In the down time before the Finals, there’s been a lot of Draft talk in the office. And, no lie, we spent a good chunk of yesterday morning scanning the Orlando pre-draft camp “combine” results. The biggest story: Kevin Durant apparently wasn’t able to bench press 185 pounds one time. Not once. Now, this doesn’t mean KD will be any less of a scoring machine in the League, but wow — not once, Kev? Pretty much everyone in the office (except Naomi) claimed they could do at least a couple of reps, but then again, maybe we’re overestimating ourselves … Greg Oden didn’t do the bench as not to take any chances with that famous wrist, but he did out-perform Durant in the agility, sprint and vertical drills. The Oregonian is saying Oden’s showing at the camp was enough to cement him as the No. 1 pick … As for the possible No. 3 pick, UNC’s Brandan Wright: He got the bar up twice at 185. Good luck trying to box out Dwight Howard and Emeka Okafor next year, B … Guess who graded out as the camp’s No. 1 overall athlete? D.J. Strawberry. He put up 185 on the bench 21 times (tied for second-most), hit 35 inches on the vertical leap, has 4.5 percent body fat, had the fourth-best time in the agility drill, and sprinted 3/4-court in 3.14 seconds. As Christian pointed out, though, “That’s not fair. His pops was a freak athlete. It’s in his genes.” … Notre Dame’s Russell Carter (25 reps on the bench), Ohio State’s Mike Conley and Marquette’s Dominic James also graded out very well athletically. Too bad James reportedly stunk it up in the basketball portion of the camp … Don’t put too much stock into the combine workouts, though. In ‘05, Monta Ellis was ranked as the worst athlete in the camp, and you see how he turned out … It’s looking like the Magic will let Billy Donovan out of his deal so he can go back to the University of Florida, but may include a clause where he can’t take another NBA job for five years. That’s gotta be tough for Donovan; he’s talked so much about always having wanted to go to the NBA, and even though he’s not ready now, what about in two or three years? Five is a long wait unless he’s totally content at the college level … And what about Donovan’s “replacement” in Orlando? (It feels kinda weird using that word when Billy only had the job for a couple days.) Stan Van Gundy has reportedly been offered the job, but consider one thing: According to the Gainesville Sun, Van Gundy had just verbally agreed to become the next head man in Sacramento when all this Donovan drama started. Will he go Flipmode too and end up in Orlando? … For a coach who’s led his team to back-to-back conference finals — not to mention the League’s best record in his first season — it’s crazy how Flip Saunders has no job security whatsoever. Around the time Daniel Gibson started raining threes on Detroit’s head, Flip’s job status was up in the air for the second year in a row. Flip has already said he feels safe, and Chauncey Billups told the Detroit News, “It wasn’t all his fault,” citing some “unwarranted criticism” aimed at Saunders. Chauncey did admit that Flip could have made “different decisions,” but also put blame on himself and the rest of the players … Apparently the Sonics are going to hire a coach and GM sometime in 2007. The Seattle Times cites a source who says the team’s short list of coaching candidates has been pared down to Rick Carlisle, P.J. Carlesimo and Dwane Casey, while another report says Spurs assistant GM Sam Presti will be offered the GM job soon. While Marc Iavaroni would have been a perfect fit for this squad — who would be better off if they ran a Suns-like system — we were 100 percent sure Lenny Wilkens would end up on the bench … Speaking of Lenny, NBATV showed Game 1 of the ‘79 Finals, back when Lenny was coaching the Sonics against the Washington Bullets. Jack Sikma, Dennis Johnson, “Downtown” Freddy Brown, Paul Silas, Lonnie Shelton and Gus Williams suited up for Seattle in that game, next to Wes Unseld, Elvin Hayes, Bobby Dandridge and Mitch Kupchak for the Bullets. Even for back then, Gus Williams was, um, big-boned, and dude was a gunner. Every time you looked up he was shooting. Ben Gordon is following Gus’ Mount Vernon, N.Y., legacy well … We had almost forgotten Scottie Pippen’s run with the Blazers when we saw in the Wall Street Journal that Pip just sold his house in Portland for $2.95 million — almost a whole $1 million less than he originally paid for it. Don’t you hate when that happens? Of course, Pippen’s Blazers career panned out better than his Rockets career, which lasted all of one season and 50 games. And let’s just try to erase his second Bulls run from the record books … Cass found this great article about the life and tragic death of former Villanova star Howard Porter, written by one of the most underrated sportswriters in the business, the Philly Inquirer’s Bill Lyon. In addition to his exploits at ‘Nova, Porter played seven years in the League with the Bulls, Pistons, Knicks and Nets … We did a little tech thing that involved things that we don’t understand called plug-ins and now spam is no longer a problem with our comments section. What does that mean? Comments no longer need to be approved and will be posted immediately. So you have something on your mind? Drop it in the comments and let’s discuss … We’re out like Durant’s weight routine …
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June 6th, 2007 at 2:10 am
luke says:
where do you get the full draft camp workout results?
June 6th, 2007 at 2:13 am
flyp says:
Oden outperformed KD in agility, sprint and vert? Is this relative to him being a 7′ center and Durant being a forward, or did he just flat out smoke Durant in call three? Am I the only one finding it hard to believe that Oden could be more athletic than the country’s leading college scorer? Scary.
June 6th, 2007 at 2:23 am
Mort says:
Thats right, Oden flat out smoked Durant in these drills.
June 6th, 2007 at 2:56 am
jez says:
draftexpress.com
June 6th, 2007 at 2:56 am
jez says:
draftexpress.com
June 6th, 2007 at 2:56 am
jez says:
draftexpress.com is where the full results are
June 6th, 2007 at 2:57 am
jez says:
3 times a lady
June 6th, 2007 at 3:53 am
Luke Allan says:
he aint strong but he can still score
June 6th, 2007 at 4:54 am
Knickhopeful says:
How would the following be ranked in pre-draft camp if we could go back in time? Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Robert Parish and Dolph Schayes?….they’re Hall of Famers.
June 6th, 2007 at 5:01 am
baller says:
Larry before Sir Charles
June 6th, 2007 at 7:57 am
Celts34 says:
People always over-estimate the results of combines - both in the NBA and NFL…Give me a ball player over a freak athlete any day. Oden happens to be both. But Durant will still be good for 20ppg - I wouldn’t worry about his bench.
June 6th, 2007 at 8:13 am
TheJed says:
Totally agree. The bench press press helps if you go nuts and only hurts if you’re a big man and you do nothing. Durant just isn’t a big man in the NBA. Interesting though, when we were at the coaches vs. cancer in the preseason we were sitting next to a top NBA scout. We talked to him about durant and asked if the closest comparison was jonathan bender. He said no and that bender was a freak of nature. He said no scouts had seen a 7 footer with that verticle, that speed, and that shooting ability. He also said, Bender already had knee problems in high school, and that his basketball IQ just was never going to be there. In terms of Durant he said, NBA teams aren’t ever going to look at Durant as a power forward. He’s a straight 3, who is going to be an impossible match up problem for the next 15 years. Unless, a squad is going very small ball, I don’t think NBA teams are going to expect Durant to cover 4’s for a long time. That’s everyone from Al Jefferson and Amare to Dirk.
June 6th, 2007 at 9:20 am
saleem says:
kinda off the topic, but the as on the bottom of the page reminded me of a question i’ve been mulling over:
who has the better starting five: adidas (arenas, billups, t-mac, duncan, garnett) or nike (nash, kobe, james, o’neal, amare..etc) ???
June 6th, 2007 at 9:30 am
TheJed says:
What about Dirk over JO?
June 6th, 2007 at 9:45 am
Diggler says:
So it’s:
ADIDAS VS. NIKE
Chauncey NASH
Arenas KOBE
T-Mac LEBRON
KG DIRK
Duncan AMARE
I think adidas might win that. they are more of a team. Nike’s bench would be better though.
June 6th, 2007 at 9:48 am
saleem says:
i don’t think dirk is on the nike team (at least as indicated the ’second coming’ commercial)
June 6th, 2007 at 9:57 am
Patrick Cassidy says:
Dirk was supposed to be in that spot but couldn’t make that commercial shoot. he was in Germany at the time.
June 6th, 2007 at 9:57 am
Celts34 says:
Dirk is Nike - he just didn’t go to the commercial shoot…Speaking of Dirk, could he bench 185 pounds? Maybe not. Does it matter? Hell no. He also probably wouldn’t blow scouts away in agility drills. Durant is a BALL PLAYER. Judge him by what he does on the court!
As for the Nike/adidas game, let’s look at the matchups:
Billups posts up Nash all day.
Arenas and Kobe each put up 40 - so they cancel each other out.
T-Mac and LeBron cancel each other out. Maybe a slight advantage to LeBron on the offensive end.
Dirk owns KG on the perimeter but KG owns Dirk in the post.
Duncan and Amare is pretty much even.
So it comes down to team play. I’d take Nike because Nash can push the ball - with Kobe, LeBron, Dirk and Amare running the wings and spotting up. Nike wins 108-102.
June 6th, 2007 at 10:18 am
Austin Burton says:
What would be the score if Nike played AND 1?
NASH vs. Bad Santa
KOBE vs. Springs
LEBRON vs. Baby Shack
DIRK vs. Assassin
AMARE vs. Go Get It
Halftime entertainment: Hot Sauce and Professor in a ball-tricks exhibition.
SCORE: A lot - A little
June 6th, 2007 at 10:43 am
saleem says:
not sure about the Nike vs. AND1, but i think adidas got the edge over nike’s five. it come’s down to guard vs. big men where nike has the advantage in the 1, 2, and 3(albeit slightly) positions and adidas has better post/interior play. Offensively, both teams match up evenly with a slight advantage given to nike’s dealier shooters. However, rebounding and interior defense clearly goes to adidas with duncan and garnet holding down the middle…
score 104-98 adidas
June 6th, 2007 at 10:57 am
Dub says:
I think them Durant numbers are typical of his game. He does not blow by people which is evident of his cone drill numbers and 3/4 sprint. The sonics are basically getting rid of Rashaad Lewis and replacing him with an almost identical player. Durnat is a perimeter shooter, not an athlete.
June 6th, 2007 at 11:44 am
Rob says:
Me and my boy have always had the Nike vs Adidas debate…i always bring up Nikes bench…and to go even deeper they have the whole converse crew as well (d.wade to name just one)also dont you think Kobe would go nuts and try to score 80 just cause of his former contract with adidas. thats gotta be some motivation!
June 6th, 2007 at 11:57 am
Celts34 says:
Dub, that’s not a good comparison for Durant. He’s more like T-Mac. Durant has a good handle. And he’s a decent defender because of his wingspan. He’s WAY more than just a perimeter shooter. Check youtube than report back.
June 6th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
nick says:
adidas vs nike
the main issue here is nash guarding billups. He will post him up all day and they will have to send a double so this is why nike would lose plus nash has no D what so ever.
score 110-105 adidas
June 6th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
TheJed says:
Great call on Kobe’s revenge factor. And Durant is athletic for his size. He really doesn’t have an NBA comparison.
June 6th, 2007 at 1:08 pm
Celts Fan says:
Hey Celts34, there’s no way Durant’s like T-Mac. Dude can shoot, ya, but he’s rail thin and not a good athlete (relatively speaking). T-Mac’s one of the best athletes in the world. Also, T-Mac’s a better shooter, ball-handler, defender. Other than that though, you’re right, just like T-Mac… I like Durant as much as the next guy, but he’s much closer to Rashard than T-Mac. He will help a team, ya, but he’s not the savior teams are making him out to be. Scoring 20 points isn’t helpful when you’re giving up 25 a night. There are TONS of elite swingmen/shooters out there, but none in history (other than MJ) has carried a team to a ring on his own…
Also, to weight in on the Nike/Adidas debate, Kobe would KILL Gil. Gil plays no D, Kobe’s all-nba. He’d be on Gil like a chick from Colorado…
June 6th, 2007 at 1:21 pm
IGP says:
I think that the Bynum/Odom trade for JO is stupid. Odom doesn’t want to go anyway, but the Pacers have Dunleavy, Shawne Williams, Murphy, Granger, and Ike. What would Odom do there really? I think that Odom is better than those players (obviously) but they still don’t really need LO. I would go after KG if I was the Lakers. JO is def not the savior. I’m out like benching 185…
June 6th, 2007 at 1:42 pm
balla40 says:
everyone who thinks the 185 bench means anything go to draft expresscom so the article they have had posted since yesterday can explain how wrong the combine can be.
June 6th, 2007 at 2:11 pm
TheJed says:
Bynum, Odom, and a pick for KG?
June 6th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
SWAT says:
Question fellas…have yall’ heard about the rockets’ deal with Battier and their first round pick (26th) for lewis? What do you guys think?
June 6th, 2007 at 7:11 pm
Vinod says:
Saleem is profoundly gay.
June 6th, 2007 at 10:04 pm
Simon says:
Anyone know whos got the biggest bench in the L?
Dwight Howard? Ben Wallace? Earl Boykins?….
June 6th, 2007 at 10:15 pm
Celts34 says:
I think it used to be Kevin Willis - seriously…And David Wesley is probably up there.
June 7th, 2007 at 8:32 am
Ben says:
Kevin Willis might be the strongest, although I heard Artest is pretty beastly with the bench. Curious who is the flat out fastest with and without the ball. My money is Barbosa (or Ford)
@ Vinod why don’t you do everyone a favor and grow some balls. This really is no place for retarded comments…please go elsewhere
June 8th, 2007 at 10:32 am
Amar says:
I think it was Kevin Willis and his alligator arms, myself. Malone didn’t get really big until after he got drafted. (but those 19″ biceps didn’t really make him a better basketball player)
Deron William had the best bench press for point guards during the nba combines. This brought his draft stock up. How many times do we have players doing any bench presses during games?
It’s an isolated way to guage a player, but it may or may not have any relavance on how they play the game as individuals.
Wilt was great at lifting weights, and played a power game (when he was pre-lakers). James Worthy played a quick game, probably couldn’t bench much, but had most of his points in the paint. (including dunks in a half court set)