ESPN Scouting Reports

[Joe Hironaka <j.hironaka@unesco.org>]

FWIW, here's a 1996 scouting report of Wright State's Vitaly Potapenko
from an ancient "ESPN.COM" page (Hey, just call me "Bookmark Meister").
The Cavs actually drafted him way up at #12, eight picks before they
landed Ilgauskus.

Copyright ESPN:
"Potapenko, a massive Ukrainian with surprising agility and a soft
touch, impressed scouts with his skills at the pre-draft camp in
Chicago. "He's a powerhouse with good hands and he can shoot it out to
16 feet," says one Atlantic Division scout. "He's also runs the floor
better than I thought. He's for real."
Even though he was the talk of the Chicago camp, Potapenko wasn't
exactly a revelation to NBA scouts. "We knew he had some tools," says a
Midwest Division scout. "Chicago only reaffirmed that."
Potapenko averaged 20.2 points per game during his two seasons at Wright
State, and he shot a gaudy 61 percent from the floor. His NBA coach will
want Potapenko to grab more than the 6.8 rebounds he collected per game
in college.
"The Ukraine Train" will be whistled for more than a few fouls. Another
concern centers around his ability to defend, because he hasn't played
many games against quality big men."

Here is what ESPN analyst Clark Kellogg said after the draft:

Grade on the Cavs' choice of Vitaly Potapenko at No. 12:  "B"
"This is good pick for the Cavs, a true back-to-the-basket center. It
obviously fills a major need for the cavs and they got a guy that's a
fairly skilled offensive center with great hands. He has a great
attitude and a player who can make great progress in the NBA."

Grade on the Knicks' choice of Walter McCarty at No. 19: "A"
 "A really good pick here. He has great versatility. We didn't see his
total game at Kentucky due to his team's quest for the national
championship. He has three-point range, can run and block shots. His
frame needs work but he has a great chance to be a good NBA player
mainly because of his versatility."

Grade on the Celtics' choice of Antoine Walker at No. 6: "A"
"Stat-sheet stuffer supreme! I love this guy's game. He can handle it,
and he's a tenacious rebounder. He's just what the medicine man ordered
for the Celts -- a dynamic presence. He has star written all over him.
He backed down from his game being on the team (Kentucky) he was on this
year. He could be the best player in this class a few years down the
road. He can be a dominant player at his position."

You may want to bear in mind, however, that Kellogg gave an "A" grade to
Samaki Walker & Travis "La Chiquita Boy" Knight (based on relative draft
position, naturally), but only a "B" grade to stellar guys like Ray
Allen, Kerry Kittles, Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash. He obviously has a
bias toward college power forwards like himself.  :-)

Joe

P.S. I happily retract whatever inanities I wrote earlier this month in
support of trading Ron Mercer for big guys Lorenzo "Wrong", and Mo
"Elizabeth" Taylor. Frankly it's amazing that our Celts got a starting
center without trading away any of our big four "assets". (Our only
other viable option IMHO would have been to trade for George Lynch and
John Wallace, so that we could have finally reunited "John, Paul, George
and Ringo" at the Fleet Center)  BTW, I wonder how Eric Riley feels
about losing his starting job to a guy who punched him in the kisser
just two weeks ago in Cleveland?

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