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Springfield Armor Take Germany's Tim Ohlbrecht in first round of D-League Draft

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Christof Koepsel

The Armor drafted Tim Ohlbrecht, a 6'11" member of Germany's national team, with the 14th pick of the 2012 D-League Draft. Ohlbrecht, 24, has played for German professional teams since he was 15. He is viewed as a skilled player with a good touch and athleticism, but his passion for the game has been questioned. He went undrafted in the 2010 NBA Draft and in this summer's Eurobasket competition, he averaged only 5.4 points and 4.3 rebounds per game for Germany.

In the second round, the Armor took 6'4" guard Christian Polk from UTEP and 6'9" power forward Willie Reed from St. Louis University. Reed played for the Kings in preseason, averaging less than a point in 2.8 minutes over four games.

“We were surprised and elated because we actually had him in the top five of our draft board,” Armor head coach Bob MacKinnon said of Reed. “We got great reports from the NBA teams. We feel like he is a guy who is a very talented player and we’ll see if we can coach him to his abilities.”

In the third, it was Cliff Tucker, a 6'6" Maryland swingman who the Armor are also high on. In the fourth, Shawn Vanzant, the diminutive Butler point guard. In the later rounds, Springfield nabbed Shawn Taggart, the 6'10" Memphis big who played with Derrick Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts (fifth round), local product Stefan Bonneau, 5'10" point guard from C.W. Post (sixth round); Chaz Crawford, a well-traveled 28-year-old from Drexel who last played in Sweden (seventh round) and Nate Brown, a 6'0" guard from St. Peter's in Jersey City (eighth and final round).

For full coverage of the draft, which is held by conference call, go to the D-League's official website. Top pick in the draft, by the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, was JaJuan Johnson, cut earlier this week by the Rockets. Players selected in the D-League Draft can still sign overseas where they can make, in some case, five to ten times more money, but the D-League advertises itself as the "most scouted league in the world," making it attractive to those hoping for an NBA career.

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