ghost
500+ Posts
Thank goodness for Memorial Day!! I was finally able to attend one of the workouts here in Houston for guys preparing for the Draft.
Damion, Jai, and Conor were all in attendance along with Eric Maynor, Toney Douglas, Aubrey Coleman, Tasmin Mitchell, Dwayne Collins, and others. I will give a complete report later.
What I will say now, is Damion got chewed out on more than one occasion. It was pretty funny at one point, at least for me. There were only 4 bigs with the rest (14) being guards and wings in the gym. 5 other players were there, but they had to be young, young high schoolers because they didn't participate in the majority of the work out.
Conor and Jai did well and I got a chance to talk to Conor briefly at the end about his NBA team workout schedule. Toney Douglas is a tremendous shooter and Maynor is sick all around. He schooled Damon Stoudemire constantly, but Damon returned the favor so it was kind of a wash.
More to come.
-------------------------------------------------------
Ok, here is the update I promised.
I got to the gym at 1 pm, when the workout was supposed to start. For 15 minutes guys were in groups at different baskets free shooting via the Shoot-A-Way. The workout then got started.
The group of college guys was split into thirds - guards, wings, and bigs for position drills. The bigs (there were only 4) did post moves while the guards and wings alternated ball handling through cones and shooting drills. Damion looked good in the ball handling as did all the guards and wings. Conor looked great in the post moves with just a shell defense by former Houston coach Alvin Brooks. Conor has very good left and right hook shots. Dwayne Collins was the next best. The shooting drills basically consisted of one player driving to the block turning back to the three point line, kicking it out to the next player in line who in turn would take the shot.
Next up was some 1-on-1 work. The bigs went up against each other practicing their post moves. The guards and wings did a drill where one player races up to half court with the ball while a defender follows him, meets him at the designated spot and defends him as he goes to the basket. This drill alternated sides and every player in this group got to go multiple times from each side. This is the drill where Damion got his *** handed to him. The guy he was going against (one of the 2 guards/wings I couldn't place, although I recognized him) ate his lunch a time or two in a row. Coach Lucas stopped the drill and yelled at Damion saying "He is kicking your ***, Damion. He is kicking your f-ing ***!" Like I said, I thought it was hillarious. Coach is very outspoken and in turn, gets the best out of the players. Damion picked up the intensity and got Coach's approval. Eric Maynor took Damon Stoudemire to school in this drill. It was a mismatch with the speed and size of the younger player. That said, Damon returned the favor when it was his turn to handle the ball. I thought Toney Douglas got beat way to many times and trailed his man almost every play. On the flip side, he showed some nice pull up jumpers while on offense. However, the goal of this drill was to get to the basket in under 4 secs and not take jumpers. Some guys got chewed out for not going to the hole. Toney didn't. Maybe it was because he made almost every shot he took or Lucas wanted him to do both. I don't know.
The next drill finally incorporated the bigs. The drill simulated a guard getting a big the ball in the post. A cone was set up in the middle of the half court. I can't remember how far out, but at least at the 3-pt line. The guard was to dribble to the cone and then cut back to the wing to feed the post, all the while being checked by a defender. Once the big got the ball, he had to try and score. This drill was also timed and IIRC, the time (4 sec) started once the big got the ball in the post. Again, this drill alternated sides. This is the drill where Conor and Dwayne Collins went at it most of the time. Conor got Collins on a pump fake, blew by him, and jammed it home. A few minutes later, Collins returned the favor but straight up. He got the ball, made his move, and then just crucified Conor. Straight nasty facial. The speed and power that Collins displayed slamming the ball was quite frankly, amazing. His hand engulfed the ball. Some of the men that were watching started hooting and hollering. This play was easily the highlight of the day. After the bigs got the ball in the post and did their thing, the same group of guards/wings then went 1-on-1 and had the same time length to score.
The next drill was 4-on-4 in the half court with only the guards and wings. They had 10 seconds to score and the players would interchange after every possession. Nothing super special about this drill other than just getting into some kind of offensive flow under a time constraint.
The final drill was basically the same with an exception. 12 players were used. 8 were in the half court on one end and split in two teams, while the other 4 were at the other end at three quarters court. The 8 would play 4-on-4 with a 10 second timer. One team, depending on the outcome, would then go down to the other end and go against the 4 players waiting for them. The team that scored stayed up. Eric Maynor hit 3 or 4 buckets in a row and that was the longest any one team went. It was common for a team to last twice and then bail. Pretty cool. Damion got chewed out a few times here as well. Nothing big.
The workout ended with some sprints.
The players in attendance, less the 3 I can't name are as follows:
Tasmin Mitchell - LSU
Terrel Harris - Oklahoma St.
Kenneth Cooper - Louisiana Tech
Justin Reynolds - Texas A&M Corpus Christi
Aubrey Coleman - Houston
Jai Lucas - Texas
Damion James - Texas
Conor Atchley - Texas
Nic Wise - Arizona
Toney Douglas - Florida State
Eric Maynor - VCU
Dwayne Collins - Miami
Joey Brooks - Notre Dame (just finished high school)
Garlon Green - TCU (just finished high school and Gerald's brother)
Of the 3 I couldn't quite place, two were in the guards/wings group and the other was a big. Damon Stoudemire also participated but got hurt and couldn't continue during the last drill. I will be going back this weekend and hope to catch all 4 of the workouts. I imagine the players in attendance will be smaller since some will be working out for teams. Connor said he has worked out for the Rockets and then did a group workout for I believe the Rockets, T-Wolves, and Warriors at Toyota Center and has possible workouts with the Spurs, Thunder, and Raptors. He told me he thought he would be pretty busy in June. I didn't get a chance to talk to Damion. I met Toney Douglas and Tasmin Mitchell at the end but didn't talk to them other than saying hello.
If you have any questions, fire away.
Damion, Jai, and Conor were all in attendance along with Eric Maynor, Toney Douglas, Aubrey Coleman, Tasmin Mitchell, Dwayne Collins, and others. I will give a complete report later.
What I will say now, is Damion got chewed out on more than one occasion. It was pretty funny at one point, at least for me. There were only 4 bigs with the rest (14) being guards and wings in the gym. 5 other players were there, but they had to be young, young high schoolers because they didn't participate in the majority of the work out.
Conor and Jai did well and I got a chance to talk to Conor briefly at the end about his NBA team workout schedule. Toney Douglas is a tremendous shooter and Maynor is sick all around. He schooled Damon Stoudemire constantly, but Damon returned the favor so it was kind of a wash.
More to come.
-------------------------------------------------------
Ok, here is the update I promised.
I got to the gym at 1 pm, when the workout was supposed to start. For 15 minutes guys were in groups at different baskets free shooting via the Shoot-A-Way. The workout then got started.
The group of college guys was split into thirds - guards, wings, and bigs for position drills. The bigs (there were only 4) did post moves while the guards and wings alternated ball handling through cones and shooting drills. Damion looked good in the ball handling as did all the guards and wings. Conor looked great in the post moves with just a shell defense by former Houston coach Alvin Brooks. Conor has very good left and right hook shots. Dwayne Collins was the next best. The shooting drills basically consisted of one player driving to the block turning back to the three point line, kicking it out to the next player in line who in turn would take the shot.
Next up was some 1-on-1 work. The bigs went up against each other practicing their post moves. The guards and wings did a drill where one player races up to half court with the ball while a defender follows him, meets him at the designated spot and defends him as he goes to the basket. This drill alternated sides and every player in this group got to go multiple times from each side. This is the drill where Damion got his *** handed to him. The guy he was going against (one of the 2 guards/wings I couldn't place, although I recognized him) ate his lunch a time or two in a row. Coach Lucas stopped the drill and yelled at Damion saying "He is kicking your ***, Damion. He is kicking your f-ing ***!" Like I said, I thought it was hillarious. Coach is very outspoken and in turn, gets the best out of the players. Damion picked up the intensity and got Coach's approval. Eric Maynor took Damon Stoudemire to school in this drill. It was a mismatch with the speed and size of the younger player. That said, Damon returned the favor when it was his turn to handle the ball. I thought Toney Douglas got beat way to many times and trailed his man almost every play. On the flip side, he showed some nice pull up jumpers while on offense. However, the goal of this drill was to get to the basket in under 4 secs and not take jumpers. Some guys got chewed out for not going to the hole. Toney didn't. Maybe it was because he made almost every shot he took or Lucas wanted him to do both. I don't know.
The next drill finally incorporated the bigs. The drill simulated a guard getting a big the ball in the post. A cone was set up in the middle of the half court. I can't remember how far out, but at least at the 3-pt line. The guard was to dribble to the cone and then cut back to the wing to feed the post, all the while being checked by a defender. Once the big got the ball, he had to try and score. This drill was also timed and IIRC, the time (4 sec) started once the big got the ball in the post. Again, this drill alternated sides. This is the drill where Conor and Dwayne Collins went at it most of the time. Conor got Collins on a pump fake, blew by him, and jammed it home. A few minutes later, Collins returned the favor but straight up. He got the ball, made his move, and then just crucified Conor. Straight nasty facial. The speed and power that Collins displayed slamming the ball was quite frankly, amazing. His hand engulfed the ball. Some of the men that were watching started hooting and hollering. This play was easily the highlight of the day. After the bigs got the ball in the post and did their thing, the same group of guards/wings then went 1-on-1 and had the same time length to score.
The next drill was 4-on-4 in the half court with only the guards and wings. They had 10 seconds to score and the players would interchange after every possession. Nothing super special about this drill other than just getting into some kind of offensive flow under a time constraint.
The final drill was basically the same with an exception. 12 players were used. 8 were in the half court on one end and split in two teams, while the other 4 were at the other end at three quarters court. The 8 would play 4-on-4 with a 10 second timer. One team, depending on the outcome, would then go down to the other end and go against the 4 players waiting for them. The team that scored stayed up. Eric Maynor hit 3 or 4 buckets in a row and that was the longest any one team went. It was common for a team to last twice and then bail. Pretty cool. Damion got chewed out a few times here as well. Nothing big.
The workout ended with some sprints.
The players in attendance, less the 3 I can't name are as follows:
Tasmin Mitchell - LSU
Terrel Harris - Oklahoma St.
Kenneth Cooper - Louisiana Tech
Justin Reynolds - Texas A&M Corpus Christi
Aubrey Coleman - Houston
Jai Lucas - Texas
Damion James - Texas
Conor Atchley - Texas
Nic Wise - Arizona
Toney Douglas - Florida State
Eric Maynor - VCU
Dwayne Collins - Miami
Joey Brooks - Notre Dame (just finished high school)
Garlon Green - TCU (just finished high school and Gerald's brother)
Of the 3 I couldn't quite place, two were in the guards/wings group and the other was a big. Damon Stoudemire also participated but got hurt and couldn't continue during the last drill. I will be going back this weekend and hope to catch all 4 of the workouts. I imagine the players in attendance will be smaller since some will be working out for teams. Connor said he has worked out for the Rockets and then did a group workout for I believe the Rockets, T-Wolves, and Warriors at Toyota Center and has possible workouts with the Spurs, Thunder, and Raptors. He told me he thought he would be pretty busy in June. I didn't get a chance to talk to Damion. I met Toney Douglas and Tasmin Mitchell at the end but didn't talk to them other than saying hello.
If you have any questions, fire away.
