New Jersey (Brooklyn) Nets Combine Review
Over the weekend, the Nets held workouts for over 40 second-round caliber prospects for dozens of NBA front office personnel. Here's a review of the event including those that helped and hurt their stock the most.
Biggest Risers:
Kim English, SG/SF, Missouri
The Mizzou senior was one of the nation's most improved players this past season after a sub-par junior year with the Tigers. His shooting percentages soared as the Missouri offense clicked on all cylinders, raising his field-goal accuracy from .366 to .521 and 3-point marksmanship from .366 to .459. During his workouts and even during water breaks, English stayed on the court and knocked down shots from everywhere around the NBA arc, as well as aggressively attacking the rim during 1-on-1 play. At 6'6", 200 pounds, English has frame and elite-level shooting to make an impact off the bench right away next year.
J'Covan Brown, PG/SG, Texas
At one point in time during his college career, Brown was seen as a potential late-first-round prospect and while he doesn't still have that grade, he is moving up draft boards once again. He displayed really good aggressiveness attacking on the offensive end in 5-on-5 play, especially in the pick-and-roll game. He showed his ability to pull-up and knock down shots from the perimeter, drive the basketball and was clearly the best passer of the guards he went against. At Texas, he never got a chance to be the dominant ball-handler, primarily playing off the ball due to Myck Kabongo, Cory Joseph, Dogus Balbay and Avery Bradley.
Orlando Johnson, SG, UC-Santa Barbara
Scouts have always been high on Johnson despite the caliber of competition he routinely played against in college, yet he still manages to fly under the radar. His frame and wingspan were impressive and as always, his versatile skill set was on display. He showed excellent ball-handling, court vision, the penetrating-attacking offensive game and a sweet-stroke off the bounce. If given the opportunity, he can definitely play some point as a filler which only helped his stock as a wing. Johnson is a tremendous athlete and can really fill the stat-sheet (19.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.9 assists in 34.4 minutes at UCSB; 7.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal in 19 minutes per game with Team USA at the World University Games last summer).
Josh Owens, PF, Stanford
Owens didn't blow scouts out of the water during his five-years at Stanford, but did enough to intrigue them throughout the last two seasons to be invited to the combine over the weekend. He measured in at 6'9" with good length, a great frame and a ridiculous 41" vertical leap to blow the socks off some. He rounded out the workout with his athleticism on full display on the floor, springing off the ground for rebounds, boxing out opposing power forwards and centers. He should be getting some serious second-round looks now.
Justin Hamilton, C, LSU
Hamilton just broke out onto the scene this season as a junior with the Tigers, averaging 12.9 points and 7.2 rebounds, but NBA personnel were really hoping that Hamilton would stay in school another year and work on his low-post presence, especially on offense. What Hamilton lacks in refined skill, he made up for with size and effort; he measured in the largest hands of the combine workouts (10 ¾") and moved around the floor really well for a 7-foot, 260-pound center. Although he's a below-the-rim finisher, he displayed a soft touch around the rim and was the benefactor of plenty of dump-down assists from his guards, but caught and finished everything at the rim.
Tony Mitchell, SF, Alabama
When he was on the floor, this is a prospect with athleticism that ranks as one of the two or three best in this draft class, but unfortunately for Mitchell, a coach-imposed suspension limited him this year. Now, back on the court for the combine, Mitchell showed off his 39" vertical leap with an enormous two-handed reverse slam and several other acrobatic plays. He played out of position with the Crimson Tide, working mostly at the 4, but Mitchell would be best suited at the 3 on the wing and has the physical profile to do so.
Robert Sacre, C, Gonzaga
The wide-shouldered Canadian measured in at a legit 6'11" without shows on and showed tremendous energy and enthusiasm throughout the entire day's workout. He was by far the most vocal on the floor, always talking on defensive and making plays on top of that. He lacks the athleticism of NBA centers, but all teams could use a guy like this off the bench to spell a starter.
Biggest Drops:
Renardo Sidney, PF, Mississippi State
As a surprise to seemingly no one, Sidney came out to the combine and didn't impress. Coming out of high school as one of the highest recruits in the country with a versatile skill set enough to dominate in the low blocks or score on the perimeter, he failed to live up to expectations in year three of the Mississippi State project. He weighed in at a monstrous 303 pounds and a body fat percentage of 22.35- both were by far and away the most in camp. And that was clearly an issue as Sidney had to drop out of the workouts to the avail of asthma and his inhaler.
Terrell Stoglin, SG, Maryland
As the seventh highest scorer this past season, Stoglin did so at a rather inefficient rate to say the least- he shot 37.8 percent of the time he was on the floor and posted an offensive rating that ranked 455th in the country. And at just 6'1", Stoglin isn't any sort of point guard (1.9 assists, 2.2 turnovers per game), but tried to showcase his skills as one at the combine. He was not impressive with plenty of turnovers and poor decision-making.
Zack Rosen, PG, Penn
The Penn point guard was a potential second-round pick, but it no longer looks that way. He's a sub-par athlete and undersized athletically and the icing on the cake here was a finger injury that hampered his play all day. Although he did a better-than-expected job getting into the lane and penetrating through the heart of the defense, he missed several chip shots from close up and further out.
By President - Corey Ruff - 5-21-12
