As a Dallas Mavericks fan, I feel like I’ve had a rough year, from a fan’s perspective. There’s no denying it.
When you consider that I’m also a fan of the New York Giants and Manchester United, you’d imagine
that I would spend most of my days with a shrink trying to overcome the PTSD of following these teams. Well, either that, or looking to find a more “Spirit-ual” existence, if you get my drift.
Luckily, the universe gave me, and all of us Mavericks fans, the perfect karmic Christmas gift of all – Cooper Flagg.
Now there have been a million-and-one pieces about the nineteen(!) year old phenom this season, written by people who are way more qualified than I am, so I won’t go off on a grand soliloquy about Coop’s play. I would be remiss, however, if I didn’t show my appreciation for his game in some manner. So, I’ll just gush over a single play.
It was one play, among the many in his 33pt, 9reb, 9ast performance, on Tuesday night against Denver that had me out of my seat (or out of bed at 7:45 AM here in India), and it was with around five minutes left in the third quarter. I think you all know the one that I’m talking about.
The one thing that has really stood out to me over the past 2 months is how utterly fearless Cooper Flagg is – and this play is the summation of that. There is no doubt that Coop is supremely gifted, technically sound (even if his jumper is still developing), and tremendously poised in the clutch, but the thing about this play that had me wincing (In a good way) was the NASTINESS.
Moussa Cisse’s face says it all.
The way it developed, from the pick & roll action with Caleb Martin to get Jokic on the switch, to the adjustment of his pace with hesitation to keep the Joker off balance, was great, and if it had ended in a layup or a floater, I’d have still cheered (Not only because it put Dallas up 12). Coop, though, saw the opening and DETONATED. The moment he saw the sliver of space and a lack of rim protection, he just went for it. That had me going DAMN!
We’ve all seen the finesse & touch – the hook shots, the floaters, the finger rolls, but what I love about Flagg’s game is the POWER. No, it’s not Lebron James, but it’s about as close as it can get. You get the feeling that when the opportunity presents itself to Coop, his mind just switches, like the Terminator, to “Posterise mode”, and I cannot be gladder to have someone with that mentality on my team.
If Flagg continues in this vein, I’m sure there’ll be so many more of these moments for us to cherish and enjoy. From the looks of it, this is going to be a weekly occurrence – the new form of magic. Dirk gave us Steadiness; Luka gave us Joy. Coop? He’s the monster that you root for.
Merry Christmas Mavericks fans!
