The Larry Hughes thread got me thinking about players who are eternally referred to in terms of potential. Guys that, for seemingly no good reason, are always given contracts, traded for, etc... but seemingly suck. Here are some of mine: Larry Hughes - give him a shot, a better attitude, and defense... and he's an all-star. He's now in his 4th year, and has actually regressed in some ways (check his 3pt shooting out) Kelvin Cato - duh Michael Olowakandi - People have spoken in glowing terms about his last year. What's so great? He's a #1 pick who averaged 11.1 points and 8.8 rebounds. About 1.5 points and .6 rebounds more than he did in his 2nd year. And he's a center, but has a .434 FG%. Ack. He's also 27, and not likely to improve substantially. Eddie Robinson - this 26 year old "prospect" with "mad hops" always needed a jump shot. Oh, but he can learn it, the adoring multitudes and fanboys said. Well, he still hasn't, as far as anyone can tell. Tons more out there...
Crawford. D Miles. The Pacers Children. I'm guessing this is a different category than the perennially- injured, supposed-to-be-great-when-healthy player, like say, the Nickel, Theo Ratliff, Tom Gugliotta, Marcus Camby, etc. Ugh.
I also think Zach Randolph and the guy you mentioned E- Rob will never realize there potential for these reasons: E-Rob: Will not start in Chicago, if he can somehow develop a jump shot, he will be a good starter somewhere, but at age 26 it's almost the end of the development stage. Zach Randolph: Will probably be like some of these other guys like Rafer Alston and Tim Thomas and resign with Portland. Don't ask me why he would resign, but he is dominating the summer league for 2 years in a row now. He needs to get out...
Darius Miles is definitely one of those players. Since he came out of high school, everyone knows it will take him a few years to develop. But almost everyone believes that he can. Some people think this guy deserves the max after his rookie contract is over.
Miles is always gonna be a project. He has no jumpshot and no strength to play inside whatsoever. He's getting to that make or break age for high schoolers to break out in the NBA and IMO he's nowhere close to where everybody thought he would be. If I was the Clippers, I would trade him for a veteran or even draft picks while teams still believe he has a future. Jason Williams also belongs on this list, he's had plenty of time to get it straight but he cant figure out how to play under control.
Travis Knight, Shawn Bradley, Kelvin Cato, Diop, Potapenko (and virtually evey big man who hasn't panned out yet). Miles, Harrington & Bender (virtually every HS and teenaged player who hasn't panned out yet) Hughes, Robinson, GWallace (sac) and every "slasher" who has yet to develop a J. Future Eternal Projects: Eddie Curry, Ron Gizzard, Curtis Borchardt, Kwame Brown, and really too many to name.
Have any of you morons even seen Miles play?? I think hes like 21 right now?? eternal project? if you have seen any Clips games at all you know that there is something special there. THere is a reason everyone thinks he will pan out. If you watch any of his games you will be amazed by some of the things he can do for a guy that is 6'10.
He's 6'10 and he can jump out of the building. Thats it. He cannot shoot! I've seen him play live almost 10 times and I've seen him on TV twice that amount. No one is saying he doesn't have ability and yes some of the things I've seen him do is amazing but you need more than athletic ability to be great player. IF he can find a range outside of 10ft and work on his FT's he can do some serious damage. But then again, thats what we say about virtually all "projects".
