Day 5 Workouts: Tucker, Smith, Visser, and Schilb

by Matt McQueeny, NJNets.com

The first week of Nets-Knicks pre-draft workouts concluded today at the Nets facility with Big Ten Player of the Year Alando Tucker, Colorado State’s Jason Smith, Wake Forest’s Kyle Visser, and Blake Schilb of Loyola.

Tucker was the big name but Jason Smith is the one who might be best suited for the Nets; certain mock drafts put him right at that mid-first round position. At just under seven feet tall, the Mountain West Conference First-Teamer led the conference in rebounding last season at 10.1 a game and averaged 16.8 points. He is a skilled, more European-style big man who is more comfortable facing the basket than on the block with his back to it. He is projected as a first rounder, potentially in the 20s, but could move up with good workouts.

Said Nets General Manager Ed Stefanski, “He’s more 4-ish (power forward) than he is 5 (center) and he’s a face to the basket guy more than he is a down low guy.”

Smith says that he is a hard working player who always wants to get better and is not afraid to do the “dirty jobs” on the court.

“Go rebound, don’t worry about the scoring, just run the floor as hard as you can. I’m willing to do anything to make us win.”

And getting drafted by New Jersey would be fantastic by Smith.

“The Nets organization is a great organization. I think I could add a lot to it and help them win lots of games.”

He said that a weakness of his is foul trouble but jokingly noted that he will get one more foul at the next level.

Alando Tucker is somewhat like a participant from yesterday’s workout, Jared Dudley. They are both Players of the Year in their respective conferences, they are both winners, and they both have the experience of being their team’s go-to-guys. However, in both cases, there is some doubt as to how much upside they have and how they will fit into the NBA game.

Tucker comes from a very system-intense program under Bo Ryan at Wisconsin and from a conference that routinely yields scores that remind you of late 90’s Knicks-Heat. Tucker makes no excuses and shows no frustration but seemed to imply that the overall versatility of his game was at times subservient to the greater good of his Badger team.

He is using these pre-draft workouts to show teams that he does have a perimeter game and that he can handle the ball. Tucker actually even said that his game is best suited for the fast break.

On the position he will play at the pro level, he said “I’m going to play two. I’m going to play shooting guard. And I’m going to be able to move it, combo. Depending on the team. A lot of teams talked to me about – I came from Phoenix – playing the one, two, and three. Being able to mix it up and I really impressed them with ball handling. And like I said, I’m strong enough to mix it up with the three’s.”

He said he models his game after Dwyane Wade, another player who came into the league with questions about his jump shot.

“I just want to establish a consistent shot, where I can knock down the open ones. It will come. Shooting from the three: It takes time. You have to get adjusted to it. I won’t force myself to try to do something that I’m not prepared to do right off the bat but I’m definitely going to get it down.”

Tucker confidently concluded, “I’m dangerous on the floor, I’ll be able to score the ball.”

Kyle Visser of Wake Forest was the big guy who matched up against Smith today. He’s pegged as more a late second round pick.

“With the draft being so deep I’m just really trying to make a team,” said Visser.

>>Back to Nets Draft Central