There’s no disputing that John DeGroat was an absolute bust with Pitt. He never showed much in the way of skill and he seemed to have little confidence. In fact, in his final year he got worse the further into the season. The bizarre turnovers at the start of games because he would double dribble or pick-up the ball with no one near him. It was painful, even if he didn’t play much beyond a few minutes per game. Even that was enough to frustrate most fans who wanted Coach Dixon to just plant him on the bench and not let him start. Mop-up duty, maybe.
Still, given what DeGroat had overcome growing up, and how well he turned out, I rooted for him.
So when he suddenly seemed to put it all together in the CBA last year, that was just something great to read. And it seems to have opened the door to other opportunities.
DeGroat’s NBA audition comes with no guarantees. He is a long shot. DeGroat could get a shot at a free-agent camp after next month’s NBA draft, or possibly showcase his game with a team in the NBA’s summer league.
DeGroat’s agent, Oliver Macklin, who played for the University of Connecticut in the early 1990s, has heard from several NBA teams about his client, including the Lakers, Clippers, Celtics, Cavaliers and Sonics.
“I think John’s chances at getting a legit look are pretty good,” Macklin says. “It’s not like he’s an average CBA player, he’s an all-star. The teams that have contacted me love his energy. John doesn’t have to go to the NBA and be a superstar. He just has to play good defense and hit some open shots.”
Adds Macklin: “I think John has a good upside. The NBA Developmental League is an option and there were 22 NBA call-ups from the D-League last year.”
That’s tremendous. Great. But DeGroat himself says something in the story that makes no sense other than to take a shot at Coach Dixon.
Looking back, DeGroat says Pitt might not have been the best fit. He played sparingly his first season, but started every regular-season game as a senior. However, Pitt coach Jamie Dixon benched a slumping DeGroat for most of the Big East and NCAA tournaments.
“I really don’t know what happened,” DeGroat says. “I’m still on speaking terms with (Dixon), he’s a good coach, but he’s not the best under pressure. But, no matter what, he gave a kid from upstate New York a Division I shot.”
What does that have to do with how badly DeGroat played? There’s a little bit of self-deception it seems from DeGroat. Trying not to take much responsibility for his bad play.
It’s painful to watch him regress over the last few weeks. I’ve never seen such happy feet from a basketball player. He starts to shuffle his feet when he gets the ball, like he is going to do some sort of hesitation dribble-drive. Unfortunately he keeps forgetting to dribble. 2 turnovers in 5 minutes. I feel bad that he is having his minutes falling faster and faster, but he is doing it to himself by being so wound-up when he touches the ball.
I mean if he was going to make excuses, the least he could have done was go with something that related to his situation. Say he was looking over his shoulder afraid of making a mistake and getting pulled. Or something like that.
I still want John DeGroat to have success. He is more than a little diminished in my eyes, though.
