Spurs draft workouts

SATURDAY, MAY 16 - Jermaine Taylor SG 6-4 Senior Central Florida

SUNDAY, MAY 17 - Tyler Smith SF 6-7 Junior Tennessee

MONDAY, MAY 18 - Courtney Fells - SG 6-6 Senior North Carolina State

MONDAY, MAY 18 - Ben Woodside - PG 5-11 Senior North Dakota State

WEDNESDAY, MAY 20 - Dionte Christmas - SG 6-5 Senior Temple

http://hoopshype.com/workouts.htm

Hmmm 6-6 interesting. Any word on how good these guys are?

Jermaine Taylor
Central Florida

* Birthday: 12/8/86
* NBA Position: Shooting Guard
* Class: Senior
* Ht: 6-4
* Wt: 203
* Hometown: Tavares, FL
* High School: Tavares



Strengths: An athletic wing player who is able to stretch the defense with his outside shot … He has good range, elevates well, shoots a high release and his stance is well balanced … Coming off screens is his forte, he reads the action well and consistently gets open … He is comfortable shooting pullups going both ways,(he utilizes the shotfake to create space) and thanks to his ability to get off the ground, his shot is very difficult to contest … He plays with poise and great confidence and seems to thrive in clutch situations … He is extremely effective on the break, especially when he gets the ball on the wing and can use his athleticism to convert plays … … His body is well defined and it looks more than ready for the rigors at the next level … The chiselled frame and wide shoulders give him a great advantage on the glass, as he can clear space and grab rebounds … Statistically he has improved across the board every season …

Weaknesses: Currently he plays like a SF, and even though he has nice explosiveness, at 6’4 he is very undersized … His first step is marginal and what compounds that even more is that fact that he is not much of a threat off the dribble … If he is forced to use more that 2 or 3 bounces, he becomes uncomfortable and ineffective, even more so going to his left … Handling the ball in transition or under any sort of pressure is also a major weakness … As a result, he is fairly one dimensional, limiting himself to being merely a spot shooter … He has numerous opportunities to attack closeouts, yet he settles for contested shots … His vision and passing ability are pretty good, but due to the fact that he has a hard time creating space and drawing help, he doesn’t get his teammates many open shots and even more troubling is the fact that he has always averaged more turnovers than assists … Defensively, his physical tools will give him a chance to compete, but he needs to show much more desire on that end if he is to have any sort of chance …

Borko Popic 02/04/09

Taylor sounds like a young Finley. Maybe if Finley walks this is someone we can look at for his role. He has a 6'8" wing span so I don't know how difficult it would to be to instill some D into this kid. He put up some nice scoring numbers, as a Senior and many of those possessions were against double teams. At one point in this last season he was third in the nation in scoring. Looks like he just needs to work on getting better handles with his left hand and recognizing trouble and passing out of it. He didn't have a lot of help at Central Florida University. He will be surrounded by better players at the next level, reguardless of where that is, hopefully the reduced presure will lead to less turnovers and more assists. He played very well at the Portsmouth invitational and his sock has risen since. Seems like if this guy was 3 inches taller he would be a top ten pick.

He also has the same agent as George Hill

Taylor's NBA quest a difficult balancing act

Steve Megargee
Rivals.com College Basketball Staff Writer
Earlier entries: April 18

Now that he has returned from the Portsmouth (Va.) Invitational and is waiting to begin workouts with NBA teams, this part of the pre-draft period represents something of a respite for UCF guard Jermaine Taylor.

But he isn't getting much time to rest. Taylor has been balancing training sessions with his classwork as he prepares to launch his pro basketball career.

In the latest edition of his draft diary for Rivals.com, Taylor discusses how he's been spending his time while gearing up for team workouts.

"Right now, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I'm lifting weights and working hard in the weight room with my strength and conditioning coach, B.J. Falk. I'm probably in there about an hour and 30 minutes, trying to get bigger, faster and stronger. I'm doing some biometric stuff, a lot of stretching. I'm trying to work on my hips and loosen them up so I can get lower on defense and stay in my stance longer. Right after that, I go straight to the gym and shoot about 1,000 shots. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I play with my [UCF] teammates five-on-five in the open gym. I go in there and do that with them, and then I just stay around and shoot and work on my game as much as I can."

As the third-leading scorer in the NCAA this season, Taylor has answered most of the questions about his shooting ability. The primary concern about Taylor surrounds his defense.

"I'm working on just my all-around game, but mostly my defense. I'm trying to guard the best player in the gym and stay in my stance and focus on the things I need to. I've heard I don't stay in my stance the whole time on defense. I'm working on staying in my defensive stance, to get as wide as I can, and basically shut my men down."

Taylor also has worked on shooting from beyond the NBA 3-point line. The 3-point line in the NBA is 23 feet, 9 inches at the top of the key and 22 feet at the baseline corners. Taylor had to make a similar adjustment his senior season at UCF after the NCAA moved its 3-point distance from 19-9 to 20-9. Taylor shot 37.6 percent (92-of-245) from 3-point range in 2008-09 after making 36.7 percent (79-of-215) as a junior.

"I know I can shoot from the NBA 3-point line, but at Portsmouth I didn't do too well with my shooting. For me it doesn't take a long time [to adjust], but I have to keep getting repetitions at it and keep getting good at it. I always shoot from right behind the 3-point line. It's not really an adjustment at all. I can shoot from there; I just have to practice it. Last year when they changed the 3-point line, my coach thought it would affect me a bit because I always shoot with my toe right behind the 3-point line, but I took more shots and got used to it. Once I get used to it, it comes naturally."

Taylor has started adjusting to the NBA by working alongside a different mix of players in pickup games.

"It's mostly my UCF teammates, but I also go down to another gym downtown with guys from all over, guys who are playing overseas and at other colleges. They play more the NBA style. It's more physical. The way they play is different."

Taylor has continued going to classes at UCF while preparing for the draft. He is majoring in criminal justice.

"It's real important for my mom and the rest of my family that I graduate. I haven't been to Indiana [where he will continue workouts] just yet because I've been waiting for school to be over. After this semester, I will have four more classes to go, and all of them will be online.

"I'm taking five classes right now. My teachers are all great. They all know what I'm doing. … I'm still going to class whenever I'm in town. I have one class on Monday at 9:30, two classes Tuesday at 10:30 and noon. And then I have two classes on Wednesday, and I have the same schedule Tuesdays and Thursdays."

Taylor took his last exams on Thursday.

"I'm feeling really good. I have all my notes. At night when all my friends are going out, I'm in the room studying and trying to finish up school."

After finishing his exams, Taylor will leave for Indiana this weekend to train with Shon Bolden, the same trainer who worked with George Hill last year. Hill, a 6-foot-2 guard from IUPUI, was drafted in the first round by the San Antonio Spurs last year. Taylor will continue spending much of that time working on his defense as he gets ready for his team workouts.

"I think I've improved [on defense] a lot. It's not really that I didn't know how to play defense. It was mostly because I had to do so much on offense here at UCF that I was just tired and I didn't have that extra step on defense. I wasn't taking it as seriously as I should have been. Now it's the NBA; it's a whole other level. If you can't play defense, it doesn't matter how good you are on offense. It's a different mindset."

http://collegebasketball.rivals.com/con ... CID=941954

Calathes 'up in the air'

Contributed by Kevin Brockway - Posted: May 15, 2009 4:06:28 PM

Two-time Florida assist king Nick Calathes said it's still up in the air whether he'll return to Florida for his junior season.

"I think that's what the workouts are for, to get an idea where I stand," Calathes said following a Friday workout at IMG Sports Academy in Bradenton.

Calathes already posted an impressive workout in California earlier this week in front of NBA personnel executives. He has private workouts scheduled with the Dallas Mavericks on Monday and the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday. Then next Friday, he'll go to Chicago for the NBA Predraft camp.

Calathes has until June 15 to decide whether to keep his name in the NBA draft and hire an agent or return to UF. He said he's not looking for a promise or guarantee from an organization that he'll be picked in the first round. "It's just going to be a feel thing and I think a lot of that will be based on how I do in the workouts," Calathes said.

Calathes said that new Florida assistant coach Rick Pitino Jr. called him recently, but didn't offer a sales pitch to convince him to stay. "It was more of him trying to get a feel for Florida and the area," Calathes said.

Toronto Raptors executives were at Friday's workout, though it's unlikely they were targeting Calathes because the team holds a lottery pick. Calathes is currently projected as a late-first to early second round pick if he keeps his name in the draft. Dallas and San Antonio both hold mid-to-late first round picks.

That could change with some solid workouts. On Friday, Calathes looked more confident shooting the basketball. He's working on trying to extend his range out past the NBA 3-point line distance (22 feet, nine inches.) Calathes has worked with IMG Sports Academy Director of Pro Development David Thorpe on his shooting mechanics, specifically his balance. He also was getting off his feet more rather than taking set shots.

Calathes acknowledged that not playing in the NCAA Tournament his first two seasons could be a factor that pulls him back. "I'm a winner and I want to win," Calathes said. "But at the same time it's been a dream of mine to play in the NBA since I was a kid. I have to find out if this is my time."

http://blogs.gainesville.com/default.asp?item=2377938

Spurs do not own a first round pick.

Draft Express:
http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Nick-Calathes-1237/

NBA Draft:
http://www.nbadraft.net/players/nick-calathes

I added Tyler Smith to the original post.

Here's a peek at Smith's tentative itinerary for the upcoming days:

Sat., May 16 — leaves for San Antonio
Sun, May 17 — Spurs workout; flight to Cleveland at night
Mon., May 18 — Cavs workout
Tues., May 19 — Returns to Huntsville
Thurs., May 21 — Flight to Washington, D.C.
Fri., May 22 — Wizards workout
Sat., May 23 — Returns to Huntsville
Sun., May 24 — Flight to Chicago
Mon, May 25 — Bulls workout

http://msn.foxsports.com/cbk/story/9574796/Testing-the-Waters:-Smith-gives-inside-glimpse

I posted a profile on the second page of the 2009 Draft Prospects thread:
http://www.clubspurs.com/spurs-trade-rumors/spurs-2009-draft-prospects-t7555-15.html

Ben Woodside and Dionte Christmas added to the list.

Dionte Christmas
Temple





* Birthday: 9/15/86
* NBA Position: Shooting Guard
* Class: Senior
* Ht: 6-5
* Wt: 190
* Hometown: Philadelphia, PA
* High School: Lutheran Christian

NBA Comparison: Michael Redd (less athletic)
Strengths: Very talented player with a complete offensive arsenal ... A very smart player offensively who rarely forces anything ... Uses screens well to get himself open for jumpshot (most frequently he will catch and shoot coming off of screens) ... Possesses outstanding elevation on his jump shot, with a quick release and nice follow trough ... Effective around the basket on out to the NBA 3 point line ... Dionte has improved his mid-range game and appears to be a much better shooter off the dribble than last year ... If his shots are not falling, he'll look to other methods of scoring: attacking the basket ... Dionte can put the ball on the floor and create his own shot from anywhere on the floor (has an effective crossover that he uses well and a solid first step) ... If he gets into a rhythm, he is very difficult to guard ... Knows where to spot up and move offensively in order to position himself for shots ... Very unselfish player with solid passing ability ... Recognizes the double-team every time and finds teammates ... His shot is very difficult to block due to his long arms ... Solid defender with good lateral quickness and length ... His basketball IQ is well above average for a college player and being a four year guy only helps ...

Weaknesses: Shot selection can be much better (at times he takes contested shots). Can be turnover prone ... Must work on his ball handling ability, cut down on turning the ball over, which is usually a function of trying to do too much ... Improving his dribbling ability would allow him to be better creating off the dribble and maximize mid-range potential ... Should also learn to play with his back to the basket and post up smaller defenders better.

Stevan Petrovic - 12/5/2008

Strengths: Bigtime scoring 2-guard with strong shooting ability and solid length ... Runs the floor well showing good agility and fluidity ... Had a breakout sophomore season where he raised his scoring average from 3.5 ppg to 20.0 ppg ... Really excels at drawing fouls and converting (87%FT) from the line ... Has excellent passing ability, makes solid decisions, and plays unselfish ... Shot a high percentage from the floor at 46% and 40% from 3, displaying a disciplined shot selection ... Gives good effort and shows solid fundamentals defensively, has good foot speed and anticipation (1.4 spg) ...

Weaknesses: A little on the small side at 6-5 ... Needs to get stronger, add some weight to his frame to be able to finish stronger on drives and play more aggressively ... A solid athlete but nothing extraordinary, doesn't jump out of the gym, but his length and fluidity give him nice potential as a scorer ... Must become more proficient at creating shots for himself. Right now he's much better at catch and shoot, than shooting off the dribble ...
Aran Smith - 10/5/2007

ryno wrote:Calathes 'up in the air'

Contributed by Kevin Brockway - Posted: May 15, 2009 4:06:28 PM

Two-time Florida assist king Nick Calathes said it's still up in the air whether he'll return to Florida for his junior season.

"I think that's what the workouts are for, to get an idea where I stand," Calathes said following a Friday workout at IMG Sports Academy in Bradenton.

Calathes already posted an impressive workout in California earlier this week in front of NBA personnel executives. He has private workouts scheduled with the Dallas Mavericks on Monday and the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday. Then next Friday, he'll go to Chicago for the NBA Predraft camp.

Calathes has until June 15 to decide whether to keep his name in the NBA draft and hire an agent or return to UF. He said he's not looking for a promise or guarantee from an organization that he'll be picked in the first round. "It's just going to be a feel thing and I think a lot of that will be based on how I do in the workouts," Calathes said.

Calathes said that new Florida assistant coach Rick Pitino Jr. called him recently, but didn't offer a sales pitch to convince him to stay. "It was more of him trying to get a feel for Florida and the area," Calathes said.

Toronto Raptors executives were at Friday's workout, though it's unlikely they were targeting Calathes because the team holds a lottery pick. Calathes is currently projected as a late-first to early second round pick if he keeps his name in the draft. Dallas and San Antonio both hold mid-to-late first round picks.

That could change with some solid workouts. On Friday, Calathes looked more confident shooting the basketball. He's working on trying to extend his range out past the NBA 3-point line distance (22 feet, nine inches.) Calathes has worked with IMG Sports Academy Director of Pro Development David Thorpe on his shooting mechanics, specifically his balance. He also was getting off his feet more rather than taking set shots.

Calathes acknowledged that not playing in the NCAA Tournament his first two seasons could be a factor that pulls him back. "I'm a winner and I want to win," Calathes said. "But at the same time it's been a dream of mine to play in the NBA since I was a kid. I have to find out if this is my time."

http://blogs.gainesville.com/default.asp?item=2377938

Spurs do not own a first round pick.

Draft Express:
http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Nick-Calathes-1237/

NBA Draft:
http://www.nbadraft.net/players/nick-calathes

Although he has a lot of room for improvement, Calathes has high basketball IQ and is a great passer. I am interested to see if he will be available in the early second round.

I guess there is always the possibility that the Spurs trade up to the first round too. That is usually a remote possibility that is talked about every year and never happens, but this year may be different. It has been reported that a lot of teams lost money last year. Teams are also in a tighter spot because the salary cap and the tax threashold are not going to go up much next year if at all, hell some say they may even go down, but I don't see the NBA doing such a thing. First round picks come with guaranteed contracts. Even the last couple of picks are slated to make about $1 million. Teams must then negotiate a contract with the player and his agent that is somewhere in the range of 80% to 120% of that deal. For example the Spurs paid their late first rounder last year, George Hill an estimated $1,006,200 and Ian Mahimni $1,009,200. There may be teams out there that are tired of loosing money or don't see the need to add another contract to their roster.

Look at the Cavs, they have the 30th pick. They also have a payroll that has them paying a huge amount of luxury tax this year. If they win the championship the last thing they may need to do is add another $2 million to their payroll ($1 million for the player and another million to the tax). Bulls, and Nuggets are in similar situations. As is the Nuggets probably won't be able to sign at least one of their key free agents this summer. Wolves, Griz and Thunder also hold late first rounders. These teams may have lost serious coin last year and would like to dump these guaranteed contact spots for just second round picks. Maybe our old boy Presti will give us back the pick, you never know.

If the Spurs really like someone they have some expiring contracts, partially guaranteed contracts and future picks to deal. Outside of the lottery players I wouldn't rule anyone out. Even without an agent I'm sure Calathes knows the situation the Spurs are in, and he is willing to give them a look for a reason. Of course he still has the choice of going back to school as well.

Also, the draft is not as deep in talent as in previous years. So there might be a team willing to trade their first round pick for a second rounder in order to avoid giving a guaranteed contract to second round talent. If the Spurs move into the first round, I'm confident that they'll be able to find a gem.