Suns Begin Pre-Draft Workouts
http://www.nba.com/suns/news/workout_040523.html
By Josh Greene, Suns.com
Posted:
May 23, 2004
The Suns got their first look at some possible future NBA talent in their first pre-draft workout at America West Arena on Sunday.
St. Joseph’s playmaker Jameer Nelson, Xavier guard Romain Sato and Seton Hill center Ales Chan showed off their moves in front of a collection of Suns' brass, coaches and scouts in preparation for the June 26 NBA Draft.
"It went well,” said Suns assistant GM Mark West of the initial workout. “It’s hard to evaluate them in that short, little environment vs. what they’ve done in their careers. But we’ve heard and seen what they can do in games, so we put them through drills and see how it pans out. We want to see if (they) can really shoot it. They all did well.
“These guys have worked out prior to coming here, so they’re used to what’s happening. They were as good as advertised.”
While this was Chan’s first NBA workout, Sato and Nelson are already veterans at showing potential NBA employers what they can do on the basketball court. In the past few weeks, Sato’s worked out with four teams, while Nelson’s hit three.
“They want to see you shoot,” Nelson, SJU’s all-time leader in points, assists and steals, said about the workout routine. “They want to see you match up against certain guys. You just have to go out there and play your game. You do everything they ask you to do, to the best of your ability. Just go have fun and that’s what I love to do.”
Sato, who’s on his way to Utah Tuesday for another workout added, “I feel I have a lot of things to prove. I’m just going to work hard and see what I can do. Xavier’s had a lot of guys who’ve gone pro and are now playing in the NBA. The NBA is the best place to be.”
The Suns' next projected workout will be in early June. Of course, that tentative date depends heavily on where the Suns fall in terms of Wednesday’s draft lottery. A low lottery pick will facilitate the need for more looks at the available talent than a top three pick would, for instance. That means there might be some more dates and players set up for another round of workouts at AWA sooner than later.
“If we end up with the No. 1 pick, the number of workouts will condense in a hurry," West said. "With the No. 1, it’ll be a short list. If we end up with the seventh pick, the list will get longer.
“If you’re bringing in a (projected) No. 1, you want to know they’re worthy of that No. 1 pick. The same goes for one through 13, depending on the lottery. Chips start to fall better in terms of what we need to do and who we need to pick after the lottery.”
The former Suns center also feels that word of mouth and video highlights don’t completely cover every side of a particular player’s story. The Suns' brass in attendance Sunday, including Chairman Jerry Colangelo and President Bryan Colangelo, already know that Nelson was selected as the 2003-04 National Player of the Year and that Sato makes his presence felt on the boards and at the perimeter on a nightly basis, for example. But the day was a chance for the players to show off other attributes the Suns consider equally important.
“There is no question Jameer can handle the ball and Romain can defend,” West said. “It’s more situational things. How do they defend a pick and roll, pin downs, whatever? We want to see effort, because a lot of how you defend is tied into how we do things in our system vs. whatever they learned in the past. How much effort do they put in? You assess those types of things. Shooters, great defenders, those things will come in. At the end of the day, you can have all those assets and if you don’t have that will or that 'it,' you may quit. Those are the things we look at. Do these guys have that driving force? They all have talent, and that’s important, but do they have the strongest will?
“That’s how you get to see what they can do. Bring them in here.”
The 6-5 Sato, who racked up nine double-figure rebounding games in his senior season at Xavier, was all too willing to show off the skills Sunday that landed him on the school’s all-time scoring list, as well as labeled him a defensive standout.
“I was playing defense so they could see if I can guard a point guard,” Sato said about the workout. “I’ve gone up against Jameer for four years. I know how he plays. This wasn’t the first time. We played one-on-one, two-on-two, came off the screen. I went up against Jameer and I proved I could guard a (point guard). I proved I could guard a (swingman). I feel like the day was good for me.”
Nelson added, “I just wanted to go out there and have fun. I’ve played against Romain so many times, I just had to stick him (laughs). Today was just fun, especially going up against him. It was competing, but at the same time it was fun. We understand this is just like a job interview, but everything we do is for the love of the game.”
