With all the hype surrounding Rose, and the scramble to trade for Beasley, it's funny that everyone has lost sight of the fact that when O.J. Mayo walks across the stage tonite, it will be the culmination of the most highly anticipated drafting in NBA history. The hype cooled off considerably last year to the point where it feels like people forgot who this guy once was. I think he will have a very productive NBA career, peaking out at 18-20ppg. He doesn't have that freakish athleticism that alot of guys have, and they realized last year that he's not a point guard, but he can still shoot the ball.
I think he will be the player with more championships out of this draft class. He is a great all around basketball player, the kind the NBA needs more. No hype, just game. Unless he is drafted by New York of course.
thecabbage, you're a good poster by your hyperbole has been off the charts lately. as someone else stated, more anticipated than Lebron.
Yes, i can't see how the hype about O.J over the few years before this year ever got near encroaching on what happened with The LeBron... oh and pgagabriel, damn u for that sig... haha "where my doorag?!" my god, that video is EXACTLY what youtube was invented for LOL
Sure, but playing with a basketball in real time is different. He's not a freakish athlete with the ball in his hands, but he is incredibly smooth and fluid not to mention a pretty darn good vertical. He will be a future All Star
The hype didn't get as big in as relatively short a time as it did for Lebron, but you could argue, given the length of time people have known and written about Mayo (what, since 6th grade when AP first wrote about him), that there has actually, on a cumulative basis, more hype on May than Lebron.
I watched a lot of USC this year, and I just don't get this sentiment. Why didn't USC play better if he's someone who can push an NBA team to a championship? He wasn't outstanding on his own, and his team wasn't that good. Most of the truly influential NBA players, if and when they played in college, pushed their NCAA teams to new levels. That's why picks like Deron Williams and D. Rose make a ton of sense.
Um, yes. Forgot about starting this thread. Lebron had more hype at its peak, but the he wasn't more longly anticipated. People have known about O.J. Mayo since he was in junior high.
You also have to look at the teams surrounding Rose and Williams as opposed to what Mayo had. I saw a lot of him and there is no doubt in my mind he will be a perrenial All-Star.
Felipe Lopez was pretty highly touted coming out of Jr High, High School, etc. I remember him being on the cover of SI in highschool, long before Lebron, etc. You are correct though, OJ has been THE player in California BBall for years, not to mention national camps (Nike, Reebok). I'm not real surprised by his problems off the court so far....you can't treat a kid like a king for years and then expect average joe morals/values when they hit the spotlight.
umm no, the problem for mayo, his hype hit the peak the moment he hit USC and didnt just blow the program up and put USC back on the map as a college bball powerhouse........LeBron's draft was clearly more anticipated......i'm sure he had more HS games on national television than Mayo and Mayo wasnt even the top pick......
i know mayo had more surrounding him than beasely.....and when carmelo took cuse all the way there were seeded 4th in the tourney, so obviously it was not a loaded team ie memphis ranked 1st and illionois which was a 2 seed i think.
Melo had Hakim Warrick and Gerry McNamara (who was a great college player). Deron had Luther (who was a very solid college player) and Dee Brown (who was pretty damn good himself). Both teams were balanced and obviously were successful. Mayo's next best player was Davon Jefferson. A great athlete who entered the draft without getting picked. Beasley had Bill Walker on his team (whom without knee injuries would have been a first rounder most likely). In the game it was Walker going off eartly that actually killed USC. They didn't have a second option to Mayo. The team was too inconsitant. If you watch some USC games you will see they were a team that pretty much soley depended on him and consistantly had their top players getting in foul trouble.
You really need to improve your reading comprehension skills. I'm simply saying Mayo was hyped for longer. I don't know how him not being the top pick has any relevance to anything - I wasn't implying he was more hyped coming out.
