Cooper Flagg and the Dallas Mavericks were back on the winning ways after Sunday's 111-105 over the Washington Wizards. Flagg struggled with his shot and confirmed following the game that it was the most physicality he had seen against him so far in the season.
Speaking to Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News, Flagg talked about making adjustments to the physicality of the NBA. He is always preparing himself for it every game, and helps to have experienced players like PJ Washington and Naji Marshall for advice.
"Everybody's gonna be physical with you, so if you're not ready to kind of use your bump and play physicality yourself, you really can't get anywhere," Flagg said. "Just learning that, it's been great to be alongside PJ and Naji, two dynamic wings that use their bodies so well, getting to the rim and using that physicality. Obviously, I learned so much from them already in those areas."
For the third consecutive time, Flagg started in his natural position of small forward. The Dallas Mavericks have a record of 1-2 in those games, and it is a learning process for the No.1 pick of the draft.
Flagg also had to adjust once again since he started the season as the starting point guard due to coach Jason Kidd's plan to put the Duke product in problematic situations. However it has backfired as the Mavericks started the season 2-7 before Saturday's win.
Dirk Nowitzki offers advice to Cooper Flagg
After the Dallas Mavericks' 118-104 loss against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday, Dirk Nowitzki offered some help to Cooper Flagg. Nowitzki wants Flagg to continue working on his game without any distraction amid his recent struggles. The Hall of Famer can relate to Flagg's current situation as he also did not have a great rookie season.
"Cooper, I would just keep on working," Nowitzki said, according to Sports Illustrated. "I mean, I know you have a tremendous work ethic, so you work your way through it. You come in the next day, you're the first one in the gym, you get shots up, get with the assistant coach, watch film, and you just get better."
Flagg is only 10 games into his NBA career, so he's got a lot of time to work on his game, especially on the offensive end.