Again, something of mixed views. No one seemed to think he dominated, but the views varied from decent to bad. The squad he is on looked really bad. Considering all the players are trying to get drafted, none of them were really helped as they got smacked 106-84.
In practice, before the actual game, Gray apparently got abused by a smaller teammate.
In a full-court practice against players from his own team – there are six squads at the camp – Gray was dominated by unheralded Coleman Collins, an undersized power forward from Virginia Tech who at 6-foot-8 and 205 pounds has a major physical disadvantage against the former Pitt star.
Collins had his shot working and did not look the least bit tentative against Gray, who was being outworked at both ends of the floor and could not find his shot.
Things got a little better during the scrimmage when he didn’t have to worry about Collins – who scored a camp-high 22 in his game – but Gray still was poor defensively and seemed to get the bulk of his 15 points (seven at the foul line) due to his size advantage, a dominating edge he won’t always have in the NBA.
When asked if he felt the need to dominate, considering he is one of a small group of players at the camp with first-round potential, Gray admitted to feeling some extra pressure.
“Maybe a little bit, you definitely think about it,” Gray said. “You just wanna go out there and show teams there’s a lot of positives to your game and I think I did that. Hopefully, I’ll continue to do that.”
Hopefully, Gray will relax a little and just play rather than seek to impress. The Collins kid apparently had a bit of a breakout game — or he just had his shot that day. He abused Syracuse’s Daryl Watkins in the game. Not that Gray should want to be compared to Watkins — ever. Demetris Nichols led the winning squad with 18 points and looked good.
Gray was 7-10 at the free throw line, which of course is a bit surprising. Part of the problem was that on Gray’s squad, the point guard was Virginia’s Sean Singletary, who showed nothing but inconsistency. Gray may not have been as bad as that report made him seem.
Aaron Gray was solid though unspectacular with 15 points and a game high 9 boards. He attempted a few dunks where he was just a bit too far from the rim and either got his shot stuffed or had the ball go off the rim. Gray got to the line bunch converting 7-10.
Gray still did the job on rebounds. Getting to the line at least meant he was trying to go to the basket. With his size, he will be drafted. Gray has to remember he is simply playing to get drafted before the end of the first round. This isn’t about being a fringe draft pick.
The other thing Gray needs to remember is that he has to be looking to Eastern Conference teams. Teams that prefer the half-court offense.
Aaron Gray, who struggled mightily on Tuesday, redeemed himself with his play on Wednesday… that is when he could catch the ball. Gray again struggled to catch passes with any amount of force behind them, and it’s obvious he really struggles in a high-tempo game. However, when the game slows down and he has time to get low-post position, he’s very tough to stop. He finished with 15 points and 9 rebounds during the scrimmage.
That’s going to be the part of his game that needs more work regardless of the style of play. Catching the ball on the move. He’s got to improve on his cut and catch. It’s not an uncommon problem for big centers, and takes time. The one thing Gray can point to is that he has been willing to work and improve on his game his whole time at Pitt.
