Big decisions await the Duke brass after the National Player of the Year frontrunner went down with a sprained ankle
Duke star Cooper Flagg is questionable to play in Friday’s ACC Tournament semifinal contest against North Carolina after sustaining a painful ankle sprain in Thursday’s stressful 78-70 win over Georgia Tech. The status of the ACC Player of the Year and National Player of the Year frontrunner is cloudy for the rest of the ACC Tournament after coach Jon Scheyer deemed him a longshot to lace ’em back up this weekend.
So, what’s next for Duke?
In the short-term, the Blue Devils can maybe put one final nail in the coffin of its bitter rival. North Carolina remains smack dab on the cut-line for an at-large bid. The Tar Heels are the first team out in CBS Sports’ latest iteration of bracketology, via Jerry Palm.
Duke’s depth will undoubtedly be tested with both Flagg and key backup center Maliq Brown (shoulder) sidelined. Purdue transfer Mason Gillis will be tasked with sopping up some of Flagg’s minutes at the 4, but Kon Knueppel will certainly shoulder a heavy load as the primary initiator. Duke leaned on Knueppel for massive chunks of the second half against Georgia Tech. He notched a 30% usage rate for the first time in four months and delivered a 28-point, eight-assist, five-rebound gem.
A similar effort may be necessary to put away North Carolina for the third time this season and the second time in a six-day span. Even without Flagg, Duke is still a wagon that creates numerous issues for North Carolina on both ends. The Blue Devils have a tremendous +25.7 net rating with Flagg against top-100 teams. Without him? It’s a sizzling +29.5 net rating in 215 possessions, per hoop-explorer.
Plus, that first game without a star is a tale as old as time. The first time Auburn played without National Player of the Year contender Johni Broome this year, it waxed a solid Mississippi State team by 22 points. The first time Florida played without stud two-way guard Alijah Martin, it beat Auburn on the road, 90-81. The first time Kentucky played without Lamont Butler, it went into Seattle and beat Gonzaga in overtime.
These shorthanded Blue Devils are still highly poisonous, and it should set up incredible stakes against a North Carolina team that is backed into a corner and fighting for its tournament life. A North Carolina win puts it just 40 minutes away from earning the automatic bid.
NCAA Tournament ramifications
X-Rays on Flagg’s ankle came back negative, and he was spotted without a walking boot on the bench in the second half. That seems like a positive indication, but there will still be real questions about the timing of Flagg’s return to action and how it impacts the NCAA Tournament. Duke’s case for a No. 1 seed should remain untarnished even with a loss in Charlotte. The predictive metrics still remain incredibly high on Duke — the Blue Devils have separated on kenpom.com as the clear-cut No. 1 team in the country — and Scheyer’s club has done more than enough from a resume perspective to earn a No. 1 seed.
Flagg’s injury will be noted by the NCAA Tournament seeding committee, but without concrete proof that Flagg would undoubtedly miss serious time, it’s unlikely that it will impact Duke’s Selection Sunday standing.
When Flagg should return is a more nuanced discussion. No one is safe in March, but for a roster as loaded as this one, Duke could strongly consider holding Flagg out for the first-round game. A roster this teeming with NBA talent should have no problems handling its business in the first round without its brilliant freshman. That would give Flagg a full week to heal the ankle ahead of a Round of 32 game next Saturday or Sunday.
