Reaction and comments from the participants.
By Jonathan Santiago / @ITSjonsantiago
The Sacramento Kings held another round of pre-draft workouts at their practice facility on Saturday. And based on the talent pool who participated in the afternoon session, conventional wisdom would lead one to believe Geoff Petrie’s going big with the fifth pick in Thursday’s draft.
The notable participants in the afternoon workouts were Ekpe Udoh, Hassan Whiteside and Greg Monroe, all brought in for their second go-around. It’s worth mentioning that Saturday was Monroe’s first group workout for a particular team. Prior to Saturday’s session, the former Georgetown Hoya had only showcased his skills in individual workouts.
I managed to capture some reaction from Monroe and Whiteside, but not Udoh after the session. I spent some extra time speaking with Whiteside individually and by the time I finished, Udoh had left. But if you’re interested in hearing from the former Baylor Bear, my friends at Kings.com have you covered.
Greg Monroe
Hassan Whiteside
Udoh, Whiteside and Monroe may have been the main attractions of Saturday afternoon’s workout. But they weren’t the only guys in attendance, showing their skills to Kings brass. Also taking part were Brian Zoubek of Duke, Donald Sloan of Texas A&M and Jeremy Wise of the D-League’s Bakersfield Jam. I managed jot down a couple notes from Zoubek and Wise, who also addressed the media after the workout.
Jeremy Wise
• Spoke positively of his D-League experience and how it helped him develop as a player. In case you’re like me and know nothing about the guy, Wise skipped his senior season at Southern Mississippi only to go undrafted last year. He spent his first season professionally with the Bakersfield Jam, where he averaged 16.6 points on 51.9 percent shooting in 45 appearances.
• Said he felt like he had to focus on getting the bigs more involved and wanted to showcase his point guard skills in today’s workouts.
• Like Udoh, Whiteside and Monroe, Wise participated in his second workout for the Kings. He was excited about the opportunity to showcase his talents again, especially since the Kings were the first team to have him back for another go-around.
• Said he didn’t get much feedback from the Kings staff on what to work on. Rather as he put it, they told him to “just play your game.”
Brian Zoubek
• Overall, feel workouts in general have been going well for him.
• As far as where he thinks he’ll go, he isn’t really sure. But if he had to project, he believes early to mid-second round is realistic for him.
• Mentioned feeling a sense of accomplishment being a seven-footer in Duke’s system. On playing for Coach K, “If you can get past him, you can succeed anywhere.”
• As a Jersey guy, Zoubek has some connections to Kings power forward Jason Thompson. Mentioned that he played AAU basketball with his brother, Ryan.
Jonathan Santiago also co-hosts the weekly Davis Sports Deli Podcast, which can be found here.
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