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Yahoo Sports’ Jason Fitz, Isis "Ice" Young, Kevin O'Connor and 13-year NBA veteran Marcus Morris discuss the best course of action for the Blue Devils to take with their injured superstar leading up to their first round matchup on Friday.

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Now the east, obviously this is all about Cooper Flack.

I wanna get you the latest, OK, because according to the latest information we're getting, Duke is targeting Friday as a potential return for Cooper Flag.

I'm a little surprised, guys.

As we start right there, Duke made it clear that he would be available for the tournament.

I think that was important for their seating.

They wanted to make sure the committee knew that they would have their biggest star, but to me it's a little bit suspect.

You shouldn't need Cooper Flag to win a game against a 16 team.

So I'm surprised.

Yeah, you don't need him, but I think the important thing is here one is that he's rested.

I can't understand that enough.

You're trying to win a national championship.

You gotta win 6 games.

He's gotta be good and healthy and confident for 6 games and what we saw from Duke in the ACC tournament was that they could win without him.

So I don't think I'm expecting him to play a ton of minutes here, Marcus.

Yeah, like we said when we was talking, I think you give him 20 minutes to make sure the will is good.

You get a full week of practice or ice up and whatever.

Obviously we, I can't say they're going to win because obviously we know what can possibly happen, but you give Cooper a little bit of time, 20 minutes, get his feet wet, and you know they can also win without him we all seen that so I mean listen, he has to play.

Uh, the concern I have, guys, is what's it look like, and they got a game.

You got 24 hours rest.

You got a game again and then as they advance, presumably taking on Mississippi State or Baylor, taking on eventually a team like Arizona or Oregon ice, if you're taking on Cooper, you're attacking Cooper, right?

Oh, I'm attacking that ankle every time, every time.

I think you have to.

I think you have to test the ankle and see how he's feeling like that's just not being mean, that's being a competitor but I also think too it's still a young team, right?

This is a team that majority is freshmen and sophomores.

This is their first time in the tournament, so I think all the expectations, all the pressure, all the storylines could also maybe get to Cooper a little bit.

I mean, I think with him when the injury first happened, yes, he'd be shocked in that moment, but then he, he's in a wheelchair.

Yes, he'd be shocked then when he's going to get X-rays, but then he's on the bench in the second half walking under his own power, no not no boot on his foot, looking totally fine.

Maybe he's just like LeBron where he could just regenerate.

He's one of those guys where he turns.

An ankle it's like, oh, I look like I'm out for the season, but then you're right back.

He might just be that type of guy.

So I think it makes a lot of sense for Duke to play him, get the nerves out of the way with that 1st 1 to 16 matchup, play 1520 minutes per game, hopefully a blowout for Duke, you'd be expecting, and then rest him for the second half and be ready for the round of 32, but I'm gonna ask the room a question we've fallen in love with Cooper Flag.

Is it justified?

How good to you when you watch Cooper's tape.

How over the moon are you?

I mean, beyond what even what I could have expected, the expectations for Cooper entering the year were #1 pick, and at this point it's like, well, wait a minute, could he be top 5, top 10 player in the NBA someday because not only is he an elite defender as expected, not only is he an elite connector as a passer and all the little things that he does on the floor, but the scoring, the way he's developed with his ability to create shots from the perimeter not only for his teammates but for himself.

And so obviously he's pivotal for Duke this year.

Con Kipple, he had 14 pick and rolls in that game.

uh, Cooper went out season high for him according to the synergy.

We know other guys on that team can do something, but ultimately you're gonna have close games without him.

Cooper Flag is a guy that makes them a 1 seed, makes them a favorite, and he's the no brainer number one pick this year, no questions asked.

I agree, man.

I love, I love his swag.

I love the way he approaches the game, his pace as an NBA player, and when you watch these younger kids, you wanna see their pace.

You wanna see their change of direction.

Does he understand the game.

He is a complete basketball player to your point.

Once he gets into the NBA and gets into a system where they uses him and all his like all his spots and get him to where he like where he wants the ball out on the court.

He has sky is the limit.

I see number one pick, me and my brother go back and forth on this all the time.

I think he could be a really good NBA player, like top notch NBA player.

Yes, for championship team and I love his parents, man.

Did you see him dunk on the cat the other day?

And his mom, his mom on his head listen that that to me, to me that excites me.

That means that the family is all everyone is invested in this is invested in this kid and it shows like he comes with a fire to the game that you would love to see from a young kid like that.

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