go back to what Rolando Blackman may have accidentally spilled the beans on,
11:40but he told us.
11:41And I think they're very honest with this mantra.
11:44That is, right now, Cooper has to learn that it's his team.
11:48Right now, it looks like Cooper's learned that it's his team.
11:50When Kyrie comes back, and this is Rolando Blackman's words.
11:55Yeah.
11:55And this is Rolando Blackman talking as he was talking to a kid and everybody else on the
11:59staff, when Kyrie comes back, it's still Cooper Flagg's team.
12:05And that's what the process of, hey, I am going to be the guy that they're building around.
12:12Kyrie's going to be on this team, and he can run with me.
12:14I want superstars to be on the court with me.
12:17But it's still, whenever it's time to go get it, Cooper Flagg's the guy.
12:21In the meantime, you have four games left, just one home game left, and that is on Sunday
12:28against the Bulls.
12:30Obviously, long ago, the Mavericks were eliminated from playoff contention.
12:34And I just saw somebody ask about...
12:37Sorry to break that news to you.
12:39No.
12:40If the Mavericks could pick up Austin Reeves, I still think you would have some more financial
12:45maneuvering to do to truly make that happen.
12:49But you have the potential to bring in a really good free agent player, and then...
12:55Has to be from Duke?
12:56No, not necessarily.
12:58Are we trying to be the Dukiest team out there?
12:59I mean, they already are, in a couple of different ways.
13:02And then, depending on how high you get up into the draft, you have an opportunity to really
13:08help jumpstart this thing for next season.
13:11And I just think these last two games have been incredible to watch, because I think you
13:16see the potential that we talked about in terms of, could he be in the conversation to
13:20be the best player in the NBA?
13:22Like, not at this second, but eventually down the road, could you see him and Wemby just
13:29battling to determine who advances to the NBA Finals?
13:33Well, Wemby's already doing his part.
13:35And so now we'll see if Cooper and the Mavericks can do their part.
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