'Athleticism is ridiculous': Joan Beringer buzz grows with scouting report

The stage is rapidly being set to make Joan Beringer the best kept secret in the NBA. While other rookies are getting attention from the national media, the No. 17 pick in the draft whom the Timberwolves reportedly wanted to trade up to get, is setting local basketball circles on fire.

Beringer, 18, burst onto the scene with an awesome professional debut with the Wolves in the Las Vegas Summer League. He scored 11 points, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked six shots to set the tone. While his next three games weren't as statistically spectacular, his play has created a local buzz that cannot be ignored.

Tom Crean, the basketball analyst who coached Anthony Edwards at Georgia, thought Beringer and Carter Bryant were sleeper picks in the first round — and he believes they will develop into tremendous NBA players.

"He's got great feet. He's got length," Crean said of Beringer during an interview with Dan Barreiro on KFAN-FM 100.3. "He's got tremendous timing. Like any young player, he stands straight up and down too much at times, but what you see with him is already at his age he can set a re-screen. He can hand off and screen, he can screen and re-screen. He does it quickly. He's got really quick feet. So you think about multiple ball screens, this guy can do that."

Beringer's summer game log:

• 11 points, 8 rebounds, 6 blocks
• 7 points, 7 rebounds, 1 block
• 7 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks
• 6 points, 5 rebounds, 1 block

"He can really, really run. Great strides. Great timing. He can make catches and he can get lobs. I call it the launching pad, like when he takes off offensively, he looks like a sprinter getting ready to go up over the high jump," Crean continued.

"I don't know how much he'll play this year. I would think he's going to work his way into playing — because he has elevated so much since January. It's not about his scoring as much as it's his ability to cover ground, to be in that roll game, to catch the lobs, to run the floor, to position defense, to grab the ball with two hands and rebound. All the little things, he's got a pretty good grasp of that stuff. But that athleticism is ridiculous."

Crean said he was surprised the Spurs and Thunder passed on Beringer with the 14th and 15th picks in the first round, though the Spurs did take Crean's other sleeper (Carter Bryant) at No,. 14.

"For him to be sitting there when [the Timberwolves] were making that pick, that couldn't have worked out any better for the Wolves," Crean said.

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