AROUND the NBA:

[F Gump]

Flagg surprised me with his composure rather than his handles. He does not have advance dribble moves for a guard and that would have been problematic in bringing the ball up against pressure.

....

From what I can see of Flagg, once he gets in the paint and stops his dribble, a zealous physical defender makes him off balance and he either attempts a difficult fade or pass to a team mate. The "bump" from a defender also takes away a bit of time for him to make a counter move and that loss time is enough for secondary defender to crowd him even more. .

Let me add some context to your observations (which I think are valid), and then tell me how you evaluate what you see (as noted above).

CF forcing the action, and driving against pressure defense - that is NOT what his game has consisted of previously. He's been a glue guy, playing off of someone else's actions, and then taking advantage of openings. Play in the context of and flow of what everyone else is doing. Make everyone else better. Be a decoy at times. Etc.

However, in G1 SL, the Mavs asked him (instructed him) to attack the defense, every time he got the ball. In some sense "act like Luka" so to speak, force the action, try to create something. And this was literally his first game to play THAT way. Learn by doing. 

Knowing THAT, now how do you assess what you saw from him?