NBA Draft diary

Workouts begin and everyone is under the microscope

After helping to lead the University of Nevada to the Sweet 16 in this year's NCAA Tournament, 6-foot-6 junior guard Kirk Snyder decided to take the next step -- the NBA. In the weeks leading up to the June 24 draft Kirk will give SI.com's readers a periodic glimpse into his preparations, thoughts and experiences in his draft diary.

My first workout with an NBA team was with the New Jersey Nets in early May. It was a little tough because I was really, really pumped. I had trouble going to sleep the night before and I remember waking up at two or three in the morning and doing a couple of push-ups because I was thinking, "Man, I gotta be ready, I gotta be stronger."

The workout itself felt like it lasted forever. I was going through all of the drills as hard as I could; I was nervous and my adrenaline was going. When you have that sort of adrenaline, it's like the first quarter of a game. The home team always gets it going really fast and then the other guys catch up because the home team spent all of this emotional energy at the start. When you put that kind of emotion into it, it really drains you. That's why you have to bottle it in sometimes and wait to use that at the right time because otherwise it can work to your disadvantage.

They set the workout up with two big men and two guards. The coaching staff was there and so was the GM. It's pretty fun to be around that atmosphere. And the facility was nice, man. The court was so nice you felt like you could just lie down and go to sleep. First-class everything.

My next workout a few days later in Portland was a little easier. It was on the West Coast, on West Coast time, so I felt a little bit more acclimated to the city, having been there before.

The workouts are pretty similar in a lot of ways. The teams all fly you out to their practice facilities. They want to get a feel for you in their place and their territory and kind of determine how good you are with their set of rules, with their people watching and what everybody else thinks, including the trainers, etc. When you get there you talk with the personnel people, the coaches and the GM and all that. They kind of get a feel for you as a person. That happens before you play. It's just like a regular conversation -- the kind you would have just meeting somebody -- but the emphasis is on basketball. They've all got a couple of basketball questions and they want to know what you hold close to your heart.

Most of the actual workouts last about an hour, an hour-and-a-half. They always work us out in groups of four, usually with two big men and two guards. If there is something that they want to see from one person out of the group, they make up the drill and they make the person do it. And then you're on your way.

It's tough but you have to put every workout behind you. I try to be real professional and make each one seem like this is my last chance; this has to be the best workout ever. I have to have all my focus on doing the best that I can possibly do.

Because of some of the things I've heard in college about my game, I'm fortunate to know that there are some abilities that people want to see from me. So when I get to workouts I make sure I do those things. It seems to be working. I think I've kind of opened people's eyes a little bit with my physical ability. I'm running a 4.4 in the 40; that's pretty fast. Being 6-foot-6 and pretty big, I never thought in a million years that I could run 4.4 in the 40. But I've been able to get up and move. That's a tribute to my family, my genetics and all.

But they look at your game pretty closely. In one of the workouts I was shooting the ball pretty well and a coach came up and said, "Kirk, try to get that guide hand off the ball a little bit. I'm not trying to mess with your shot -- you're a great shooter -- but that'll make it look a little better." I guess that sometimes I was getting a little push-off from my thumb on my guide hand. For the most part my shots always go in, but they said that when I miss, that's when I use that hand. So I'll have to hit the film and break down my shot with coach [Bob] Hill.

But I'm also looking at them, too. For the most part, all of the teams have been really professional. They take care of your flight and they put you up in a nice hotel. But it's also important to find out how they treat you and how they treat the other guys, how they talk to guys. You know, if somebody isn't doing very well, I want to see how they treat that guy. Like if a guy doesn't understand what the coach wants him to do or how a drill should be done, I want to know how the coach is going to treat him. That means something to me. That's stuff you can't hide in these workouts.

Sure, you can fake being nice to me but you can't fake being nice to everybody and treating everybody with respect, especially if someone doesn't do something the way the team wants it done. Some guys are going to do the drill wrong the first time. How easy is it to yell, "What are you doing? I told you to do it this way!" I think it's a lot more effective to hear, "OK, look, let's do it again. Maybe you didn't get it." That's being professional. Yelling and carrying on and all that stuff? That's unprofessional.

Kirk's previous installments

Remembering the journey

Selecting an agent