“Hawks blew away Malachi Flynn’s 50 Pts” – ESPN on Atlanta beat Pistons 121-113; J. Johnson 28 Pts

“Hawks blew away Malachi Flynn’s 50 Pts” – ESPN on Atlanta beat Pistons 121-113; J. Johnson 28 Pts

But so was Malachi Flynn who dropped a 50 piece tonight Greg 50 points an unbelievable performance and we thought even with the late scratch of Cade Cunningham no one would be able to make up for his point production but Malachi said no way Jose I’m providing the energy tonight an unbelievable

Performance Off the Bench what kind of dominance did he have on this game Greg well he got loose and what he was able to do was ride a wave so to speak a personal wave that became so daunting for the Atlanta Hawks to slow uh they

Couldn’t slow it he just got better and better and better seemingly stronger and stronger faster and faster as the game played on and as I said I I I didn’t clearly I believe that it was not something that they could have ever planned for they probably spent the day

Planning for Kate Cunningham well they got Kate Cunningham like numbers and then some I’m happy for Malachi Flynn because you know what this shows is that perseverance and a belief in oneself combined with opportunity special nights like this can happen it’s unfortunate that it doesn’t come in a

Win you’d like to your career high your best game maybe in your life to come in a win but he served notice on an NBA stage here that’s what you want that’s what you want to be able to say I left it out there on the floor and he joined

Some Elite company when you look at what he did tonight he is only the third player in NBA history to have a 50-point game off the bench I mean it was just incredible and it felt like it was the Hawks versus Malachi all night long there were only two starters on the

Pistons that had double digits it was Malachi that came through and through and honestly he’s the reason the Pistons avoided a total blowout and was able to even make it close coming back from a 22-point deficit he is our Glassman Automotive spark plug for tonight D yeah

And what he did tonight was he demonstrated to his teammates hopefully they took notice because when this game started they weren’t all ready to play now George PHS and maybe it’s true that the news of Kade was shocking and stunning and and flooring in a way that

It Zapped all their energy but this is the NBA this is professional basketball you got to be able to deal with that you know uh swallow it and and move on well Malachi Flynn he set a great example tonight about being ready when your number is called no matter the

Circumstances you go out and you play hard you compete anything can happen anything happened tonight for him personally you would have loved to have seen it happen for the Pistons well I’m sure his head coach Monty Williams will have a lot to say about that performance

So we’re going to go to his press conference now presented by Miller Light tough red Z when you look up Malachi Flyn he sort of had maybe a unthankful role as a backup point guard backing up K but for him to come out tonight and uh score 50 points and

Just really kind of take the manow just what did you see from him he just works on his game um he’s in the gym every morning pretty much an hour before practice maybe more he he works on his game you saw that tonight all those shots that

He um made were shots that I see him work on every day and um it wasn’t just that he he had some some timely passes that um tell you a lot about him as a player when he saw Guys open he got off of it and um it just speaks to the

Phrase we use in our program that reps removed out when you put the work in you can’t count on having a 50-point game but you can go into a game because you have stacked solid days and have confidence that when you shoot the ball or you make certain reads um when you’re

In pick and roll coverages and defensively you get out there and fight you can have uh these kinds of nights so we’re we’re proud of um Malachi and all of our guys in that regard they just bring it every single night H with that he’s been here only a few months and

Guys were cheering for him and excited for him to get it I guess through a long season and all you guys have been through is is it good to see that that two weeks left and and guys still have that spirit for one another it’s not

Going to go anywhere um I’ve said it all year I I’ll continue to say it these guys come in the gym every single day to get better to hear the game plan to get some of the wisdom that we may have to share with them um but it starts with

Our players they they bring it every day if you’d have saw the shoot around this morning you would have thought it was a first week of training camp and I just told him that I appreciate it it’s it’s an honor to be able to coach a group

Like that um because they’re not looking for excuses they’re not victims uh they want to win games and they know what we’re doing here we’re building um for this year going forward and the future and all of these guys are uh really impressive to be around not

Just the shot making but just the spirit and and what they bring to the program every day and into the game a little bit I know Atlanta struggled to shoot the ball early on but it seemed like guys were helping off one pass away defensively they were leaving some

Shooters open was there did it look like miscommunication to you from some guys on that end well I I thought the recognition of who the shooter was Mo most teams play the same defense that we play It’s called shifting or loading there were times where we got too deep

In the shift or if it was one of their Shooters we were too low um I’m okay with shifting we sometimes when you’re guarding or not sometimes when you’re guarding a guy who’s a high Lev shooter you got to shift a bit higher so your your Closeouts short um some of our

Closeouts tonight were a bit long because we shipped it in a deep fashion single side stuff when guys are rolling to the rim you’re going to give up threes in that environment as long as you can get Out to the Ball but I thought I got to look at the film but

Just from the sideline it just seemed like we were shifted so deep that when the penetration came we kind of stared at the ball and then we tried to get out and we should be moving towards the shooter in that moment we were a bit

Maybe a half a second or whatever it is from a Time perspective slow in that regard beyond that what did you see in the first half uh I know I think Sasser hit the team’s first three um in the second quarter after starting 0 for six

Was it just miss shots was are just those types of nights or did you just see poor execution as a whole early on we just miss shots it wasn’t that wasn’t poor execution or anything like that we just miss shots it happens yeah they weren’t able to seem

Like overcome that that first half deficit but what stood out to me in his presser is just what he’s preached all year is even through the hardships they’ve been through the 28 game losing streak they only have 13 wins guys are still fighting for their lives fighting

For spots to play like what exactly we saw from Malachi Flynn tonight dropping 50 points even without Cade Cunningham I guess what has impressed you about the way they’ve just continued to still try and grind it out despite all the adversity they’ve faced all season long

Well Monte and I we talked about this after the Washington game because you saw the Pistons really really thrilled and happy to get a victory any kind of victory over any opponent uh any place winning just feels so much better and the wind was taking them nowhere you

Know the win was for their own emot emotional uh and competitive well-being and he was happy to see it I was happy to see it and we both agreed that it speaks to you know the very nature of these guys to just keep moving forward not worrying about the past play the

Game that’s happening right now and and do the best you can and try to make good plays and and and build confidence and build momentum for next season so that was that was thrilling for him and Sim Sim similar what he’s that goinging right now that the guys haven’t stopped

And they’re pulling for each other I watched that bench as Malachi was going through the 40s on his way to 50 I know the game was there but they seem to really be happy for him individually and uh that’s not a bad thing that’s a good thing to see and uh

Hopefully hopefully winning is in the future for this Pistons much much sooner than later yeah the bench was absolutely fired up for him it was good to see them getting so excited and I’m sure Malachi despite the loss is still feeling great about the performance he just had how

Could he not let’s hear from him now at his press conference Mal I know as a competitor your goal is to win but there aren’t many people who have walked the face of the Earth that scored 50 points in an NBA game are you kind of are you able to

Put that into perspective what you were able to do tonight um I think I think right now it’s a little tougher just because of I mean at the end of the day you want to win to be honest um that’s always my main goal to win but definitely feels good um the guys

Congratulating me in the back that also feels good just to kind of take in the moment um but I’m sure a couple days from now it’ll feel a little bit better kind of with it I I mentioned something to Monty like you’ve only been here

About a month and a half two months and everybody on that bench was cheering for you and and and wanting to see you get to that that point how can you kind of characterize your relationship with these guys I know a lot of you guys are just learning each other figuring each

Other out but to see them kind of root for you does that say a little bit about the young guys in this group and and and where you guys are as a as a program for sure I think we got a great group of young guys um been here for about a

Month you said but everybody’s welcome me in um with everybody I think we we got like seven new guys U maybe even more and we all kind of hang out you know what I’m saying have fun practice play around with each other um joke around with each other so it’s just I

Think that’s just who we are as a group um and and it starts from the top from money to the players to the management um I think it’s just one Collective good group you’ve had a really uh steady roow you know obviously backing up Kade since

You arrived here when you came in sort of what those combos with the with Monty and the staff like as far as what they wanted from you and um you know just what’s been your process of just kind of finding your your groove and your voice

With this team over the last month U I think just to coming in it was just kind of Be You Be Yourself um don’t try to be someone else and then just be ready for opportunity uh there’s times where it’s up down may not play you play um but for

Me it’s just about grinding putting in your time in and when your opportunity does come you got to take advantage um so that’s what I try to do every day have you ever scored 50 at any level high school College that’s the first time I almost had it in in high school

And my coach took me out still I still got a grudge for e the past is a dream tomorrow is a new day hey First Blood an enemy has been defeated oh enemy double kill an enemy has been defeated reborn for the battle an enemy has been defeated free

You have been defeated so familiar my life reborn for batt Ally has been defeated stick around speed they need a sword just you’re done for it’s over an enemy has been defeated one of these days I’ll find my old self your tower has destroyed here they come enemy Ultimate Enemy double

Kill enemy triple kill our base is under attack my life reborn for the battle up you have defeated an enemy double kill shut down pierce your team has destroyed a tower e e our base is under attack an ally has been defeated defeat is that’s is B spe cut it out First

Blood smell blood an enemy has been defeated double kill I can’t get out of this

“Hawks blew away Malachi Flynn’s 50 Pts” – ESPN on Atlanta beat Pistons 121-113; J. Johnson 28 Pts