Tinsley

["hironaka@xxxxxxxxx"<hironaka@xxxxxxxxx>]

I'd love to hear more views on Tinsley. 

Below are some old scouting reports on "Omah", plus the 
fairly recent ESPN article.

To state the obvious, I don't believe we can compare the 
merits of these players based on scouting reports. 
College and NBA are different things, as the majority of 
last year's rookies and Summer League stars soon learned. 
You've got to give Tinsley credit where its due, for what 
he accomplished.

Still, Omah sounds intriguing I'll give you that. Hey, at 
least Wallace has until Aug 1st (well after the Shaw) to 
decide.


Player: Omar Cook
Ht./Wt.: 6-1/190
School: St. John's (declared after freshman season)
Pos.: Point guard 

Defining characteristic: When he has the ball in his 
hands, Cook is electric, to the point where you have a 
hard time taking your eyes off him. 

Strengths: Cook is wondrously creative on the court. He 
has great vision and isn't afraid to make the tough pass. 
In fact, confidence is definitely something he isn't 
lacking. He wants the ball in clutch situations. He is an 
equal-opportunity scorer and passer, as he led the Red 
Storm in scoring (15.3) and was second in the nation in 
assists (8.7). For a freshman, those are quite 
considerable accomplishments. Many college basketball 
experts thought Cook -- and not Eddie Griffin -- was the 
freshman of the year last season. 
Weaknesses: Cook turns the ball over too much (5.1 a game 
last year) and shoots too erratically (36 percent). His 
shot selection is poor. Case in point: Cook made 30 
percent of his 3-point attempts last year but jacked up 
220. He's a talent for sure, but he's so raw. He needs to 
refine his gift. 

Omar Cook 6-1 180 PG St. John's Fr. -- Similar to Jason 
Kidd in his quickness and tenacity. Doesn't have the size 
of Kidd but has a better jumpshot. Probably will not be 
as dominant as Kidd with less size but has great 
confidence and tenacity. One of the greatest passers to 
come through NYC in a long time. Super defender and plays 
with passion.

Omar Cook, St. John's -- Any question about his readiness 
for the pros was answered when Duke's Jason Williams took 
him out back and burnt him badly in their matchup on Feb. 
18. Cook can be so much better than Erick Barkley ever 
would have been, but again the development and 
consistency issues underscore the parts of his game 
requiring more attention and time. One day Cook will play 
in the NBA, the question is when and at what level of 
play.

***

Cook living with his decision
By Andy Katz
ESPN.com

WALTHAM, Mass. -- The Celtics have left the building for 
the day, including last season's first-round pick Joseph 
Forte. If one looks closely on the Boston bench during 
the NBA playoffs, Forte can be seen cheering his 
teammates on against New Jersey. But that's as close to 
the action as Forte gets, not being on the active 
postseason roster.

Omar Cook doesn't even have those privileges. There is no 
TV time, or coveted exposure in the NBA. Instead, Cook 
spends his quality time working out with a freelance 
workout specialist at the Celtics practice facility in 
advance of the summer league, the team's fall camp and 
the anticipation that he will be on the court next season 
in Celtic green.

Maybe even playing ahead of Forte.

But just getting to Waltham, Mass., has been an ordeal. 
Cook was drafted by Orlando, traded to Denver and Dallas, 
then sent packing to Fayetteville, N.C. and the D League. 
Not exactly the itinerary Cook envisioned when he left 
St. John's as a freshman about this time last year. And 
certainly not the route a McDonald's All-American out of 
Christ the King High School in Queens and the NCAA's 
second-leading assist man in 2000-01 ever dreamed he 
would take to the league.

But this is Cook's reality lesson after listening to the 
advice of ... no one.

That's right, Cook was done in by his own warped 
perception of where he would go in the 2001 draft after 
the Chicago pre-draft camp. As the 2002 camp gets ready 
to begin next Wednesday, the players should look at Cook 
as Exhibit A when it comes to putting too much stock in 
one's own performance.

"On the Internet and in the newspapers it said me and 
(DePaul's) Steven Hunter were the best players in 
Chicago," Cook said. "My stock moved up so much that 
people were thinking of taking me as early as 10 to 14 
(guaranteeing Cook in excess of $3 million over three 
years). So that's what basically did it for me to come 
out."

Hunter was indeed the surprise of the 2001 draft, going 
No. 15 to Orlando. Cook also was surprised, but for all 
the wrong reasons. Bypassed by converted point guards 
Forte and Jeryl Sasser, Iowa State's Jamaal Tinsley, and 
foreign points Raul Lopez and Tony Parker, the former 
toast of Madison Square Garden was finally taken by 
Orlando at No. 32 in the second round.

"When I was a second-round pick, I lost a lot of 
confidence in myself," Cook said. "I always thought I 
could play, but it was like I just left college where I 
was just a McDonald's All-American and where I was Mr. 
New York, and now I'm going through this?"

Cook was dealt to Denver on draft night. But that didn't 
work out well. He was on a team with fellow rookie point 
and underclassman turned second-round pick Kenny 
Satterfield. He was traded to Dallas before the season 
started and then dumped again by the Mavericks who were 
overloaded with talent. He spent two weeks doing 
absolutely nothing, saying there was "no run because 
everyone is overseas or playing in the NBA," before he 
ended up in the NBDL on Jan. 8 playing for Fayetteville. 
He thought his stay down South would last two weeks, but 
he ended up playing 35 games, averaging 12.2 points and 
7.8 assists, earning the league's base salary of between 
$27,000-$30,000.

The Celtics then saved him a summer of guessing where his 
next stop might be when they signed Cook on the last day 
of the regular season for next season. Boston, it turns 
out, is a team Cook wanted and thought he would be with 
from the beginning of 2002.

  I never imagined this would happen. I was sure I was 
going to be a first-round pick. I was for sure that I was 
going to make an impact on the NBA. I was for sure that I 
was going to do what it took to be one of the best 
players, but I had to learn the hard way. Everything I 
went through helped me out.  
   Omar Cook 

"I never imagined this would happen," Cook said. "I was 
sure I was going to be a first-round pick. I was for sure 
that I was going to make an impact on the NBA. I was for 
sure that I was going to do what it took to be one of the 
best players, but I had to learn the hard way. Everything 
I went through helped me out."

Cook, still just 20, said he has never worked harder on 
his game in his life -- focusing mainly on his jump shot, 
after shooting 36 percent at St. John's, 30.9 percent on 
3s and 38 percent on both shots in the 'D' league. And 
with good reason. He never had to earn something as much 
as he does with the Celtics. The staff does see him as a 
legitimate backup point guard. And while they won't say 
it publicly, privately they are much higher on Cook than 
Forte as a point and, perhaps, as a teammate. (It's no 
secret that Forte didn't win teammates over when he once 
showed up in the locker room wearing a Lakers jersey.)

"This kid has a coolness for a guy his age," said Boston 
Celtics player personnel director Leo Papile, who was 
leaning toward Cook on draft night last season but was 
outvoted. "There is this perception out there that if 
you're not 29 or 30 then you're a leper, you're a bum. 
The draft is not the be all. You don't have to fear it as 
a life threatening condition if you're not a lottery 
pick. There are too many Ben Wallace's (undrafted free 
agents) running around for that. When Omar's 35-years-
old, it won't matter if he was a first- or second-round 
pick. But whether or not he's a pro or not."

Still, it is no secret that Cook made his life harder by 
leaving college early when he wasn't a lock for the first 
round. His coaches at St. John's, especially head coach 
Mike Jarvis, has said that Cook should have stayed. He 
would have played with Marcus Hatten this past season and 
been an even better player because he wouldn't have felt 
the pressure to score as much from the point.

"I was in the street (after he got cut by Dallas) and 
everyone was saying to me you should have stayed in 
school. But you can't compare me to a Jason Williams," 
Cook said of the Duke point guard. "Jason Williams went 
to Duke and Jason Williams lived in the suburbs. Jason 
Williams had everything growing up -- I had nothing 
growing up. It was difficult for me, but if you decide to 
come out and you have a good reason and believe in 
yourself, then take everyone's advice and in the end live 
with the decision you make."

Cook says he had to provide for his family and even 
second-round money, albeit not guaranteed, had an appeal. 
But after the way he played in the Chicago pre-draft 
camp, he really didn't think about anything other than 
being a lottery pick, or at worse, among those players 
living the life of a first-round pick.

"I am the only one who made the decision, and I'm the 
only one that has to go through the decision I made," 
Cook said. "And all the advice I got was to stay in 
school, but I chose to come out."

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com. He covers the 
NBA draft for ESPN.com and ESPN.

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