PREFERS TEMPLE'S OFFENSE TO PRINCETON'S
.jpg)
Photos: Jrue Holiday Photos: NBA draft Ahmad Nivins had to wait nearly 4 1/2 hours to hear his name called in last night's NBA draft. And he actually did not get to hear it called, as ESPN was in a commercial break when Dallas took the Saint Joseph's senior with the 56th pick, 5 minutes before midnight.
"They came back on and they were talking about something else, maybe a trade, and I saw my name at the bottom," Nivins said from his home in Jersey City, N.J. "I was actually on the phone with someone. I said, 'They picked me.' I dropped my phone. My phone is all messed up. It's freezing as I'm getting all these messages. From there, it's just been mayhem at the house."
After averaging 19.2 points and 11.8 rebounds last season, Nivins was named the Big 5 and Atlantic 10 Player of the Year. He ended his St. Joe's career as the school's third-leading scorer (1,789 points) and sixth-best rebounder (955). He is also St. Joe's all-time field-goal percentage leader (62.7 percent).
Nivins got a call from Dallas coach Rick Carlisle and general manager Donnie Nelson.
"They said they weren't expecting me to be around at that point," Nivins said. "They said they'd been keeping an eye on me."
Nivins had 12 workouts with NBA teams, two of which were group workouts. Dallas must have seen him at one of those group workouts, as he did not go to Dallas for a workout.
Nivins, who played at Bob Hurley's great St. Anthony's High program in Jersey City, came late to basketball after spending much of his youth as a baseball pitcher. The idea of him getting drafted by the NBA at that point was an extreme long shot.
The 6-9 Nivins is an amazing athlete who gets end to end like a guard, has beautiful footwork and, last season, expanded his game by stepping away from the basket to make 15-foot jump shots on a regular basis.
Nivins put up big numbers for St. Joe's last season despite often getting double-teamed and sometimes triple-teamed in the post. St. Joe's needed him to score near the basket. To succeed in the NBA, he will have to play a bit more away from the basket and show he can make plays from out there.
Nivins was America's most efficient offensive player last season, averaging a nation-best 1.83 points per shot. He was a solid player as a junior, but made a quantum leap ahead as a senior. If he can improve at the same rate against the much more difficult NBA competition, he has a chance.
The chance will begin today. He already got a call from the Mavericks asking what number he wanted. And he has a 7:30 a.m. flight from Newark, N.J., that will take him to Dallas. *
|
|
|
|
|
|
