Re: Chicago Pre-Draft names I'm watching

["Berry, Mark S" <berrym@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Tammo wrote:

My thoughts on some of Marks players to watch:

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Tammo, thanks for those thoughts. I agree, there are real concerns about all
these guys-that's why they're second-rounders. If you could find a name in
Chicago of a player who doesn't have questions, great... take him. As it is,
you're always asking "can this guy play power forward at 6-7?" or "can this
guy play the point after playing 2-guard in college?" or "is this guy
athletic enough?" The truth is, most-almost all-of these guys won't be able
to overcome the questions. But occasionally you find a guy who can fit.

If it were me, I'd be looking for guys who combine NBA size for their
position with confidence, aggressiveness and unselfishness. Omar Cook is a
good example. There's nothing about Cook that makes you say "he just can't
play in the NBA..." He has NBA point guard size, confidence and is a team
player. There are other guys-Steve Logan is a good example-who are great
college players, but you look at them and they just don't fit in the NBA.
Logan isn't a true point guard. He's a shooter, not a distributor, and he
never will be a distributor. He may find a niche somewhere, but I wouldn't
draft him. He's way too small to play 2-guard, and he's not a point guard.
Hence, the "he just can't play in the NBA" vibe.

The guys making the biggest leaps in Chicago may be guys I've never heard
of, so my list of players to watch certainly isn't anything more than a list
of names that have caught my attention over the years.

Mark

P.S. quick story that I've probably shared with the list before, but I can't
remember... A few years ago, I attended a practice for one of the U.S.
national teams (I forget which competition). It was in Dayton, Ohio. Anyway,
I sat there and watched the practice with a scout from the LA Clippers. A
nice older guy. As we're watching, I make observations and ask him what he
thinks of the players. One of the interesting matchups is Kenyon Martin
against Marcus Fizer. This was before either player had erupted on the
national scene (it was between their junior and senior seasons). I knew of
Martin because I had seen him play at Cincinnati. Anyway, Fizer was killing
Martin, and I said just that. The scout responded, "He's killing everybody."
I figured Fizer would make the national team. Nope. A few days later, he was
cut and Martin made the team. Michael Redd was there, and I asked about him
and the scout didn't like him because he took the ball up straight in front
of his body when he wanted to shoot. He said defenders would slap it away in
the NBA. Chris Mihm and Brendan Haywood were there. He didn't like Mihm.
Liked Haywood better, but like everyone, thought he should be better than he
was. 

I always imagined the pre-draft camps were a little like this... You get
snapshots of guys and draw quick impressions. Sometimes they're wrong-by any
measure, Kenyon Martin is better than Marcus Fizer; Michael Redd certainly
has overcome his unorthodox shot to be a legit player-and sometimes they're
right-he preferred Haywood to Mihm, even when Mihm was more advanced and
more highly regarded at the time. I came away thinking these types of camps
were good to confirm previous impressions of scouts, but that mistakes would
be made if a scout changed his impression of a player based on these
"glimpses."