Maxiell, Manuel shine; Williams, Miles sputter

On day two of the PIT, UNC's Jackie Manuel emerged as a standout. But NBA scouts still are not impressed with this talent pool.

Updated: April 8, 2005, 5:01 PM ET
By Chad Ford | ESPN Insider
PORTSMOUTH, Va. – Day two of Portsmouth got off to a bang on Thursday when the NBA released to teams the official measurements of the campers.

You know there's a problem when the league refuses to issue the heights and weights to the media. But with a little persuasion, Insider got a copy from an NBA scout. Now we know what they were hiding.

The best player in the camp, Cincinnati's Jason Maxiell, measured in at 6-foot-5¾ inches without shoes. Talk about your undersized power forwards. Maxiell does have a freaky 7-foot-2 inch wingspan. But his measurement, 6-foot-6¾ in shoes, seemed to dampen the parade.

It's too bad, too, because for the second straight day, Maxiell tore up the camp, scoring 20 points and grabbing four rebounds. At one point, Maxiell nearly tore down the backboard on a dunk. On another play, he spiked an opponent's shot like a volleyball back into the floor.

But after two straight heart-thumping performances by Maxiell, three straight GMs said exactly the same thing to me within a 10-minute period.


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Chad Ford | email

Senior Writer, NBA Insider
  • Senior NBA Writer for ESPN.com
  • ESPN Insider NBA Draft Analyst since 2002
  • Writes ESPN's NBA Draft Top 100 and Lottery Mock Draft

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