Issue date: 6/16/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Javier Zamora / Daily Lobo Former UNM basketball player J.R. Giddens could possibly hear his name called in this month's NBA Draft, which begins June 26. Since Giddens left UNM, he has spent his time preparing and competing in the NBA pre-draft camp, which took place May 27-30.

For J.R. Giddens, in his senior year as a Lobo, the season didn't end so giddy.

On back-to-back occasions, Giddens released two shots that came tantalizingly close to dropping - one in the Mountain West Conference Tournament against Utah and one against Califonia in the NIT. Both fell short and resulted in tough losses to end Giddens' collegiate career.

Many will remember his last days as a Lobo with him slumped down in the middle of the floor, gazing exhaustively.

But for all the pain and sadness Giddens has endured, from the bar fight that led to his dismissal from the Kansas basketball team, to his spat with former UNM head coach Ritchie McKay, to all the critics who labeled him selfish, Giddens has shown the maturity needed to cope with adversity.

And on June 26 all that hard work could pay off if Giddens hears his name called in the 2008 NBA Draft.

For the time being, Giddens said he's been trying to take it easy and not worry or let anxiety consume him.

"I've been doing good," he said. "I'm just trying to make sure my body's healthy, my mind's right and my game's clickin'."

While Giddens tries to block it out of his mind and focus on keeping his game clickin', the fact still remains that the draft-day clock is tickin' - tick-tock - 10 days before the draft.

But after competing in the NBA pre-draft camp held May 27-30, Giddens said he feels good about his draft stock.

"I feel like I did my thing out there," he said. "I held my own. It was a lot of fun competing with guys that played at a high level. I'm happy with the outcome. I wish I wouldn't have tweaked my hammy; I would have probably been able to have a little stronger performance. But I was pretty happy with what happened at the Orlando camp, and I'm just trying to build off of that performance in upcoming workouts."

So far, Giddens' agent from Priority Sports, Aaron Mintz, said Giddens impressed the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Houston Rockets, who saw him compete in his lone workout.

Continued...

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