Just got done fast-forwarding though today's events..Like last year, hard to take away anything really useful. Here's the couple of things I saw that stood out:
(1) Even though I thought he played very poorly at times for Cincinnati this year, Lance Stephenson has a lot of talent and a nice body for a NBA 2. Kid just needs to play much more under control, stress the fundamentals, share the ball and work on that attitude which has gotten him in trouble ever since HS (nice humble interview with Andy Katz after the SGs workout concluded - that's a nice start). Still, he's got plenty of confidence and loads of potential. Might be the toughest guy to predict in this whole draft. Right now he's mostly all about potential but in a couple of years he could turn out to be a real diamond in the rough if he's taken real low in this draft. He could make some GM out there look like a genius a year or two down the road..Then again on the flip side, I thought he was pretty bad this year for Cincy every time I saw that team play..Looked lost, out of control and over-hyped at times...
(2) Lefty Xavier Henry can really shoot the ball from deep.
(3) Larry Sanders looked great esp. in the individual shooting drill. "Drill" being the operative word here - dude was poppin' college 3s all around the perimeter like water with a real pretty stroke. I didn't know he could shoot the rock like that..I think he really cemented himself as a mid-1st round selection today, maybe higher..No other player may have helped himself more.
(4) Where the F was my man Quincy Pondexter? He really should've been there today - dude's a nice player coming off a very good senior year but that's not enough to convince people he's big-time yet. Whoever told him not to attend gave him some awful advice...He really should've been in attendance competing against his peers..
(5) No AJ Oglivy was kind of a let down as well. Art Parakouski was there (and he looked pretty good too)..That's AJ's chief competition. You figure Parakouski and Jerome Jordan (who was also a no-show).. He's gotta show he wants it just as much as those guys...Oglivy should've been there showing everyone what he's got to offer. Pondexter made a mistake but should still go 1st round/high 2nd round - Ogilvy may not even get drafted. More than anyone, he really needs to take every opportunity seriously to show everyone what he could do. Even if he was back home in Australia, no excuses. Jump on a damn plane and bite the bullet man. 17-24 hours, wtf it is, jump on a plane & deal with it. You see you family & friends later. You mean to tell me some 6'11" dude named Ryan Richards comes all the way from England to be there but Oglivy pulls a no-show and blows the thing off completely? No good man. That's embarrassing...And if he is actually state-side right now, forget about it. Then there's really no reason at all why he shouldn't have been there. I don't even remember anyone on the panel from Jay Williams, to Lenny Elmore to Chad Ford even mention the guy's name once during the big man drills -- I mean this is the time when you want everyone talking about you..Another bubble guy given horrible advice..
(6) I couldn't believe the lack of hustle & interest in the suicides that came at the end of each set of workouts (they went by position) conducted by John Lucas. Basic drill -- 15 secs. to sprint the length of the court 3X - back & forth & back again. You know not one player took it seriously. Very surprising -- I mean how tired could guys have been today? It really wasn't all that vigorous..I would've looked at that as a perfect opportunity to show everyone in attendance that I had no quit in me. Yet no one seized the opportunity. I'd say a good 80-85% of the players gave a half-hearted effort, even failing to complete the drill in the 15 secs. allotted.. No one really flat out dogged it but no one went all out, that's for sure. The whole thing's like one big job interview - treat it as such...I would've been going 110 mile per hour..
(7) I kinda felt like the PGs, who went last for whatever reason, were rushed. They definitely didn't get nearly as much time to showcase themselves as the other position prospects. Weird. I hope it wasn't a TV thing like how they rush the Academy Awards at the end of that show. If that's the case then that's nuts -- it's about these kids not friggin' TV...Anyway, from the little I did see Eric Bledsoe looked like he was going hard (the commentators were speculating that Bledsoe going up against Avery Bradley in individual team workouts would really be something to behold, if their agents made it so that is, which they may avoid just in case it turns out to be a one-sided affair either way) and my man Sherron Collins looked pretty solid, showing off his complete game including that nice shooting stroke. If we can't get a better PG prospect, I think Collins would be a nice pickup for us -- he 5'11" which is short but not terrible (according to Chad Ford, Collins swears he's 6' in shoes -- we'll see tomorrow I guess), he looks to be in shape, he's very strong, quick, a leader, he's been successful every year in college for a major program against quality competition every night and he can really shoot the ball. If a team like the Orlando Magic can excel with a guy like Jameer Nelson at the controls, why couldn't we with Collins? They're the same player practically -- you can't convince me Nelson is some player head & shoulders better than Sherron Collins. No way..For reasons unknown, he's really not getting his just due imho..I like this guy a lot for the Knicks. A Collins/TD tandem at the point wouldn't be terrible next year. Far from it. We could do a lot worse..
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Part 2 tomorrow fellas, same bat time (10am), same bat channel (ESPNU)...I think they might be doing all the measurements, the agility testing, etc..Should be interesting..