Ivan Chiriaev

We'll start with the story that tells a lot about draft hype and the effect it can have on a young man's career. You may have already heard about Ivan, he's the guy who played basketball at a small high school in Canada and who was hyped to the point he was projected by one site as a high lottery pick. Others in the media bought this story without seeing play at all, while everything around the young kid made him lose touch with reality. But at the end, once his game was scouted properly, his talent level was finally exposed, building a very bad perception and reputation for him. Ivan was probably the least guilty person in the process, who's only fault was listening to the wrong people and believing his own hype. What we saw here was a pretty good player; tall, coordinated, with very good ball-handling and court vision, and probably just an average outside shot , but who's lacking the athleticism and energy to be a interesting NBA prospect, much less a top pick. Ivan was working hard at the camp, trying to follow the coaches instructions, but how long is he going to be remembered as the joke someone projected as a top pick? And how is this going to affect his future career in Europe?