NBA Draft

[Bubbles]

Am I the only one who thinks that if the Bucks, or any team in the first few picks for that matter, take Marvin Williams, they are making a huge mistake? C'mon, the guy played one full season AS A BACK-UP! All this talk about potential makes me sick. He can go far? Fantastic. Show me something that says he WILL.

Bogut is a big guy, and a fairly complete one. He's a strong inside player, and he can also hit a few jumpers. With the NBA needing big men, to me, he is a lock for the top pick.

[headhawg]

Milwaukee became an attractive place to coach because of the 1st pick in the draft. Larry Brown might even go there, although he would probably prefer a better veteran team, assuming that Detroit has had enough of his "I'm staying/I'm leaving" routine and lets him out of his contract.

Or maybe Flip Saunders.

If ever the phrase "slam dunk" applies to a situation it's here -- the Bucks will take Bogut.

[kingfin66]

I have to call you out on this one Bubbles. Marvin Williams is a phenomenal basketball player. He came off the bench for an awesome NC team, but could probably have started for any team in the nation, including NC. Williams elected to start an upper classman. I doubt that all the pro scouts are wrong when they all agree that he is an incredible talent.

If anything, it is the big man who is the crap shoot. Great white hopes come out of college every few years and are usually stiffs in the NBA. Marvin Williams will be a star in the NBA and it won't take long. I'm not saying he's the next coming of LeBron, but he will be as good or better than Carmelo Anthony in the same amount of time. Actually, I'm probably not giving Marvin enough credit on that one...

[Bobby]

Kingfin - yes
Bogut is white. That's my problem with him.

[toetoe]

King,

Much more terrifying is a white JOCKEY, at least on a speedball. Okay, just kidding, honest.

But Bubs has a point --- potential schmotential. All-around talent tempts the "experts" to do things like trading Mitch Richmond for Billy Owens. BILLY FRIGGIN' OWENS! He was so versatile he soon became bad at everything or great at nothing, I never remember how it goes. Okay, this Warriors guy still aches after 13 years. We got Nellied, big-time. We had George Karl. A very good coach, not to mention that he destroyed J. B. Carroll's locker after an especially hyposcrotal "effort." How can you not love a coach like that? Ralph Sampson, Chris Washburn, Latrell SprayChoke, blah blah ....

[kingfin66]

Toe,

I am very familiar with one George Karl. He coached here in Seattle for a few years. Quite the character and a very good coach.

Let me try to make my point in a different way, or maybe it's just a different point. The NBA draft is all about potential. Players rarely stay around in college long enough to develop their game and bodies to the point where they can step in and be a productive player right away. Of course, there are always exceptions (see LeBron), but most of the players end up like Carmelo Anthony. A classic case of on-the-job training if there ever was one.

The players that seem to come into the league ready to play are the guys that have been in a major college program and stuck around for all 4 years. These players are very rare as the theory regarding them had become "if they are so good, why didn't they come out earlier?" Examples of these players are Desmond Mason and Nick Collision. Collison missed his rookie season due to surgery on both shoulders, but came back ready to play this season.

What irritates me about the draft is when I hear people say that Team X will need to draft a particular postion to replace player Z. In Seattle, people were of the opinion that the Sonics should draft a point guard to replace Antonio Daniels who is likely to leave via free agency. Let's see, Antonio Daniels was Seattle's third guard, played 25-30 minutes per game and was on the court at the end of games, helping Seattle to their best record in years. How is a team going to replace a player like that with the 25th pick in the draft? For the record, Seattle drafted a very young 7-footer with the 1st pick. He will be a project to go along with last year's 7-foot project.

[Dan Montilion]

Potential...

Sports talking head speak for... I get to talk about this 20 year old like I know what I'm talking about.

Fan speak for... This 12th round kid from eastern, western, northern state might just turn out to be the next Michael Jordan.

Real world for... Hasn't done shit yet.

Dan Montilion

[toetoe]

Kfin,

Ah yes. Robert (Not So) Swift, a young man so dumb, he might not pass the I. Q. test to be a BASEBALL player. He was about to flunk out of Catholic high school and started shopping himself around town, here in Bakersfield. Two or three schools fought over him, Henry Bibby wooed him, and of course some scout loved his ... POTENTIAL. What I don't get is, why not do what the Spurs do --- get some stiff from Europe, pay him the minimum, and bring him over in three years if he's anything, or trade the first pick? Once every five years, pick a college star. There are not enough spots to accommodate all the phenoms cropping up every year, are there?