Michael Flowers is looking to take the MAC and country by storm

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Michael Flowers
Photo Credit: TJ Oxley

It was a tough night for Western Michigan as I watched the very young Broncos roster fall to Ole Miss on the road by a score of 58-85. They shot just 33.9% from the field on the night and 15.6% from deep on 32 attempts. Even in a loss where the Broncos couldn’t buy a bucket, one thing was clear to me. The Western Michigan offense runs through Michael Flowers.

Prior to the Ole Miss showing, Flowers was one of the hottest players in the country who was averaging 25.3 PPG while shooting 56.4% from the field and a scorching 76.5% from three. We even named him our Hidden Gem Hooper of the night after his game against Milwaukee on the Basketball Society Instagram. 

Flowers is a 6’2 guard who plays a physical style of basketball and is the engine for this Western Michigan offense. He is a Junior and one of the unquestioned leaders of this Bronco team. For a little guy, he plays as if he was a big and looks to get touches from down-low and bully his way around the paint. That’s not all Flowers has in his game as he possesses a tight handle that he uses to find his spot on the floor for a pull-up jumper.

This man is a confident shooter who believes every time he releases the shot, it is going in. That confidence even leads to him pulling up from NBA range a few times.

When he attacks, he gets knocked around and he isn’t afraid to take on contact as he goes up for a shot. He isn’t the quickest player on the court, but his presence alone causes defenders to collapse on him opening up others for good looks. The assist numbers may not be all that flattering, but in the Ole Miss game I saw a few plays where there were potential assists where his teammates couldn’t knock down the shot.

A lot of Flowers’s damage comes in the form of the pick and roll where he looks to get a bigger defender switched onto him that normally results in either a quick cross-over or in-n-out dribble into a mid range or three point pull up. Though he may not even be 200 pounds, Flowers wills and fights for defensive rebounds like a forward and comes down with some every now and again. 

Going forward, expect teams to struggle to find ways to contain Flowers as he can beat you down low or from outside. Don’t be surprised if you see a potential first team all MAC selection and many 20+ point games this year for Flowers as he looks to guide a WMU team that starts three underclassmen, two of which are freshmen.

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