Brandon Knight is not so sure about working out against other top PGs, and Jimmer Fredette wants to compete against everyone including Bob Cousy. The story reads that one point guard isn’t confident in himself to perform against the peers considered to be in his class, and the other (Fredette) is as confident as Maurizio in an eating contest. In reality, both are acting on the advice of their agents’ strategies. The higher-ranked Knight has been issued a challenge and he appears to be balking, which is making him look both scared and spoiled, rather unfairly.
June 15th is the day when Knight has the option to workout against Walker or Fredette, so we’ll see if he does. Not that it matters in the least, if Fredette proceeds to drop 35 on Knight in a 20 minute scrimmage, it would hardly mean anything since draft selections are never based on one workout. It’s the body of work of a player throughout his college career that has the bearing, the workout is only there to cross the t’s and dot the i’s. As both Knight and Walker alluded to when they were in Toronto, the interview seems to be the most important part of these things, which is where a team measures the character and persona of a player, something which is difficult to do solely based on video tape. Overarching theme of this: Utah is, apparently, having second thoughts about Knight at #3 now.
Bismack Biyombo “bombed” his latest workout. Couldn’t care less because Biyombo is a power forward and we have many of those. In any case, here’s the full report on the day’s workouts including a video of Biyombo’s.
Some coaching talk, potential Raptors head coach Dwane Casey is being credited with Dallas’ Game 5 win:
Given how dominant Nowitzki has been in the playoffs, and that he has quality shooters around him, the fact that Dallas leads the league in postseason offensive rating seems unsurprising. During the regular season, however, the lack of a second prolific scorer was one reason the Mavericks ranked just eighth in the NBA in per-possession scoring. Thanks in part to a 2-3 zone implemented by Dwane Casey, one of several excellent assistants at Carlisle’s disposal, Dallas won just as much with defense in the regular season. The Mavericks’ D has stepped up in the Finals in particular, holding Miami to 5.5 points per 100 possessions below its regular-season output.
Also, did you know there’s an assistant with 16 years of experience sitting on the bench still waiting for his chance.
Kudos to Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun for his astute and in-depth analysis of who the Raptors should hire:
Lawrence Frank is a decent candidate to coach the Raptors. After all, he outcoached Sam Mitchell in his one playoff series against Toronto
Right on.
Ever wonder what two jackasses look like? Here you go:
More random stuff now:
Pictures of Rick Adelman’s house in Houston, which is for sale.
All I can think of when seeing those prices is that Toronto real estate is way too expensive.
Go Mavs, and don’t forget the RR Draft Party.