“His best trait is his versatility”: Jayhawks’Hunter Dickinson on what makes the Cooper Flag so unique
Kansas Jayhawks Hunter Dickinson talks about why he makes Duke’s Cooper Flag a special player.
Seriously sports
Duke men’s basketball has won two titles since winning its second ACC Tournament Championship in the last three years.
But to play in the title, the top-ranked Blue Devils will need to beat rival North Carolina in the ACC semi-finals at Spectrum Center on Friday night.
The Blue Devils star maintained an obvious left ankle injury at Georgia Tech in the first half of Thursday’s ACC quarterfinals, locking him out throughout the second half.
Flag finished the game with just two points with four rebounds, two steals and seven shots from the field with one block.
Duke swept the regular season series against UNC, winning the recent victory over the Tar Heels at Chapel Hill six days ago.
The latest on Flag’s injuries include what his status is for Friday’s ACC Tournament semi-finals.
Will Cooper Flag play against him today?
Based on comments made by Duke coach John Schayer at a post-game press conference on Thursday, Flag is likely a “long shot” playing the Tar Heels on Friday.
“To be honest with you, I have to be sure from everyone in the locker room when I get back there that he should play. It’s not worth it. It’s not,” Shayer said. “Again, he was already swollen. He’s not ready to go tomorrow. That’s not the most important thing for us. We need to see if we can get him right for this run we can do in the tournament.
“But I have to be really sure I should even consider seeing if he can go tomorrow. He may not be able to go anyway. He won’t be able to go anyway. But I think that’s a real long shot.
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Cooper Flag Injury Update
Flag suffered a clear left ankle injury in the first half of Duke’s victory over Georgia Tech in the ACC quarterfinals on Thursday.
The 6-foot-9 forward injury occurred at the 2:48 mark in the first half after grabbing a defensive rebound with a 3-pointer missed 3-pointer from Georgia Tech’s Jaden Mastav. When Flag came down on the rebound, he appeared to have made a nasty turn with his ankle, causing him to fall to the floor.
Flag left the court on his own power, but hobbing was seen. He sat briefly on the Blue Devils bench, then returned to the locker room after being groomed by his trainer, where he took further testing, including x-rays.
As shown by ESPN cameras, Flag was sitting in a wheelchair on his way to the X-ray room at Spectrum Center. He also kept it up instead as his injured left ankle was not sitting on the left footrest of his wheelchair.
Following the game, Scheyer said Flagg’s X-rays were “negative.”
Flag returned to the Blue Devils bench in the second half, but was ruled out for the rest of the game. As ESPN’s Angel Gray pointed out, Flag walked to the bench himself and wasn’t in his walking boots.
“The good news is that he can walk on his own. Fans of the building were cheering him on walking back to the bench. He’s officially ruled out today due to his ankles,” Gray said.
What is Cooper Flag’s injury?
Shayer told reporters at Thursday’s ACC tournament that an x-ray showed his star spraining ankles.
“Cooper, he just came down and sprained his ankle. The x-ray was negative, that’s great,” Shayer said. “We need to realize there is swelling and see how he recovers and he goes from there.”
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