The heart wants what it wants. As much as I thought logic and reason dictated Krauser playing another year at Pitt rather than entering a very point guard heavy draft that will likely leave him undrafted, I have to concede that Krauser really wants to be in the NBA.
There is a line of thinking that suggests Carl Krauser is better-suited for the NBA than he was for the college game.
Krauser, Pitt’s offensive-minded point guard, won’t disagree.
“The college game is so much different,” said Krauser, who led Pitt in scoring (16.9 ppg) and assists (5.9 per game). “The structure makes it different. I’m more of an instinctive player than a player who thinks as much when I’m out there on the floor.”
…
“It’s a whole different ball game than in college,” he said. “Right now, I’m just trying to perfect what I can do on the court and off the court. And I want to perfect it from guys who understand how to do it. I feel way more comfortable now than I did before.”
I think Krauser can succeed in the NBA, I just don’t think he’ll get a chance if he can only get in as an undrafted free agent. A team has no investment or risk with him. No impetuous to give him time, like if he was even 2nd rounder.
Add in the fact that the NBA may hit another lockout, and reason suggests he should play one more season at Pitt.
Meanwhile Chris Taft’s agent is getting defensive. In a piece that, if not for the agent quotes and lack of hyperlinks, might as well have been culled from this blog and message boards Taft’s workouts get discussed.
Ceisler admitted Taft’s workout in Toronto was below par, but said it also was Taft’s first NBA audition.
“It was like a first job interview,” said Ceisler, who still expects Taft to be a lottery pick.
The agent claims Taft has turned in three consecutive “lights-out” workouts, for the Golden State Warriors, the Los Angeles Clippers and the Boston Celtics.
“With the Clippers, Chris dominated (Final Four MVP) Sean May in every facet of the game,” Ceisler said.
NBA teams are permitted to work out prospects for 1 1/2 hours, Ceisler said. Some teams emphasize individual skills, others stress one-on-one and two-on-two matchups. No more than four players can take the floor simultaneously.
I mentioned the good Clippers work out, but as for Golden State, that is in question:
After reportedly stinking up the entire city of New York with the workouts he held over the past two weeks, Chris Taft has decided to take his show on the road. The latest stop was at Golden State yesterday, for an intimate meeting with Ike Diogu. The results, according to a person that was in the gym, were not pretty to watch. Basically Diogu scored on Taft repeatedly… again and again and again, until things started to get embarrassing. On the opposite side of the ball, Diogu stopped Taft in his tracks repeatedly and thoroughly handed it to him. Things got so bad and Taft got so down on himself (again, in the opinion of this eye witness) that people thought he would just quit the workout. That never happened, but it was supposedly close.
That doesn’t sound like the same workout. Here’s the link to the Ike Diogu interview.
Yet the negative reports are the norm. He clearly blew a natural fit with the Knicks:
Originally it seemed like Taft was a lock to be the Knicks draft pick, but he has been terrible in workouts. In my last exclusive article about the Knicks, I wrote that Taft, if motivated, would have been the perfect fit for Marbury’s talents.
This is going to take more than spin from Taft’s agent to overcome the reputation he is earning.
