Did we give up on Flynn too soon?

[2019nbachamps]

I’m not a Flynn fan but he didn’t say anything wrong in that interview. Let’s be real though, he’s not a good player and will be out of the league soon. I see him ending up in Europe or Asia. Raps gave him plenty of chances and he did nothing. Having one amazing game doesn’t make up for 4 seasons of mediocrity. Another bad team may take a gamble on him this summer on a 1-2 year prove it deal.

[bballsparkin]

yeah Flynn was given more than enough chances. And he was moping at times. Good for him that he got 50 though.

[Scase]

Seriously, what do you expect him to say?

Of course he's going to want to prove to the teams that cut him that he's a good NBA player and they made a mistake. Of course he's going to believe himself and act confident...who wouldn't in that position? He's fighting for his career in the best league in the world and possibly a contract that will secure himself and his family for life.

Are you expecting him to say "to be honest, I'm actually not that good and am probably a fringe NBA player at best who won't be in the league much longer"?

There is a pretty big gap between, "Yeah this is a bit to stick it to them" and "No I'm the worst player in history, I'm shocked I scored even once."

Could be an easy, "No I'm thankful for the Raptors drafting me and getting me into the league, this just shows I belong".

Why does he have to feel that way? He's not entitled to feeling like we made a mistake in letting him go?

I mean sure if you want the PC answer, he could have said that but these are professional athletes and all of them have egos.

He can feel however he wants, but I'll still call it delusional. Same with Nowell, you can believe anything you want, doesn't make it true. Also doesn't mean people won't call it delusional lol.

[mihaic]

Darko's coaching is showing.

Imagine him with better talent next season.

There was a stat this year that surprised me and didn't surprise me. It was when he played like 9 games in a row for the first time in his career under Darko.

For those who've said he's had a chance here, especially under Nurse...that stat should tell you he didn't.

This game was probably a blip, but after watching, it wasn't like we went crazy from 3 or anything, everything just came in the flow of the game and he mostly took what the defense gave him. The main difference was he was taking and hitting his midrange pullups off the screen and roll and he got to the line more than usual. He was just playing and Detroit had no one else who could score reliably, so Monty let him keep going with a green light. He wasn't even hogging it, his teammates just sucked. I don't think he's the type to commandeer a team to showcase himself like Fred did, so a game like this was a result of the stars aligning where he was free to look for his offense, he was feeling comfortable game wise and the team he played wasn't doing a good job defensively.

But it was refreshing to see him just go out there and play ball, not trying to prove anything. Atlanta's defense also sucks, which helps.

I said before that him never scoring more than 30 here after going for multiple 20+ point games in his rookie year was an indictment on Nurse. He's a potential microwave scorer who was told not to shoot, not to shoot runners or mid-range shots, to play off-ball, not to use screens. He just couldn't play freely here, and by the time Darko arrived, the damage was done.

Also, him having playing with Lowry, Fred, Schroeder, Brunson, and Cade and for different coaches probably doesn't hurt his development. I hope he sticks somewhere. I would even bring him back.

I'm just glad Nurse is gone. I can only imagine what he would've done to Gradey's career after some early struggles.

Problem is he is very inconsistent, at least he was when playing here. Getting a 50 piece once doesn't mean anything unless he backs that up every game.

I hope he figures it out, I am rooting for him to succeed, but it doesn't look that likely.

[Chandan]

Read on Twitter

unless he has dirt on how he was being mis-used he should be grateful to still be in the league. He was terrible here for most of the time and Darko gave him plenty of runs.

[mowcrowbar]

Did we give up on Rasho Nesterovic too soon?

[HiJiNX]

Darko's coaching is showing.

Imagine him with better talent next season.

There was a stat this year that surprised me and didn't surprise me. It was when he played like 9 games in a row for the first time in his career under Darko.

For those who've said he's had a chance here, especially under Nurse...that stat should tell you he didn't.

This game was probably a blip, but after watching, it wasn't like we went crazy from 3 or anything, everything just came in the flow of the game and he mostly took what the defense gave him. The main difference was he was taking and hitting his midrange pullups off the screen and roll and he got to the line more than usual. He was just playing and Detroit had no one else who could score reliably, so Monty let him keep going with a green light. He wasn't even hogging it, his teammates just sucked. I don't think he's the type to commandeer a team to showcase himself like Fred did, so a game like this was a result of the stars aligning where he was free to look for his offense, he was feeling comfortable game wise and the team he played wasn't doing a good job defensively.

But it was refreshing to see him just go out there and play ball, not trying to prove anything. Atlanta's defense also sucks, which helps.

I said before that him never scoring more than 30 here after going for multiple 20+ point games in his rookie year was an indictment on Nurse. He's a potential microwave scorer who was told not to shoot, not to shoot runners or mid-range shots, to play off-ball, not to use screens. He just couldn't play freely here, and by the time Darko arrived, the damage was done.

Also, him having playing with Lowry, Fred, Schroeder, Brunson, and Cade and for different coaches probably doesn't hurt his development. I hope he sticks somewhere. I would even bring him back.

I'm just glad Nurse is gone. I can only imagine what he would've done to Gradey's career after some early struggles.

Funny thing about opportunity…just being on a team in the league and getting into games for short spurts doesn’t mean he was given the opportunity to develop. You need meaningful reps, in games, in the parts of games that matter.

Growing up playing ball, when I was young I remember one coach I played for had me riding the bench. I only got garbage minutes, and was never really allowed to play my game as a natural PG (I’m tall so I was constantly put in forward positions despite being a natural playmaker in transition and the half-court). So every time I did get a chance to play I was either out of rhythm from inconsistent playing time, trying to do too much to prove I deserved more playing time which led to mistakes, or playing in a role that didn’t suit the things I did well (and exacerbated my weaknesses because despite my height, I was a twig and couldn’t score down low). Essentially I wasn’t put in a position to succeed. So I failed. And I believed I was only good for defence and rebounding, which I was legitimately always good at. I didn’t even want the ball when I got it because I didn’t believe I could do anything with it. Being a kid who didn’t have delusional confidence, I almost gave up on playing the sport completely. Fast forward a few years and I get a coach who recognized my potential, built up my confidence by giving me the ball and letting me play through mistakes and all of a sudden I’m winning awards. Confidence and role and real opportunity matters. I don’t think Flynn ever got a real shake here. Having never played in nine games in a row says that he never really got a fair shake here.

That’s not to say that Flynn will end up being a competent NBA basketball player, but he’s shown many flashes over the years. He has also played like a guy whose confidence was ruined and confidence is a hard thing to get back, especially when you’re already in the league where nobody gives a damn about your struggles and why you’re struggling, they only want you to produce, and if you can’t? Then it’s **** you, peace out. Enjoy playing in China.

So it’s nice to see Flynn get a 50 piece. I’m not sure why the reaction to him having a once in a lifetime game, that might signal that Flynn has something, is triggering so much blowback. I don’t even like the guy (I think his personality is dry and has a too good for others quality to it) but I hope he can figure it out for his sake. Scoring 50 in the NBA, regardless of opponent and time of year, is an accolade. It signals talent.

People bring up TRoss and Charlie V as counterarguments but the reality is TRoss spent a decade in the league and his body looked the same the entire time, indicating that he didn’t really work hard, while Charlie V had so much natural talent but again, just didn’t care about basketball enough to do anything with it. There are flaws in using those guys as counter arguments.

All this to say—good for Malachi. Hopefully this helps him turn his career around. I always thought he had enough to be a competent backup in the league who could be a spot starter if necessary. Maybe he doesn’t end up being that, but he might have earned himself a chance to show it. That said, he might still be better off going to Europe to develop his game and confidence as I’m not sure he truly is an NBA player (doesn’t seem to have the maturity in game or mental toughness). And if he never makes it he still has a dope achievement he can lean on.

He has scored 50 points in an NBA game.

[PushDaRock]

There is a pretty big gap between, "Yeah this is a bit to stick it to them" and "No I'm the worst player in history, I'm shocked I scored even once."

Could be an easy, "No I'm thankful for the Raptors drafting me and getting me into the league, this just shows I belong".

Why does he have to feel that way? He's not entitled to feeling like we made a mistake in letting him go?

I mean sure if you want the PC answer, he could have said that but these are professional athletes and all of them have egos.

He can feel however he wants, but I'll still call it delusional. Same with Nowell, you can believe anything you want, doesn't make it true. Also doesn't mean people won't call it delusional lol.

As far as outrageous things said goes, this would rank pretty low on the list. Quite a big gap between greatest Raptor ever and thinking your old teams made a mistake in letting you go.

[PushDaRock]

Darko's coaching is showing.

Imagine him with better talent next season.

There was a stat this year that surprised me and didn't surprise me. It was when he played like 9 games in a row for the first time in his career under Darko.

For those who've said he's had a chance here, especially under Nurse...that stat should tell you he didn't.

This game was probably a blip, but after watching, it wasn't like we went crazy from 3 or anything, everything just came in the flow of the game and he mostly took what the defense gave him. The main difference was he was taking and hitting his midrange pullups off the screen and roll and he got to the line more than usual. He was just playing and Detroit had no one else who could score reliably, so Monty let him keep going with a green light. He wasn't even hogging it, his teammates just sucked. I don't think he's the type to commandeer a team to showcase himself like Fred did, so a game like this was a result of the stars aligning where he was free to look for his offense, he was feeling comfortable game wise and the team he played wasn't doing a good job defensively.

But it was refreshing to see him just go out there and play ball, not trying to prove anything. Atlanta's defense also sucks, which helps.

I said before that him never scoring more than 30 here after going for multiple 20+ point games in his rookie year was an indictment on Nurse. He's a potential microwave scorer who was told not to shoot, not to shoot runners or mid-range shots, to play off-ball, not to use screens. He just couldn't play freely here, and by the time Darko arrived, the damage was done.

Also, him having playing with Lowry, Fred, Schroeder, Brunson, and Cade and for different coaches probably doesn't hurt his development. I hope he sticks somewhere. I would even bring him back.

I'm just glad Nurse is gone. I can only imagine what he would've done to Gradey's career after some early struggles.

Funny thing about opportunity…just being on a team in the league and getting into games for short spurts doesn’t mean he was given the opportunity to develop. You need meaningful reps, in games, in the parts of games that matter.

Growing up playing ball, when I was young I remember one coach I played for had me riding the bench. I only got garbage minutes, and was never really allowed to play my game as a natural PG (I’m tall so I was constantly put in forward positions despite being a natural playmaker in transition and the half-court). So every time I did get a chance to play I was either out of rhythm from inconsistent playing time, trying to do too much to prove I deserved more playing time which led to mistakes, or playing in a role that didn’t suit the things I did well (and exacerbated my weaknesses because despite my height, I was a twig and couldn’t score down low). Essentially I wasn’t put in a position to succeed. So I failed. And I believed I was only good for defence and rebounding, which I was legitimately always good at. I didn’t even want the ball when I got it because I didn’t believe I could do anything with it. Being a kid who didn’t have delusional confidence, I almost gave up on playing the sport completely. Fast forward a few years and I get a coach who recognized my potential, built up my confidence by giving me the ball and letting me play through mistakes and all of a sudden I’m winning awards. Confidence and role and real opportunity matters. I don’t think Flynn ever got a real shake here. Having never played in nine games in a row says that he never really got a fair shake here.

That’s not to say that Flynn will end up being a competent NBA basketball player, but he’s shown many flashes over the years. He has also played like a guy whose confidence was ruined and confidence is a hard thing to get back, especially when you’re already in the league where nobody gives a damn about your struggles and why you’re struggling, they only want you to produce, and if you can’t? Then it’s **** you, peace out. Enjoy playing in China.

So it’s nice to see Flynn get a 50 piece. I’m not sure why the reaction to him having a once in a lifetime game, that might signal that Flynn has something, is triggering so much blowback. I don’t even like the guy (I think his personality is dry and has a too good for others quality to it) but I hope he can figure it out for his sake. Scoring 50 in the NBA, regardless of opponent and time of year, is an accolade. It signals talent.

People bring up TRoss and Charlie V as counterarguments but the reality is TRoss spent a decade in the league and his body looked the same the entire time, indicating that he didn’t really work hard, while Charlie V had so much natural talent but again, just didn’t care about basketball enough to do anything with it. There are flaws in using those guys as counter arguments.

All this to say—good for Malachi. Hopefully this helps him turn his career around. I always thought he had enough to be a competent backup in the league who could be a spot starter if necessary. Maybe he doesn’t end up being that, but he might have earned himself a chance to show it. That said, he might still be better off going to Europe to develop his game and confidence as I’m not sure he truly is an NBA player (doesn’t seem to have the maturity in game or mental toughness). And if he never makes it he still has a dope achievement he can lean on.

He has scored 50 points in an NBA game.

He got way more of a fair shake here than most guys do. We even kept him over Dowtin who outplayed him last year and who many of us wanted to keep over him. How many teams keep a guy around that puts up a sub 50% TS in his first 3 years?

[Kevin Willis]

Darko's coaching is showing.

Imagine him with better talent next season.

There was a stat this year that surprised me and didn't surprise me. It was when he played like 9 games in a row for the first time in his career under Darko.

For those who've said he's had a chance here, especially under Nurse...that stat should tell you he didn't.

This game was probably a blip, but after watching, it wasn't like we went crazy from 3 or anything, everything just came in the flow of the game and he mostly took what the defense gave him. The main difference was he was taking and hitting his midrange pullups off the screen and roll and he got to the line more than usual. He was just playing and Detroit had no one else who could score reliably, so Monty let him keep going with a green light. He wasn't even hogging it, his teammates just sucked. I don't think he's the type to commandeer a team to showcase himself like Fred did, so a game like this was a result of the stars aligning where he was free to look for his offense, he was feeling comfortable game wise and the team he played wasn't doing a good job defensively.

But it was refreshing to see him just go out there and play ball, not trying to prove anything. Atlanta's defense also sucks, which helps.

I said before that him never scoring more than 30 here after going for multiple 20+ point games in his rookie year was an indictment on Nurse. He's a potential microwave scorer who was told not to shoot, not to shoot runners or mid-range shots, to play off-ball, not to use screens. He just couldn't play freely here, and by the time Darko arrived, the damage was done.

Also, him having playing with Lowry, Fred, Schroeder, Brunson, and Cade and for different coaches probably doesn't hurt his development. I hope he sticks somewhere. I would even bring him back.

I'm just glad Nurse is gone. I can only imagine what he would've done to Gradey's career after some early struggles.

Funny thing about opportunity…just being on a team in the league and getting into games for short spurts doesn’t mean he was given the opportunity to develop. You need meaningful reps, in games, in the parts of games that matter.

Growing up playing ball, when I was young I remember one coach I played for had me riding the bench. I only got garbage minutes, and was never really allowed to play my game as a natural PG (I’m tall so I was constantly put in forward positions despite being a natural playmaker in transition and the half-court). So every time I did get a chance to play I was either out of rhythm from inconsistent playing time, trying to do too much to prove I deserved more playing time which led to mistakes, or playing in a role that didn’t suit the things I did well (and exacerbated my weaknesses because despite my height, I was a twig and couldn’t score down low). Essentially I wasn’t put in a position to succeed. So I failed. And I believed I was only good for defence and rebounding, which I was legitimately always good at. I didn’t even want the ball when I got it because I didn’t believe I could do anything with it. Being a kid who didn’t have delusional confidence, I almost gave up on playing the sport completely. Fast forward a few years and I get a coach who recognized my potential, built up my confidence by giving me the ball and letting me play through mistakes and all of a sudden I’m winning awards. Confidence and role and real opportunity matters. I don’t think Flynn ever got a real shake here. Having never played in nine games in a row says that he never really got a fair shake here.

That’s not to say that Flynn will end up being a competent NBA basketball player, but he’s shown many flashes over the years. He has also played like a guy whose confidence was ruined and confidence is a hard thing to get back, especially when you’re already in the league where nobody gives a damn about your struggles and why you’re struggling, they only want you to produce, and if you can’t? Then it’s **** you, peace out. Enjoy playing in China.

So it’s nice to see Flynn get a 50 piece. I’m not sure why the reaction to him having a once in a lifetime game, that might signal that Flynn has something, is triggering so much blowback. I don’t even like the guy (I think his personality is dry and has a too good for others quality to it) but I hope he can figure it out for his sake. Scoring 50 in the NBA, regardless of opponent and time of year, is an accolade. It signals talent.

People bring up TRoss and Charlie V as counterarguments but the reality is TRoss spent a decade in the league and his body looked the same the entire time, indicating that he didn’t really work hard, while Charlie V had so much natural talent but again, just didn’t care about basketball enough to do anything with it. There are flaws in using those guys as counter arguments.

All this to say—good for Malachi. Hopefully this helps him turn his career around. I always thought he had enough to be a competent backup in the league who could be a spot starter if necessary. Maybe he doesn’t end up being that, but he might have earned himself a chance to show it. That said, he might still be better off going to Europe to develop his game and confidence as I’m not sure he truly is an NBA player (doesn’t seem to have the maturity in game or mental toughness). And if he never makes it he still has a dope achievement he can lean on.

He has scored 50 points in an NBA game.

You have a good point except Darko really was good to him. He played 15 min a game. In preseason he played almost 20 min a game. Numbers were still blah. But your point in having a coach that believes in you and gives you a chance is a strong one. The counter is that you were young and he's a professional basketball player. You still needed to be moulded, he should be shaped by now.

I actually liked Flynn as a PnR guy that can play good D and be a replacement for Lowry. He didn't have that swagger though. Getting 50 in a game probably helps him get another contract and have to be happy for him. Still him and Harris had skills that we needed and they screwed up.

[Scase]

Why does he have to feel that way? He's not entitled to feeling like we made a mistake in letting him go?

I mean sure if you want the PC answer, he could have said that but these are professional athletes and all of them have egos.

He can feel however he wants, but I'll still call it delusional. Same with Nowell, you can believe anything you want, doesn't make it true. Also doesn't mean people won't call it delusional lol.

As far as outrageous things said goes, this would rank pretty low on the list. Quite a big gap between greatest Raptor ever and thinking your old teams made a mistake in letting you go.

Yeah I know there's a scale for sure, I was just using Nowell as a recent example. I'm not saying Flynn is the worst person ever, but it doesn't make the statement any more ridiculous.

You can't claim it's "sticking it" to a team when you got damn near 4 years to prove yourself and did sweet **** all with it outside of like 2-10 games. Maybe it fits for the Knicks who shipped him off ASAP, but even then, it's the business. You produce or you go, and you said it best, he got a better shake here than most players would, and still fumbled it.

[MiamiSPX]

Flynn played 15 minutes a game for over 1/3rd of the season with the Raps. Out of all the guys averaging at least 15 minutes per game up until that point, he was easily among the worst in the entire league, along with Kevin Knox. Not so coincidentally, both were playing for horrendous teams. And just like Knox, Flynn will find himself out of the league next season.

I don't think 1 miraculous game bought him another contract, when there is 4 years of evidence of what you're really getting. His only hope is some trash team like Charlotte or the Wizards signing him, or the Pistons re-signing him, although one would have to assume that Weaver is fired the day after the season ends.

[OakleyDokely]

I mean, would anyone here be confident if we headed into next season with Flynn and Banton as key parts of a 9-10 man rotation?

The Raps will be retuning Dick/KO/Ochai, they will add 2-3 rookies from the draft and they should have some cash to spend this offseason. Hopefully they can build a proper bench with all these guys.

[Grandia]

No one disliked flynn more than me. I was surprised like everyone else he scored 50. Now you asked this question: "Did we give up on Flynn too soon?", and I would still say "No. Good luck and good riddance."

[Duffman100]

No one disliked flynn more than me. I was surprised like everyone else he scored 50. Now you asked this question: "Did we give up on Flynn too soon?", and I would still say "No. Good luck and good riddance."

I would argue I disliked Flynn more than you. I started at least 2 threads about how terrible he was.

[YogurtProducer]

I mean, would anyone here be confident if we headed into next season with Flynn and Banton as key parts of a 9-10 man rotation?

The Raps will be retuning Dick/KO/Ochai, they will add 2-3 rookies from the draft and they should have some cash to spend this offseason. Hopefully they can build a proper bench with all these guys.

Two years ago with Flynn/Banton/Precious I was confident at least 1 of them would be able to be a top 10 rotational guy. The fact none of them did it for us when every chance was given was a kick in the dick

[LoveMyRaps]

Masai's worst first round pick ended up dropping a 50 piece...

GOAT.

[Dr Positivity]

I saw the thread in the general board about him dropping 50 and assumed it was in China or the G League or something. What the actual ****.

[Grandia]

No one disliked flynn more than me. I was surprised like everyone else he scored 50. Now you asked this question: "Did we give up on Flynn too soon?", and I would still say "No. Good luck and good riddance."

I would argue I disliked Flynn more than you. I started at least 2 threads about how terrible he was.

Really? lol I bet they are good reads

[Duffman100]

No one disliked flynn more than me. I was surprised like everyone else he scored 50. Now you asked this question: "Did we give up on Flynn too soon?", and I would still say "No. Good luck and good riddance."

I would argue I disliked Flynn more than you. I started at least 2 threads about how terrible he was.

Really? lol I bet they are good reads

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