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Saw this on ESPN about Bill Walker and thought it was an interesting read. Was in an article about prospects at Grover's gym. He hurt his ACL the same time Krstic did and is 4 years younger than Nenad. Hopefully Nenad will come back his old self in November.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ESPN)</div><div class='quotemain'>Bill Walker, G/F, Kansas State
Walker has been on the NBA radar screen since 10th grade. His explosive leaping and scoring abilities drew comparisons to Vince Carter. By the time he first became eligible in December 2006 at Kansas State, many NBA scouts had him pegged as a potential top-5 pick in the 2007 NBA draft.
But then disaster struck. Just seven games into Walker's college career, he ruptured his ACL. Walker struggled to come back. He showed up with a touring American team in Italy at the Reebok Eurocamp and looked slow and overweight.
By the time his sophomore season started, Walker was regaining some of his athleticism, but he was still 20 to 30 pounds overweight and struggled to put it together on the court. With the exception of one huge game versus Cal, Walker didn't start turning it on again until late December.
By the end of the season, Walker was beginning to look like the player we once knew in high school but still seemed far from becoming a potential lottery pick again. A disappointing NCAA tournament for Kansas State ended most of the talk about Walker's even cracking the first round.
However, two months later, a different Walker is on the court. Walker has dropped nearly 30 pounds and has totally rehabbed his knee, and I'm happy to report he is dropping highlight reel dunks by the minute.
"He's been an animal in here," Grover said. "He wants it. He's been working really hard, and it's paying off. He's so explosive, and he's always in attack mode."
Walker also is working on stabilizing his jump shot. Although his shooting has improved over the years, he doesn't have the needed consistency. Grover also has been working on teaching Walker the nuances of the game. He's been showing him film of Wade and Paul Pierce. Walker spent a considerable amount of his time on Wednesday working on his jab step, for example.
Walker told me he's skipping the Orlando pre-draft camp and is hoping to land in workouts against some of the other top small forwards in the draft -- Greene, Joe Alexander, Rush and Douglas-Roberts.
If he feels he'll be a first-round pick, he likely will stay in the draft. It will be interesting to see how NBA teams react to Walker. The last time he looked like this, he was considered one of the top players in the draft. Does he have enough time to convince GMs that the old Bill Walker is back? He's off to a scintillating start.</div>
Link
West Virgnia native has to be enticing to Thorn.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ESPN)</div><div class='quotemain'>Bill Walker, G/F, Kansas State
Walker has been on the NBA radar screen since 10th grade. His explosive leaping and scoring abilities drew comparisons to Vince Carter. By the time he first became eligible in December 2006 at Kansas State, many NBA scouts had him pegged as a potential top-5 pick in the 2007 NBA draft.
But then disaster struck. Just seven games into Walker's college career, he ruptured his ACL. Walker struggled to come back. He showed up with a touring American team in Italy at the Reebok Eurocamp and looked slow and overweight.
By the time his sophomore season started, Walker was regaining some of his athleticism, but he was still 20 to 30 pounds overweight and struggled to put it together on the court. With the exception of one huge game versus Cal, Walker didn't start turning it on again until late December.
By the end of the season, Walker was beginning to look like the player we once knew in high school but still seemed far from becoming a potential lottery pick again. A disappointing NCAA tournament for Kansas State ended most of the talk about Walker's even cracking the first round.
However, two months later, a different Walker is on the court. Walker has dropped nearly 30 pounds and has totally rehabbed his knee, and I'm happy to report he is dropping highlight reel dunks by the minute.
"He's been an animal in here," Grover said. "He wants it. He's been working really hard, and it's paying off. He's so explosive, and he's always in attack mode."
Walker also is working on stabilizing his jump shot. Although his shooting has improved over the years, he doesn't have the needed consistency. Grover also has been working on teaching Walker the nuances of the game. He's been showing him film of Wade and Paul Pierce. Walker spent a considerable amount of his time on Wednesday working on his jab step, for example.
Walker told me he's skipping the Orlando pre-draft camp and is hoping to land in workouts against some of the other top small forwards in the draft -- Greene, Joe Alexander, Rush and Douglas-Roberts.
If he feels he'll be a first-round pick, he likely will stay in the draft. It will be interesting to see how NBA teams react to Walker. The last time he looked like this, he was considered one of the top players in the draft. Does he have enough time to convince GMs that the old Bill Walker is back? He's off to a scintillating start.</div>
Link
West Virgnia native has to be enticing to Thorn.
