http://www.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=374433

Greta post Briggs keep scouring the net for info. I have half a mind to buy a one day pass to the gym and get down there!!

While playing a little ball with Adam Sandler and some of his mates earlier today, I got to watch the Knicks session today. They had in Taft, Villanueva (his second time) and someone that I didnt recognize but was told it was one of the HS Kids. I am assuming it was Blatche. Here is what I saw

Blatche is a very tall guy. Villanueva and Taft couldnt score on him in the post. They both really struggle. Blatche couldnt guard Villanueva 20 feet from the basket either. Blatche had nice long strides but looks like he will need to put on some weight. Isiah was clearly pleased. His back to the basket game was better then I thought, nice quick hooks and active.

Taft is huge. I mean, a legit 6-10 and built with solid muscle mass. For those of you who want to take him, he looks like a tremendous athlete. But for those of you who want to take him and lambast a kid like Petro for no offense, well then your sadly mistaken for this kid. Taft couldnt score at all. While he looks like he could be a nice defender and rebounder, think Dale Davis with this kid

Villanueva sort of proved himself right. Much more of a 3 then anything else. When backing down Blatche, he couldnt score. He also couldnt score on Taft with his back to the basket. But 20 feet out he dribbled around both guys effortlessly beating them wirh runners, floaters and fadeaways. The kid has that game. More personable then the first time I played with him.

Well haggle over this if you want. Just an unbiased view of the workout. As I was leaving I noticed about 3 more real tall guys coming into the gym so Isiah is clearly having his day today.

Posted by fishmike:

very cool stuff. Villinueva is a wild card. He's obviously got great talent but there is definatly some Keith Van Horn in him. Thats not all bad.

Ive been talking about Blatche for months, even before I actually saw him play. For some reason I just think he's going to shoot up the chart and if its to us I wont have any qualms. At least Isiah is watching guys play and not working the phones trying to trade the pick for doodoo

I can work with Taft, Charlie V No F way. hes got great skill, but hes not a good fit here, he needs to go to a team with a big man in place--like minnesota

you see him more than I do, thats for sure. Thing with Taft is dont you see an awfull lot of Nazr Mohammed in him? While Blatche is no doubt farther away arent you more intrigued by the skills and the inside outside game?

Taft wont kill me either... better than nada. Maybe Taft will be a Nene type and thats certainly not to shabby. I see a guy like Blatche and I think Dirk. Maybe thats a stretch but a do-all forward like an Odom, Dirk.

Posted by BRIGGS:

To me its either Bynum, Taft, possibly Blatche[i kind of knew he might move up], Green with Granger in there to.

OK, that's kind of an intriguing list.

WHy have you dropped Splitter? I remember you were pretty impressed after watching a championship game tape.

I hear you with the dummy factor, but if Stro Swift can develop a solid jumper anyone can. The guy's dumb as a bad of hammers, but I've watched his game become more complete over the last few years.

people LOVE big guys with upside. Bottom line... I dont see anyway Blatche falls past 12. Not if he's any good. He sounds pretty tough and while he was a little unbridled at times he looked very strong in the McD game against the top players

I think if we want a lazy, fat ass, non shooting guy who plays the same position as most of the guys on our team, then Chris Taft is our man!!!!

Interesting. I knew Charlie was going to impress everyone in his workouts with his raw skills because he has a great offensive game. The thing that can't be seen by these workouts is Charlies drive to play night in and night out, this was his big problem with his 2 years at UConn and it will continue to be his big problem until he proves otherwise.

Interesting take on Taft, I knew he would hold his own with defense and rebounding but I was very interested to see if he would come to workouts with a improved shot. At Pitt Taft was a solid 16-17 foot jumpshot guy, not great but wouldn't brick it either, too me his shot last year at Pitt was further along then Okafors was in his last year at UConn. I'm trying to come up with some good comparisons of Taft for the people that don't know him that well and I think the best one that would suit him is Chris Bosh; Solid back to the basket game, good defense and rebounding with a shot that is improving but still needs alot of work. I'm interested to see what he does in his other workouts.

I honestly can't say I know much about Blatche so I'll take the readers opinion of him. Judging from his post, this could have been Bynum becuase the poster didn't know for sure. Sounds like whoever it was will give whoever takes them nothing more then maybe man-man to defense for the first year, unless summer league and preseason really help him out but it sounds like he has solid bball skills. Hey, he's 7foot too, so that will go a long way.

[Edited by - nyk4ever on 05/23/2005 20:59:02]

This from Chad Ford Blog....

Chris Taft workout

NEW YORK – I'm in NYC today to catch a few NBA workouts. Tonight I'll head over to the NBA draft lottery.

First up this morning: Pittsburgh's Chris Taft.

Taft began the season as a potential No. 1 pick in the draft. However, his stock has been sliding ever since thanks to a lackluster sophomore season at Pitt. While everyone loves Taft's size (6-foot-10), his body and his athleticism, teams have really questioned his conditioning and his motor.

He worked out today in front of the Bobcats, Jazz and Sonics. Did he do anything to change their minds?

Not really.

But it wasn't really Taft's fault. It's tough to judge a guy like Taft in a gym by himself shooting hook shots.

He showed off his athleticism and looked to be in decent shape. He showed off a nice 10-foot jumper that he consistently drained off the pick and pop.

As the workout went on, he started to tire and a lot of his post shots were coming up short. His energy level was OK, but you would have liked to see him rev the motor a bit more.

I don't think he did much to hurt or help himself there. I still think he goes between 8 and 10 on draft night.

I'm now off to watch Julius Hodge and Marko Lekic work out on the east side of Manhattan.

I still want Warrick if someone like Green doesn't fall our way because he is the most polished, can play both forward positions, and still has all-star potential. I would like to see him develop at SF, but i don't mind seeing him at PF either, alongside someone like Big Z at center and Tim Thomas or Lamar Odom at SF. Warrick could be one of the most athletic PFs in the game.

As for other prospects, Taft is nice, i just hope he can do more than Wilcox has done. Bynum is a nice prospect, but not anywhere near gonna help us. I've heard people say hes gonna be at least like Eddy Curry at worst, which is untrue. Granted he's bigger, but Curry had an extremely polished post game coming out of high school that Bynum doesn't have. Bynum, right now is no more than DeSagana Diop. He's big and athletic, but that only gets you blocks and rebounds until you develop a little. Diop can do those things, and expect nothing more than that from Bynum until he gets a post game. He's def got the potential though.