Skip to main content

Celtics select J.R. Giddens with 30th pick in NBA draft

Look past guard’s college troubles, focus on ability and defense
The Celtics [team stats], with an eternity to decide on their next prospect and the very real chance that the 30th pick in the draft won’t crack their 15-man roster, selected a player some might consider a risk.

J.R. Giddens, an explosive, 6-foot-5 scorer from New Mexico, worked out for the Celtics twice Wednesday and impressed the staff enough to get picked last night in New York.

Giddens, whose involvement in a bar fight led to his transfer from Kansas to New Mexico in 2005, believes that experience is partly responsible in preparing him for his new role with the NBA champions.

“I feel like I’ve overcome all those things,” he said. “It helped to build the character that I have now. God does everything for a reason, and I believe he laid out this path for me now. I was a young guy, immature. I made a bad decision.”

As much as maturity issues led to his transfer and perhaps his slide down the draft board, the C’s coaching staff saw a competitiveness during Giddens’ workouts that was difficult to ignore.

“I like what he did (Wednesday,” Doc Rivers said at TD Banknorth Garden. “He was very competitive in that workout. His team lost a couple of games, and you could see from how he reacted that he didn’t like it.

“Seeing him work out helped me more than Danny (Ainge). Danny has seen these guys, but the workout sold me on liking him.”

The intensity of Giddens’ workout also helped the Celtics put aside the sore thumb that was the player’s past. Giddens was stabbed in the leg during the bar fight, and his transfer was a mutual agreement with Jayhawks coach Bill Self.

He moved on to have two exceptional years at New Mexico under coach Steve Alford, who told Ainge that Giddens was one of his favorite players ever.

“First, I’m confident that he’s a good kid,” Ainge said. “Second, the team we have will make him better. He’s not as mature as I would like to see, and he’s not as disciplined as our guys are, but they will help him to achieve both things.”

Giddens was named co-Western Conference Player of the Year last season, when he averaged 16.3 points on 51.5 percent shooting.

“Back then he was young and immature,” Rivers said of Giddens’ past. “Whenever someone transfers, you’re always concerned about it. He’s had some run-ins, but Steve Alford loved him.”

Rivers liked what he saw of Giddens’ ability, particularly at the defensive end.

“I really like J.R. He’s athletic, skilled, a great in-between game,” Rivers said. “He has a chance to fight for minutes right away because of his defense.”

Considering the nature of the roster, that will be quite a fight.

“I never thought about the Celtics until I worked out for them,” Giddens said. “After that, I was just praying to be part of it. Now I’m going to a place with so much history and tradition.”

Source: http://news.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1103517

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Proteus Syndrome makes a Giant Leg

'http://newsofthehour.blogspot.com/'" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQVAPfOrivc4R21GyGlg73lGpOOIorZb7MHZXWzIP5PLsF_snJ1_PrJJm-vdKL29aBQRTY0YLWAEykcNEkcX2FQcagrAJN3IJAzNqOmiH3EQMUmprMUL1nbCasyUzLS_zlUvAHIeDhpG4E/s1600-h/giant_leg.jpg"> Doctors can’t tell Mandy Sellars why her legs keep expanding – all they say is that her only option is a drastic amputation. She travelled to the US for a new TV show in search of an alternative... It’s not easy being Mandy Sellars. She has hugely outsized legs that make having a normal life nearly impossible. People stare whenever she leaves the house, she needs a special car to get around and can’t work full time. What’s more, her condition is getting worse and doctors say she needs an amputation so severe she won’t be able to sit up. And she doesn’t even know what’s caused it. But the cheerful 33-year-old from A...

Raymond Hunter Geisel Arrested for Death Threat

Raymond Hunter Geisel was arrested Wednesday for a death threat geared toward Sen. Barack Obama. According to a Secret Service affidavit, Geisel, 22, was in a class for bail bondsmen when he "allegedly referred to Obama with a racial epithet and continued, 'If he gets elected, I'll assassinate him myself.' " "Another person in the class quoted Geisel as saying that 'he hated George W. Bush and that he wanted to put a bullet in the president's head,' according to the Secret Service. "Geisel denied in a written statement to a Secret Service agent that he ever made those threats, and the documents don't indicate that he ever took steps to carry out any assassination. He was charged only with threatening Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, but not for any threat against President Bush." Geisel was interviewed on Saturday by agents of the US Secret Service's Miami field office and arrested a day later. Geisel denied making thre...

Knight Industries Three Thousand (KITT)

KITT is back! But like almost everyone else on TV these days, the star of the revived "Knight Rider" has had a little work done. He's still KITT, but that now stands for Knight Industries Three Thousand. And instead of the classic Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, he's now a Ford Mustang Shelby GT500KR with nanotechnology and the ability to take on the temporary appearance of other cars. Though KITT may be the most recognizable name and grill from TV's recent past, he's not alone. They may not ever grab the cover of Rolling Stone or TV Guide, but these TV star cars have charisma to spare. The new KITT is one cranky back-seat driver. The reboot of the kitschy ’80s action show “Knight Rider” (premiering Wednesday night at 8 on WHDH, Ch. 7) comes with some solid CGI work, a few pretty people and an annoying spin on the retooled vehicle. The new KITT (Knight Industries Three Thousand) is one cool car, and in this age of big-screen “Transformers,” it better be. KITT is ca...