http://tinyurl.com/2eu7y6 Wolves assistant general manager Rob Babcock has spent more years in the NBA than some of the 2007 Draft prospects have been alive. He's been a general manager, a vice president of player personnel, a director of player personnel and a scout. In addition, he was a college basketball player and a college head basketball coach. The point is that Babcock knows basketball, and he knows players. Accordingly, we asked Rob to break down several areas the Wolves use to evaluate draft prospects: physical characteristics; mental characteristics; skills; basketball athlete vs. basketball talent vs. basketball player; and the 10 things that turn him off to players. First up are the physical characteristics, such as height or reaction time, which players need to succeed the NBA level. Come back to www.timberwolves.com over the course of the next few days to read the rest. Wolves Assistant GM Rob Babcock: I have mentioned several things in past blogs, articles, columns, or whatever you call these things that I write, that we look for in players. Going into the draft, I thought it would be good to go into some detail regarding the evaluation of a draft prospect. For the younger readers who are still playing, almost all of these are the same things that I looked for in evaluating players when I was a high school coach, and when I was recruiting players as a college coach. Hopefully, these can help you focus on what it takes to make your high school team. PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS 1) Height: Players in the NBA are taller than college. There are many good college shooting guards that are 6'1 to 6'2, but they are too short to play that position in the NBA. Many college players have to move down a position in order to have a chance, example: a player was a very good center in college at 6'8, but he will have to develop the skills to convert to a power forward if he is going to have a chance in the NBA. We have seen many great college guards who were great shooters, but they were not tall enough to get their shot off in the NBA. 2) Weight and strength. You don't want a player who is overweight and out of shape, but in the NBA you will find that not only are the players taller, but they weigh more. If you don't have the weight and strength to handle your position, you will not make it. This is especially crucial at the defensive end. 3) Speed and quickness. You have to able to keep up. Can the player stay in front of his man on defense? Can he go by him on the dribble on offense? How quickly does he change direction? We look for both foot quickness and hand quickness. There are not many slow players in the NBA. If they are, they are usually so big, that they create different problems for the opposing team. 4) Length (arms and hands). You don't have to have big hands and long arms to make it, but it helps (especially on defense). 5) Coordination. The coaches can develop the skills of players, but only if they have the coordination to execute the skills. 6) Reaction time. How quickly does he react to a pass? Some players have the hand quickness, but slow reaction time. You need to have both to be effective. 7) Conditioning, stamina/endurance. What type of shape is the player in? Does he have a tendency to get out of shape? Can his body handle the 82 game NBA schedule? 8) Medical history. How many injuries has the players had? Is he injury prone? Any health problems that could hurt his ability to play? --

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