nik stauskas

There a is story on ESPN that Kings want to "dump" Nik.  Kings is not the best situation for him (he is averaging less than 4 points a game) as he is not used to coming off the bench, and his minutes have remained low.  I hope he lands at a place where he can start and gain his mojo back.

Link$$

Kind of a random topic but watching basketball tonight has made me think of Nik Stauskas, and for whatever reason I've been in an Olympics mood, so this thought came up.  Obviously the US has the best national team, but I was thinking about it, and Canada could be really good in the coming years.  Looking at the best players of their roster:

F/C Dwight Powell - Plays for Dallas

F Tristan Thompson - Cleveland

F Andrew Nicholson - Orlando

F/C Kelly Olynkyk - Boston

F Andrew Wiggins - Minnesota

G Nik Stauskas - Sacramento

G Tyler Ennis - Phoenix

G Cory Joseph - San Antonio

F Trey Lyles - Kentucky (Still in college)

And a few others.

The biggest thing I notice is that most of the players tend to be on the younger side with minimal NBA experience, but many of them have the potential to be top players.  I could very well see this team qualifying for the 2016 Olympics and becoming a serious contender to the US in the coming years, much as the way Spain has been recently.  The team also might lack some depth, but certainly the starters and some of the bench will be plenty talented.

A bit random of a topic, I admit, but I just thought I might share it with you all.  Thoughts about this?

Sactownroyalty.com did a nice compilation of Nik being Nik. It contains his You Tube videos as well as clips of his predraft workout in Chicago and other videos. It's a great summary of everything. It sounds like the Sacremento fans are really supporting him.

Nice to reminisce with some of his highlights.

Link

LINK

ESPN Insider article on Embiid and how his foot injury impacts the draft.  Relevant part is at the bottom where Ford lists the players invited to the green room for the draft.  This is the first I've seen on what players were invited, and I know from some of Nik's interviews that he was hoping to be there.  Very cool for him indeed.  Assuming he accepts the invite, here's hoping for two straight years of seeing one of ours putting on a random NBA team's hat and holdling up a jersey.  Here's my hope for his new uni...

While tracking down the Brady Hoke interview about Jabrill Peppers, I noticed a Nik Stauskas interview posted a couple of days ago. It's a little longer but it's worth viewing.

Great kid. The funniest thing is he doesn't have his driver's license yet. He said he needs to work on it but hasn't had time.

Link

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nba/news/20140603/nik-stauskas-nba-draft/

Good article talking about Nik's ascendance from Canadian kid to potential lottery pick.  There were quite a few interesting facts about him that I have not heard/read before:

• Watched tape of Steph Curry while at Michigan to learn techniques for ball handling
• He is defying his genes as his Father is only 6' and a computer programmer, as is his brother
• Became a basketball fan at 7 when Toronto got the Raptors
• "When he was 10, Nik was called down to the court during an open practice at Air Canada Centre and got to play two-on-two against Carter, surprising his idol by swishing a three."
• At age 12 his Father remade his shot to the near perfection we enjoyed

I guess I shouldn't be surprised but by NBA draft outlets he is being compared to Jason Kapono and Kyle Korver.  These are absurd comparisons that are purely based on skin color because he is much more athletic.  Also something that is often overlooked in his shooting prowess is his ability to shoot 3's BOTH off the dribble as well as in catch and shoot situations.  Most players, even our beloved Trey Burke, have only shown the ability to do one of those very well, but not both.  Nik is going to be an excellent scorer in the NBA, is smart enough to function in an NBA defensive scheme, and will quickly become a top SG (the weakest position group) in short order.

GO BLUE!