Dr.J4ever
07-02-2014, 10:36 AM
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/sixers/20140702_Hinkie_feels_Saric_is_worth_the_wait.html
Future looking good?:applause:
excerpts:
It's coming up on three years since Paul Hewitt stepped into a gym in Riga, Latvia, and glimpsed the player who perhaps best embodies the 76ers' still-distant future.
On July 6, 2011, Hewitt was coaching the United States' team in the FIBA Under-19 World Championships, and the Americans had gone 5-0 before facing Croatia and one of the tournament's most curious attractions: a small-forward phenom named Dario Saric.
Because Riga is less than 100 miles north of the Latvia-Lithuania border, Arena Riga would be packed for any game in which one of those two Baltic States was competing. But for United States-Croatia, Hewitt said, "nobody was there." Pity that so many missed the chance to see what Hewitt did: the kind of performance that validated the fascination that Sixers general manager Sam Hinkie and other NBA talent evaluators have long had with Saric.
Against a team that included Doug McDermott and pros Jeremy Lamb and Tim Hardaway Jr., Saric was the difference in an 87-85 Croatia victory that day. He scored 17 points, grabbed eight rebounds, and made those few fortunate witnesses forget that he was just 17 years old - nearly two years younger than the youngest player on the U.S. roster.
From the sideline, Hewitt watched as a gangly kid who hadn't yet grown into the 6-foot-10, 223-pound frame he inhabits today dominated the Americans from the high and low posts, controlling the pace of play, finding teammates cutting to the basket, hitting fadeaway jump shots and runners across the lane. Once the game ended, Hewitt offered the sort of heady comparison that compelled the Sixers to trade for Saric's rights during last week's NBA draft.
"Just a multidimensional talent," Hewitt, the head coach at George Mason University and a former assistant at Villanova, said in a telephone interview. "I said to somebody on my staff, 'I imagine that's what Dirk Nowitzki looked like at that age.' "
Future looking good?:applause:
excerpts:
It's coming up on three years since Paul Hewitt stepped into a gym in Riga, Latvia, and glimpsed the player who perhaps best embodies the 76ers' still-distant future.
On July 6, 2011, Hewitt was coaching the United States' team in the FIBA Under-19 World Championships, and the Americans had gone 5-0 before facing Croatia and one of the tournament's most curious attractions: a small-forward phenom named Dario Saric.
Because Riga is less than 100 miles north of the Latvia-Lithuania border, Arena Riga would be packed for any game in which one of those two Baltic States was competing. But for United States-Croatia, Hewitt said, "nobody was there." Pity that so many missed the chance to see what Hewitt did: the kind of performance that validated the fascination that Sixers general manager Sam Hinkie and other NBA talent evaluators have long had with Saric.
Against a team that included Doug McDermott and pros Jeremy Lamb and Tim Hardaway Jr., Saric was the difference in an 87-85 Croatia victory that day. He scored 17 points, grabbed eight rebounds, and made those few fortunate witnesses forget that he was just 17 years old - nearly two years younger than the youngest player on the U.S. roster.
From the sideline, Hewitt watched as a gangly kid who hadn't yet grown into the 6-foot-10, 223-pound frame he inhabits today dominated the Americans from the high and low posts, controlling the pace of play, finding teammates cutting to the basket, hitting fadeaway jump shots and runners across the lane. Once the game ended, Hewitt offered the sort of heady comparison that compelled the Sixers to trade for Saric's rights during last week's NBA draft.
"Just a multidimensional talent," Hewitt, the head coach at George Mason University and a former assistant at Villanova, said in a telephone interview. "I said to somebody on my staff, 'I imagine that's what Dirk Nowitzki looked like at that age.' "