http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=17353

 

Samuels Proving He Belongs - Samardo Samuels couldn't believe that his name didn't get called. Just two years removed from being rated the second best player in a high school class that included lottery picks such as Tyreke Evans, Brandon Jennings, DeMar DeRozan, and Greg Monroe, Samuels found himself on the outside looking in on the night of the 2010 NBA Draft.

Throughout the draft process, the Jamaica native had worked out for plenty of teams and received excellent feedback. Fellow prospects who worked out with Samuels were impressed and felt like he was one of the most underrated players in the class.

"It's weird, man. I dominated all of my workouts so I was satisfied with myself. I felt like I had proven that I was good enough. When it didn't happen for me, I was disappointed but not too disappointed because I know that I'm good enough and it was just stuff that was out of my control. It's a long journey and now I just have to go the extra mile. It was nothing. I was disappointed but I believed in myself and my family believed in me so I just kept pushing," Samuels told HOOPSWORLD.

Despite the fact that he went undrafted, the twenty-one year old never questioned his decision to leave Louisville after his sophomore season.

"A lot of people were saying that if I was going to leave school, I should have just left after my freshman year. But after my freshman year, I didn't think I was ready at all. Leaving after my sophomore year, I did what I had to do at the university. In my freshman year, with the team we had, we could have won a championship but everything didn't come together and it didn't happen. So in my second year, I had a little bit more to prove and I felt like I had gotten better so that's when I made to decision to leave Louisville. I was ready," he said.

Because he wasn't drafted, Samuels was able to choose his next move. The power forward continued working hard, accepted a Summer League invite from the Chicago Bulls, and then made the most of the opportunity. He impressed the coaching staff in practice and then averaged 16.3 points and 8.3 rebounds after being moved into the starting lineup. Throughout the week and a half in Las Vegas, he turned heads and was immediately receiving interest from the teams that had just passed on him several weeks before.

"It was a great for me," said Samuels. "Right after the draft, I was really disappointed knowing that I did well in my workouts and stuff like that and then having it not work out for me on draft night. But when I had the opportunity to play with the Chicago Bulls in Summer League, I was really excited. I was finally getting my opportunity to prove that I belonged in the league and that I'm good enough to play at this level."

The Cleveland Cavaliers were sold on the power forward and signed him to a multi-year deal shortly after. Although he has made it to the league, Samuels still feels like he has a lot to prove. Many critics have questioned his decision to leave Louisville and whether or not he can be successful. Samuels is motivated by these doubters and is working hard to prove them wrong.

"Oh man, that has been a tremendous motivation," said Samuels. "I know what I can do and I'm confident. It is what it is. I'm not listening to any of the critics and I must be doing something right if I have critics, you know what I mean? It has definitely made me stronger though and wanting to prove them wrong has pushed me. Every day, I get up knowing that I have something to prove. When I step in the gym, I know I have to work and that it will all be worth it. It has definitely helped me and it was really a wakeup call because I didn't realize I had so many haters. It's tough for me, being from another country, but I've been here long enough to know how this works. I'm definitely good enough to be in the NBA and that's why I am in the NBA."

Now that he has made it to the league, Samuels is looking forward to focusing on basketball again. He has been participating in offseason workouts with the Cavaliers and is optimistic heading into his rookie season.

"I'm blessed to be on the Cavs because the coaching staff, since day one, has just been so helpful and I've learned so much every single day. The sky is really the limit and I've been getting a lot better. I'm really excited. I'm a believer and I think we have a great team. I think we have a chance to develop some good chemistry. We have a great group of guys and I'm just excited. We have a good, young coach that's just full of energy and that's what you need. We have every piece to be successful and if guys come and get locked in, we can do pretty well this year," said Samuels.

One player in particular that has helped Samuels start the transition from college to the pros is fellow big man J.J. Hickson. "J.J. is my boy! Me and J.J. spend a lot of time together off the court and it's good. He has more experience than me so just watching how he works and how he carries himself off of the court, I'm seeing that I can learn from him and I want to go into every day trying to get better also. We're battling every day. I'm learning from him, Antawn is here too, and it's just exciting knowing that there's a chance that me and him can grow and become a duo down the road," said Samuels.

Down the road may be the key phrase in that sentence. Samuels isn't sure what his role will be next season but understands that doing the dirty work will likely result in more minutes.

"Right now, I'm not really worried about my role. With Coach Byron, the biggest thing he talks about is energy. Having that energy all of the time and then letting everything else take care of itself. I just want to bring that energy. You can't teach hard work and if you work hard and play hard, you stay on the court," he said.

Heading into the season, Samuels is expecting big things from the Cavaliers. He believes that the group has been overlooked since the departure of LeBron James and still thinks the team is capable of making the playoffs.

"I think our team is going to be great," Samuels said confidently. "I think our practices are going to be good; I'm excited to see how that goes since they are coming up. I'm definitely going to play like I want to make the playoffs. I want to have a good outing in my rookie year after all of the things I've had to go through. I know a lot of the guys are thinking the same way. A lot of guys on this team are feeling disrespected. LeBron left and everyone just lost all hope. There are still a lot of good players on this team. LeBron was a great player but this is still the NBA. Other guys on the team have a chip on their shoulder and it's going to be a good season. It's going to be fun being a part of it."

Although he followed an unconventional path to the league, Samardo Samuels is determined to prove that he belongs. He is working hard to make the most of this opportunity in Cleveland and it may just be a matter of time before he finds himself dominating once again.



Read more NBA news and insight: http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=17353#ixzz0zyQpouqz

Suns' rookie Clark sent down to D-league

 

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11:21 AM ET 03.15 | For former Louisville star Earl Clark, the D in D-League stands for demotion. He will leave today to join the Suns' D-League affiliate in Iowa, where he will play three games. Clark has played the least of any active 2009 first-round pick except B.J. Mullens. "He just needs some minutes," said Suns General Manager Steve Kerr, who will attend two of the games in Iowa. "The best way to develop is to play. He's done a great job in practice, but we haven't had a lot of practice time."

Arizona Republic

Earl Clark, AP

http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumors/view/168730

 

Terrence Williams is averaging 13 ppg so far in the month of March. Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images Rookie Rankings: Williams showing signs of potential

Posted Mar 10 2010 8:51AM

Terrence Williams has had an up-and-down rookie season with the Nets.

Taken with the 11th pick after playing four seasons at Louisville, Williams began the season as a regular in the Nets' rotation, averaging 27.0 minutes in New Jersey's first 17 games. Of course, the Nets lost their first 18 and Williams saw his minutes dwindle with each passing month.

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Until March.

In four games this month, the Nets have given Williams a shot -- and he's shown flashes of what Rick Pitino (his coach at Louisville) called "freakish" athleticism. Williams, in 29.5 minutes per game, is averaging 13.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 6.0 assists.

"He's been carrying over what he's been doing in practice into the games," Nets point guard Devin Harris told NJNets.com. "You want him playing with that attack-type mentality, getting to the basket, making passing, make some jump shots. We want him to play that type basketball because he's very good when he plays that way. Hopefully he'll continue to do those type things."

Harris' comments came after Williams scored a career-high 21 points with five rebounds and seven assists while playing 32 minutes of the Nets' 111-92 loss to the Cavs last Wednesday. Williams followed that with 14 points in a loss to the Magic; three points (with 11 rebounds and seven assists) in the Nets' win over New York; and 14, six and six in a loss to the Grizzlies.

Nets GM and coach Kiki Vandeweghe was impressed with Williams' performance against Cleveland -- especially while guarding LeBron James -- and saw the talented player they hoped for

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Terrence Williams' rookie season

Month G MPG PPG RPG APG Oct. 3 26.3 10.7 5.3 1.3 Nov. 14 27.2 9.9 5.3 2.1 Dec. 13 16.5 6.1 2.2 1.4 Jan. 13 15.7 3.6 3.8 2.0 Feb. 13 15.0 3.7 2.3 2.2 March 4 29.5 13.0 6.5 6.0

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"Terrence has been playing very good defense," Vandeweghe said. "He's been playing with focus and energy. He scored points tonight, which is great. But he also had five rebounds and seven assists. He played hard. He's hopefully what we've come to expect: somebody who can come off the bench, who can come in and spark us and change the energy."

For Williams, the adjustment to the pro game has been what he calls "rocky."

"I really didn't know what to expect," Williams said last week. "I tried to come here and use the same game that I used in college, but my shot wasn't falling. I had to re-evaluate myself as a player and change my game to moreso going to the hole, but still do the other little things that I do and love to do, as far as, like, passing, playing D and rebounding."

If Williams continues to see playing time -- and really, why wouldn't the Nets let their rookie run? -- expect him to only improve.

http://www.nba.com/2010/news/features/03/09/rookie.rankings/index.html

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TWill Finally Showing His Promise

by Net Income on Mar 6, 2010 8:31 AM EST 0 comments

More photos » Bill Kostroun - AP

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Terrence Williams will have to wait until next week before getting recognition for his exploits against Cleveland,  Washington and Orlando this week.  Right now, he's ranked #29 in the ESPN rookie rankings and getting no recognition at all in the NBA.com rankings.  But since last weekend, he's shown he could become the player the Nets hoped they were getting when they took him at #11 back in June.  In the last three games, he's made good use of the new burn he's gotten off the bench.  In 25 minutes per game, TWill has averaged 16 points, 4 assists and 3.3 rebounds, while shooting 53.3% (16-30) overall and a surprising 57.1% (4-7) from downtown.  He's even improved his foul shooting, hitting 76.9% (10-13) this week. Against. Cleveland, he had the best game of his short career, with 21 points, seven assists, five rebounds. 

More important than the raw numbers, Williams has improved his shot selection, his defense and his confidence, while still showing off his athleticism with some spectacular dunks both in the open court and on darts down the lane. He's still turnover prone, giving the ball away five times in that Cleveland, but the Nets can live with that for now.

 

 

www.netsdaily.com is now a member of SBN check them out for updates on T-Will and the New Jersey Nets

http://www.nj.com/nets/index.ssf/2010/02/nj_nets_president_rod_thorn_re_1.html

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Dime magazine reports http://dimemag.com/

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The John Wall Watch is on. The Kentucky guard, everyone’s favorite to be the top pick in the NBA Draft, said Saturday he has “no choice” but to plan for a June trip to New York. UK coach John Calipari said earlier he’d “wrestle” with the 6′4″ Wall if he even thought about returning. The Nets have a 1-in-4 chance of getting the top pick if they finish with the NBA’s worst record, now almost a foregone conclusion.

Looks like T-Will might have a new teammate come June. All of the Net fans ( I didn't say Cardinal-Net fans) are giddy about the prospect of landing John Wall in the upcoming NBA Draft. I was just wondering what your thoughts are on this. This could be interesting to say the least. T-Will did say in one of his twitter post that John Wall "had nice hands." I should mention that he already plays with former  WKU  player Courtney Lee and they seem to get along well. Tell me what you think!