Day 2:
By Aran Smith
6/7/06 [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
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[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Camp Shootaround[/FONT]![]()
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]9:00 AM -- Half of the players showed up for the morning session and warmed up with stretching exercises and then had a 2 hour drill session. The drills included coming off screens as well as players shooting from all areas from outside. Louis Amundson struggled some shooting from outside after shooting better the day before.
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The teams then had some individual scrimmages against teammates. The games got physical as Michael Southall took an elbow to the nose and was crumpled on the baseline for a few minutes before returning to the bench. Teammates in college and in the camp, Curtis Stinson and Will Blalock squared off against one another.
11:00 AM -- Game 1, Team Six 80 - Team Five 76
The first game of the camp turned out to be highly competitive and exciting as it wasn't decided until the closing seconds of the game. The forward combination of Nik Caner-Medley and Louis Amundson proved to be too much for Team 5 to handle. After building an early lead, team 6 fell behind by 10 points with Amundson and Caner-Medley's line on the bench.
They entered back into the game with around 4 minutes left and were able to rally their team back into the game. Caner-Medley hit a number of clutch shots in the closing minutes and Amundson was huge on the boards grabbing two rebounds in the final minute to help seal the victory. Amundson struggled shooting the ball (3-9) and appears more comfortable shooting on the move and with defenders in his face than spotting up for open 12-15 footers.
For Team 5 Chris Quinn found Blake Schilb for a beautiful and-1 ally-oop and has shown a great feel for setting up teammates with ally oops. He struggled shooting in this game however (0-8) 4 pts. Marcus Slaughter showed off his athleticism with a number of putback jams, and his speed stood out in the full court sprint drill.
Taj Gray got the better of Kenny Adeleke today showing excellent defense and much better quickness and speed in the open floor. Adeleke is a load and plays very well in the half court set, but struggles in transition and lacks great control of his legs. But Adeleke got the huge edge in rebounding 14-2.
Caner-Medley was the camp leader in points in the first day of action with 22 pts on 8-12 shooting, (1-2) from 3 pt and 5/6 from the line. Also registering in double figures in scoring were Yemi Nicholson with 13 (5/9 FG) and Taj Gray with 10 (3/4FG) and for Team 5, Marcus Slaughter had 11pts and 4 steals, and Torin Francis had 10, while Kenny Adeleke gathered a game high 14 boards and 9 pts.
1:05 -- All the media in Orlando were cleared out for two workouts at 1 o'clock for NBA personnel only. NBADraft.net was granted access to the workouts.
Patrick O'Bryant Workout
Also working out with O'Bryant were Yemi Nicholson plus guards Darius Washington and Rashad Anderson. The focus of the workout was obviously on Patrick O'Bryant as 150-200 of the NBA scouts in Orlando were on hand for the workout.
O'Bryant struggled some on his jumpshot but overall had a positive workout. He showed good agility and speed in the open floor and though he doesn't get way off the ground, his length allows him to jam virtually anything around the rim. His balance and coordination were not always perfect but he's still improving upon it and is one of the most intriguing bigmen in the draft this year.
O'Bryant didn't hurt or help himself with this workout and appears to be a solid (upside type) late lottery pick for the draft.
Nicholson looked decent, his ability to move in the open floor is poor, however he might be the best shooting bigman in the camp and showed a feathery touch on his jumpshot from outside.
Washington showed some athleticism dunking the ball on 1-0 drills and shooting decent. Questions linger about his ability to run a team and his attitude. Anderson showed off his lethal shooting ability. But there wasn't much to take from the workout for either guy as their play in the camp will be more revealing.
1:45 PM[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Cedric Simmons Dunking[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Cedric Simmons/Kyle Lowry Workout
Of all the players who worked out, Lowry had the best showing. Coming into the workout, the big knock against him has been his inability to shoot the ball, however he shot very well in this workout. After missing his first two shots, he got on a roll and converted 10 of his next 12 from outside. He was 18/25 at one point and then began showing his range from 3 point hitting 5/9 from the top of the key and 6/12 from the left side. Later he hit 3/6 from the top right 3 point arch. [/FONT]
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As the workout came to an end, his shot trailed off some as he shot from the right corner inside the 3 point line. He hit his first 3/4 but then missed 6 in a row before hitting a few at the end and finishing 5/13 there. Overall he shot over 50% from 3 at 14/27 and over 60% 23/38 from 12-18 foot range. With so many teams on hand, Lowry basically locked up a first round spot with his tremendous shooting in this workout.
Simmons' workout was very basic. Around 90% of his shot attempts were dunks. But he looked extremely impressive dunking the ball. He's not only incredibly long, but incredibly explosive as well getting his head at rim level on numerous dunks.
He mostly struggled with the few outside shots he attempted, but overall he had a strong workout blocking shots on Torin Francis in the 2-2 drills and breaking free for dunks offensively. As expected Lowry consistently got the better of Keydren Clark in their match up in the 2-2 drills, beating him off screens and denying him the ball defensively.
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