ESPN.com - Dixon, Baxter starting over in NBA quest

ESPN.com: NBA

Thursday, May 9, 2002
Dixon, Baxter starting over in NBA quest

By Andy Katz
ESPN.com

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- It only made sense. Juan Dixon and Lonny Baxter, working out together on Maryland's campus, boosting each other's confidence as they try yet again to prove someone wrong about their talent.

This time it's the folks in the NBA.

The pair arrived at Maryland four years ago without the hype. Dixon was too skinny. Baxter was too short. Neither was expected to be too effective.


	Juan Dixon's championship skills still may not be enough to get him into the first round.

But their careers ended last month in Atlanta with a piece of the Georgia Dome net in their caps, a symbol of Maryland's first-ever national championship after a second straight Final Four appearance.

Dixon was the Most Outstanding Player in the Final Four. Baxter was the player of the championship game with 15 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks.

None of that matters here, not in the Ritchie Gymnasium across the street from the main campus, out of eyesight from Cole Field House or the new Terps' home at the Comcast Center. This is where Dixon has to show he can handle the basketball, drive on the scrappy defense of former George Mason point Jason Miskiri, who was serving as the perimeter workout partner for Dixon.

Meanwhile, Baxter needs to show that his 6-foot-8, 260-pound frame isn't too small to play power forward in the NBA. Or, that he also has to prove he's got the ballhandling skills to take his game outside, which he tries to do in driving to the basket at former Charlotte forward Jermaine Williams, who is the requisite banger for Baxter.

Oh, and there is no sign of Gary Williams yelling the instructions. No, Dixon and Baxter instead work out under the guidance of their team of representatives at Peak Management Group, who work this pair three times daily.

For the record, Dixon looks like he has added muscle, and perhaps has as little body fat as he ever has in his life. His jump shot is as sweet and prolific as it was during the season and NCAA Tournament, when he averaged nearly 26 points in six games. His defense is just as intense, his ability to disrupt a drive or steal with a quick slap of the ball as effective as it was in the season.

Still, Dixon isn't a lock for the first round and he's well aware of the tenuous situation. It's up to him to play his way into the first 28 picks. He'll do that if he can work out for teams the way he's doing it here at Maryland.

Milwaukee already has planned to matched Dixon up against Cincinnati's Steve Logan, Gonzaga's Dan Dickau and Oklahoma State's Maurice Baker in a workout in two weeks. Dixon probably get this crew at more than one NBA workout stop over the next six weeks.

"Hopefully I can create a buzz and get drafted in the first round," Dixon said. "They all know I can score and play defense, but they want to see the ball in my hands and see me be a point guard."

	“	This is nothing new for me and Juan. We've been in this boat before ... We'll prove people wrong again. ”
		— Lonny Baxter

While Dixon was Maryland's leader, he didn't lead from the point with Steve Blake in the backcourt the past two seasons. But he will be expected to be a playmaker, as well as a scorer/defender at the next level.

"Where I can stand out (in the workouts) is when you shut down your man one-on-one, get a couple of strips and be aggressive," Dixon said. "I'm hoping I can make it to the Green Room (at the draft). That's what I always dreamed of."

To do that, the NBA will have to feel comfortable that he's not only a lock for the first round, but has a legitimate chance of being in the lottery -- within the first 13 picks. The NBA doesn't want the embarrassment of players sitting idle throughout the first round. And, at least last season, the Green Room wasn't a room to shield the player and his family from the general public at the Theatre inside Madison Square Garden. The potential draftees were actually off to the side at tables in a area that was in front of the fans in attendance.

Dixon has a shot to be on that side of the Theatre, especially if he plays well in the workouts and makes perimeter shots -- a skill missing from the bulk of the draft picks. Dixon was invited to Chicago, but hasn't decided if he'll participate in the games -- although he plans on being available for the NBA-sponsored workouts and physicals.

Baxter doesn't have that same luxury. He has to play at the pre-draft camp June 5-8. NBA teams were a bit perplexed when he didn't show for the Portsmouth Invitational (Va.) three days after the Final Four. Teammate Byron Mouton made the trek, but he was in an even more precarious situation. Mouton is trying to get into the second round.

Baxter said he didn't go to Portsmouth because he was drained so soon after the championship. But he's determined to get in the best shape he has ever been in prior to Chicago. NBA scouts project him as a second-round pick, but if he doesn't work out well, there is a chance he could slip out of the draft. Getting into the first round would be a reach unless he had a dominating Chicago camp.

"This is nothing new for me and Juan," Baxter said. "We've been in this boat before and did it and so why not again? We'll prove people wrong again."

Draft Chatter

The NBA invited a number of high-profile senior players to Chicago who weren't in Portsmouth. But the question is will they show up?

Western Kentucky's Chris Marcus heads a list that includes Fresno State's Melvin Ely, Oregon's Freddie Jones, USC's Sam Clancy, Gonzaga's Dan Dickau, Kentucky's Tayshaun Prince, Maryland's Juan Dixon, Cincinnati's Steve Logan, UCLA's Dan Gadzuric, Oklahoma State's Maurice Baker, Hawaii's Predrag Savovic, Temple's Lynn Greer, Tennessee's Vincent Yarbrough, Memphis' Kelly Wise, Notre Dame's Ryan Humphrey, Arkansas State's Jason Jennings and Florida's Udonis Haslam. The likelihood that all will play in Chicago is slim based on past history of seniors who bypass Chicago because they think they're higher in the draft and don't need to play.

The NBA plans on having individual workouts with players in the afternoon during the three days of the Chicago camp. These players could be those who choose not to play in the games, or the elite players who arrive for the physicals and are expected to go in the lottery.

The number of foreign players in Chicago probably won't be determined for a few more weeks.

Underclassmen can't start workouts until May 18, an arbitrary date that has some NBA teams upset. The reason is underclassmen can't workout until the NBA puts out the official early-entry draft list. The deadline is May 12. But a number of NBA teams see three weeks wasted in May that could be used to narrow down who they're interested in selecting. Instead, the workouts end up in a tight two-week window before Chicago and then in the two weeks following the pre-draft camp before the draft in New York.

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com. He covers the NBA draft for ESPN.com and ESPN and will file periodic updates through the June 26 draft in New York.