Draft Workouts - 6/11/09

Bucks Draft Central | Players | Quotes | Story

	DeJuan Blair – Pittsburgh – Sophomore 4/22/89 – 6’7” – 265 lbs Averaged 15.7 points, 12.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 35 games in 2008-09. Shot 59.3% from the field and 60.5% from the line. Big East Co-Player of the Year and All-Big East First Team selection. Named All-American First Team by AP and was a finalist for Wooden and Naismith Player of the Year awards. Led the nation in offensive rebounding (5.6 rpg), ranked fourth in overall rebounding (12.3 rpg) and 19th in FG percentage (.593), while also tying the school record with three 20-rebound games.
	Devan Downey – South Carolina – Junior 9/28/87 – 5’9” – 175 lbs Averaged 19.8 points, 4.5 assists and 2.8 rebounds 31 games in 2008-09. Shot 43.8% from the field, 34.7% from three and 74.6% from the line. Topped South Carolina in both points per game (19.8) and assists per game (4.5) while also swiping a team-best 2.9 steals per game. Transferred to South Carolina from Cincinnati.
	Goran Suton – Michigan State – Senior 8/11/85 – 6’10” – 245 lbs Averaged 10.1 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 33 games in 2008-09. Shot 52.1% from the field, 43.8% from three and 84.8% from the line. Second-Team All-Big 10 selection during his senior year. Named Most Outstanding Player of the Midwest Regional of the 2009 NCAA Tournament, helping the Spartans reach the national title game vs. North Carolina.
	Jeff Pendergraph – Arizona State – Senior 4/29/87 – 6’9” – 230 lbs Averaged 14.5 points, 8.2 rebounds and 0.9 assists in 35 games in 2008-09. Shot 66.0% from the field and 77.9% from the line. Led the nation in field goal percentage as a senior. Named to the Pac-10 First Team and is the sixth-leading scorer in school history (1,588 points).
	Ahmad Nivins – St. Joseph’s – Senior 2/10/87 – 6’9” – 235 lbs Averaged 19.2 points, 11.8 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 32 games in 2008-09. Shot 61.2% from the field and 78.7% from the line. Named Atlantic 10 Player of the Year during his senior year. Lead the Atlantic 10 Conference in field goal percentage for three straight seasons.
	Tyrese Rice – Boston College – Senior 5/15/87 – 6’0” – 185 lbs Averaged 16.9 points, 3.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists in 33 games in 2008-09. Shot 41.3% from the field, 34.7% from three and 85.6% from the line. All-ACC Second Team selection. Ranks fifth on Boston College’s all-time scoring list (2,099 points).

Check back to bucks.com for video and photos of today's workout. More workouts are scheduled for Monday, June 15th. For instant updates follow us on Twitter (@bucks).

DeJuan Blair

On today’s workout…
“It was fun. It was intense out there. I think I did good. I put a lot of energy out there. This was one of my good workouts, and I showed a lot.”

On what he’d bring to the Bucks…
“I can bring a lot of toughness and energy. And especially rebounding.”

On future workouts…
“I got my last workout tomorrow in Charlotte.”

On losing over 40 lbs…
“I’ve been working out and eating right. I have a great nutritionist. I’ve been doing a lot of lifting, a lot of repetition stuff and just staying disciplined about what I eat. And just working hard. That’s all I do, and now I’m addicted to the weight room. I want to lose a couple of more pounds.”

On his strengths and weaknesses…
“My strength is my power game and basketball I.Q. My weaknesses are my jump shot and my dribbling, but I’m working on it.”

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Devan Downey

On today’s workout…
 “It was one of the better workouts. Real intense, very competitive. It was a great workout.”

On his performance today…
“I felt like I played decent. Not great, but pretty good. I felt like I shot the ball well and ran my team pretty good. It was a pretty decent workout.”

On what he’d bring to the Bucks…
“Energy, leadership, game-changer on both ends of the floor and excitement.”

On future workouts…
“This was my last one scheduled. I’m a junior in college so I’m going to take the weekend to decide whether I’m going to stay in or pull my name out the draft.”

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Goran Suton

On today’s workout…
“It was pretty good, very competitive. There were some good guys here, so it went pretty well. I tried to sell my performance by doing some good things out there. I shot the ball well and played some solid defense.”

On what he’d bring to the Bucks…
“A spark off the bench and be a pretty good role player. Make some plays, help some guys evolve in their ability, rebounding in my spot, and just be able to knock down the open shot.”

On playing in the NCAA title game…
“That was unbelievable. The whole tournament, from start to finish, was a great experience for me and the whole team. I think it helped me improve my game in the process.”

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Jeff Pendergraph

On today’s workout…
“It was a very competitive workout. Guys were going hard at each other and there wasn’t a moment off for you to take.”

On what the Bucks told him he needs to do…
“They just told me to keep doing what I’m doing and make sure I get better in each workout. Don’t let one workout be worst than your last one.”

On fitting in with the Bucks…
“Honestly, I think I can fit anywhere. I’m a coachable player and I’m good at adapting. If they want me here, I have no problem coming here. This is a great place to be.”

On the number of workouts he’s had so far…
“This is a my sixth or seventh workout.”

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Ahmad Nivins

On today’s workout…
“I think it went pretty good. I had a very talented, high-level group of guys to work out with. It’s always better when guys push each other. Guys were going at each other today and I think it made each guy better.”

On what he’d bring to the Bucks…
“I’m an energy guy, someone who can provide a spark on both ends of the floor. I can do anything and everything it takes to help my team win a game.”

On future workouts…
“I’ll be in New Jersey this weekend for a group workout. Then I’ll be in Detroit. From there, I’ll go West for workouts in Portland, Sacramento and San Antonio.”

On what he needs to improve on…
“Overall explosiveness and quickness.”

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Tyrese Rice

On today’s workout…
“I thought it was good. They got to see what you can do, see if you can make shots, and see if whether or not you’re in shape. They kept it rolling from drill to drill. Didn’t really get a chance to relax a little bit. They wanted to see what you can do when you’re tired. I thought it was pretty good.”

On his performance…
“I thought I played pretty well. I got to show my competitiveness and my playmaking ability.”

On strengths and weaknesses…
“I’m definitely good at playmaking and making shots. I think I’m a better defender than what people think. But I’m trying to work on defending off the ball. That’s probably the biggest thing I’m working on right now. And I’m trying to keep my concentration at all times on defense.

 On future workouts…
“I have five workouts in seven days next week. Cleveland, Utah, Denver, Indiana and Washington.”

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Giants take the floor on day six

By Cherome Owens

After holding a workout that was dominated by some of the nation’s top guards on Tuesday, the Milwaukee Bucks decided to bring in mostly bigs today.

And one of those bigs headed to the court was DeJuan Blair.

The 6-7, 265-pound sophomore from Pittsburgh was the center of attention Thursday morning at the Cousins Center. Similar to Tuesday’s workout with Jrue Holiday, most eyes were on Blair, the nation’s top offensive rebounder last year and another player on the Bucks radar at the No. 10 spot.

“Blair is a guy that’s on our list in the first round,” said Dave Babcock, the Bucks Director or Player Personnel. “He had an extremely good workout and shot the ball better than we had seen. And his body looks good.”

Blair, who said he lost over 40 pounds since the end of his sophomore year with the Panthers, was joined by fellow big men Goran Suton (Michigan State, 6'10, 245, senior), Jeff Pendergraph (Arizona State, 6'9, 230, senior) and Ahmad Nivins (St. Joseph's, 6'9, 235, senior). Devan Downey (South Carolina, 5'9, 175, junior) and Tyrese Rice (Boston College, 6'0, 185, senior) were the lone guards in attendance.

Although 6-7 isn’t the prototypical height for a power forward, Blair held his own on the block Thursday morning with incredible strength and possesses a 7-foot-3 wingspan. He said that he’s been playing against taller opponents all through his basketball career and is looking forward to playing even bigger players in the NBA.

“It’s going to be fun going against taller competitors in the NBA,” Blair said. “They’re longer and taller, but that’s not going to stop me from doing what I do, and that’s rebounding. I just have that mindset on getting the ball no matter who’s in the way.

“I’ve been playing against bigger opponents all my life. When I was 14, I played against 17 year olds. When I was 17, I played against 21 year olds and I’m not even 21 yet. I’m just having fun.”

Blair proved that he’s worked on his jump shot, hitting shots 15 to 18 feet away from the basket over Suton and Nivins during some of the one-on-one drills. But Pendergraph, a projected late-first round to early-second round pick, stole some of Blair’s thunder with some nifty moves and showed he was the most finesse player out of the big men, mixing up his game with an array of jump shots, post up moves and dunks. He said he had a strategy when he was matched up against Blair.

“I’m taller so I was able to make some shots by shooting over him and use my quickness,” Pendergraph said. “I’m definitely not a bruiser, heavy linebacker guy like he is. He just kind of pounds on you. He outweighs me by 30 to 40 pounds. I just tried to keep him as far away from the basket as possible. His arms are pretty long too, so you have to try to stop him from getting easy baskets inside.”

Throughout most of the shooting drills involved, the guards, Downey and Rice, shot much better than the bigger guys. However, a lot of Thursday’s drills incorporated post up skills. During one of the exercises, the 5-foot-9 Downey got caught in a several one-on-one situations with 6-foot-10 Suton. 

During the three-on-three competition, the white team featured Pendergraph, Suton, and Rice against the black team of Blair, Nivins and Downey. The black team won the first game when Blair hit a turn-around baseline shot over Suton, but the former Spartan hit a few shots of his own to win the second.

Following the workout, Babcock weighed in on each prospect:

DeJuan Blair – “Blair had a good workout. He shot the ball well today, and he’s also a very strong rebounder.”

Devan Downey – “Devan is young kid still deciding whether or not he’ll go back to school. He’s small but he showed that’s he quick, really knows how to play and make shots.”

Ahmad Nivins – “He’s strong and long. He’s also pretty active.”

Jeff Pendergraph – “He’s strong, can make shots, very active, a solid player. He’s a late first or second round guy that will be on our list, but I don’t think he’ll be around at the 41st pick.”

Tyrese Rice – “A scoring point guard, very crafty and can shoot it.”

Goran Suton – “He’s deceiving because he doesn’t look very athletic, but he’s tough and he can shoot it. And he’s got nice size.”

The Bucks have now worked out 36 prospects and will continue workouts on Monday morning.

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