No, it’s not wrong to reply to a journalist with platitudes. I didn’t say it was. Just pointing out that those aren’t particularly answers I’d want to hear. These answers could be reflective of these players’ attitudes towards what they need to do to reach the NBA or it could be them not wanting to talk to a journalist. I don’t know, so I was just replying to what they said.

On Dwayne Jones, he’s a player who has at least one clear NBA skill, and at his age, I think there’s no chance for him to develop much else, which is why his answer was realistic and what I’d want to hear.

On Rob Kurz, if I sign someone who would be one of the most unathletic power forwards in the league, I don’t want to hear him tell me about how he is diversifying his shot creation skills and trying to post guys up more. What NBA team is going to run post ups for Rob Kurz? On the other hand, I’d like to hear that Rob Kurz is working on defensive fundamentals and spending every day possible with a trainer trying to improve his explosiveness and quickness. Those are the things that will get Kurz a permanent roster spot in the NBA, not diversifying his scoring. Regardless, from all I’ve heard about Kurz, he actually does work on the things I mentioned, and probably will get back in the league at some point, but his answer just wasn’t what I wanted to hear.

On Carlos Powell, no mention of improving his three-point shooting or perimeter defense? And then saying that he’s ready? In my opinion, and the opinion of 30 NBA GM’s, obviously, he’s not ready. For him to not even mention the two areas he could improve that actually would likely get him an NBA roster spot definitely rubs me the wrong way. He’s one of the most talented guys on this list, but rather than working on the two areas of his game holding him back, he thinks he’s ready. And he’s too unselfish.

Dar Tucker has major problems with inefficiency, shot selection, turning the ball over, and three-point range. He’s the best prospect of any player on this list long term, given his physical attributes, and for a player who is nowhere near his potential in so many areas, for him to say he just needs to play ball is probably the most disappointing answer on the entire list.

For Brian Butch, no mention of defense or working on explosiveness or quickness.

For Romel Beck, I honestly haven’t really scouted him much, so I can’t really reply to what he specifically needs to do. He doesn’t even have a profile in DX database.

Maybe my responses were directed more towards the players than I had intended, as I meant to criticize their answers more than the players themselves. Regardless, most of their answers tend to correlate with the development we see from them over time. Of the guys on this list, Reggie Williams is really the only player who’s added an NBA skill to his game in the past season, his three-point shooting, and his answer went on to talk about more things he needs to add! Coming into this season, if you asked me what Reggie Williams need to do to make an NBA roster, I’d say hit threes, play better perimeter defense, keep playing within a team concept, and keep working on your athletic abilities. He did the first one and answered two of the latter three in his response. That’s a guy who really gets it, and it’s no coincidence he’s improved his prospects for the NBA more than any player on this list in the last eight months.

Maybe some of the guys on this list really buy into their platitudes, maybe some of them didn’t care to answer a journalist. Maybe some of them are working hard on all the weak areas of their game holding them back, maybe some of them are doing exactly what they said they’re doing. I can’t say for sure, but I can speak to the answers they gave.

My biggest thing is for someone like Carlos Powell, even if everyone around him is telling him he’s ready and he deserves a call-up and he’s already better than guys on NBA rosters, it’s completely against his best interest to buy into that concept. For a marginal NBA player (which is the best characterization to anyone you can give in the D League), the last thing I ever want to hear is I deserve it or I’m ready. Whether it’s true or not is irrelevant. I want a player who is aware of his weaknesses and is actively working on improving them. And when he finishes working on those things, he moves on to the next segment of his game. Why would I want a guy who thinks he’s already ready? What is he going to do to keep improving his game?

Anyways, next time can you please contact me through e-mail or direct message or something asking for clarification on what I said in a 140-character tweet? I don’t think you took my quotes out of context or painted me inaccurately or anything of the sort, but I obviously had a lot more to say about this, and it’s kind of common courtesy to reach out to me if you’re going to write an entire article centered around my 140-character off-hand comments.

And if it wasn’t clear, my responses are obviously skewed towards by scouting analysis of the players’ games. Some scouts could want to hear that Rob Kurz is working on being a more diverse scorer. It’s just not what I’d be looking for from him if I were considering him for a roster spot.