mnWI wrote:MitchWeber can vouch for me on anything I say, but I spent part of the draft process training Hassan Whiteside, and am happy that he landed in a good situation. The only reason he slipped so far is that he was dead set on being a lotto pick in his head, and didn't really workout with any team outside of the top 14. When in reality, he should have worked out for several teams in the 10-20 range. If he would have done that, he would have been off the board in the first round for sure.
Also, don't let anyone tell you Whiteside is a headcase, because it couldn't be any further from the truth. He doesn't smoke, doesn't drink, and doesn't cheat on his girlfriend. I had him in Minnesota for a workout on his 21st birthday not too long ago. I offered to set up several things for him, but instead he was in bed at his hotel at 10pm. The bad character reputation comes mostly from the media, because Hassan really needs to work on his handling of the media. He is far too confident and honest, and has also been sheltered, so it really makes him look bad in interviews.
As a player he's at least 2 years away from contributing on the court, but is an amazing reactionary defender. Help defense is his biggest strength, and I spent a lot of time helping his man to man defense. He was a lousy man defender in college, but the rules allow you to be a lot more physical with opposing players in the NBA, and Whiteside did a good job picking up on this. He can also shoot the ball quite well to 20 feet, though he doesn't have much of a back to the basket game at this point.
I hope Sacramento gives him the time to grow as a player and continue to develop as a prospect. I know he has to be disappointed about slipping so far on draft night, but like I told him, situation matters more than anything, and he is going into a good situation.
Good read, and as happy as I was that Whiteside was still there at #33, I felt pretty bad for the kid. He sounded so bummed on the radio interview with Jason Ross. I bet that when he was working out for the Kings, he wasn't thinking about being picked with their 2nd round pick...
But that's ok! Use that to prove the rest of the league wrong!
Next year's draft he's going all SG's! Book it! Boy is Shrink's face red! I hate it when guys like him talk so big on these boards talking as if he's the GM bashing other posters plausible trades. Now look at him and other Wolves fans..sulking. Shrink's last post was about page 14 out of 64 pages hahahahaaha 
