BARCELONA, Spain -- We spend most of our trips scouting out the best in the world. But after watching endless games and videotape, it's only a matter of time before we finally run into a dud. After spending the day unsuccessfully trying to chase down several top prospects for interviews, Pistons scout Tony Ronzone and I get a tip on a 7-foot-3 player for Barcelona who's scheduled to play in the team's junior game that night. Remon VandeHare is a 20-year-old Dutch center represented by American agent Keith Glass, who tells us he has put the unknown prospect's name in the NBA draft and calls him "the ultimate sleeper." That's an understatement. Representatives from the Bucks, Hawks, Rockets and Pistons all decide the kid is worth a trip to see him play. As we arrive at the gym, Ronzone is amusing us with one of the great truths of European scouting. "The crazy thing about Europe is trying to actually get to games like this," he says. "Someone will tell you a date, place and time, and very rarely are all three of them correct. They move these things on a whim, and then your left scrambling around looking for the gym." Sure enough, within minutes of arriving at the gym, we discover there's no basketball game. VandeHare's agent arrives and begins leading a caravan of NBA scouts through the streets of Barcelona. He is obviously nervous. As we search for the gym, he explains why. "Ever hear of Thomas Hamilton?" Glass asks. Sure, he's the 300-plus pound center once drafted by the Boston Celtics. "Well, when Hamilton put his name in the draft, I organized this huge workout for him after the Chicago pre-draft camp," Glass continues. "I worked for weeks lobbying teams to show up at this gym in south Chicago to watch this kid work out. When the day of the workout arrives, hundreds of people from the NBA decide to come and fill this gym to the rafters. "Hamilton walks out onto the court, plays for about two minutes and then runs off . I go back to see what's up, and he's just broken down. He was so overwhelmed by all of the attention, he just froze. I couldn't get him out of the bathroom. "After a while I have to go back out to the gym and explain that the workout's over. Talk about an angry crowd; it took some teams years to forgive me for that. I hope lightning doesn't strike twice." We finally arrive at the gym. There are no signs, just a small door in the side of wall that opens into a tiny, low-lit practice floor. The irony of the scene is remarkable. Friday, VandeHare was sitting on the bench as F.C. Barcelona's 12th man in the Euroleague Final Four semifinals in a jam-packed, state-of-the-art arena in front of 16,000 screaming fans. Saturday, he's taking warm-up shots in a run-down, smoke-filled gym with 74 people in the stands. A soccer goal creeps onto the court behind the visiting basket. The nets are hanging on the rims by a thread. Before long we're going to have to break out the flashlights if we're actually going to see the game. Anything to pursue the dream. VandeHare, who's five inches taller than anyone else on the court, misses a lay-up. Then he misses another one. His third attempt ricochets off the bottom of the rim -- that's not easy to do when you're 7-foot-3. One guy up in the top row has a clapper that he occasionally bangs against the metal handrail in support of his team. The good news is that VandeHare doesn't look too awful in warm-ups. He runs the floor well, shows a nice touch from the perimeter, has a decent handle and seems like he might actually be a player. He's obviously too thin to take an NBA pounding, but from the stands he looks like a young Rik Smits. Then the game begins. VandeHare, who's five inches taller than anyone else on the court, misses a lay-up. Then he misses another one. His third attempt ricochets off the bottom of the rim -- that's not easy to do when you're 7-foot-3. He has the ball stripped from his hands twice in the post. At one point he takes the ball on the wing and charges hard to the basket and throws down a big dunk. Problem is, he took about 10 steps to get there and the basket is waved off. It gets worse. He misses a dunk, gets repeatedly beaten on the boards and is yanked off the court after four minutes of play. It's ugly. Glass says the kid is still raw but not to worry. He has two more years left on his Barcelona contract, so any team drafting him in the second round will have plenty of time to develop him overseas. Two years? I think they'll need about 10. One NBA GM here told me teams have two to three years to develop a project. If it takes any longer, the fans, coaching staff and ownership lose interest, and the GM might just lose his job. Given that, you can understand why the scouts started fleeing the arena as the buzzer sounded. Glass was waiting outside, looking for feedback. Scouts are always polite and pointed out how well he ran the floor and how coordinated he seemed for a kid his size. Glass claims the kid had an off night. The pressure got to him. His team's preparation for the Final Four had distracted him. It could all very well be true. But in the game of one-and-done NBA scouting, VandeHare looks cooked.
If he's that bad... why the hell did Toronto draft him? He must have SOME skills, otherwise he wouldn't have gotten a contract with Barcelona... It looks like he choked...
he is horrible i saw this article somewhere else and said why not hollis price,chris marcus,carl english,marcius daniels.