| 23 June 2010
The past few weeks, numerous pre-draft workouts have taken place around the league and Portland is no different. First round locks and second round hopefuls have gotten after it like fire, praying along the way they hear their name called by David Stern on Thursday.
And just like every other team in the NBA, the Blazers will put months – even years worth – of insight into making their next draft selections.
Going inside the “War Room” on draft day is one side of the story.
But for international, college, domestic and NBA scouts – and of course GM’s – the draft day preparation really never ends. The goal is to reach Wednesday as educated as possible to make the best selection available or even use your overall roster assets in order to best improve your franchise. Then Friday morning hits and the scouts start all over again.
Making that educated guess is the game within the draft day game.
No doubt Portland knows how to play the game. And that goes beyond Kevin Pritchard, Mike Born and Chad Buchanan. Joe Cronin (Scout), Doc Martin (College Scout), Larry Greer (Advanced Scout), Jim Sleeper (Advance Scout) and Jason Filippi (International Scout) often remain behind the scenes and entrenched in their craft. They’re trained to look beyond the court – at the person, as well as the player. These things take time and simply fall into the equation when it comes time for Portland to make their selection – or selections actually.
Then, there is the player.
Take former Kansas point guard Sherron Collins for example (fresh from today's Page 2 story), who worked out for the Blazers on Saturday years after being recognized by the organization.
Born – Portland’s Director of NBA Scouting - first saw Collins as a high school Senior from Crane in Chicago during a Nike basketball showcase camp in Indianapolis that also featured Jerryd Bayless. Back then, Born was a college scout for the Blazers and continued to keep tabs on Sherron, who moved on to an impressive career in Lawrence, Kansas.
“We’ve tracked some guys for five-plus years,” Born said.
Like so many others, Born noticed Collins’ added weight for a 5-foot-11 point guard. It’s been a discussion in draft circles for some time and will continue to be if or when Collins’ stock slides down through the draft on Thursday. Look, the kid worked hard to drop his weight from 230 pounds as a freshman to a listed 205 pounds upon entering the draft.
“When you get to the next level, you see how quick guys are. I didn’t feel heavy, but I could see guys beating me,” Collins confessed about his days in Kansas.
“Coach (Bill Self at Kansas) showed me a clip against Toledo at Kemper Arena, and me and this dude started at half court and he beat me and out ran me to the basket. Coach said I was way quicker than that. Once I saw that, I was like ‘let’s do it’.”
Things change. Injuries happen.
These pre-draft workouts have been a grind for Collins. Unfortunately, Sherron pulled his groin in a workout with Detroit and still managed to attend three other workouts before showing what he could do at a pre-draft camp in New Jersey. He tried to play through the pain.
He ended up shutting it down.
“It’s understandable how it can happen and that it happens. Sherron knows it’s something he’s going to have to manage and try and play at what he is at (212 pounds) or maybe even lighter,” Born said, remembering Collins group workouts in both Chicago and New Jersey pre-draft camps.
Portland still wanted to bring the kid in to work out. And this is where knowing the person comes in: Collins is aware of the concerns regarding the extra pounds he carries and how that plays out on the court. The Blazers are aware of that too. Know this: they are very in-tune with the person.
“Of guys that we have high interest in, we do a couple things. Dana Sinclair, our team psychiatrist, will meet with a lot of these guys – either in Chicago, New Jersey or Portland. We sort of do a select group of people. Then we try and get together with guys for dinner and get a feel for them,” explained Born.
“We spend a ton of time and try and dig on these guys to know who they are as people. It helps. Because if you have that information, it paints a better picture of who they are and then you can sit down and talk to them about that information. We’ve had numerous dinners with guys – weather that’s me and Chad (Buchanan), or us two and Kevin (Pritchard) or maybe Nate (McMillan). We go at these guys pretty hard. We let them know what we know about them, but we also want them to tell us about them – but don’t try to pull the wool over our eyes.”
So did Born and company break bread with Collins?
“We ate a nice dinner in Chicago – it was a paste and steak place. I can’t tell you what he had, but I know none of us left room for dessert.”
During the dinner conversation, the issue of weight was discussed openly by both sides. Concerns were expressed. Collins shared his story. The Blazers listened, perhaps even picturing how pundits and pros alike knocked Denver’s Ty Lawson when he came out of North Carolina last year for the exact same reason.
Collins may go in the first round or slide somewhere in the second.
Maybe he’ll head overseas if the Association doesn’t come calling or possibly get a summer league invite. Maybe he'll prove people wrong and even bust out a rookie year like Lawson did coming off the bench.
We'll know in a matter of time.
Until then, the player waits to have his name called.
And the scout goes back to work.
“It’s going to be a long day,” Born said exhaustedly.
photo: faninterference.com
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