What Happened to Jonny Flynn??

[collin_k41]

This is a big question that has been burning in my mind for some time. What the heck happened to Jonny Flynn? His rookie season wasn't that special but in no way did I think his career was going to derail like it did. I was actually expecting quite a little improvement off of his rookie year because it usually takes a PG at least a year to adjust to the NBA game. Now, I don't want this to turn into some kind of hate filled thread which I know can be tempting with the state the Twolves are in right now. So, a few questions on Jonny.

1. What went wrong?
2. Can he turn his career around in Minnesota? At all?
3. What needs to change for him?
4. What's the best we can hope for out of Jonny?

I won't lie, I expected some big things from Jonny. After a decent rookie season I still had hope but after watching him struggle through the majority of this season I don't know what to think anymore. I just miss the old Jonny Flynn: quick as a cat, high flier, tenacity and personality, and even the smile.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54tzdRU1OEc&feature=related[/youtube]

[Grits n Gravy]

he is exactly why you need a coach and a system before you draft a player and why you don't over hype a 6? ot game.

[AQuintus]

A combination of Jonny having a poor BBIQ and Kurt Rambis' offense being absolutely terrible for PGs.

[Vindicater]

The discussion begins and ends with Kurt Rambis

[Torcher]

1: The hip injury, which derailed his confidence, which derailed his game.
2: He's most likely to be traded this offseason.
3: Jonny needs to grow a brain and get some confidence back.
4: If he continues the path he's going, he won't be in the NBA for very much longer.

[Beas]

I kind of feel sorry for Jonny. We had no idea what system we were going to use before he was drafted and he definitely hasn't been a very good fit with what we're trying to run here. I wouldn't necessarily say he's a bad player, he can definitely flourish somewhere else in a different system. Rambis really hasn't helped his cause either. All I can say is if/when Jonny is traded is I wish him luck. I like the guy but unless we get a new coach (PLEASE) or try to adopt a new system here he's bound to be traded, I don't think he will ever reach his full potential here.

[orangeparka]

Ty Lawson > Jonny Flynn

[Calinks]

I feel bad for him. It's so sad how happy he was and how everybody thought he and the wolves had a bright future. He had a good rookie season , 13 points 4 assist is impressive for a kid that's 20. The day he was drafted, he was all smiles.

Combination of things went wrong but the system does absolutely nothing for him. We dismantled a 20 year olds game down to the core and rebuilt it to our specifications. Unfortunately the structure of our specifications cannot stand on Flynn's foundation and has crumbled.

To get back to form he will need a complete change of environment. The only way that can happen in Minnesota is if we go in a completely new direction with him that plays to his strengths or he finds away to rebuild himself so that he fits Rambis' system.

Both things are doubtful so the best hope he has is to be moved to another team that can work with him and get him seeing clearly again. He got completely destroyed here and he has to work his way back to relevance.

The great news is that he's 21 and he has the a good chance of making a recovery. Hopefully he lands somewhere where that can happen. I think just about any team would be better suited for him right now. One that actually knows how to run, even better.

[King Rube]

I also think Flynn doesn't want to be in Minnesota and that can have a big impact on the player.

[bluethunder0005]

I think Flynn doesn't want to be here now and can you blame him? He's on the bench behind Ridnour and playing in a system that is awful for him. The triangle is and has always been an awful system for PG's and it's no shock that Flynn has struggled with it. I feel like people are giving up on him and calling him garbage but are going to be even angrier when we let him go for next to nothing and he becomes a solid starting PG in this league.

[cpfsf]

I think that injury in junior high which allegedly stunted his growth (I believe it) destroyed his upside. He'd be a beast if he was a few inches taller. The other problem was that he was drafted too early. I'm sure Flynn doesn't mind the bigger paycheck, but it bothers me.

[collin_k41]

I really hope he can turn it around. It just seems like the perfect storm of bad things led to where he is now. When I watch him now it's pretty infuriating. The biggest thing is his whole demeanor on the court has changed. He's not enjoying playing basketball right now. You can see the frustration, which he usually takes out on the refs that has been built up in him. Why do we continue to ruin perfectly good players? He wasn't the right pick at #6, and he's got a lot to prove, but I'm not giving up on him. I do think he could be handling himself better in the situation he's in though.

The best I can hope for is for Rambis to play him a TON in these last couple games, give him free reign, run the PNR with Randolph, and give the guy a chance to prove he can still play. Then, trade him in the offseason. Only way he stays is if Rambis is gone, and he's likely even traded in that scenario.

[The J Rocka]

I also think Flynn doesn't want to be in Minnesota and that can have a big impact on the player.

Which is stupid on his part. Yes he had to go through the injury but many players in this league have to fight through them too and earn their spot back. If he's not going to be a fighter and and have a bad attitude, that's his problem. I don't want a guy on this team that won't fight to get back to 100, then gets replaced, and now wants to leave in his second year. If anything, having a guy like Luke Ridnour beat you for the starting job should make you motivated, want to work even harder. He had an opportunity to get back to "last years Flynn" and he blew it. Now wants to quit on this team? Gtfo.

[revprodeji]

His offense showed potential his rookie year and we felt that the system was holding back that development but he had the tools. His defense was some of the worst in the league.

He got injured this year, and lost his starting spot. His confidence crumbled. Not only in his body's ability to do what it did before (hip) but also in his own confidence of his skill set.

He needs a new start. A coach that can bring back his confidence and a vet he respects showing him how to play. Phoenix would have been nice for him.

[eyeteeth]

Even before he was hurt he would frequently dive the lane into no-man's-land. He is a p'n'r drive and shoot PG in a league that demands excellent passing skills. That he came in at a time when nobody else knew the system being employed and there was no consistent rythm for anybody to find was just bad luck. That the system nobody knew had no good role for him and demanded precisely the skills he didn't have was awful luck. He might've been somebody once, but he's going to need a loosey-goosey system with a bunch of fast, athletic guys who don't mind a PG relearning to tie his shoes. I wish him luck, he seems like a nice kid who drew a bad hand. I also wonder if he ever had the passing, intelligence or the court vision to really succeed in this league.

[Dewey]

I also think Flynn doesn't want to be in Minnesota and that can have a big impact on the player.

Which is stupid on his part. Yes he had to go through the injury but many players in this league have to fight through them too and earn their spot back. If he's not going to be a fighter and and have a bad attitude, that's his problem. I don't want a guy on this team that won't fight to get back to 100, then gets replaced, and now wants to leave in his second year. If anything, having a guy like Luke Ridnour beat you for the starting job should make you motivated, want to work even harder. He had an opportunity to get back to "last years Flynn" and he blew it. Now wants to quit on this team? Gtfo.

Agree.

His defense was bad last year and horrid this year ... if he thinks he is going to get minutes back without earning them, he's whacked. It's the one thing he could control when he stepped on the floor and chose to stand and display a total lack of interest. What does he think the world owes him?

[Worm Guts]

He was having issues with Rambis before he was not playing.

[karch34]

I think about this one a lot. I do wonder if it was really a pick for Sacto to combine with Johnson for Evans before the Bulls grabbed him. If that's the case then we dropped the ball because no way we should've let Johnson be taken elsewhere when we still had two firsts to leverage.

If that's not the case then we dropped the ball making a pick based on a player that needed a specific system to thrive.

I find it weird that if we were running a true triangle offense that a p'n'r PG who can shoot, but is not a great passer didn't work. Fisher, Kerr, Armstrong, Paxson, etc., however the caveat is a SG/SF who can handle the ball and run the offense. That said we did try to make him into something he wasn't and I think that with the injuries killed his confidence.

I did think that he'd be a nice backup to Rubio as a Bobby Jackson type scoring PG off the bench to keep the tempo high. Maybe time with a good coach for PGs will have an effect on him like it did for Billups with Flip.

His attitude does seem to have changed and maybe that's the trade rumors, but even before that he seemed lost and disinterested.

[Tirion]

Nothing, he was a bust from the beginning. Short combo-guards with lack of PG skills and BBIQ don't do well in the NBA. The story of him showing promise his rookie year is classic "only see what you want to see" homerism. He sucked last year.

[aznkillabeezZz]

I think it's because he got injured. Never got back to his usual self ever since that injury. I thought he played promising in his rookie year . For the rockets he's playing his worst.