Teague Discusses His Decision
On my way from the ranch to BB&T Field for today’s football scrimmage, I swung through Wake Forest to stalk Jeff Teague.
Actually I’d gotten word that the Deacons were going to run today in a pickup game at the Miller Center, so I hung around the Miller Center. And sure enough, along comes Teague on his way to the locker room.
I felt like a producer of the Bill O’Reilly Show or something, ambushing him like that, but Teague said he had no problem answering a couple of questions about his decision to submit his name to the NBA draft without hiring an agent. Teague will retain his eligibility if he removes his name by June 15.
What follows is our little Q&A.
DC: Why did you submit your name?
JT: I had a pretty good year this year and I just want to see where I’m at. I mean I think people think highly of me right now but you don’t ever know. That’s what the workouts are for, to see what it’s like.
DC: And why did you not hire an agent?
JT: I always wanted to have a chance to come back, just in case things don’t go right. And even if I don’t feel like I’m ready, if I go to the workouts and I know this is not the year for me, then I can always come back.
DC: What are you looking to achieve by going to the camps?
JT: To show people that I can play point guard. I had to score the ball for our team to be successful. But I really can play the point guard point position. I just want to see what everybody thinks of me, what I need to work on and what I can get better at.
DC: What specifically do you want to know?
JT: Just what they think of me really, if coming back for another year would be better for me or if they thought I would drop off or anything like that. I just want to see what they think of me and what they think I can do.
DC: You and Ish Smith split time at point guard last year. If you come back you’ll be splitting time and playing a lot of off-guard. Will that affect your decision?
JT: Not really. Me and Coach Gaudio talked about that. He tells me if I came back he’d give me the same opportunity I had this year. It’s just what I do with it. We’ll see what happens.
DC: Turnovers are a big deal with point guards. Is that one problem they might have with your game?
JT: Turnovers are big. I was trying to force a lot of things. I’ve taken a lot of time since we’ve been off, watching a couple of tapes. I just realized if I just get the ball to the post more it makes a lot of things easier. I’ve been watching a lot of NBA games and I noticed that they like to throw the ball to the post and pick and roll. It makes the game more simple.