Leadership and production from Savion Flagg key to defeating Vanderbilt
By all accounts Texas A&M sophomore Savion Flagg is a really nice guy who is popular with his basketball teammates.
And that’s a problem.
At least, that was part of the message Flagg received recently when he found himself face to face with A&M basketball royalty during a chance meeting at a local restaurant.
Flagg, A&M’s second-leading scorer and top rebounder, was at a popular wings restaurant to celebrate a 65-56 victory over Alabama on Feb. 19. That’s when he was summoned to the table of Acie Law, a former NBA first round draft choice whose A&M jersey hangs in the rafters at Reed Arena.
Law didn’t intend to congratulate Flagg for an 18-point against the Tide. Instead, he offered constructive criticism.
“He mainly said I shouldn’t care if people like me. As I leader, I should go out there and do my job and do what the coaches want me to do and what they envision me doing,” Flagg said. “(Law said) It’s not about your teammates liking you. It’s about getting the best out of yourself and your teammates. If they’re not liking you off the court because of something you said on the court that’s just the sensitive side they have to get over.’”
Flagg said he’s been trying to heed that advice and put it into practice ever since that conversation.
“I feel like since I heard that I’ve been holding guys more accountable and holding myself more accountable — not being a hypocrite,” Flagg said on Friday.
The Aggies (12-15, 5-10) desperately need Flagg’s leadership and production for Saturday’s 5 p.m. Southeastern Conference clash with Vanderbilt (9-19, 0-15) at Reed Arena.
Sophomore guard TJ Starks, the third-leading scorer, will miss the remainder of the season after suffering a separated shoulder in last Tuesday’s 66-55 loss to No. 13 LSU. Starks is expected to have surgery next week.
“It’s almost comical – it seems like we’ve had so many things happen to us this year,” A&M coach Billy Kennedy said. “Now we have to address that. I think our guys will rise up to the challenge because they’ve been resilient all year when something bad has happened.”
Flagg has been among the most resilient. In November, he scored a career-high 25 points in a win over South Alabama just hours after learning his cousin had died from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident.
Later, he bounced back from a 1-of-10 shooting slump in a mid-February loss to Ole Miss to average 14.6 points and 7.8 rebounds over the next five games.
Flagg’s hot streak cooled off in the loss to LSU, in which he scored just three points. However, Kennedy is dismissing that as just a bad day.
“I think he just had an off game against LSU,” Kennedy said. “LSU is the toughest matchup for us physically at every position. I thought they did a good job challenging him. He relied too much on the three. Hopefully, he’ll learn from that. I expect him to be better against Vandy.”
The Aggies need Flagg at his best. They’ve often won when a third source provides scoring to compliment leading scorer Wendell Mitchell and the inside tandem of Christian Mekowulu and Josh Nebo. It’s no coincidence that A&M was 4-1 during Flagg’s hot streak.
Law saw Flagg’s physical ability up close. He advised Flagg to work on getting a quicker release on his jump shot. He said Flagg had NBA potential.
But mainly the message was no more Mr. Nice Guy. Well, not all the time anyway.
“I feel like I’m still a nice guy,” Flagg said. “(My teammates) know I have a good heart. They don’t think it’s going from a bad place. They know I just want the best for them.”