Mickey Mouse meets Michael Jordan - Pre-Draft Camp in Orlando

[by Kris SANTIAGO] - Disney World hosted again the NBA's Pre-Draft Camp in it's facilities in Orlando, Florida and we are taking a look on how things are currently working out for players such as Longar Longar, Luc Richard Mbah A Moute and John Riek, as well as European guys like Pat Calathes (Okay, he's at least considered to be a part of the Greek national-team in the near future), Jiri Hubalek, Vladimir Golubovic and Sasha Kaun.

The scrimmages and games were held on three different courts in one gym simultaneously, so keeping track of players in this whole chaos was probably quite difficult for all the GMs around.

Personally, I wish I could have attended the camp, especially after having experienced a good time in Florida two months ago, but I bet they wouldn't let me in; all packed up with Pizza, Mountain Dew and some basketball mags…

So I collected all the news on the web regarding the players mentioned above in this post to let you know how they performed.

Let's start off with Yahoo Sports and Joseph Trautlein, who is mentioning Calathes in his newest post:

"Pat Calathes: Played a very well-rounded game, scoring 10 points with five assists in just 15 minutes. He showed off ball-handling skills unique for a player of his size. There aren't many 6-10 players who can do some of the things he did today. He was in rhythm almost immediately both times he was called off the bench, showing terrific creativity and feel for the game."

Dave Curtis of the Orlando Sentinel portraits Pat:

Draftexpress' Draft-guru Jon Givony made the following statement about Calathes in his report.
"Pat Calathes only got to play 15 minutes (sitting an extensive amount of time between stints), but really made the most of his time out on the floor, scoring 10 points and dishing off 5 assists (compared to just one turnover), many of the spectacular variety."

Aran Smith gives his opinion about Pat's game on Day Two:
"Pat Calathes (10pts, 5ast) showed some nice moves off the dribble and in transition, he was able to use his quickness to get by the defense. He seems to have put on some weight since Portsmouth, but still looks extremely skinny. He can knock down the mid-range shot, but with his unorthodox release he seems to lack range out to the NBA 3."

So judging the comments coming from Orlando on Pat's games, it certainly looks good for the tall Greek-American regarding being picked in the upcoming draft. But this could also mean, that the national-team may have to wait due to the commitments he may have to a team that should draft him.

Jiri Hubalek who supposedly learned also some inside game during his time at ISU, "continued to make a living off his perimeter jumper, much the same way he did at Portsmouth back in April," tells Jon Givony of DX.

Aran Smith of NBADraft.net writes the following about Luc: "LR Mbah Moute (9pts, 5rebs) He seemed to have tweaked his ankle in the early going, but showed some character fighting through and still put up a decent performance. With his length and athleticism, he is always able to alter plays defensively, and convert on hustle baskets offensively."

Smith also mentioned the nagging injury of John Riek, who may pull out of this year's draft and the play of Longar Longar:
"John Riek did not play due to the afore mentioned leg injury". He had a tibia ligament strain and it is unclear whether he will return to camp.
Longar Longar (10 pts, 5rebs) His length and athleticism are factors and he is able to get some garbage points around the hoop. Unfortunately, he is very weak and has limited basketball skill."

He also gives us a hint about the "Slavic" fraction in Orlando:
"Vladimir Golubovic (9pts) the only international at camp was able to score around the hoop, but his stiffness and lack of post moves make it difficult for him to bang with the more physical big men.

Sasha Kaun (4pts, 9rebs) Did not get many touches, as a result his shooting numbers cannot be taken into consideration too strongly. He hit the boards and worked hard on the defensive end, unfortunately he is finding out the hard way just how much ball dominant guards can affect the game.

One thing Jiri Hubalek can do is knock down open jumpers. Any time he's left open, it's usually as good as in the net. Unfortunately he doesn't have much game outside of spot up shooting to speak of."

Stan Mc Neal of the Sporting News reports:
"UCLA junior Luc Richard Mbah a Moute is "NBA ready," according to another talent evaluator, but he would be better off returning to school and taking advantage of what is expected to be a weak draft next year."
And Brian Dohn from the "Daily Breeze" reports that Luc is working on his shot with Joe Abunassar from IMG:
"Consistency is very important to me on a jump shot," said Abunassar, who runs an Impact Basketball training company. "The real thing with Luc is getting him repetition. Luc needs to be a dangerous mid-range guy, which he's very much become."

Ryan Fegan of Sporting News tells us about Luc's chances of being drafted here.

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, PF, UCLA. "He's shown the ability to guard the twos and threes, which is surprising with how big (6-8, 232) he is. He's not just long, he's got great lateral movement, stays in front of guys and does a little bit of everything. I'm not sure if he'll stay in, but a lot of teams would be happy to take him in the second round."

Chad Ford from ESPN gives advice to John Riek: Riek showed up to the camp but was clearly hurting. He dragged his leg through workouts and didn't end up playing in any games. He's still recovering from a broken leg and really had no business playing here. As the camp moved on and Riek hung out in the shadows, he became somewhat of a sympathetic figure. He really needs to drop out of the draft, get healthy, find a good coach and start figuring out how to be a basketball player. He has a lot of physical gifts, but he's light-years from being an NBA contributor.

Conclusions:
Looks like all other players won't be considered if we take only all these comments into account.
Mba A Moute should be returning to school for a stronger senior season if he does not want to be drafted in the second round, while Riek may pull out due to his injury and should try to play a year of college-ball.

Hubalek and Kaun should end up playing in the D-League or signing on a lucrative contract in Europe in the very near future. Golubovic should be returning to Europe and continue to wow scouts in the Adria League, he may get a chance in the future to sign a bigger contract in Europe and than may head over to the NBA if the money is right.

All the players are of course still going to work out with a couple of teams, which means they are still able to boost their draft-stock and may get drafted due to their individual performances in a work-out with the respective team.