NBA ‘bubble’ transported to Kentucky for COVID-altered Pro Day
Tyler Herro made an impression when longtime NBA Coach Del Harris came to Lexington to watch Kentucky’s first practices heading into the 2018-19 season.
“I thought, ‘well, this guy can really shoot,’” Harris recalled this week. “‘Cal will probably keep this guy for a couple more years because I don’t think he’s going to be able to get that body type to where it’s NBA-ready in one year.’”
Of course, Herro became a one-and-done player and one of the 29 first-round NBA Draft picks turned out by Kentucky in John Calipari’s first 10 seasons as coach.
This illustrates a truism Harris advised people take into Kentucky’s Pro Day on Thursday night. The 90-minute workout does not necessarily ensure unshakable NBA opinions about UK players.
“Nobody has prophetic powers,” said Harris, who now is vice president of the Texas Legends of the NBA’s G League.
“That just shows you I don’t know everything there is to know,” Harris said with a laugh about his observations of Herro. “I certainly wasn’t (a prophet) because what would have been his sophomore year, he was just tearing people up (in the NBA.)”
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, Kentucky planned a “virtual” Pro Day. NBA people did not attend the workout in Memorial Coliseum. In getting an early impression on Kentucky players, NBA personnel were not limited to the SEC Network telecast.
UK set up cameras at both baselines so NBA people could keep an eye on the court. No commercial interruptions. No TV interviews. No TV deciding what players merit on-camera attention.
UK sought to mimic the courtside view NBA people customarily get at Pro Day.
And to help give Kentucky players the sense of Pro Day being what ESPN college basketball and NBA Draft analyst Jay Bilas calls a “job interview,” UK set up its version of the “bubble” experience that was used for the NBA playoffs this year. Players could see NBA faces via Zoom on a screen on a wall behind one baseline.
NBA consultant Ryan Blake said he preferred the view from the baseline as a way to see the entire court.
Harris suggested that being present at Pro Day would be best. But “virtual” attendance can be helpful.
“It’s going to be a practice, so at least you get to see how (a player) does in drills,” he said. “How he responds to the coach. Practices will reveal a little bit more of the character (of a player) than a game will. Because in a game, it’s all in front of an audience. It counts. It’s a game.
“In practices, there are not many people, if any. And they don’t count. So, are you just as focused on getting better and doing the work in practice as you are in a game? So, it’s valuable in that regard, even virtually.”
What would NBA people be looking for? Harris suggested it could be such things as how a player interacts with teammates and coaches, willingness to accept coaching and work ethic.
“Because in the end, everybody is going to be extremely talented that gets drafted,” he said. “But there will be those who exhibited better work ethic and hadn’t just got by being a little more athletic or been more advanced physically as a 16-, 17- 18-year-old kid than the competition.”
Such intangibles are important, Blake said, “because 75 percent of basketball is mental.”
During the telecast, viewers learned that freshman Brandon Boston has set a sky-high goal: greatest to ever play basketball. “If I put in the work . . . , it’ll come,” he told co-hosts Tom Hart and Jimmy Dykes.
Viewers also learned that sophomore graybeard Keion Brooks read at a 12th-grade level while in the fourth grade. Calipari said that UK’s “roughhouse practices” had caused transfer big man Olivier Sarr to significantly improve.
The Pro Day helped the team improve, Calipari said. “By having this, (the last) two days of practice were unbelievable.”
Bilas saw the value of Kentucky’s Pro Day extending beyond UK players afforded a chance to make a positive impression on NBA people. It also helps Kentucky make a positive impression on NBA-hungry recruiting prospects.
“It’s a great marketing tool,” Bilas said.
Coming Sunday
Be sure to pick up a copy of Sunday’s Lexington Herald-Leader print edition. It will include an 18-page special section previewing the 2020-21 college basketball season.
Important upcoming dates
Nov. 20: Big Blue Madness, 9 p.m. (SEC Network)
Nov. 25: Season opener vs. Morehead State in Rupp Arena
This story was originally published November 12, 2020 at 9:27 PM.
