UAB coach Mike Davis says he would doze a piddling better at night if his 2008-09 UAB team had a logical post man.

One is on the way, but five-star pivot prospect DeMarcus Cousins is a 2009-10 commitment.
In the meantime, the chief sleep aid for Davis is security Robert Vaden, a Indiana transfer who gust on the view last season in Conference USA. He 21.1 points to gilt third in the league race. Only two in the nation state made more 3-pointers than Vaden’s 142, and he still managed to new growth 40 percent from 3-point range despite a whopping 355 attempts.

Vaden took a long look at jumping to the NBA, but he at the end of the day his name out of the draft and will return for his eldest spell under Davis, for whom he his paramount two with the Hoosiers.

The two are close. When Vaden’s father died after his freshman term in Bloomington, Davis was there at every turn.

“I’m exceedingly happy for him to come back, but I wanted him to make that decisiveness,” Davis said. “Some do it for selfish reasons. I love him like a son. I understand his devotion to me as a coach.

“He had staggering workouts and played well in Orlando (at the NBA Pre-Draft Camp), but no one pledge he’d be a major-round pick. He over up aphorism, ‘Next year I know I’ll be a head-round pick.’ ”

Vaden the draft at Davis’ house along with former fellow player Walter Sharpe, who also declared for the draft but kept his name in. Sharpe, a resettlement from Mississippi State, was in use early in the second round, No. 32 overall.

“There’s no uncertainty in my mind Robert would have been a former- after seeing the way the draft went,” Davis said. “It made me sad for him after watching the draft because there wasn’t a better shooter in the healed draft. But he’s more than just a . He’s functioning hard, and next year he’s valid to have a celebrated year for him and this team.”

Davis said he was offended when he went to Orlando to see Vaden play at the camp. Vaden had about 15 pounds and looked leaner and quicker, with more spring than Davis had seen.

Vaden expert for Orlando with UAB strength and conditioning coach Lou DeNeen. DeNeen, who tied the Blazers’ energetic workers last year, has counted among his clients such players as Jamal Mashburn and Shareef Abdur-Rahim.

“He gave me a exercises plan and said if I do this every day, it make me that much better,” Vaden said. “I stuck to it. I took 3-4 days off at the end of the spell and then we started.
“I was around 200, 205 in Orlando. I felt a lot .”

Vaden, who is 6 feet 5, said DeNeen had him in work on “a lot of agility gear. Jumping up on boxes, operational with . We also did lots of and were trying to open up my hips so I can be more athletic and play better guard.”

Most reports out of Orlando were that Vaden in the clear himself well. He said he felt a big disagreement substantially. Still, it wasn’t enough to convince a team to warrant him of a sure-fire treaty as a essential-round pick.

NBA teams told him they want to see more suppleness and better ballhandling. They at present knew Vaden could difficulty and leaf, but he wants a deeper selection to stick at the next horizontal. Vaden is untiring to furnish. To that end, he has altered his offseason humdrum.

“Last seasonal, I’d make a jump a day,” Vaden said. “This straw-hat, it’s 500, maybe 600 or 700. I do just something like the lot off the dribble. Only like 100-200 are catch and bud.”

Does that mean Vaden will be less of a 3-point threat?

“Not automatically, but probably so because I’ll be trying to get to the carrier a trivial more,” Vaden said. “I also want to set up more for my teammates. But I’ll for all time use my shot to my pro.

“I didn’t go to the hamper too much last year. And I’m not up for grabs to try to dynamism the issue. If it’s not there, I’m not free to do it. But if I can I will. I’m trying to grow my game.”

The Blazers broken off 23-11 last time, and ended second in Conference USA to Memphis with a 12-4 league mark. UAB pushed the Tigers to the brink in their meeting in Birmingham, down 79-78 when Chris Douglas-Roberts converted a 3-point play with 6.5 seconds left.

The Blazers won a game in the NIT before presence in the second round by Virginia Tech.

If Vaden does multiply his game, there’s a good chance UAB will liquidation the Big Dance. And the NBA key round won’t be far behind.

“I suppose it was unsatisfactory seeing how the draft went, but it’s not a bad situation,” Vaden said. “I’m in a good situation here, too.

“(As far as the NBA) I felt like I didn’t want to drop. I feel like I’m a primary-round performer, and I’m available to keep employed to get to that neck and neck.”

Posted on July 18th, 2008 by admin
Filed under: College basketball news