Waves were made last week when Scott Howard-Cooper of SI.com stated that Greivis Vasquez was definitely in the NBA draft. Many people were doubtful, and rightfully so. An enterprising soul from Rockville, our very own homertuck, emailed Mr. Howard-Cooper and challenged his info. SHC's response:
Greivis Vasquez: "I'm all in. I'm not thinking about going back to school."
Face to face? No, you got me there. I was about 5 feet away, after his workout with the Kings last week.
If Vasquez goes back to Maryland, it will be because he changed his mind from a very clear comment. And some perspective, please. Vasquez deciding to stay in the draft might be breaking national news? In what nation?
Touche, Scott. That actually does seem like a "very clear comment" about his standing.
That final, classy comment from SHC definitely added some perspective for us about Greivis' importance in the basketball world, didn't it? (BTW, the obvious answer to his question: Venezuala. Duh). Well, how about we apply some perspective to his comments? Luckily for us, we can.
The Sacramento Kings actually filmed this interview and put it on YouTube. So, what does he say in context?
Well, you know, it's been interesting. I'm all in. I'm not thinking of coming back to school, but I'm not rushing anything. I want to go step-by-step, workout-by-workout, see what happens and see what teams tell me, and I'd love to be here [Sacramento] for sure. Teams tell me I'm in the range of 25 to 40. I don't have an ego at all, as long as I have something that's guaranteed, and help me to get better, and just give a chance to play a little bit, just get better in practice and in games. That would be the best situation for me.
Scott, when quoting someone, it's usually bad form to cut them off in the middle of a sentence, particularly when it contradicts what was just said. Suddenly, that comment isn't quite as "very clear" now.
It sounds like a resounding "I'm undecided" if I ever heard one. In context, it's seems clear to me he means he's focusing solely on the workouts and not worrying about the possibility of returning to school. It does not mean he is unequivocally headed out the door. In fact, this would be in line with his several comments that he would "take it down to the wire" (final Q&A in that link) - in other words, he isn't going to make a decision until he's done with all his workouts. Ergo, he's "all in" and not thinking of the "coming back to school" decision during the workouts.
Nice reporting, Scott.
For Terp fans, I doubt we'll hear anything definite on his decision earlier than Monday at about 5 pm. That would be the deadline.