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Omar Cook at 21?
Title: Omar Cook at 21?
NETS IN MIX FOR
NBA-BOUND COOK
By FRED KERBER and LENN ROBBINS
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COOK'S TOUR:
Omar Cook's almost certainly headed to NBA after successful week of workouts around league.
- AP
June 1, 2001 -- After working out for the Nets yesterday, his third visit to an NBA team in three days, Omar Cook admitted there were two chances of his returning to St. John's next season.
"Slim and none," Cook said.
And slim has left town in the point guard's eyes.
"Every team I went to, they told me they don't see me not getting drafted," said the 19-year-old Cook, whose lack of a jump shot may be the factor that keeps him from being a lottery selection. "All I'm hearing is first round, real positives."
Cook worked out for Boston on Tuesday and Toronto on Wednesday. One website's mock draft has Cook going to the Celtics at No. 21 on the first round. Cook, claiming he'd "love" to be in New Jersey as Stephon Marbury's understudy, feels his first workout, with Boston, was his best. For the Nets, he admitted the legs were a little weary during his 11/2 hour-plus audition. But in all three, he feels he showed enough to preclude a return to the Red Storm.
"I haven't asked Omar about the NBA in a long time," said St. John's coach Mike Jarvis. "When I did ask him he told me he thought he was going to go pretty high so I assumed that meant there was a pretty high chance he wasn't coming back.
"I'm wishing for the best for him. I hope he does well in his tryouts and at the camps and gets drafted in the first round."
Cook does not yet have an agent, so he could return to St. John's if he is not drafted.
"I think on my visits I did a good job and some teams are really interested in me. I'm really on the rise right now. There's no stopping," said Cook, who averaged a team high 15.3 points plus 6.7 assists but shot just 36 percent from the floor and 31 percent on threes. "I don't see myself going back because I'm doing so well. That's basically what it is."
The Nets will need a backup to Marbury, and the Brooklyn-bred Cook, schooled at Christ the King in Queens, could fill the void. Cook feels they could even play together, like the system used in Philadelphia and Charlotte. But there is a catch for the Nets. They draft No. 7 and No. 35. There is no way Cook is a No. 7 pick, and there's little chance he'll be there at 35.
"He reminds me of Stephon as far as body type, the way he's built and how he moves on the court. He's extremely quick, handles the ball really well. I would love to see him in a 5-on-5 setting instead of a 2-on-2 or 1-on-1," said Byron Scott. "I can't say Omar Cook will be there at 35 but if he is, you'd definitely have to take a look when our pick is up."
Scouts say Cook's strengths are his ability to push and pass the ball, his strength, quickness and penetrating ability. The biggest drawback is his shot; questions include whether he can get it off in the pros. Still, Cook is confident of his future. He will not work out against until the NBA pre-draft camp in Chicago next week. After that, he'll audition for, "Orlando, Golden State and Vancouver, the teams that are really, really interested," he
said, noting "I didn't want to be a guy who runs all over the place going where they're really not interested."
Cook could become the second point guard to bolt St. John's in as many years, following in the footsteps of Erick Barkley. Jarvis said St. John's can weather the storm should Cook head to the NBA.
"To be honest, we've always had a Plan A and a Plan B and then Plan A was with the expectation that we wouldn't have Omar next year," said Jarvis. "So we've been planning that way since the day he signed with us."
Cook said the Red Storm's failure to make the NCAA tournament was disappointing but after a talk with teammates, he decided to do what was in his best interests.
"That always goes through my mind," Cook said of missing the NCAAs. "I feel sorry for the guys I left there and the guys who came in with me but we all sat down and talked and this is for the best interests there and the best interests of me. The best interest for me right now is to try to improve my game at this level . . . and move my family out. We've been through a lot and to get an opportunity like this, it's hard to turn down."
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-JB-
Unchain My Heart!