How Dusty May Plans To Get Cooper Flagg Easy Points

Cooper Flagg had a stellar rookie season, but one blemish on his campaign was his lackluster advanced numbers.

While Flagg had great counting stats, the advanced metrics suggest his impact was below average, but it can definitely be improved. One metric that Flagg can improve on is his lack of offensive rebounding, which Dusty May has already commented on.

“Getting him to take advantage of his offensive rebounding ability,” said May in his media availability after the first training camp practice. “ When we’re connected as a group where we’re playing off of each other, I think it will organically happen.”

Winning the possession battle has become incredibly important in the modern NBA, with offensive rebounds being specifically important. Teams like the Houston Rockets have had tremendous regular season success while being a medicore offense, in large part to winning the possession battle.

It’s simple math, if you shoot more shots than your opponent, it will often lead to more points.

Flagg was in the 38th percentile for his OREB%, a lackluster mark for a 6’9 forward with elite athleticism. Flagg getting on the glass would not only help the team win the possession battle, but also will help him get more easy rim attempts.

“But just playing better basketball, I think it will afford him more opportunities,” said May.

Flagg had to work tremendously hard for most of his scoring opportunities last year, whether it was the terrible spacing or lack of teammate-created buckets.

On the other hand, putback’s are one of the most efficient play types, with players average 1.14 points per-possession on average last season, according to Synergy.

This focus on more analytically-driven basketball is a major departure from the previous coaching staff, with the Mavericks consistently being behind the times.

Last season the Mavericks were towards the top of the league in mid-range attempts, and were towards the bottom in three-point attempts.

But while all Mavericks fans want more three-point attempts, there is nuance in this discussion.

“If we have an elite mid-range shooter, he’s going to shoot the right mid-range shots,” said May. “Obviously, we want as many quality threes as we can get, but if guys are incredibly efficient at something very specific, I’m definitely not going to look at a spreadsheet and overrule guys with what we call mastery shots.”

This approach to team-wide shot diets is the correct approach in the modern NBA.

Forcing all players into threes or rim-attempts can severely limit a star player and prevent them from feeling comfortable in an offense.

The Mavericks are also uniquely affected by this, as both Flagg and Irving are mid-range maestros.

All of this comes back to a simple math equation, if a player can average greater than 1 point-per-possession on any given shot type, they should shoot that shot

May’s approach throughout his career has been to maximize what his players do best, rather than forcing them into an uncomfortable role.