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Curious 'Cuse Fan: Thoughts on Flynn and Johnson?

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Curious 'Cuse Fan: Thoughts on Flynn and Johnson? 

Post#1 » by dundundun » Wed Apr 13, 2011 11:11 pm

Hello Minnesota!

So up until I'd say 2008-ish I was an enormous fan of the NBA--- had league pass, watched a ton of games, etc...lately I've kind of lost touch with the league; I still watch the playoffs and kind of follow the league's bigger story lines but I'm totally out of the loop when it comes to most teams/players.

I'm a Syracuse guy, and I'm still big into the college game, and I often find myself wondering how guys are panning out at the pro level, being that I don't watch/follow enough to really have my own opinion.

I apologize if you guys get bombarded with stuff like this all the time, but it would be much appreciated if any of you could share your take on Jonny Flynn and Wesley Johnson--- how productive/effective have they been thus far? Are hopes high for their futures? Etc..

Any info would be much appreciated...
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Re: Curious 'Cuse Fan: Thoughts on Flynn and Johnson? 

Post#2 » by dundundun » Wed Apr 13, 2011 11:22 pm

BTW here's something I wrote about Wesley on the Draft Board last year. I have no idea how he has looked this year, but I almost expect that people are disappointed, as despite all his talents he can be kind of underwhelming. I do think he'll be a really solid pro though, just don't expect him to do too much--- even when he was busy winning the B.E. player of the year and dropping like 18 a game, Andy Rautins was the focal point of our offense and you could almost forget Wesley on the court at times, then you realize he just put up a 17/9/3 with a couple of blocks+steals and be like "when did he do all that?!" You've gotta appreciate the [often quiet] things he does.


dundundun wrote:Never saw him play at Iowa State, but I've watched every game he's played this year. First off let me say don't get down on him because of his recent "slump", he took a real nasty fall a few weeks back during which he hurt his shooting hand and it has been giving him problems, he's also not one to force anything so if other people are playing well he will sometimes fade into the background a bit.

My analysis-- he basically has one and only one weakness (albeit a big one) and everything else is nothing but positives.

Strengths: Defined position (sf), good size at 6'7''-ish and seems to have great length...ELITE athlete. This is where he reminds me of Marion (and yes, I know how unique Marion is as an athlete). Like Marion he not only jumps out of the gym but has an unreal 2nd and 3rd jump and it's not just how high he gets but how quickly he gets up there. This is what allows him to be such a good rebounder (which I think will transfer into the pros), and he is SICK on the offensive glass. His athleticism should allow him to be really good in transition and on defense in the pros. Good shooter, solid form on his J, can hit threes, turnarounds, has a nice little step-back jumper off the dribble. Good passer; nothing incredible in this regard but he definitely has solid vision and he's willing. He doesn't force anything, really just lets the game come to him and will gladly let others star in the scoring role while he just does the little things (sometimes you feel like he disappeared all game and yet he somehow still throws up a 15-10-3 with a few blocks and steals). Some might say this is a weakness, as in they'd like him to be more assertive, but I think it's a huge plus. You don't have to run plays for him, you don't have to cater to him, he just has a huge impact in a really subtle way. Great teammate, seems to be very coachable/hard-working, and really just comes across as a good guy.

Weakness: Ballhandling. And that's it***. As an NBA sf prospect he is just plain and simple a really, really weak ball handler. He doesn't look very comfortable handling the rock out in the open court. And he is absolutely not a guy who you can give the ball to and expect him to break down a defense with the dribble. He's pretty good at (when he is given the chance) getting to the rim with one or two strong dribbles, but that's about it. His improvement (or lack-there-of) in this area is what will ultimately dictate what heights he reaches as an NBA player. If he never becomes a good ball handler I still think he does enough things well that he can be a really good NBA players (I really think of him as a Shawn Marion clone), I could see him topping out at like 17-10-3 with 3 blocks/steals per game. I don't think he's ever gonna turn himself into a real threat off the bounce, but if he does, WATCH OUT. With a strong handle, the sky is the limit.

***Worth noting that he is a little older than most draftees, but it's not something I think should be a concern. He grew really late so if anything I feel like he's still growing into his body and learning to harness his raw abilities.
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Re: Curious 'Cuse Fan: Thoughts on Flynn and Johnson? 

Post#3 » by Foye » Wed Apr 13, 2011 11:25 pm

Flynn is a bust and WJ tends to disappear on the court.

So far not impressed with these two guys. I still have hopes for WJ but any sympathy I had for Flynn is gone now.
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Re: Curious 'Cuse Fan: Thoughts on Flynn and Johnson? 

Post#4 » by Torcher » Wed Apr 13, 2011 11:28 pm

Flynn is absolutely horrible in our system and is likely to be moved this offseason, so no need to worry about him anymore.

Wes on the otherhand might stay for a couple of seasons. His major problem has been consistency. One night he pulls out 20 6 3, and the next night he'll come up with 2 1 0. As being the "most NBA ready" player in the last draft, it disappoints me that he is this inconsistant, although you can see glimpses of his potential.
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Re: Curious 'Cuse Fan: Thoughts on Flynn and Johnson? 

Post#5 » by Krapinsky » Wed Apr 13, 2011 11:38 pm

Torcher wrote:Flynn is absolutely horrible in our system and is likely to be moved this offseason, so no need to worry about him anymore.

Wes on the otherhand might stay for a couple of seasons. His major problem has been consistency. One night he pulls out 20 6 3, and the next night he'll come up with 2 1 0. As being the "most NBA ready" player in the last draft, it disappoints me that he is this inconsistant, although you can see glimpses of his potential.


I think that's being too kind. He's had only a handful of good games this year, like 7-8?, and the rest have been underachieving/below expectations. That's not inconsistent, that's just bad. He had something like 25 games where he had 5 points or less.
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Re: Curious 'Cuse Fan: Thoughts on Flynn and Johnson? 

Post#6 » by LordBaldric » Wed Apr 13, 2011 11:54 pm

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Re: Curious 'Cuse Fan: Thoughts on Flynn and Johnson? 

Post#7 » by dundundun » Wed Apr 13, 2011 11:56 pm

WOW! So it sounds like Flynn is not making people in Minnesota very happy lol....do you guys think he could turn into a solid player down the line (be it on another team) or is he just a lost cause?

My take on Flynn [as an NBA prospect] was always kind of ambiguous. First, understand that Flynn was extremely popular as a Syracuse player, everyone up there loved him. Obviously he was good in college, but as much as I too had a certain affinity for him, I always thought he was a little overrated. He was obviously talented, and at times he was certainly great, but I thought he often made bad decisions, played a little out of control, and in ways may have hurt the team just as much as he helped it (probably evidenced by the fact that our 09-10 team, with low expectations after Flynn left, ended up being a consensus top-5 team all year).

In the NBA, IDK, I feel like he has some tools to be successful, and I always thought he could be a stud, but I could also easily see him not even sticking in the league.

I find it intriguing that it seems as though he really struggles defensively. Obviously he's undersized, and b/c of this he was never great in the Syracuse zone, but I thought he would be a decent defender in the NBA. He's unbelievable athletically, and tenacious, I thought he would be kind of a pest defensively.

How has his shooting been? I thought this could be the area that makes or breaks him.

Sounds like he hasn't displayed too much aptitude for running a team. Can't say I'm surprised. It wasn't that he was selfish as a player, but he kinda always struck me as more of a scorer than a true distributor. I feel like he would be best served as a 15-20 minutes per game player off the bench, someone who could come in and change the pace of the game, carry the scoring load and ballhandling duties for small stretches
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Re: Curious 'Cuse Fan: Thoughts on Flynn and Johnson? 

Post#8 » by Foye » Thu Apr 14, 2011 12:04 am

Flynn is unable of running our team.

I think he has mentally given up on the team after some fans boo'ed him when he fought back from injury. A true warrior would have fought back from that. That doesn't seem his mindset, though. His mindset is more Joe Alexander.

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