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Kwisatz Haderach
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Coatesville, PA
Age: 25
Posts: 24,104
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Derrick Byars ready to work hard..
Quote:
Whether it's trying on the new hat with your team's logo, getting a congratulatory call from an old coach or sharing a hug with mom and dad, draft night is a memorable experience for any NBA player, especially one who enjoyed a fruitful college career.
But new Sixer Derrick Byars is trying to forget all about last Thursday.
"Draft day is a distant memory for me. I'm not worried about that," Byars said in between rookie camp practices at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine on Tuesday.
Byars, a 6-foot-7, 220-pound swing man, was taken in the second round by the Portland Trailblazers, with the 42nd overall pick. Before the night was over, he was traded to the Sixers, along with cash considerations, for 30th overall pick Petteri Koponen.
While he surely had first-round hopes, Byars admitted he "didn't know what to expect on draft day." But, in the end, he was comfortable to land in Philadelphia.
"I knew I already knew the staff and I had already been out here, so there was great familiarity," said Byars, who attended a predraft workout here on June 6 with LSU's Glen "Big Baby" Davis and future teammates Thaddeus Young and Jason Smith.
On that afternoon, nearly everyone was overshadowed (literally) by the large and loquacious Davis. Shortly after the draft, Young and Smith, both first-rounders, dominated the headlines.
But there's a chance Byars has first-round talent.
A four-year college player who spent his first two years at Virginia and his last two at Vanderbilt, Byars averaged 17 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.4 steals as a senior while also shooting 40 percent from the 3-point line in his final two seasons.
He was a unanimous All-SEC team selection. But, more remarkably, he was named the conference's Player of the Year by the SEC coaches -- over University of Florida lottery picks Al Horford, Corey Brewer and Joakim Noah, among others.
"I'm a hard worker, first and foremost. I'm the hardest working guy I know," Byars said when asked to describe himself and his game. "So I just hope to bring that out here and compete."
Byars is also hoping his four-year stay in college, and playing in conferences the caliber of the ACC and the SEC, will help make the transition to the NBA smoother. Thanks to his polished work on the defensive end, he already has an admirer.
"I like that he can defend ones, twos and threes and that's what we need. We need a guy who's aggressive on the ball and I think he can do that," said Sixers head coach Maurice Cheeks. "Offensively, he can put the ball on the floor and make a shot here and there, but more importantly I like the way he plays defense."
"I think my length and my intelligence," Byars said of his defensive strengths. "I have a knack for anticipating where my offensive guy is gonna go and what he likes to do."
But Byars, who scored over 20 points 11 times as a senior, doesn't want to be pigeonholed as a defensive specialist.
'"I think my biggest strength is my work ethic," Byars said. "I hope to just bring that to the offensive and defensive end."
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Who cares about a championship drought?:
My teams will never win a championship anyway, so why don't you discuss everything else at my forum? Good idea, right? Yeah, I thought so. It's called.. Booing Santa Claus. See you there.
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Originally Posted by Henry Rollins
“The average is the borderline that keeps mere men in their place. Those who step over the line are heroes by the very act. Go.”
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Derrick Byars ready to work hard..
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