Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Mark Turgeon on Alex Len: ‘I think he can be the No. 1 pick’

Alex Len

Maryland center Alex Len (25) shoots a free throw during the first half of an NIT tournament basketball game against Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Tuesday, March 26, 2013. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

AP

Alex Len is one of the more intriguing players in this year’s draft class.

At 7-foot-1, Len has the size and the length to be an NBA center. Add in his fairly well-developed post game, his age (19), and his mobility, and there’s a lot to like about his future.

Perhaps the most promising part about Len as a prospect is that he’s only scratched the surface of his potential, but he’s shown the work ethic to reach that potential in other aspects of his life. Think about it like this: Len came over from the Ukraine to attend Maryland in late August of 2011. He didn’t speak any English. He’d never been to the States before. And here we are in April of 2013, and Len is fluent in English and has made major strides in learning how to play the American style of basketball.

“He’s grown up a lot,” Mark Turgeon said at a press conference on Tuesday. “In two years I’ve never seen a kid learn the language, learn the game - the European game is a lot different than ours. Just the way he progressed, I don’t know if I’ve been around a player who has improved as much as Alex.”

Len’s biggest issues in his two seasons in College Park were consistency, aggressiveness and confidence. He’s had some big games, but he also tends to disappear at times. Part of that was the result of playing on a Maryland team that lacked a true point guard. Part of it was that Len didn’t have the strength or the will to demand the ball in the post.

But we’ve all seen what he is capable of doing when he puts it all together.

“I think he can be the No. 1 pick. They’re talking about the other guy being No. 1, and you guys saw the same game I saw when we played them earlier in the year,” Turgeon said, referring to the 23 points, 12 boards and four blocks that Len had against Nerlens Noel back in November. “This kid’s going to be special.”

You can find Rob on twitter @RobDauster.