Carolina Speed, I believe Knueppel will have a better career than Flagg. He iced those two free throws against N.C. like it was at practice has unlimited shooting range and can take to the hoop. He has impressed me all year. This is not a knock on Flagg, but for right now Knueppel has more to offer IMO.
Booth, that's an interesting take on Knueppel and Flagg. To be honest, I've thought about that as well. When I first think about Knueppel's shooting range and accuracy, I would agree, but Knueppel 39% from 3 is only shooting 2% better than Flagg's at 37%. Knueppel is one of those shooters that has to get hot. When he is, it's almost unstoppable, but he can slump as well. Flagg is just about the same all the time.
Knueppel also takes it inside quite a bit and has been successful. We'll see how that translates to the NBA.
Flagg is a better all around player. He does everything. He's the equivalent of baseball's 5-Tool player. The Mike Trout of basketball! Flagg is taller and longer as well. To me Flaggs's physical attributes and skill set is better for the NBA, but I wouldn't be surprised if Knueppel has a very good NBA career.
Also remember, Flagg is almost a year and a half younger than Knueppel. I believe Flagg is rushing it a bit by graduating HS early and going to the NCAA and then the jump to the NBA. He'll be the youngest number 1 draft pick ever! I didn't think Flagg would play as well as he has at such a young age, so what do I know. I hope we're witnessing the best American born white player in Cooper Flagg since Larry Bird. BTW, like Bird, Flagg could've scored alot more points than he has, but he gets all of his teammates involved with his rebounding and passing skills.
There's so much pressure on Flagg, but so far he has handled himself well. Knueppel has too.