Draft Notebook: Accentuate The Positive

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4719497/draft-notebook-accentuating-the-positives








Chris Forsberg, ESPN Staff Writer




WALTHAM, Mass. -- Emptying out the notebook again after the Boston Celtics hosted three consecutive days of pre-draft workouts earlier this week:


EVERYTHING IS AWESOME

Before heading over to chat with reporters following Tuesday's workout, a few of Austin Ainge's front office colleagues half-jokingly asked him he was going to go tell the media about how great all the workouts were.

Poor Ainge admitted he can't reveal much about the workouts.

"When [reporters] ask me questions about the guys I say, like, one positive sentence about everybody," admitted Ainge, the team's director of player personnel who organizes all the pre-draft visits. "Really, what else can I do? If I say anything negative, their agents will be mad at me; if I get too glowing, then you guys will [write it for other teams to see]."

And so Ainge is careful to accentuate a positive, and then reporters must badger the players for further insight into the workout. How well does this game work?

Well, last week Ainge revealed how last year's pick Marcus Smart had a "horrible" first workout for the Celtics.

So we dug into our quote archives to see just how evident that might have been in the aftermath of the visit.

Here's coach Brad Stevens, who led the workout, on Smart's performance: "I thought he was good, thought he was physical, thought he’s a leader, though he shot the ball well in drills. I think that clearly he’s got a way about him that people follow. He is a very tough guy, and he competed the whole time. My expectations for him were high from that regard, but he certainly met them. He’s going to be a good player, too."

Hmm. What did Smart think of his performance after the session?

"I just came out here and competed," said Smart last June. "Everybody knew what kid of competitor I was. For those on this coaching staff that probably didn’t know for sure, I just came out and proved it even more and just proved that I can play at the next level."

So what does that tell us? Good luck trying to parse what's truly happening behind closed doors at these workouts. Teams are trying to lock in on potential draft targets this time of year and they're certainly not going to let other teams know how players are performing at these sessions.

How do NBA front offices get a gauge on how workouts are going in other cities?

"We ask the players," said Ainge. "Obviously, the teams won’t tell us. So we ask [the players], ‘Hey, where did you work out last? Who was there? How’d they look?’ So we ask them. They are allowed to tell us the whole truth."

But even draft hopefuls fib when being asked about guys that might be in competition for a similar draft position.

"You have to take that into consideration," Ainge said. "They are not going to say the guy that they are competing against was great."


CASTING CALL

The Celtics' front office probably won't be soliciting advice from reporters about who to pick in the draft and talent will always outweigh a prospect's ability to fill up a notebook. But these visits are often the first time that reporters interact with most NBA hopefuls, and here are three players in particular that stood out from this week's visits:

• Justin Anderson, Virginia: Anderson was maybe the most engaging interview this week, and he spoke passionately about the pre-draft process, the reasons for the improvements in his 3-point shooting this season, and his workout in Boston. It helps that he's a highly regarded first-round prospect and the type of 3-and-D player that should translate to the NBA level. But he also said all the right things in front of the cameras, including when he gushed about both the history of the Celtics and the potential of playing for coach Brad Stevens ("I told Coach that I really want to play for him; I like his style," said Anderson.)

• Larry Nance Jr., Wyoming: The son (and namesake) of a 13-year NBA veteran, it probably shouldn't come as a surprise that Nance handled himself well with the media. But it was the way he did it, by mixing brutal honesty (like when he said his familiar name was maybe the biggest reason he landed at Wyoming while admitting he wasn't a very good high school player) with humor (joking that he hasn't been able to put his shoulders above the rim like his dunk contest-winning father, so he can't compare to his athleticism). Nance knows he's a draft longshot, but that humility could help him in a field of athletes that all think they deserve to be first-round picks.

• Olivier Hanlan, Boston College: Local guys always have a bit more to talk about and Hanlan regaled the media with tales of visiting the Celtics' facility in recent summers to play pick-up against the likes of Rajon Rondo and Jared Sullinger, and how he got used to having a Celtics scout in the crowd while playing at Boston College.


LOOSE BALLS

• The Celtics brought in another international man of mystery on Wednesday in France's Alpha Kaba. The 6-foot-10 big man did not speak to reporters following the workout while hustling off to his next visit, which kept the 19-year-old shrouded in secrecy. The Celtics have four picks in this year's draft, including two in the second round (Nos. 33 and 45) and you can't help but wonder if they'd consider an overseas stash if they were wowed by an intriguing young prospect who wasn't quite NBA ready.

• From the no-stone-unturned file: The Celtics worked out Florida Southern's Kevin Capers. After guiding the Moccasins to a NCAA Division II national championship in March, Capers got called for his first (and possibly only) draft workout. He had previously expressed a desire to simply continue his pro career overseas, but was hoping the Boston workout might help lead to an invite to play for a summer league squad. Capers, a native of Winter Haven, Fla. (he played AAU ball with Austin Rivers), wore a Florida Southern hoodie after his workout and joked about the cold weather that chilled Boston earlier this week.

• The Celtics will have representatives at the Eurocamp in Italy this weekend then resume group workouts next week at the team's training facility. Ainge has hinted that the more high profile players -- ones that Boston might target with its pick at No. 16 -- might be more likely to pass through as the draft draws closer.


WORKOUT (PLAY)LIST

Here's an updated look at the 38 players that have been in for Boston's seven group workouts in recent weeks (along with their position on Chad Ford's big board at the time of the visit):

Arkansas' Bobby Portis (16)

Arizona’s Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (22)

Louisville’s Terry Rozier (27)

Virginia’s Justin Anderson (28)

Kansas’ Cliff Alexander (32)

LSU's Jordan Mickey (37)

Syracuse’s Rakeem Christmas (39)

Boston College’s Olivier Hanlan (41)

France’s Alpha Kaba (42)

Kentucky’s Andrew Harrison (49)

Stanford's Anthony Brown (54)

Tennessee’s Josh Richardson (58)

Brazil’s George de Paula (59)

Texas’ Jonathan Holmes (61)

Michigan State’s Brendan Dawson (64)

Maryland’s Dez Wells (69)

Wisconsin-Green Bay’s Keifer Sykes (73)

St John's Sir'Dominic Pointer (78)

Ohio State's Shannon Scott (86)

UMass' Cady Lalanne (87)

William & Mary's Marcus Thornton (100)

Oklahoma State’s LeBryan Nash (104)

Alabama’s Levi Randolph (107)

Stanford’s Chasson Randle (115)

Cal's David Kravish (NR)

Florida State's Aaron Thomas (NR)

UTEP's Julian Washburn (NR)

Holy Cross’ Malcolm Miller (NR)

UMass’ Maxie Esho (NR)

IMG Academy’s Satnam Singh (NR)

Northeastern’s Scott Eatherton (NR)

Michigan State’s Travis Trice (NR)

SMU’s Yanick Moreira (NR)

Eastern Kentucky’s Corey Walden (NR)

Georgetown (Ky.) College’s Gerard Coleman (NR)

Wyoming’s Larry Nance (NR)

Western Kentucky’s T.J. Price (NR)

Florida Southern’s Kevin Capers (NR)




bob
MY NOTE:  Once again I say "do NOT believe anything you hear coming from the Celtics' front office about injuries or draft picks".  Not only are they under no obligation to tell us the truth but, as Austin Ainge pointed out, they have every reason to misdirect other teams.



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It is espionage season for all NBA teams. Everything they learn is kept really close to the vest. Keeps fans guessing as well.