Iowa State head coach Fred Hoiberg was interviewed about Royce White. Hoilbert is also played for McHale and worked for him as an assistant GM: http://houston.cbslocal.com/2012/06/29/hoiberg-royce-white-is-a-top-ten-talent/ On White: Never had issue with him in 2 years. Dominated UConn and Kentucky. Top 10 talent no doubt. Drafted lower because people overanalyze everything. If you talk to everyone, including Tubby Smith in Minnesota, everyone loved him. Doing a lot to help kids with anxiety disorder. He is a hybrid in terms of position, was used on every possible spot in college. Can make a play when ball finds him, makes him rare since there are so many unskilled big guys. Rick Barnes says he's the toughest guy to prepare for in all his years. He can get rebound the ball and push it up the court. NBA game would be great with him because farther 3 pt line gives him 4 extra feet of spacing. He is a physical freak, can handle the ball and has the mentality of PG, not many guys like that. Anthony Mason comes to mind. 5 years from now from talent point can be top 5 guy of draft. So many guys get selected for athleticism with no skills never realize potential. Royce is already there. Had great games against the likes of Kansas and Baylor. On McHale: Hoiberg nows him very well and thinks he would be good for Royce White. McHale is as good as anybody in the business at communicating with players, lays out his plan better than anyone in the business. McHale's experience as a great post player who faced constant double team should help. His spacing plan is so simple and he communicates it so well. He would be great for someone like Royce White.
He sure doesn't seem to have anxiety problems. He handles himself very well in interviews and even the press conference. Maybe i have a different definition of "anxiety disorder." In any case it is a common problem that many people i know have and they seem to deal with it fine 99% of the time. Pop a few valiums go out and play basketball and make millions. Anxiety disorder fixed.
I'm really impressed with Royce's maturity at the press conference. I think he's ready to handle the pressure of the NBA.
I think the anxiety disorder is triggered by specific circumstances, not that your anxious about everything. I don't know his other triggers but apparently one of them is his fear of flying, although with the technology and advances in medical psychology nowadays I think its negligible, esp. since as a millionaire he should be able to afford the best treatment known to man.
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It is very rare for star level players to drop out of the top 5, top 10 nowadays. Before when kids were going from prep to pro, stars could drop because there was a lot of risk and not a lot of info. Overseas star players would drop because scouting was not as extensive. Today's NBA is far too sophisticated for all that anymore, so it is very difficult to get true steals with star quality. Royce's situation however is a little unique. The reasons why he was picked at 16 are all non basketball related. People do not understand the anxiety disorder, and people stay away from things they do not understand. There are still people saying he is "scared to fly", even when the truth is he is only anxious leading up to getting on a plane. People see that he is a sophomore playing his first year of basketball due to trouble with the law, and assume he is a knucklehead. And then you dig a little deeper and it seems like he is actually an extremely high character guy who just made some bad choices as a kid. I am not a doctor or psychiatrist so I cannot say these are non-issues, but it does seem to be blown a bit out of proportion. Is Royce White going to be a star? Truth is I've only seen 2 Iowa st games all year, so I have no clue. But IMO he at least has a better chance than your typical 16th pick just examining the actual reasons why he dropped. With all that said, did we just draft Magic freakin' Johnson?! <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Y6f5not36X8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Most pros can make their shots in pick up games and shoot arounds...the real shooters make them over weeks, months, through fatigue and higher pressure situations.
I think Morey answered that question in the post-draft press conference: They fight for PT. The new approach for the past few drafts has been to draft star potential and assume the risks of the inevitable bust. I think Morey was fine with McHale not giving Morris consistent minutes because he hasn't been drafting 1st round role players anymore. If he can't force a role on the team by his 2nd year, then Royce gets his turn (and hopefully Morris hasn't been publicly exposed too much to not have good trade value at that point).
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I just posted this in the NBA draft forum. I am a mental health professional and I do think the concern is over blown. Typical anxiety that most people experience is due to performance and fear of failure/embarrassment. He doesn't seem to exhibit any of that in his play or communication with the media. His anxiety with regard to flights must be triggered by some other root cause....a good counselor should be able to help discern the issue and help work to resolve it without too much difficully. Doesn't seem to be too many other issues at play complicating the disorder. As someone else stated....people tend to fear what they don't understand/know. Worked out well I think for the Rox since he was available at 16....I think the concerns other teams may have had were over blown.
I read this earlier today about his anxiety issues on his wikipedia entry: Born in Minneapolis,[1] White traces personal battles with anxiety to a basketball practice when he was 10 years old. One day during wind sprints, he witnessed his best friend collapse and begin drooling from the mouth. He rode in the ambulance as paramedics rushed him to the hospital to save him from a cardiac abnormality. White fears conditioning runs to this day. He was diagnosed with general anxiety disorder in 2008. White continues to wake up 3 or 4 times a night.[2]
I believe his anxiety began in middle school when he witnessed a friend drop to the ground due to a heart condition(survived) while doing wind sprints together. Edit, yup, Deji got it covered.
I personally love the pick. Hate the Lebron James comparisons/mentions/etc. Maybe any discomfort he has with flying will give Mr Alexander a reason to upgrade the team plane like the Mavs or Heat charters, that would help in FA too. Back to Royce White..... 2 things working against him: 1. Hand size hurts his shooting stroke, bad FT%, may never be a knock down jump shooter, think streaky like Rondo 2. Can't defend an NBA 3, his team defense is terrible and I can name 10 WC SFs he can't stay in front of off the dribble I think they are forced to play him at the 4, let his wingspan and post defense keep him on the floor but McHale will be in his ass every practice getting him to defend pick and rolls and help on penetration. Camby and Patterson will be great guides for him, so I hope he isn't sent to the D-League for one day and we can have an athletic, tough PF that can provide offense off the bench and stimulate McHale's boring offensive sets. I only worry if he can be effective in the NBA without the ball in his hand. If you can't pick and pop, you're a limited 4 IMO.
I think a Hedo Turkoglu comparison is close to spot on with him. Hedo could shoot better, while Royce is a lot stronger.
