Two Potential Lottery Picks In Saturday Morning
June 23, 2007
Charlotte's preparation for the 2007 NBA Draft continued Saturday morning at the Presbyterian Hospital Training Center at Charlotte Bobcats Arena with Oregon’s Aaron Brooks, Georgia Tech’s Javaris Crittenton, Boise State’s Coby Karl and Kansas’ Julian Wright all taking part in the predraft workouts.
Brooks was a First Team All-Pac-10 performer as a senior at Oregon and earned Second Team All-America honors from The Sporting News and Third Team honors from The Associated Press. He led the Pac-10 in scoring (17.7 points) and ranked fifth in assists (4.3). The 6-0, 160-pound point guard finished his collegiate career as the school’s ninth all-time leading scorer with 1,511 points. He also ranks fourth in assists (471) and three-point field goals made (205), fifth in free throw percentage (.834) and sixth in steals (127).
Crittenton is projected to be a mid first-round pick, with some mock drafts have him being selected in the lottery. An early-entry candidate, Crittenton spent just one season at Georgia Tech before declaring himself eligible for the 2007 NBA Draft. He tied fellow freshman performer Thaddeus Young as the team’s leading scorer (14.4 points) and led the team in assists with 5.8 per game. The 6-5, 198-pound point guard is an excellent penetrator off the dribble and has a great first-step. He is a good passer and decision-maker offensively, and can create havoc on the defensive end with his quick hands.
Karl, a 6-5, 216-pound guard, is the son of Denver Nuggets Head Coach George Karl. He is a pure shooter with great range and can also take it to the basket. He was a three-time WAC All-Academic Team selection and ranks third on Boise State’s all-time scoring list with 1,698 career points. He is the school’s all-time leader in games played (127), three-pointers made (266) and three-pointers attempted (717). Karl also ranks in the school’s career top 10 list for free throws made and attempted, free throw percentage, field goals made and attempted, assists and rebounds.
Wright, a projected lottery pick, is an early entry candidate for the 2007 NBA Draft after spending two seasons at Kansas. He garnered All-America Honorable Mention honors from The Associated Press and All-Big 12 First Team honors as a sophomore. He was also a Big 12 All-Freshman Team representative in 2005-06. Wright has amazing athleticism for his 6-8, 225-pound frame and can play a number of different positions on both ends of the court. He is a good scorer and rebounder that can block shots and take defenders off the dribble. Wright has tremendous upside with his great length and diverse skill set.
Bobcats Head Coach Sam Vincent, Brooks, Crittenton, Karl and Wright all spoke with the media after the workouts:
BOBCATS HEAD COACH SAM VINCENT
(On Julian Wright’s workout)
He looked good. We changed it up a little bit and got some guards in. It was nice to watch a different set of drills. We had a chance to see a big guard and a small, penetration guard, but we were impressed with how they played and they worked hard.
(On working out a group of guards)
We haven’t brought in a lot of guards because we identified our primary need as a big, low post scoring threat and that’s what we’ve been focused on. At the same time, we don’t want to lose sight of the fact that we could be stronger in the backcourt as well. We thought we would bring these guys in because you never know what is going to happen in the draft; maybe all of a sudden somebody is available that we didn’t expect to be. So, we just wanted to get an eyeball on them and get a feel for what point guards are available.
(On Javaris Crittenton and Aaron Brooks’ workouts)
Crittenton I was impressed with. He’s a bigger guard with a big body, he’s strong, very athletic, he has a lot of explosion and he shot the ball a little bit better from the outside than what I expected. So, I thought he had a really good workout. Brooks is a little bit smaller but he’s very quick with great handles and he made some good decisions in some of the one-on-one, two-on-two stuff. So they both played pretty well. Coby Karl did what we expected – he’s a shooter. I think he’s going to have to work on his foot speed if he’s going to be able to matchup in the backcourt, but I thought for the most part he played well today.
(On the matchup differences between Julian Wright and the smaller guards)
We really try to match the guys up with the same sizes. I thought Wright was a little bit at a disadvantage today. He’s 6-6/6-7 and he’s trying to handle the ball against smaller guys and work in some of the guard drills. We wanted to see that though, because we see him as a wing guy that may end up handling the ball from time to time. It was a little bit difficult because some of the smaller guys really took advantage of that.
(On if he originally planned on having Acie Law being a part of this workout instead of Julian Wright)
Yeah we did, but that’s the difficulty of these workouts. You plan to have guys that are the same size matchup to see what they can do against each other and then all of a sudden one of the guys drops out. When that guy drops out, now another guy is matched up with some smaller guys and that was a little bit unfortunate for him but we still thought Wright did well. He hung in there, went through the drills and I thought he did a pretty good job.
(On if Jeff Green will be working out for the Bobcats)
We’re hoping he’s in. The kid is a big time talent and he’s obviously going to go very, very early. Maybe he’s there when we pick, maybe he’s not, but we would love to have a chance to see him.
AARON BROOKS • 6-0 • 160 LBS. • GUARD • OREGON • SENIOR
(On today’s workout)
It went pretty well. This was definitely was one of the hardest workouts, if not the hardest workout, that I’ve done with all of the running and drills that we did but it was definitely fun and I had a great time.
(On how many other workouts he has done)
I’ve done 11 or so.
(On where he believes he will be drafted)
Late first to early second, but we’ll see. I lot of funny things happen during draft time, so who knows.
(On what make the Bobcats workout so difficult)
I think it was all the running and we didn’t stop very much for a chance to get water or anything like that. We did a lot of full court drills and we got up and down and ran, but I had fun doing it.
(On working out with Javaris Crittenton)
He’s a pretty good player. He’s very strong and he can shoot it well. I think I did pretty well, so I’m not really concerned. I had a good workout and I feel good.
(On working out with the bigger Julian Wright)
Yeah, I didn’t expect him to be here, he was kind of the odd man out, but I think he fared pretty well against the guards. He showed he can put the ball on the floor and that’s what they want to see, big guys that can dribble.
(On if the three guards put a little bit more pressure on the bigger Wright)
Yeah, but it just makes him better. This is a workout and you want to get different perspectives from different teams and you can incorporate that in your game.
JAVARIS CRITTENTON • 6-5 • 198 LBS. • GUARD • GEORGIA TECH • FRESHMAN
(On today’s workout)
I think it was a great workout. Everybody got out there and went hard and gave it their best. Overall, it was a pretty good workout.
(On what other teams he has worked out for)
This is my ninth stop. I worked out for Chicago, the Hawks, Philadelphia, both Los Angeles teams, Detroit, Washington and New Jersey.
(On where he believes he will be drafted)
Right now, I’m hearing 11-16, but things can change up, you never know. You just have to wait until the 28th (of June) to see.
(On this workout compared to other workouts)
It was a little bit more challenging, but it was a great workout. It was similar to Chicago’s, they had a pretty challenging workout. We got out there and pushed ourselves and they pushed us as well.
(On the difficulty of working out with a smaller guard in Aaron Brooks and a bigger Julian Wright)
Most of my workouts were with Acie Law or Nick Young, so matching up with Aaron wasn’t difficult. He’s just smaller so I had to get down a little lower on my defensive stance and try to stay in front of him, and I think I did a good job. Matching up with Julian - I can guard point guards, shooting guards and small forwards because of my size, so it wasn’t really a problem.
(On what he knows about the Bobcats)
I don’t know a whole lot about the Bobcats. During the season, we don’t really have a chance to watch a whole lot of NBA games except the televised ones that would be on after practice, so I don’t know really know a whole lot about Charlotte. I know Raymond Felton is the point guard and I think Brevin (Knight) is the backup. I think they have a pretty good team.
(On Acie Law canceling the Bobcats workout)
We were at the Hawks workout together and he didn’t tell me about Charlotte. He told me that he cancelled the New Orleans workout because he didn’t want to do the two point guards in the backcourt thing, and that was all he told me, so I didn’t know he wasn’t coming in.
(On moving up the board in the mock drafts)
I think people didn’t feel like I was going to come out after my freshman year, so that’s why they didn’t throw me in the mock drafts. I wasn’t really concerned about the mock drafts because I had confidence in myself that I was going to give my all and do my best. I knew this was going to happen, I had confidence in myself the whole time and I never doubted myself.
(On if he thinks about fighting for draft position during the workouts)
I just go into every workout with the mindset that I have to perform and do my best and show the general managers and the organization that I’m a hard worker, I can shoot, compete, handle the ball and I’m athletic. I just try to perform on the stage and I’m very competitive so if a guy is in front of me that is fighting for the same spot, then I’m going to go at his head.
COBY KARL • 6-5 • 216 LBS. • GUARD • BOISE STATE • SENIOR
(On today’s workout)
It was a good workout. I wasn’t specifically very good, but it was fun to play basketball.
(On if he is used to tough workouts, being the son of Denver Nuggets head coach George Karl)
Yeah, I’ve seen it happen. I went through it last year too, and obviously I’ve been through the circuit this year. It’s just good to come out and play basketball. It’s a game after all, even though we are trying to make a team, in the end, it is a game.
(On how many other workouts he has done)
This is my ninth workout I think.
(On this workout compared to other workouts)
It wasn’t my best, and it wasn’t my worst, so probably in the middle. It was nothing special, but I thought I played well and showed some good things.
(On working out with Wright, Crittenton and Brooks)
I think it was good. Obviously, (Julian) Wright and (Javaris) Crittenton are probably lottery picks and Aaron (Brooks) and I competed and played hard. All you can ask in terms of the front office guys is for guys to come out here, compete and show what they have, and I think we did that.
(On his game of “HORSE” with assistant coach Dell Curry after the workout)
I was happy that I swept him in “HORSE”, it felt good. If that’s how good of a shooter I am, then I think I can make the league one day. I’ve known Dell from when he played with my dad in Milwaukee, and he’s a great guy. He likes to talk a lot of trash but it was a good experience playing against him. He beat me the first time, then I swept him the second time. Put that on paper!
JULIAN WRIGHT • 6-8 • 225 LBS. • FORWARD • KANSAS • SOPHOMORE
(On today’s workout)
I think I did alright. One thing I learned from this workout was self-discipline. I didn’t give myself a chance to really go and show them exactly all I can do, but it was a really good to workout with some competitive guys in Javaris (Crittenton), Aaron (Brooks), and Coby (Karl).
(On how difficult it was to match up with the guards)
It was definitely a little more difficult. You have to get a little bit lower (on defense), you have to be more disciplined, you can’t reach because they are so fast and their drives are strong. So, it was definitely good for me to be able to get used to guarding guys that are quicker and things of that nature.
(On what other teams he has worked out for)
This is my fourth one. I worked out yesterday in Milwaukee, I had one in Boston in the beginning of the week and I was in Minnesota about a week ago. I finish up with Sacramento on Monday.
(On this workout compared to other workouts)
This was probably the second toughest one. It was tougher for me in terms of travel and it was really early in the morning so you have to make sure you are hydrated. The push-up test was pretty hard because I didn’t know it was happening. I had just woken up and I was doing push-ups. It was a really good workout and I can see that they really handle themselves well around here and try to develop guys.
(On where he believes he will be drafted)
I don’t really pay attention to the mock drafts. I just want to work out and let everything fall where it has to. This is an interesting draft, so anything goes. I came out hoping I can be in the lottery and that’s all I’ve been trying to do. In terms of me, I feel like I can fit in any different style of play, especially through time in the organization. So, I look at it as a good situation wherever I land.
(On his position in the NBA)
I think three would be the best, but through time I just want to be a match up guy that can create a lot of mismatches, so I want to go into the league with that mindset. I think open court would be the best situation, but I think I could be a person that can really create mismatches on the offensive and defensive side.
