10-25-2025, 01:02 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-25-2025, 01:22 PM by hakeemfaan.)
(10-25-2025, 12:28 PM)cow Wrote: Caught the Washington broadcast last night and for whatever it is wroth, they were mentioning that AD came into camp out of shape and is playing his way into game shape right now. Regardless of the veracity of that statement, he's looked pretty bad and has lacked explosiveness.
I tried to warn myself about how young Flagg is and don't expect anything near Luka out of the gate, but he really looks lost on offense and I don't think forcing him to playing the point guard role is doing any favors. The other end is better, but that's also not saying a lot. Maybe if he'd made the opening night lob attempt, things would have unfolded differently, but that kind of feels like a microcosm of what he is right now. There are certainly flashes, but he has a long way to go. I'm not sure his coaching or teammates are doing him a ton of favors either.
Klay has been absolutely dreadful.
Aggressive PJ has been fun.
Nembhard looks like a keeper.
I miss Luka.
Flagg is a totally different player. Luka is an offensive savant. Flagg's celiing is between a better version of an Andrew Wiggins to maybe a Grant Hill or Scottie Pippen. A player like him will ironically be more valuable when you put him next to a pure scorer. I'm not even saying a Luka, but even a Harden type and then you'll see Flagg's importance.
So that type of a player will have less of an immediate impact on a team where you don't have a PG or a SG who can create. He's not a Harper or a VJ or even a Fears or a Tre Johnson who can come in, have the ball in their hands, and can go to work. We all knew this when he was drafted, but we all knew that he was a taller and better two way player than all of those guys as well, and the hope is that 2 way strength will be easier to build a team around than constantly having to compensate for a weak defensive star.
On top of all this, he is stuck with a coach who never had any refined offensive game plan to begin with. His best plans were to put the ball in Luka or Brunson's hands and ask them to go to work. So you are stuck with that, having to learn a position that you never played before while doing that at the highest level where no one is going to have mercy on you, with no PG and no SG who can create. Yet he has found moments to impress and not look totally lost.
Why so hard on Flagg?