Day 3 Workouts: McRoberts, Davis, Young, and Almond

by Matt McQueeny, NJNets.com

The third day of Nets-Knicks pre-draft workouts took place today in East Rutherford; it was the second straight day in New Jersey before the teams move back to Tarrytown for workouts tomorrow. On display were four potential first round picks: big men Josh McRoberts of Duke and Glen “Big Baby” Davis of LSU, and guards Nick Young of USC and Morris Almond of Rice.

Said Nets General Manager Ed Stefanski, “It was an excellent, spirited workout. It’s a shame we can’t let the fans in to watch something like that. We had four high-quality players, four potential first-round picks, and I may be able to throw potential out of there. Excellent workout.”

With an athletic big man being the target for the Nets this off-season, the 6’10” and 240 pound McRoberts – who is in the Nets position in more than a few mock drafts – and the 6’9” and 289 pound Davis were much of the talk. Stefanski did note, however, that the Nets are not so bent on drafting a big man that they would let a smaller player – especially one that is a good athlete with upside – slip by their number 17th pick.

Josh McRoberts is 20 years old and enters the draft following two seasons at Duke. He averaged 13.0 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks in his sophomore season, notching All-ACC defensive team and second team All-ACC honors.

“Josh McRoberts is a skilled kid,” said Stefanski today.

“He’s more of an outside player than an inside player- good handle, good hands, size-wise. There are things that he showed.”

When Josh was asked for a personal assessment as to whether he sees himself as more a perimeter-oriented big man or a down low presence, he said, “I think it’s a little bit of both. I think I can do whatever’s necessary. Whether it’s on the perimeter or inside. I can do a little bit of both.”

On the possibility of playing for the Nets, McRoberts said, “I hope they like me. They brought me into the workouts. I assume they like me a little bit.”

“I’d love to come here. Great opportunity, great organization.”

The man – or “baby” – that McRoberts went against today was Glen Davis. “Big Baby” garnered his nickname because of his large frame and his baby face. While the baby face is something he can’t shake, the excess weight is almost all gone. Since his freshman year in 2004-05, when Davis weighed in around 350 pounds, he has lost quite a few pounds. His weight now fluctuates between 288 and 290 pounds.

Davis enters the draft after a junior year at Louisiana State University where he averaged a very commendable 17.7 points and 10.4 rebounds. However, it was not as good as his sophomore year when he was SEC player of the year, leading the conference in scoring (18.6 ppg) and rebounding (9.7 rpg). That year, the Tigers made it to the Final Four; in 2007, they did not make it to the tournament.

In hindsight, some say that Davis would have been better served coming out a year early. He admits that he might have left money and a higher draft pick on the table, but says he was not ready to come out after his sophomore year.

“It was really serious because we won and we were on top of everything,” said Davis of his thoughts after the Final Four run.

“Mock drafts would say that my draft status was higher (last year). But I wasn’t ready; I didn’t feel like I was ready as a player. My weight, I didn’t feel conditionally that I could compete on that level and going through last year, with the slump, it made me even a better player because it was put in a situation where I had to make people better.”

While he probably won’t get the immediate financial windfall of an early lottery pick, he says that he will eventually get what he deserves because of his hard work and passion for the game.

The svelter body type was obvious just by looking at him. Asked if he can still be called big baby because of the weight loss, he joked “I’m still a big baby, just a smaller version.”

Davis is an expressive and nice person. When a reporter dropped his recorder on the floor and the batteries came flying out, Davis helped him pick it up, kept his arm on the reporters’ shoulder, and helped him nurse it back to health. When sound was restored, the big man showed his excitement and gave the reporter a couple of pats on the backside.

On what he would bring to the Nets, he said, “Passion, love for the game, the will to win. I want to win. Also, I think I’m a mismatch guy. No matter who you want to put on me. You want to put a three on me I’ll go post up and try to body him up. If you put a big guy on me, I’m going to go around him and show my ability and quickness.”

Said Stefanski, “People are going to question Davis’ height, but I think his size and athleticism, especially his footwork, will make up for that lack of size.”

What a guy can do on the floor is of the utmost importance, but just from his time with the media you can tell that Davis would also be a boon to any locker room he inhabits.

While Davis and McRoberts were much of the talk, the guards who participated should very well be heard from in the first round as well.

Stefanski labeled both Young and Rice as guys “who can score the basketball.”

Young (above, left) averaged 17.5 points and shot .525 from the field in his junior year at USC. He is known for his mid-range game, but as Stefanski said today “had no problem shooting the three either.”

Young said he’s molded himself “from just studying the game. I love to play; I love to get better in all areas on the court. Watching players like Kobe, D-Wade, Michael Jordan. Just trying to study the game and do it all.”

He said playing in the New York metropolitan area would be fitting as his initials are “NY.”

Morris Almond (above, right) played all four of his college seasons, at Rice. He ranked third in the nation in scoring in his senior year at 26.4 points per game; he scored 30 or more points 10 times, 40 or more twice.

On a player comparison, Almond said, “I get Allan Houston almost every day. Size and build. I think Allan Houston is probably the best comparison in terms shooting ability, size, just in the way I play…Ideally that’s who I would like to play like.”

Tomorrow the workouts move back to Tarrytown. Participants will be Adam Haluska of Iowa, Levi Stukes of Georgia, Jared Dudley of Boston College, and Reyshawn Terry of UNC.

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