My First Pre-Draft Workout
June 9, 2009 by Kayte Christensen
The NBA Draft is quickly approaching. Teams around the League are bringing guys in and out of town with fury. Since the WNBA doesn’t have pre-Draft workouts, given the quick turnaround from the women’s college season to the start of WNBA training camp, I thought I’d go check out a Kings pre-Draft workout to see what all the fuss is about.
It was very much like I expected. On this day, six guys participated in a workout that is supposed to help the basketball operations staff get a better feel for the prospects’ individual and team skill. The interesting thing about it, especially from talking to some of the players after the workout, is most teams run them through the same series of drills, etc., and most teams don’t even let them play a full-court game. Some teams, according to these NBA hopefuls, even have players running line drills, as if their conditioning is of any concern during the couple hours they have them on their court.
The Kings, however, prove to be different from most teams on a couple of levels. Most shocking to these young guys, who are more than eager to impress whoever is working them out, in Sacramento, Geoff Petrie conducts the workouts himself! As Terrence Williams alluded to at the conclusion of the workout, it was very different to have the general manager, or in Petrie’s case the president, running up and down the court with them instead of, ‘Sitting on the sideline in a $10,000 suit twisting his wedding ring around his finger!’
Geoff, being out there, running the workout wasn’t the only major difference between Sacramento and other teams. The Kings let them PLAY, which makes complete sense. I would imagine, seeing guys get up and down the court, even if it’s only a three-on-three game, is more valuable than sitting on the sideline with a stop watch timing line drills. It seems to me, teams would have this all figured out by now. I remember playing, and it’s very easy to get into a groove when you do a couple shooting drills, then run a line drill, then go to the free throw line and make five free throws because, as the players admitted during media availability today, every team is doing the same drills. So I know players are getting used to the routine! Break it up. Throw a ball out there with those guys and turn them loose in the full court and see how their shooting drills transfer to live-play.
Now, I’m from the country so this metaphor may not make sense to some, but, if you’re not going to watch the guys play in a game situation, it’s kind of like buying a horse without ever climbing up on the saddle. The horse may move well and look nice but, maybe once you’re in the saddle, it just doesn’t feel right!
The Kings want to make sure it feels right.
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