Any one know where Sam Young will be on draft night? I’m guessing with his family in Maryland, but he doesn’t advertise his plans.

Young has some interviews with the Sporting News. They had a question for various players about the perception reality of this being  a weak draft. Naturally, since these players are in the draft they disputed that. Except for Sam.

PF Sam Young, Pittsburgh: “Maybe there aren’t the five guys who you know are going to be All-Stars. They might not be great players right away. But there are a lot of good guys who can hold their own, and maybe just need a little time. That does not mean they’re not good, though.”

This is a role player, journeyman draft. The kind of draft where several years later there are conversations at a bar like this.

Guy 1: I can’t believe this stiff was the number eight pick!

Guy 2: [fiddling with his phone browser] Well… Oooh. There were slim pickings in 2009. Take a look at what was left.

Guy 1: [taking the phone] Wow! [scrolling down trying to find anything] Sheesh. Well, they should have traded out for a pick the following year.

Sam Young also does a Q&A. Yes, the poetry and piano comes up.

Q: How did spending four years in college help you?

A: Spending four years in college, and competing in the Big East for four years, you see a lot of defenses, a lot of different types of basketball. You’re able to recognize situations very quickly, because there’s really nothing you haven’t seen before. And you become a mature adult going onto the next level.

Q: But you’ll be 24 on draft day. Some scouts and GMs might think that hurts you.

A: It might help me, it might hurt me. It could possibly help me because, unlike some guys, I am mature. I am mature off the court and on the court. Some of the issues that might come up for other guys, as far as maturity goes, won’t come up for me. I think some people want to see that in the player they draft.

Young’s draft status has remained consistent as being somewhere in the 20-28 range. That doesn’t mean there isn’t a range of opinion about how he’ll do in the NBA. Some negative (Insider subs.).

Pitt’s Sam Young also graded out extremely poorly. He had the worst pure point rating of any wing player, and the other thing that hurt him is that he’s one of the oldest prospects in the pool. How old? He’s 19 days older than six-year vet Darko Milicic and a full half-decade older than Holiday.

Well, Gary Parrish and Mike DeCourcy don’t have the same problem the “Draft Rafter” did.

4. Which player are you most interested to see where he falls in the NBA draft?

DeCourcy: Easy choice: Pitt’s Sam Young. In my eyes, Young is the Josh Howard of the 2009 NBA draft. If he goes anywhere in the 20s, he will be this year’s best bargain.

Young is physically mature, has an NBA-ready perimeter game, will be able defend the shooting guard or small forward spots and has made big shots in his career. Some worry that he is 24 years old. I’d worry more if he played for someone else and was getting 20 against my team.

I also did a write-up on Young for the Atlanta Hawks blog. I don’t see him going there with the #19 pick. Simply, because they don’t have a crying need for another SF. Plus, they need a guy that is defense first.

I love Young, but his mentality is looking for offense. So, I just don’t see the fit with Atlanta at that spot.

That’s a disappointment that Blair did not get an invite to sit in the Green Room at MSG for the NBA Draft. Something confirmed by a local article that confirmed he would be in Pittsburgh for the draft.

His final audition is Monday with Utah, followed by a trip to ESPN headquarters in Connecticut on Wednesday for some pre-draft appearances before returning to Pittsburgh for draft day.

“I’m glad I got through it,” Blair said.

I wonder where the draft party will be. You just know that he isn’t simply sitting in his family’s home for this night.

Mildly surprising that Blair did not get an invite. The rumors have been increasing that he would not slip past the 13th spot.

We have been tracking the DeJuan Blair situation pretty heavily over the last few week. Blair apparently may have a floor and that’s the Indiana Pacers. Blair has absolutely dominated at every stop he’s been at, but concerns about his knees are still very much front and center. The Pacers not so long ago took a chance on another player with supposed bad knees in Danny Granger, which worked out pretty good for the Pacers didn’t it? If Blair is still on the board at #13, don’t be surprised if it’s him rocking the Pacers’ draft day cap.

Blair, his agent and Pitt seemed to have done some damage control on Blair’s knee worries.

A pair of MRIs making the rounds amongst NBA teams appear to be easing some concerns about DeJuan Blair’s knees, according to his agent Happy Walters. Blair was red-flagged at the NBA pre-draft camp for the ACL tears he suffered in both knees while in college. He does not appears to have an ACL in either knee now, and there were concerns that he may struggle to stay healthy as his career moves on.

In response, Blair’s camp retrieved an MRI from November of 2008 done at Pittsburgh for doctors to compare with the MRI of his knees from the pre-draft camp earlier this month. The specialists found that there had been “no deterioration in the situation of his knees whatsoever over the course of the season,” which has been conveyed to the doctors of various NBA teams that are most interested in Blair at the moment.

Te MRIs were taken was after Pitt held Blair out of the Belmont game because of some swelling.

Going to Milwaukee with the #10 pick seems unlikely because they are still in fear of Blair’s weight. They ended up with the rights to Robert “Tractor” Traylor on draft night 1998 in one of the NBA’s worst trades: Traylor from Dallas for Dirk Nowitzki and Pat Garrity.

The Detroit Pistons website focused a piece on Blair mainly concerned with his weight.  I don’t see the weight as the big concern. In a piece I did for the Atlanta Hawks blog, the concern that is legit still remains those ACLs. I don’t think it should preclude teams from drafting him in the teens, but I could definitely understand the hesitation of teams in the top-10.

Well, at least the local media does. The Indiana Pacers hold the 13th pick and Blair was part of a group that was in for workouts.

A columnist calls for his drafting.

The Pacers need “mean.”

Not taking-candy-from-children mean or shooting-up-a-strip-joint-parking-lot mean, but mean, a guy with a bit of an angry edge and a Machiavellian will to dominate.

Say hello to DeJuan Blair, the University of Pittsburgh forward who joined North Carolina’s Ty Lawson, UCLA’s Jrue Holiday, Wake Forest’s Jeff Teague, Michigan State’s Goran Suton and Florida State’s Toney Douglas at the Pacers’ predraft workout Monday at Conseco Fieldhouse.

If he’s still there when the Pacers select at No. 13 nine days from now — assuming, of course, they remain at No. 13 — Blair is my pick.

The beat writer for the Pacers brings up Blair as the good citizen for another reason.

Besides possibly giving the Pacers some much needed toughness in the post, Blair is also good in the community, which would be an added bonus for the blue and gold.

I hear Blair surprised some kids at a community center in his hometown of Pittsburgh when he showed up unannounced and started reading to them recently. It wouldn’t hurt the Pacers if they got another player that enjoys being a positive influence in the community.

Interesting in a Q&A, though, that he isn’t letting go of the ‘Burgh.

Q: How important is it to be a role model?

Blair: “That’s the biggest thing besides playing basketball because there are a lot of kids that look up to NBA players. I want to be one of the successful role models in the city I go to and in Pittsburgh. I want to be an entrepreneur in Pittsburgh because I won’t always be here. I always want to be able to go back and be that person that everybody looks up to.”

The one thing that leads me to wonder if the Pacers would go with Blair is that they drafted Roy Hibbert last year. Do the Pacers really want or need another young guy in the front court with still developing/limited offensive moves?

According to DraftExpress, Blair is starting to solidify as a pick in the 12-16 range.

We’re hearing that DeJuan Blair is in pretty good shape at the moment, and he continues to have very strong workouts that are easing the concerns teams have about his knee. Blair’s draft range looks pretty steady between 12 and 16, although he will work out for teams above and below those picks. Don’t be surprised to see a team like Oklahoma City or Portland try to make a move for him on draft night, as both organizations are reportedly very high on him.

Hmm. The tough thing about the 12-16 range is it makes it less likely that he will get an invite to the Draft. I can still hope.

Apparently the NBA Draft version of overthinking is age. Sam Young is 24, you might have heard. That means teams don’t consider his ceiling as high at this point.

My admiration of Miami guard Jack McClinton is no secret, but at his age (24) it’s hard to convince a team that there’s a lot of “potential” left in him. Same thing for 24-year-old Pittsburgh forward Sam Young, who will hear a lot of the same things as we get closer and closer to the draft. While it’s a heck of a lot more likely both those players get selected in the second round for that exact reason, it shouldn’t be overlooked that either one of those guys would be tremendous, NBA-ready additions to any team. Both guys have teams that are very interested, but their age makes it unlikely they go in the first 30 picks.

Others see Young still in the first round, but knocked to the bottom of it by that same limitation.

A two time all-Big East selection, Young possesses a polished all around game with a knack for performing best in his team’s biggest games. The small forward averaged 23.5 points per game in the NCAA Tournament, leading the team to the Elite Eight. Despite all of these accomplishments, however, Young will likely slip out of the draft lottery and into the latter part of the first round largely because of his age.

At 24, Young is older than even most of his classmates which, by NBA Draft standards, is ancient. He might as well be Abe Vigoda. Few players in this draft have the combination of skills, athleticism and experience that Young has yet he still isn’t considered a top prospect in this draft.

“My age is always going to be an issue,” Young said of his draft status. “In this business you always look for youth and because I’m not as young as some of the other guys it is just something that is going to come up.”

Regardless of where Young is picked, or by whom, he is confident that he will be able to help his team because of the experience and maturity he gained during his four years at Pitt.

“(Age works to my advantage) because of my maturity level,” Young said. “I want any team to know that when they recruit me they aren’t going to get a kid. They aren’t going to get a guy who is going go off and act crazy off the court. I’m going to be one of the team leaders as a rookie.”

Confidence, apparently, isn’t an issue either.

The age issue is why it was so surprising Sam Young did not even put his name in the NBA Draft last season as a junior. He had to have been told that after his senior year, he would get the age thing thrown at him.

Yet he never even flirted with putting his name in the draft. He declared right away that he was coming back to Pitt for his senior year and never wavered. Pitt was very lucky to have a player like Young.

Most mock drafts have Young at the end of the first round somewhere at #20 or lower. A couple have dropped him to the second round. SLAM gave real love to Young by pegging him at #16 to the Bulls. It’s a very enthusiastic review.

Sam Young had a workout before the New Orleans Hornets that seems to have gotten mixed reviews.

Sam Young out of Pitt seems like a classic tweener. He has an NBA-ready body and impressed Hornets head coach Byron Scott with his strength during the workout.

“Young is very strong and can get his own shot,” said Scott.

But the 6-foot-6, 220 pounder struggled with his footwork and appeared slow in trying to guard one-on-one during the session. Young also has an unorthodox shot that lacks arc and has a somewhat sideways rotation.

I know I’m biased, but I have trouble seeing Young not taken in the 1st round. Even if it’s with the final pick and may smack of a different bias as the Cavs beat reporter, Brian Windhorst observed in an interview.

AP [Amar Panchmatia]: My favorite in this draft has been Pittsburgh’s Sam Young. Young reminds me of James Posey in that he has a big strong body to deal with small forwards to go with good footwork and quickness to keep up with smaller guards. His length and defensive abilities may be just what the Cavs need to match up with teams like Orlando that have so much size on the perimeter. However, I haven’t seen Young’s name linked to the Cavs in any particular workouts. Do the Cavs have any sort of interest in Young, and do they view him as a guy who could really fit in right away into Mike Brown’s defensive scheme?

BW [Brian Windhorst]: Danny Ferry and Pitt coach Jamie Dixon are very close. The Cavs go to Pitt to watch games as Big East teams come through all season. I’m sure they have tons and tons of information on Young. What I am sure they like about him is that he’s long. The Cavs are going to be looking for long (when I say that I mean wingspan as much as height) players in this draft.

AP: Based on what you know about this team and the players who may be available when the Cavs pick, who would be a good fit with this current squad based on where they are right now and where they want to go?

BW: Let’s consider the last five #30 picks. There was JR Giddens, Petteri Koponen, Joel Freeland, David Lee and David Harrison. That’s a D-leaguer, a Swede not in the NBA, A Brit not in the NBA, a quality big man who is overrated because he puts up mostly hollow numbers for a horrible team in a big market, and a guy who’s career in the NBA is now over.

In general, you can get three things at this point in the draft. 1. Development Europeans. 2. Point guards. 3. Undersized big men (Big Baby and Leon Powe were taken in the mid-30s). The only thing the Cavs really need of those three is a point guard. So that is the direction I could see them going. However, I could see them looking to move up to get a potentially good, long wing.

Sam Young was listed by Windhorst at the top of the list of wing players the Cavs are considering.

Family visiting for a couple days, then visiting other family. It adds up to lots of time not being able to get near a computer.

Today is a big day for the draft. The final withdrawl date. Players like Luke Harangody for Notre Dame and Jodie Meeks of Kentucky have the big decisions.

With all the stuff that came out suddenly on his knees, DeJuan Blair suddenly has his draft position a little in the unknown realm.

Blair has been getting some negative buzz over old knee injuries with teams expressing concern he may have a pre-arthritic condition related to torn ACL’s when he was in high school. Blair says the teams he’s met with have not shown a lot of concern about it, especially after hearing he’s had zero knee issues since the surgery and after watching him move most teams are simply accepting that DeJuan may not be perfect but teams are still eager to see him. The consensus on Blair is split, with some sources saying the knee concerns added to his 6’6 frame make him more likely to go in the 10 to 20 range, where some teams in the top 10 still have Blair high enough on their board that he could go top 10 if teams in front of them go differently than expected.

I can see Blair slipping to just outside of the lottery. This is a weak draft as far as talent that really seems worth a top-14 pick. It’s not a knock on Blair, but the players he draws comparisons to — best case Paul Milsap to Jason Maxiell on down were not drafted that high.

Maxiell was considered a reach by Detroit at the end of the 1st round. Milsap was grabbed #47 — obviously he turned out to be a steal. The point being, that the fact that Blair could go in the top-10 despite his limits in offensive moves, height and potential knee issues says a lot about the quality of the draft.

To be fair, his high draft status also speaks well, though, of how Blair has performed for teams on the court and in interviews.

Not that teams don’t try to find things to complain or at least cite as an excuse.

It’s not just the tangible of measuring 6-5¼ in socks and 6-6½ in shoes that could hurt DeJuan Blair, Pittsburgh’s undersized power forward. There’s also the wonder of why he didn’t get in better shape during the season and waited until draft preparations to lose weight in what strikes some teams as more contract drive than long-term commitment. On the other hand, Kevin Love faced the same conditioning questions a year ago and turned in a productive rookie season with the Timberwolves. “It’s something you’re always concerned about — if you lost the weight, you can put it back on,” one executive said. “But watching him in college, the weight didn’t hurt him a lot. He knocked the crap out of people. He’s strong.” Plus, Blair’s bubbly personality will win fans wherever he lands.

Still the concerns were enough for Chad Ford at ESPN.com to drop Blair to #16 in his mock draft to the Bulls.

And if he were to end up on the Bulls with former Panther Aaron Gray?

“This is what I say about size: Go get the biggest person on your team, let me play one-on-one against him and we’ll see about size,” Blair said.

Told Gray is, in fact, the biggest Bull, Blair smiled.

“Of course I can take him,” he said.

HoopsReport had Blair at #14 to the Suns.

Blair has a workout with the Indiana Pacers today. Other workouts he had last week include the Charlotte Bobcats and the Milwaukee Bucks.

In the Bucks workout he showed some increased range with 15-18 foot jumpers. Apparently abusing former Michigan State big man Goran Suton.

In Charlotte, Coach Larry Brown played coy about what the Bobcats are doing, considering or anything.

That was Brown’s way of saying he isn’t troubled by the height of Pittsburgh’s DeJuan Blair, who measured 6-5 1/4 in his stocking feet at the NBA combine. That seems quite short for a power forward, until you consider Blair’s extraordinary 7-2 wingspan.

Blair’s dimensions are similar to those of former Charlotte Hornet Larry Johnson. Johnson was a tremendous rebounder until he hurt his back, and Blair had three games of 20 or more rebounds in two seasons at Pittsburgh.

“I always look for guys who have no neck and long arms,” Brown said. “So he’ll be a (power forward) and he’ll do well.”

Another 10 days to wait.

Levance Fields has been jetting around a bit to attend team workouts. He does not expect to get drafted, but it will be very likely that he will sign a free agent deal for at least the summer league.

At the end of last week he was out in Sacremento.

Another intriguing player that worked out for the Kings was Pittsburgh point guard Levance Fields.

At 5-foot-10, 190 pounds, Fields looks a lot like a football player. And he’s from Brooklyn, NY and most basketball fans know the swagger that comes with a point guard from New York.

Fields isn’t considered one of the top prospects at the position.

He led a Pitt team that was known for its toughness. So it’s no surprise that’s what Fields touted as one of his strengths.

“I’m just tough nosed,” he said. “Tough mentally, a grind it out type of player. Not really pretty, not fancy. I just get the job done and do whatever my team needs for me to do to win. I think that’s all that matters. As long as my team wins, that’s all I care about.”

No actual word how he performed.

Tomorrow he has a workout with the NY Knicks. The only other guard set to come in that day is Gonzaga senior Micah Downs.

Fields’ agent is expressing the requisite optimism.

“We want to get him in the best shape that he’s been in,” [Keith] Glass said. “He’s not been able to be in great shape because of the injuries. Every team in the league loves the way he plays, but their concern has always been his conditioning and the shape that he’s been in.”

According to the story, Orlando and Chicago have also been interested in him.

We haven’t heard much about Tyrell Biggs except for a brief bit of positive press at the end of May. Well, he also was down at the IMG Academy with Blair to get in shape and improve his game.

Sean Brown, a walk-on with Pitt this past year (and also Biggs’ roommate) has a bit up for SLAM while he is, uh, “trying to breakthrough in a street culture industry (Think Alife Rivington Club and Reed Space) while maintaining my love for the game via the written word.”

The New York native had a mediocre senior season on a quality Pittsburgh team surround by scoring threats, but with a position change and improved aggressiveness Biggs is believed to get some quality looks from NBA scouts. At 6’8” with quality face-up skills, Biggs has proven that his play in college was merely lost in translation. “College was a great experience from a team perspective for me, now I can show off my individual skill.” The little aspects of his shot have made it more consistent crediting his focus and some instruction on bouncing after his release. Outside of his playing ability everyone seems to acknowledge Biggs’s business like attitude towards the game. Thorpe has described Biggs as coming in “fully aware of the obstacles he faces and the daily fight he will endure.” This uphill battle that Biggs will face to land on an NBA roster has been met with his attitude of constant professionalism and a planned purpose throughout all his workouts. Sometimes the ability to be seen in a different setting allows players such as Biggs to surprise and creates opportunity to play at a higher level once not available to them.

Biggs’ obstacle to the NBA is his inability to play good defense, not getting better consistency with his shot.

I wish both Fields and Biggs the best, and hope they have great careers in Europe.

Summer vacation is underway for the kids. Either them or me will have to be put under heavy sedation by July if the first day was any indication.

I noted that the big difference in how quickly DeJuan Blair shed the pounds after declaring for the draft was primarily diet. Sure enough, Blair confirmed that this was a big factor.

“I stopped eating a lot of bad food,” Blair said. “I don’t know if it’s bad for you, but it was for me. Used the DeJuan Blair diet: high protein, steaks, salmon, lots of water. Disciplined myself what to eat. I feel lighter on my feet, and the strength is still there. That ain’t going anywhere.”

Especially cutting out the fast food.

When Blair was in town for a few days this week, he had dinner with a friend. The friend was shocked to hear him order a grilled chicken salad. He no longer eats bread products and has sworn off the fast food that he enjoyed so frequently during his college days.

“My nutritionist took me to the nutrition store and bought me a bunch of stuff, told me what I could eat and not eat,” Blair said. “I’m not around McDonald’s and Wendy’s down here. Discipline is the biggest thing. You can’t eat certain foods. You have to eat what’s good for you.

“It’s going well. I’m losing weight and I’m changing my body. I feel really good. I took off a lot of fat and put on muscle. Now I’m quicker and lighter.”

It’s hard to resist that stuff. Especially in college — big-time player on a national power or not — Blair was in a completely controlled envrionment at the IMG Academy that forced him to eat one way. The mix of seeing the rapid results, climbing the mock draft boards (which Blair follows closely) and knowing what it means for his future appears to have provided (at least in the short term) a significant incentive to stay in control of his eating habits.

Blair will be hoping to be one of 15 players invited to the NBA Draft. These are the players most likely to go in the first 14 picks of the lottery.  Even if he doesn’t get the invite, I’m hoping he crashes the event. I’d love to see the big guy take the stage. I really, really want to see the suit he picks.

Milwaukee has the 10th pick, and they are bringing him in on Wednesday. Their scouting director spoke glowingly of Blair, as BrewHoop has the transcript.

What I like about him…I’d be here all day. He’s tough, he rebounds, he understands the game. He’s a true power forward, and you look around the NBA and you see so many teams playing with smaller lineups. And here’s a guy that’s not the biggest guy in the world but he plays his position great. He rebounds, he defends, he’ll block shots, he’ll operate out of the low post, he’s a good passer, and he plays the game with a passion.

Perhaps a bit of smoke blowing, and with the knee issue getting played up a bit, it might scare some teams off of Blair. Of course, compared to maybe needing a new liver or an aneurysm still in the brain, knee problems don’t seem that bad.

Like stocks, so too are the status of Sam Young and DeJuan Blair.

DeJuan Blair seemed to be barging his way into the lottery, possibly a top-ten pick. That seems in question with leaked medical stuff (insider subs).

However, the news became much grimmer for Blair when the results of the medical testing came back. Multiple NBA teams are saying Blair’s knees have been red-flagged.

Blair tore both of his ACLs in high school, and the preliminary word from the physicals is that his knees aren’t in great shape.

How bad they are depends on who you talk to, but the range wasn’t good. I heard everything from “devastating” to “troubling.”

Blair’s agent, Happy Walters, doesn’t feel words like “devastating” are accurate in describing the report he saw.

“From what I saw, it’s not that bad,” Walters told Insider. “People tend to get overexcited about this. Some teams will make a big ado about it and draft him anyway. It’s all a game. Some teams want him to slide.”

“He had ACL problems in high school. Everyone knew that. He’s never missed a game in college from his knees. It hasn’t affected his play at all. We’ll look further into it. We’ll check it out and have other specialists look at it, too. But it’s something you can’t do anything about. We’re not hiding anything.”

Whether the concern ends up being a small or large factor in Blair’s draft stock, it’s a shame when you consider the momentum he has had since the season ended. With so few bigs in the draft, he was looking at a potential late lottery pick. That now seems less likely.

Now Blair did miss a game against Belmont last November because of swelling in the right knee. There was nothing wrong according to X-rays and an MRI. By all accounts, he could have played and felt no pain. It’s just that there was no reason to risk Blair in that game.

Of course, it could very well be that the GMs and scouts leaking stuff to Ford are just trying to drive down Blair’s draft value as another account is less hyper.

MRI’s in Chicago revealed some minor concerns about his knees as Blair had both ACL’s repaired in high school. The irony of the concerns is Blair has not had a single knee related issue since the surgery in high school, did not miss a single game or practice at Pitt and has had no soreness or knee related issues. That won’t stop some teams from passing on Blair, or using the chance of future knee issues – which is almost silly considering how common knee tears are these days – as a reason to pass on Blair. One league source commented that if teams were just now hearing about Blair’s ACL’s they apparently did not do their homework on him…

Very true. There has been no secret about his past surgeries. In fact, it was a rather compelling reason for Blair to go pro now. You just never know.

Sam Young, though, has seen his value increase with group workouts where he has shone.

Several league sources say Sam Young was by far the most impressive player coming out of the Oakland and Minnesota group workouts, if any one player seems to have generated positive buzz from the workouts it was Young although several players did well, Young is the name most mention as the best player they saw.

Here are the comments from the Phoenix Suns Senior VP of Basketball Ops, David Griffin on Young.

“Sam played incredibly well. Sam helped himself, showing himself more capable of getting to the rim than you might have expected in that setting. And he did it repeatedly. He made jumpshots from every range and moved well laterally. Sam’s a bit older, so he has a maturity level you wouldn’t expect to find in the younger players. In terms of making a statement, Sam did that. He had a severe injury in Toronto during the workout campaign, where he jumped into the Vertec measuring apparatus and got a screw lodged under his bicep. They removed the screw, and we’re not even 10 days past that and he’s dominating the workout. He’s a very tough kid.”

I’m not saying it was a good thing to have the freak accident in Toronto, but it sure isn’t looking like a negative. People seem genuinely impressed with how he dealt with it and has not let it stop him.

It’s always good to have buzz increasing about your draft prospects when you start on the outside of the lottery or even on the fringe of the 1st round. DeJuan Blair’s sudden rise is obvious in no small part because he showed up to the Chicago combines in great physical shape.

Sam Young’s physique has not been in question. Following the freakiness in the Toronto workout, neither has his toughness.

He’s been training to increase his ball handling to be able to play some at the guard position (hat tip to Bryan H).

Meet Sam Young, slam-dunkin’ three-point-drainin’, lockdown defendin’ off guard.

The majority of NBA draftniks consider Young to be a 6-foot-6 small forward at the next level, but he is fully intent to change some minds in the days and months ahead.

“For sure,” Young told Inside Pittsburgh Sports at the NBA Combine. “A lot of people don’t think that I can play the two guard, but my ball-handling has gotten to a point that I will play a lot there. I can even bring the ball up the floor. When all is said and done, I’ll definitely be a two.”

In the last two months, Young spent long hours to acclimate himself to the three-point shot, NBA style. In the pros, the arc is located 23 feet, nine inches from the basket, three feet further than in the college game.

“At the beginning, I thought it would affect me a little bit,” Young said of the added distance. “But now, I’m shooting it pretty consistently, especially at the private workouts and (the NBA Combine).

And to think, there was a point as a sophomore where he bristled at being put at small forward instead of power forward.

Yesterday he was working out for the Golden State Warriors with several other teams in attendance, and the reviews were solid.

According to several observers who saw the two afternoon workouts, Pittsburgh’s Sam Young was the most impressive player. Young, a 6-foot-6 swingman, was in Group 1, and played with/against Luke Harangody (Notre Dame), Joe Ingles (Australia), Damion Jones (Texas), Jeff Pendergraph (Arizone State) and Marcus Thornton (LSU).

Five-on-five scrimmaging was not part of the workouts. Instead, players were put through stretching exercises, shooting drills, individual skill work and then some 3-on-3 competition.

It was in the 3-on-3s that Young outplayed Jones and Thornton, according to some.

Of that group, only Thornton seems to get much mention for going in the 1st round. Right in the same mid- to late-20s area where Young has been.

Less than two weeks until the NBA Draft and DeJuan Blair finds himself getting mentioned more and more in the top-14 picks. New Jersey at #11 seems to be the place, since they spoke of needing a “moose.” Of course that goes out the window if they end up getting Carlos Boozer in free agency.

This past week at the Chicago combine, Blair really didn’t surprise in the measurables.

DeJuan Blair measured just 6’5.25 without shoes making him just 6’6 (exactly what we had him listed at all season), but an amazing 7’2 wingspan and a standing reach of 8’10.5 gives him legitimate power forward size. His 1.5 inch standing reach advantage over Griffin almost doesn’t seem possible.

He also showed up in fantastic shape. And his personality is going to be an asset.

Pittsburgh’s DeJuan Blair has about as much buzz as any player in the draft right now, and he obviously is enjoying showing off his new chiseled physique. “I lost 38 pounds,” he tells us afterwards with a huge grin on his face. He’s relishing the chance to make his presence felt in this setting, no longer asked to lead fast breaks or shoot NBA 3-pointers like he was in the first day.

“I felt much more comfortable out there today,” he explains. “I wanted to dunk the ball hard. Give them something to remember me by.”

Blair particularly shines in the interviews with teams and the media day sessions, showing off his gregarious personality that some go as far as to compare to Shaquille O’Neal. “That’s just me,” Blair tells us with a smile. “I love being around people.”

Once more using the doubts about his decision to go pro as motivation.

It’s a long way from where he was when he first hired agent Happy Walters, when many said he made a mistake by declaring for the NBA draft.

“That’s just something that the people that just wanted to see me back in college again say or thought I wasn’t ready for it. There are a lot of different things people could have went from. I think I’m ready for it; I’m trying to adjust to it and the NBA life. It’s going to be great. Like I’ve said before, if your dreams are in front of you, why not go and reach for them? You never know what could happen. My dream was in front of me so I reached and grabbed it and I’m holding onto it tight. I’m not going anywhere.”

This is just one more reminder how much tougher Sam Young is than me.

Young participated in Friday’s skill work for the first time without a wrap on his left biceps. He was involved in one of the most bizarre incidents ever in predraft workouts.

A week ago in Toronto, Young was impaled by a metal piece off a vertical testing pole. “It was one millimeter away from hitting my nerve; three millimeters away from a blood vessel,” Young said.

He described the incident as follows, and the account was corroborated by at least one Raptors official: Young jumped up to slap the pole, turned in the air and the piece of metal popped into his skin. But the piece had two sides, and it went in two different directions, making it impossible for him to just pull it out. Young was suspended in the air on the pole before Raptors personnel gently took him down with the pole still attached to him.

“It didn’t break off, so I hung on it,” Young said. “They turned the vertical pole sideways. But I couldn’t take the whole thing with me. So the guys in the gym weren’t sure what to do. I waited 15 minutes for paramedics. They came, put a towel over my face and with a chain saw separated me from it. There were sparks flying everywhere.”

The worst part was when Young was in the ambulance. “I’m holding part of the pole that’s still in me, and the ambulance had to go over speed bumps to get out of the arena,” Young said. “I’m trying to keep it steady, but it’s pulling on my skin. It was crazy. I wanted to yank the whole thing out, but I wasn’t sure about the effect. I finally got to the hospital, they drugged me up, they fiddled with it and yanked it out. I would have been in trouble had I pulled it out. It was the craziest hour of my life.”

There were no stitches and almost no blood from the puncture wound. Young said he was told not to do the weightlifting portion of the testing in Chicago, and he isn’t supposed to do any lifting for two weeks as a precaution.

He said doctors told him to rest for a few weeks, but that wasn’t going to happen. Young went and worked out for Chicago and Indiana after the incident. He’s heading to Golden State for a group workout next week. “I was determined to not let it affect me,” Young said.

If it’s me, I’m running around freaked out screaming, “Get it out, Morton! Get it out!”

The more details that emerge from that incident, the crazier it gets.

Temple guard Dionte Christmas witnessed Young’s mishap.

“That was pretty crazy,” Christmas said. “He’s a tough guy. I can see that just from seeing him out on the court, but after that, he’s definitely got my respect.”

On the bright side, that means when the NBA commentators bring up Sam Young, they have something else to mention beyond the backflips and poetry.

Hopefully he got to keep the piece for the potential lawsuit.

Rumors and speculative mock drafts are the main thing at this point.

DeJuan Blair is getting plenty of positive vibes as he is rising in the weak draft. He did an interview with Chad Ford of ESPN.com.

And Ford gushed over what he saw.

Last week, when I listed the prospects I’d see on my pre-draft workout tour, I got a number of calls from NBA executives with the same request: “Let us know how Blair looks.” NBA GMs want to love this guy. They need players like him. But they’re scared off by the physical limitations he has.

I’m happy to report that the news is good. Blair looks closer to 6-6 than 6-8, but he has a huge 7-foot, 2-inch wingspan that makes up for his lack of height.

As far as his weight goes, Blair looks considerably better than he looked at Pittsburgh. He has lost about 15 pounds during the first two weeks of training. His physique is much more chiseled. And most importantly, his athleticism has improved greatly because he has lost that weight and improved his conditioning.

Where that should help Blair the most is on the defensive end of the floor. A lot of teams are concerned that Blair won’t have the foot speed to defend the pick-and-roll in the league. What I saw at his workout suggests he does.

Blair looked much quicker and more explosive than he looked at Pittsburgh. His quickness and leaping ability were impressive for someone his size. He went as hard as anyone in the gym that day and didn’t slow down toward the end.

Perhaps most telling was a drill in which Blair and others had to throw the ball hard off the backboard, leap up to catch it, come back down and then leap again for a dunk. Blair repeatedly exploded up and finished strong above the rim. A few times, it seemed as though Blair would pull it down.

On the skills portion, Blair is a work in progress. He still doesn’t have much of a face-the-basket game. His shot mechanics are inconsistent, so it’s unlikely that he’ll be a good pick-and-pop guy early in his career. His ballhandling also could use much work. But then again, NBA teams aren’t drafting him to shoot 3s and handle the ball.

In a draft with just one dominant, physical big guy — Blake Griffin — Blair may move up to fill that gap. Last year, a number of NBA guys had Kevin Love ranked as a mid-first-round pick because of his perceived lack of size and athleticism. He wowed in workouts, then delivered as a rookie in Minnesota. That could help Blair’s case, as could the NBA success of players such as Paul Millsap and Carl Landry.

That belief was reflected in how Ford moved Blair to #11 in his latest mock draft. Of course, with Chad Ford, there must be interperetations. Read this on how to read Ford.

DraftExpress also has Blair at #11 going to New Jersey.

As far as Sam Young goes, his highest spot is from SI.com’s Ian Thomsen who has him going at #20 to Utah. Thomsen also has Blair at #12 to Charlotte.

Most of the mock drafts, though, put Young in the late 20s (Ford has him at #27 to Minnesota and Draft Express goes with #25 to Oklahoma).

Young is getting some love as a looming “sleeper” pick for the late 1st round. Someone who will help right away.

Young may not be a 20-year old with loads of potential, but he will be a 24-year old rookie who will have the maturity and experience to step in immediately and contribute as a rookie in the NBA. Young is very strong and athletic, but he doesn’t try to be flashy. He is a smart player who knows how to score points and will his team to victory. Young’s patented move is his pump fake that nobody can seem to resist, even though everybody and their grandmother knows that he’s going to pump fake every time he touches the ball.

Then there is this, that I know I didn’t even expect to read in highly speculative, heavy rumor disinformation time that are the workouts.

One of HOOPSWORLD’s favorite fringe players is really seeing some interest. Tyrell Biggs is a 2nd round draft pick at best, but two very strong workouts have generated some buzz for the 6’8 Biggs. The Pacers recently had Biggs in for a look and his “all over the court effort” got him praise from the Pacers and a couple of stitches above his eye after the workout. Biggs had his best workout of the week with the Chicago Bulls. Sources near the situation say he thoroughly dominated UNC’s Tyler Hansbrough in almost every drill and has now landed himself a spot on the Bulls’ board in the second round. A lot of thing have to break Biggs’ way for him to be a draft pick, but considering how far on the outside the process he was four weeks ago things are looking up for Biggs.

Lots of qualifiers and hedging on the hype, but good for Tyrell Biggs. Weird, but good.

And this is why the NCAA rule starting next year that mandates that underclassmen only have until May 8 or so to decide whether they are staying in the NBA Draft or not is all about the coaches and programs, and have nothing to do with the players.

Most NBA teams just are not bringing in the kids for workouts until the first week or so of May. Add in that for underclassmen to keep their eligibility they can’t just take off for workouts in April when classes are still going — it’s one thing to be excused for a basketball game or tournament but no excuses allowed when it is an NBA workout.

Sorry, getting off-topic before even starting. The intent was to get to the circumstances of Sam Young getting injured in his very first NBA team workout.

“It will be OK,” Young said Wednesday. “It’s not going to affect anything, not even a little bit.”

Young, who is preparing for the June 25 NBA Draft, required a brief visit to a Toronto hospital but is expected to return to workouts later this week.

He was hurt while being tested for his vertical leap. He twisted his body as he leapt, and a screw on the vertical-leap pole pierced his arm. Rather than risk tearing any muscle, the Raptors personnel removed the screw from the pole, left it in Young’s arm and took him to the hospital to have it dislodged.

“They didn’t want to rip the screw out of his arm,” said Young’s agent, Lance Young (no relation). “They said to make sure he takes his antibiotics for infection.”

Lance Young said the injury didn’t require any stitches and currently is protected by a small butterfly bandage and medical tape. Young was told to avoid overexerting the arm for about a week.

Young was cool about it but another player there for a workout was less so.

“I didn’t know what to expect and the first thing that happened is a guy got his arm stuck in the thing (measuring device),” Pendergraph said. “I thought, ‘this is going to be a long one.'”

Coach Dixon is also encouraged about any opportunity for Levance Fields.

A lot of people say it’s almost better not to be drafted than to go in the second round. Then you can pick your team and see who has a need,” Dixon, the Naismith National Coach of the Year, said Wednesday.

Keith Glass, Fields’ agent, said several teams, including the Orlando Magic and Chicago Bulls, have expressed interest in having Fields join their summer league teams if he is not drafted.

“There’s been a lot of interest,” Dixon said. “A lot of maneuvering to figure out which teams he’s going to be with, what days, when they’re bringing in guards.”
…
“We want to get him in the best shape that he’s been in,” Glass said. “He’s not been able to be in great shape because of the injuries. Every team in the league loves the way he plays, but their concern has always been his conditioning and the shape that he’s been in.”

“He’s been hurt the last couple of years,” Dixon said. “If he’s not injured, I think he shoots a higher percentage.”

Dixon believes that if Fields can drop some weight and get a little quicker, he could contribute to an NBA franchise. If not, he mentioned that several of his former players — Ronald Ramon, Antonio Graves, Levon Kendall and others — were making a healthy living overseas.

Realistically, Fields is heading for Europe or Israel. Still, at least he is getting enough interest from teams to get a look — or be fodder for the draft prospects.

Coach Dixon was in NYC for a coaching clinic (I guess) which explains this seemingly random tweet. Adam Zagoria has a slew of stuff from Coach Dixon. Ranging from the confirmation of Pitt now being Nike, to the NJ guards expected to be a big factor next year, to Isiah Epps prepping somewhere, the Big East being open for other teams this coming year, holding the open scholarship for someone else for the 2010 recruiting class, to his lack of interest in Arizona.

Dixon said people shouldn’t be surprised that he stayed at Pitt instead of taking the Arizona job, which ultimately went to Sean Miller.

“I think only the people that don’t know our university and don’t understand what we have there [were surprised],” he said. “We have a great place and there’s a sense of loyalty to the kids and the school on my part.”

He added: “Sean’s going to do a really good job there.”

Given Tim Floyd’s days suddenly look numbered, hopefully he means it.

It may be the rubber chicken circuit, as opposed to sitting down with media to discuss the team for 2009, but Coach Dixon is not in the mood to sell Pitt short for next year.

So Dixon, whose team went 31-5 last season and reached the Elite Eight for the first time, isn’t about to throw in the towel after losing senior point guard Levance Fields, forwards Sam Young and Tyrell Biggs and sophomore center DeJuan Blair.

“Every year we’ve lost two or three starters,”?Dixon said before speaking at Sunnehanna Country Club on Tuesday night. “This year we lost three or four. Every year it’s a challenge. Our players may have made it look a little easier than it is.”

Dixon is hoping that his returning players, along with an influx of young talent, can make the transition even easier this time. That 20-win season in 2003-04 was Dixon’s worst, which says something about how far the Pitt program has come in the past decade and even more about how it has been able to replace quality players year after year.

Dixon is also coming out and saying that the front court will be starting freshmen. Not even pretending otherwise. He’s also putting expectations squarely on Gilbert Brown’s shoulders.

“We’re going to be playing freshmen on the front line,”?Dixon admitted. “We haven’t done that as often, but our perimeter is very experienced. That’s something that you like to have.”

Guard Jermaine Dixon returns after starting all 36 games as a junior transfer. Brad Wanamaker and Ashton Gibbs also saw quality minutes in the backcourt.

But the key to the how Pitt responds next season could be junior Gilbert Brown. The 6-foot-6 swingman has shown flashes of his extraordinary athleticism, but he hasn’t been able to consistently produce in 72 career games.

“He’s got to get healthy,”?Coach Dixon said. “He’s had three years of being injured throughout. You can only accomplish those things when you’re healthy and able to play throughout, not in bits and pieces or short stretches.”

The Pitt coach reiterated that message to Brown a few weeks ago at the team’s year-end banquet. But it didnt quite have the impact Dixon had hoped it would.

“He turned his ankle after the banquet, when I talked to him about not getting hurt anymore,”?Coach Dixon said. “He turned it the next night. He’s had every injury known to man in his three years. We’re looking forward to him healthy.”

I would question laying this on Brown, except that Brown will be a redshirt junior. Coach Dixon has had him around for 3 years, and has shown in his time that he has figured out what works to motivate each player. Whether it is privately talking and trusting the players (Fields, Ramon, Graves), trying to keep humble/motivate (Blair) or letting people know that he’s going to be the “man” (Young).

He must know the psyche of Brown at this point. Clearly he believes that Gilbert Brown needs to publicly hear that he will be the man on this team. Probably as much to reassure him that the young frontcourt won’t be the focus or other wing players coming in are not going to supplant him.

Dixon is also proud of the players leaving after this season, and the fact that they are all going to play professionally somewhere.

“Sam, there’s a real buzz about him because of how he played at the end of the year and in the NCAA?tournament,”?Dixon said. “There’s a lot of excitement about him, no question about it. And DeJuan, the same thing.”

Dixon said seniors Levance Fields, who was an AP?All-America honorable-mention pick, and Tyrell Biggs also have the opportunity to play professionally.

“All four will be in NBA?camps,”?Dixon said. “All will have opportunities to play at the next level. That’s what our guys – they come to graduate, get better players, grow as people and play in the NBA. We’ve put those guys in a position, with their hard work, to have the opportunity to reach that dream.”

Blair has been down in Florida at the IMG Academy working out and getting ready for the draft. Going to IMG for training, also means more chance to be hyped. As the IMG blog does light interview pieces on each player down there.

On his infamous shoulder toss of Hasheem Thabeet… I see the picture almost every day. It was funny to me because of how he landed. The way he flipped over was incredible. I didn’t think it happened until I saw the replay. I think I would have broken his arm if he would’ve kept standing straight over me.

On Barack Obama and March Madness… It was great when Barack said my name and Dwyane Wade picked us to win on SportsCenter. I’m going to get that video of Barack. But it didn’t help us. You know how people say their life passes before their eyes, well, the whole season flashed before my eyes when (Villanova’s) Scottie Reynolds hit that shot. We didn’t fulfill our dreams. I  guess in a way it was a successful season and it wasn’t.

Sam Young has really not been heard from since the season ended. He’s been getting ready for the draft and workouts are getting underway. Unfortunately, Sam Young was scratched from a workout in Toronto.

The team hoped to work out six players yesterday in advance of the NBA draft, but the two headliners, Terrence Williams of Louisville and Sam Young of Pittsburgh were held back until today, because Young was injured while taking a physical.

What kind of physical do they give in Canada?

Sorry about being off the last few days. From August through most of April I am seemingly directly connected to the computer at all times. That means lots of things get neglected until now.

Not that I’m missing a lot.

In Harrisburg, the mayor has declared May, “LeSean McCoy Month.”

May is now LeSean McCoy’s favorite month. Harrisburg Mayor Stephen R. Reed read a proclamation this afternoon that pronounced May “LeSean McCoy Month” in Harrisburg, after the former Bishop McDevitt High School football star was drafted by the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles.

McCoy received the honor in a brief ceremony at City Hall. He stood with his father, Ron McCoy, and said his entry into the NFL has been like living a childhood dream.

Just imagine what would have happened if he had been drafted in the first round. I guess that’s one way to encourage McCoy to keep repping “717” in the eyeblack.

Staying in the 717, Coach Dave Wannstedt will be in Lancaster next Wednesday, May 12, as the featured speaker at the Manheim Touchdown Club banquet. It is the rubber chicken circuit time of the year for Coach Wannstedt and the rest of the Pitt coaching staff.

Just wondering. Would it be a good idea for Coach Wannstedt to join the coach Twittering? I’m not sure we want Twitter updates at halftime to say, “We need to get FASTER!!!”