Fazekas flagging on web sites

It seems that Nevada's Nick Fazekas isn't getting a lot of love from the various Web sites talking about the upcoming NBA draft in late June.

I checked into three or four sites that had mock drafts, and aboutbasketball.com was the only site that had Fazekas, the two-time Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year, going in the first round.

Brendan McGovern pegged Fazekas as the No. 28 pick going to the Dallas Mavericks.

Earlier, McGovern had Fazekas at No. 26 which is Phoenix's first-round pick. No doubt either would be fine in Fazekas' mind, as a first-round selection means a three-year guaranteed contract.

CollegeHoops.net tabbed Fazekas as the No. 32 selection, which is the second pick of the second round. DraftExpress.com has Fazekas going at No. 39 to the Milwaukee Bucks.

Interestingly enough, nbadraft.net doesn't even have Fazekas being drafted, which I find amusing. I would be the most surprised person in the whole world if Fazekas didn't get drafted. Every NBA scout I talked with this past season, even off the record, said Fazekas would be a mid-to-late first-round selection.

Fazekas has said several times that he plans on returning to Nevada if he's slated to be a second-round pick. He's in the process of starting to go to teams for individual workouts. His goal is to be invited to the Pre-Draft Camp June 6-10.

He may have slipped a bit because so many college players, including underclassmen Tyrus Thomas of LSU and 7-foot center Patrick O'Bryant from Bradley, stepped up their performances in this year's NCAA Tournament, while Nevada went out and lost to Montana in the first round.

Aran Smith of nbadraft.net compared Fazekas to Vladimir Radmanovic. Smith likes Fazekas' shooting touch, but then again who doesn't? Smith talked favorably about Fazekas' length, his ability to pull bigger players from under the basket because of his outside shooting and his soft hands.

Conversely, Smith said Fazekas' athleticism was below average and didn't jump well. He also said that Fazekas struggles to create shots against quicker big men, and that he lacks a first step to get by defenders who play him tight on the outside.

There may be some merit in the Internet scouting reports and mock drafts. I'm not going to put a huge amount of stock in them. However, as people have continually pointed out to me that all it takes is one general manager or coach to like a player. I agree with that reasoning.

Fazekas can score at any level, and that's the main reason why I think he will be drafted in the first round. Outside of West Virginia's Kevin Pittsnogle, there isn't anybody that shoots the ball anywhere near as well as Fazekas from the outside. The NBA is all about putting the ball in the basket, and Fazekas can do that with regularity.

What I find amazing is when scouts say that Louisiana Tech's Paul Millsap will be drafted before Fazekas. If you want to talk one-dimensional, I think you are talking about Millsap. He can rebound and play some defense, but he has virtually no offensive game. The 6-foot-7 250-pound Millsap will find that he won't be able to muscle up the NBA centers and power forwards like he did in the WAC last year.

The journey is just starting for Fazekas, and this is the most critical time in his young life. He has loads of talent and a tremendous upside.

Everybody knows where I stand on Fazekas. I'd love him to come back because I'd like to see Nevada have another banner season, but I do know that he's NBA caliber.

Contact Darrell Moody at dmoody@nevadaappeal.com, or by calling (775) 881-1281