Cooper Flagg is already flipping his biggest critics on their heads

The Dallas Mavericks lost in tough fashion to the Utah Jazz on Monday, but rookie Cooper Flagg easily had his best game of the season, tying the Mavericks' single-game scoring record by a rookie with 42 points. 

Flagg has been getting more comfortable with each game, as he’s already starting to silence one of his main criticisms from the start of the season, which was that he wasn’t aggressive enough. Flagg has been averaging over 20 points per game in December, as he’s been getting to his spots in the mid-range and at the rim at the best rate that he has all season so far in the last couple of weeks.

This game versus the Jazz was a microcosm of Flagg’s body of work recently, as he attacked and got to his spots at will, despite how much size and versatility Utah has in its frontcourt. Flagg hasn’t been one to force the issue when he doesn’t have it going offensively, as he already picks and chooses his sports carefully, so his increase in aggression has been a natural transition as he continues to get more comfortable with the flow of the NBA game.

Cooper Flagg is silencing critiques over lack of aggression

There are obviously some things Flagg will have to continue to fine-tune on offense as his career goes on, such as his 3-point shot and his handle, but he’s already proving to be far ahead of the curve in terms of where many thought his scoring ability would be at by now.

Flagg shows no hesitation in terms of taking advantage of mismatches, and he’s already extremely adept at using his strength and athleticism to finish at the rim, making him a menace downhill. With Flagg’s frame not being even close to filled out yet, it should scare opposing teams that he is already upping his drives and free-throw attempts compared to the start of the season.

Flagg is one of the smartest rookies in league history in terms of how he sees the game, as he’s been extremely efficient and knows how to impact the game in different ways when his shot isn’t going down. Seeing him figure out defenses and how to manipulate defenders on drives has been a very cool progression for Mavericks fans to watch, as his increase in volume has not been forced whatsoever.

Some Mavericks fans were complaining about Flagg’s lack of aggression early in the season, but some of that could’ve been attributed to him playing out of his natural position at point guard. Ever since Flagg has become more of a secondary initiator on the wing, space has opened up for him drastically, and there haven’t been nearly as many quibbles from fans about his lack of field goal attempts.

While Flagg may not ever be the absurd volume shot creator that Mavericks fans had become accustomed to in Luka Doncic, he’s proving that criticisms over his lack of aggression were silly from the jump. Flagg was simply trying to figure his way into an NBA offense as an 18-year-old playing out of position. Now that he has, many at the national level are already flipping sides when it comes to putting Flagg back atop the Rookie of the Year race.