MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — When John Flowers entered the German pro league all-star break shooting 50 percent from 3-point range, he had to phone his college coach.
“I called Huggs and I told him, ‘Yeah I’m shooting over 50 percent from the 3-point line. You should’ve let me shoot, you know what I mean?”
A glue guy on West Virginia’s Final Four team in 2010, Flowers discussed his evolution into Stephen Curry—at least one who scores 12 points per game—and plugged his upcoming West Virginia alumni game during an appearance on MetroNews “Sportsline.”
After three years in the French league, Flowers spent this past season with Medi Bayreuth, a struggling, small-market club in Germany. Media Bayreuth finished 12-22, though they pulled off a road upset against Da’Sean Butler’s team Ratiopharm Ulm. Butler’s team had the last laugh by making the German league finals last month.
“He had a high-budget team, and he was getting the big bucks over there,” Flowers joked. “My team was a low-budget team. They didn’t expect to win at all. They was celebrating losses.”
Flowers, now 27, is seeking a club for next season. Even after 139 international games, he’s still acclimating to the continental differences.
“You can’t really compare American basketball to European basketball. I my league the leading scorer was averaging like 17 points per game, which isn’t anything. The coaches, the Germans and in France too, they really don’t like superstars. They don’t want anyone to be above the team.”
“I’ve seen guys get subbed out because they’re too hot.”
The Gold & Blue Lunch Report plucks the highlights from Flowers’ visit to the “Sportsline” studio, including more on his alumni game which promises to pack the gym July 30 at Morgantown High.