A New Batch of Prospects
Jonah BallowWolves Editor/Writer
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On Friday morning, the pre-draft workouts resumed at the Target Center as Earl Clark, James Johnson, Nick Calathes, and Patrick Mills hit the court.
Workout React:
--Earl Clark displayed the type of shooting range that could make him one of the most versatile players in the 2099 draft. At 6-9, Clark was impressive from a pure athletic standpoint with his mixture of ball-handling skills, outside shot, and explosiveness. His stock has dipped in the mock drafts, which could present an interesting decision for the Wolves at the 18th pick. While Clark does not necessarily fit a need, the extreme upside will be hard to ignore.
--On Friday morning, Patrick Mills showcased his eye-popping quickness as the smallest prospect at the Target Center. Mills is only six-feet tall but took Clark and James Johnson off the dribble in the 1-on-1 drills. The Australian native was confident in his media interviews but will face a difficult challenge in separating himself from the deep class of point guards in the draft this year.
Fred Hoiberg AudioAssistant General Manager Fred Hoiberg addressed the media after evaluating the four prospects on Friday morning.
"I think today you saw a lot of guys that had different skill sets, Earl Clark and James Johnson, I don't know if they have an actual position but they are very versatile players, especially those guys at 6' 10", one of them 6' 8" and the other. They are very good ball handlers, they can shoot, they can keep the defense honest, and you can put them in a lot of different decisions, so it was a good workout today, those guys really worked hard."
Hoiberg reacted to Nick Calathes' decision to sign with Panathinaikos and how that affects his status for the upcoming draft. "It's interesting, he still has a couple of days, he has till June 15 to decide whether he is going to pull out of the draft, which would make him automatically eligible next year after going to play at Olympiakos this season, so it's interesting that he has already signed a three year contract to play over there, if you take him, keep his rights and get a good player for the future, or does he pull back and think his draft stock will be helped next year with how he plays this coming season, it's an interesting case, it will be fun to see him play this year.
In returning from his trip to Italy, Hoiberg has watched Patrick Mills play twice this summer.
"I was just over in Italy and saw him play in a week long camp over there, and the great thing about Patrick Mills, is that he has experience, he has played on the top stage, he's been in the Olympics, and he played very well, so he has the experience of playing against the top players in the world already. He did a lot of great things for that team in St. Mary's, and they really went downhill after he broke his hand, so a guy like that is an intriguing player, it will be interesting to see what happens on draft night."
"Well, I look more to skill, there are a lot of point guards this year that don't have big size, but they're strong and they can hold their position. You look at the group we got coming in next week, with some of the top point guards, some of them are six feet tall, but they are very strong, very explosive."
Finally, Hoiberg and the Wolves are finalizing their desired picks for the June 25 draft.
"We have put all of our lists together, and we continue to tweak those as we get closer to the draft. We haven't had the top top prospects in here, those guys will come in next week, and then we will get our final list done probably a week before the draft. Then do all of our trade calls and see what happens."
The following players participated in the Friday session:
Earl Clark (Ht. 6-9, Wt. 225) led Louisville in both scoring average (14.2 ppg) and rebounds (8.7) while dishing out 3.2 assists in a team-best 34.3 minutes per game last year. He ranked sixth in the Big East in rebounding, including grabbing ten or more 17 times. He reached double figures in scoring in all but four games and posted 17 double-doubles on his way to earning Third Team All-Big East honors. Clark is leaving Louisville after his junior year, owning career averages of 10.4 points and 7.0 rebounds per game on 46.7 percent shooting from the floor.
Earl Clark Audio"I see myself as a lot of positions, wherever coach wants to play me that's where I will play at, and I think that's one of the strengths of my game is I can play at multiple positions."
"It was a good workout, coming out here, playing with a lot of talented guys, it was just fun, some good work."
"This will be my fifth workout, difference between this workout and other workouts, I think we got a lot more shooters and most teams come in and play a lot of games, a lot of one on ones, three on threes, and we did a combination of both here so it was some good work."
"I been to Sacramento, Golden State, Detroit, man, I have been to so many places, I been to... That's all that comes to my mind right now, sorry. Minnesota is great you know, I think I can come here and help the team; they got a high pick so you know they definitely on my list. But, I just want to get in the right situation and be able to help the team win."
"It's prepared me because every night in and night out it was a dog fight. Big East this year, every game came down to the wire. It's a lot of great players, the Big East, if you watch the draft, you'll see a lot of Big East first rounders, so it was a tough conference, it was fun to play in, and we owned the conference, Louisville, we won the conference, and we won the Big East tournament."
Patrick Mills (Ht. 6-0, Wt. 185) scored 18.4 points per game last season for the St. Mary's Gaels as a sophomore. His play earned him All-West Coast Conference First Team honors for the second straight season as well as being a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award, which honors the nation's top point guard. He led the Gaels in points (18.4), steals (2.2), assists (3.9) and minutes (33.3) and reached double figures scoring in 25 of 26 games. Mills leaves St. Mary's with career averages of 16.4 points, 3.7 assists and 2.0 steals per game. Patrick Mills Audio"Tony Parker, I kind of see my game similar to his style, getting up and down the court playing that quick paced game but he is a great point guard, he knows how to lead a team, he is someone I look to, to learn a couple of things off."
"Look, there are a lot of disadvantages obviously being my height, but I take the opposite and I see the advantages, my quickness, pace, being able to control the game, so obviously there are a lot of advantages, I think for me personally, I like my height, I like the size I' am, I just got to make the most of it."
"I see myself right up there with the best of them, there are a lot of great point guards in this draft and a lot that I have come across in these workouts, and I definitely believe that I'm up there competing with them, this is a chance to go against them and see where your at compared to them."
"St. Mary's helped me a lot as well as the Olympic campaign, both experiences I played a different role. St. Mary's, they saw me more as a scoring point guard. Whereas, the Olympic team, guys on my team were very talented and I was able to be more of a set-up point guard as well as scoring. But look, both experiences that I had with St. Mary's and the National team helped me to get here."
"I say my quickness, my leaderships skills is obviously something that has gotten me this far to be able to lead a team. But definitely my quickness, and I think I need to work on improving that quickness and change of pace and stuff."
James Johnson (Ht. 6-9, Wt. 245) averaged 15.0 points and 8.5 rebounds on 54.2 percent shooting from the floor for Wake Forest last season. He led the team in rebounding, blocks (1.5 bpg) and shooting percentage while ranking second in points and steals (1.4 spg). He was named to the All-ACC Third Team for the second straight season and was named runner up in 2007-08 for ACC Rookie of the Year. Johnson finished his collegiate career averaging 14.8 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game in just two seasons.
NIck Calathes (Ht. 6-6, Wt. 194) was the only player in the nation to average at least 15.0 points, 6.0 assists and 5.0 rebounds in 2008-09. He led Florida with 17.8 points, 6.4 assists and 1.9 steals while ranking third on the team with 5.3 rebounds in 33.3 minutes per game. His play earned him All-SEC First Team honors as he ranked in the top 10 in nine of 13 categories during conference play. Despite leaving Florida after just two seasons, Calathes ranks third in Florida history with 452 assists, breaking the single-season assist record in both his years as a Gator.
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