Shayne Whittington Is Picking Up the NBA, Learning from Veterans
By Jared Wade
If Shayne Whittington ever makes an NBA rotation it will be a huge accomplishment. Few undrafted players have such ¨success.¨ The more likely situation is that he sticks around with the Indiana Pacers for a bit then gets cut, plays a few summer leagues, and finishes out his career overseas.
Additionally, every rookie you hear about during preseason is always having a great training camp. So we can take all the talk about Whittington picking up the system and fitting in well with a grain of salt.
A report by Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star reveals that Whittington is just happy to be here.
"“For what I sustained in the offseason, I believe that I’m just lucky to be in training camp,” Whittington said. “I wasn’t supposed to even be playing until December, so I’m just happy to be in training camp.”Whittington’s first camp experience was not supposed to happen like this after he suffered a broken fibula weeks after impressing scouts in a college senior tournament in May. Still, Whittington, who averaged 16.1 points, 8.9 rebounds and shot 52 percent from the field during his senior year at Western Michigan, landed on the Pacers’ radar. Although Indiana traded the 57th pick – its only selection in the 2014 draft – the team still sought Whittington, who signed as a free agent in July while still in crutches.Just before Whittington arrived in Indianapolis for informal workouts, he shed the cast and has progressed smoothly."
Despite this, he says he is picking up the systems well. He is struggling at times with the speed and complexity — as all rookies do — but he is learning more quickly than most, according to teammate and nine-time preseason veteran C.J. Miles.
"“A lot of times, it’s not on purpose, but you see practice having to stop a lot for (rookies). It just happens – you’ve got to be here, you’ve got to be there,” Miles said, snapping his fingers to feign the rapid cadence of NBA basketball. “That hasn’t happened with Shayne. He’s able to pick up everything really quickly and he sets a hell of a screen, which is great. I’ve been hit by him and able to get open by him. Anybody who sets a good screen is always good in my book.”Whittington’s ability to mesh quickly with older players like Miles may be by design.“I surrounded myself with vets for a reason, so that I could actually talk to them,” said Whittington, whose other locker mate is four-year player Lavoy Allen. “I try to get as much out of David West as I can, but I also want to keep my space so that I don’t make him mad or anything, you know what I mean? I don’t want to be that annoying rookie.”"
No, Shayne Whittington. You don´t want to make David West mad.
It seems he is figuring out how the NBA works.