I was surfing on espn.com when I suddenly saw an article by Dick Vitale titled Yao-Jay debate. I couldn't believe what I was reading, Vitale said that we should draft Williams and trade Francis. Does this guy really think that Jay Williams is going to be better that Stevie Franchise. Dick Vitale has always overated Duke Players. When Francis is healthy he is the best and I mean the best PG in the game. I recall earler this year when Francis dropped a Triple-Double on Kidd with a migraine. I think Vitale was drunk when he wrote that article, what do u guys think? Below is the article by Dickie V. Yao over Jay? Rockets will regret it By Dick Vitale SPECIAL TO ESPN.COM June 21 It looks like 7-foot-5 Chinese center Yao Ming will be the top choice of the Houston Rockets in the upcoming NBA draft. Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich and the Houston entourage visited China, and they were impressed enough to want to make Ming their center in a lineup that includes Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley in the backcourt. Dickie V sees Duke's Jason Williams (right) as a slam-dunk star in the NBA. But I have a gut feeling the Rockets are making a mistake. I think they'll be sorry they passed on Duke's Jay Williams. There's no doubt in my mind that he will be a superstar and that people in Chicago will be ecstatic about getting him at No. 2. Think about this Chicago Bulls lineup: Williams at point guard, Jalen Rose at shooting guard, and Tyson Chandler, Eddy Curry and Marcus Fizer up front. Bulls coach Bill Cartwright will love having Rose's experience and knowledge together with Williams, the young phenom. Williams is a lock for stardom. If I were the Rockets, I would pick him No. 1 and package Francis in a deal for experienced help inside. That says something about how I view Williams' potential. As for Mr. Ming, he has loads of potential, skills and finesse at 7-foot-5. He has great touch, but it's a different world in the NBA compared to starring for the Shanghai Sharks. It's more physical in the NBA, with the banging inside from bigger, more athletic guys. There are lots of "ifs" with Mr. Ming, but none with Mr. Williams. It's the big guy vs. little guy debate, but point guards are so vital in the NBA today. Just look at Jason Kidd and Michael Bibby and their playoff performances! The point-guard position is so important on all levels, be it high school, college or the pros. Point guards are the quarterbacks on the court. To me, Williams is another Isiah Thomas. A player like him is a rarity. Look at the championship banners flying in Detroit, thanks largely to Isiah. That's the kind of success I see ahead for Jay Williams. I know Rudy T has made his mind up, and I love his competitiveness. But if he doesn't want to trade Stevie Franchise, he could package Williams in a deal. I still feel that Yao Ming could be the second coming of LaRue Martin, the big man who was a first-round bust of the Portland Trail Blazers in 1972. My gut feeling tells me the Rockets are making a mistake, baby, in evaluating their overall No. 1 pick. Still, Rudy T could shock America by having NBA commissioner David Stern announce Williams' name as the top pick. Then Houston would be moving toward the winner's circle.
Vitale is saying is that Williams + whoever the Rockets could get in a trade for Francis is better than Francis and Ming. There are probably a lot of folks who believe that. It is not unbelievable at all.
Vitale thinks Coach K is God and his players are his great titans. Why trade Francis and take a player just over 6' tall? Dickie V should stick to just analyzing games and not pro teams.
Gawd...DUKE Vitale? This guy is the biggest Duke knob licker EVER! He would sabatoge the entire draft if it meant his boys J. Williams or Dunleavy go #1.
Well it's obvious that Vitale knows college hoops and not International players (not as well). So it comes as no suprise that he is "iffy" about Ming, and touting Jay Will. I'm not saying that Vitale is out of his league in criticizing Ming, but in a way he really is. He's biased towards Jay Will for obvious reasons. What would he say about someone taking Tschkivilli over Gooden or Wilcox? Probably the same. What did he say about Nowitzki or Peja when they were drafted before established college players who he he covered?
3 names sum up Vitale's eye for talent and personnel decisions: Trajan Langdon Robert Parrish Kevin McHale He may know basketball, but does he know basketball talent?
Dick Vitale is insane. Look at this mock draft he put out a couple weeks ago Dickie V's Mock Draft By Dick Vitale SPECIAL TO ESPN.COM It's just two weeks away from the NBA draft, baby. While all the teams are locked away busy deciding which diaper dandy to select, I'm going to roll my mock draft. Enjoy! 1. Houston-Trades Steve Francis and a future #1 to San Antonio for Danny Ferry, Cherokee Parks and the rights to Chris Carrawell so that they can draft JAY WILLIAMS. 2. Chicago-MIKE DUNLEAVY. 3. Golden State-Trades the pick to Cleveland for TRAJAN LANGDON. Cleveland picks CARLOS BOOZER. 4. MEMPHIS-Surprise wildcard pick of GREG NEWTON, still trying to cater to their former Canadian fan base. 5. Denver-YAO MING-"I don't know why they're not looking at Matt Christianson here, but my sources say Denver is going to go with the unproven Ming over the solid Dukie"... 6. Cleveland-Utah trades John Stockton and Karl Malone for this pick, and draft MATT CHRISTIANSON, trying to appease their Mormon and violence prone fan base. 7. New York-Passes. Front Office will heartbroken when their #1,2,3 and 4 choices of Williams, Dunleavy, Boozer and Christianson are all gone. Will probably take Jay Heaps in round Two. 8. LA Clippers-WOJO-"I think the Clippers think Wojo can run that offense better than Jeff McInnis, and how about the big three of Brand, Maggette and Wojo!! 9. Phoenix-Trades the pick to Philly for the rights to Johnny Dawkins. Philly takes JARED JEFFRIES from IU. "Jeffries probably cost himself 3 or 4 spots in the draft when he went to Bloomington instead of Durham, babee". 10. Miami-"I hear a three way deal here-The Lakers will deal Kobe and Derek Fisher to the Bulls for the rights to Dunleavy, and the Bulls will send Fisher and Jalen Rose to Miami for Eddie Jones and QYNTEL WOODS. Great move for the Lakers, Kobe's lack of college coaching continues to haunt him on the pro level. If only he'd have spent a few years in Durham." 11. Washington-Will draft CARON BUTLER. But will renounce their rights to him so that they can sign Bobby Hurley. "Great move. He's nothing but a Winner with a capital "W". Hurley and Laettner together again, I'm sure little Ricky Pitino is glad he left Boston and won't have to deal with those two." 12. LA Clippers-Will trade Quentin Richardson to Minnesota for a 2008 2nd round pick, Will Avery, and four dozen pairs of socks and take Chris Collins-"Can you imagine a starting backcourt of Wojo and Collins in LA, with Avery coming off the bench!-I see Jack giving up his Laker tickets for Clipper tickets ASAP. Oops, I forgot, with Dunleavy in LA he'll keep those too, because it will be "As Good as it Gets"!! 13. Milwaukee-Trades Ray Allen and this pick to Boston for the rights to Alaa Aldenaby."My sources say Herb Kohl did this over the objections of George Karl. I say to George, if Coach K can win with Alaa, so can you. This should also help with ticket sales for all Milwaukeeans of Egyptian descent. There you have it folks..I feel 100% sure about all my picks except #5. I hope, I mean think Denver will come to their senses and take Christianson over Ming. I may have only one good eye, but I can see talent, and Christianson has it all over Ming.
I don't know who this Dick guy is. But he did not even know what Yao Ming's last name is. He knew nothing about Ming.
I respect the fact that Dick loves college basketball and is much more enthusiastic than another bitter, well-known college commentator. However, Dickie V is just a <b> character </b> You know with all his cute little phrases and constant fawning over Duke ever since 198....whatever....No one respects his evaluation of talent. I don't think he understands that just because someone is a star in college doesn't mean he'll amount to much in the L. Look at Trajan Langdon, Danny Ferry, Cherokee Parks, Christian Laettner, OH WAIT, they're all from DUKE...What about Mateen Cleaves, Miles Simon, Khalid El Amin, William Avery, do I need to go on? Remember, this is the guy who said Jason Williams at Duke was better than EVERY PG in the LEAGUE other than Kidd. Yeah, Payton, Bibby, Francis, Marbury, Nash, Miller...Are you kidding me? "Dickie V sees Duke's Jason Williams (right) as a slam-dunk star in the NBA. But I have a gut feeling the Rockets are making a mistake. I think they'll be sorry they passed on Duke's Jay Williams. There's no doubt in my mind that he will be a superstar and that people in Chicago will be ecstatic about getting him at No. 2. " I wish someone will interview him in 2 years when Jason Williams isn't a superstar. There's no doubt that Jason was amazing in college, but alot of the things he did there won't happen in the NBA. First of all he wasn't even the best PG on his team. He was a shooting guard more than Francis is. He isn't going to be able to drive in and get easy layups the way he did in college...the defense was a joke. Jason is already maxed out at talent level, he'll become a decent player but definitely not worthy of the number one. Jason DEFINITELY would not be an improvement on Francis and anyone thinking he could play point better than Steve, I don't know what to say to you... Sorry, Jason is almost as overhyped as Dunleavy and Frank Williams...How the hell could you pick Jason Williams to KEEP over Yao Ming...Now if a good trade came from picking him that's another story, but Vitale's a moron to think Jason is going to change a damn thing for the better by coming here. Great post DoitDickau
It is the other Dukies that are overrated, not JW. It won't happen, but if the Rockets traded Francis to the Bulls and got something like JW and the Bulls 2nd rounder for Francis to go with Nachbar/Woods (#15) plus our other 2nd rounder I would not object. That would be one hell of an exciting rookie class lead by the hands down 2 best prospects (Ming/JW) and 3 more very solid picks (1 other mid first plus 2 early 2nd rounders). Not going to happen, but might help both teams.
Dickie V is a moron. He knows college talent, but he doesn't know squat about making it in the pros. "I know Laettner is already in his 30's, but he can still be the greatest pro ever baby!" I noticed that Jay Will avg like 5 assists in college as a PG. Then I noticed that Francis avg 4.5 assists as a SG in college. That tells me that if Jay does become a better PG, it will only be by very little. I don't think we could get a possible allstar center for Francis because there aren't any current allstar centers except for both O'neals that would be worth our while. Man, all that yelling at college games has really cost him the ability to compute and look ahead. Stupid Dick.
Dick Vitale is a character indeed. He watches tons of Duke basketball games, and sees Jay Williams' play way more than he's ever seen Yao Ming. As such, he's entitled to his opinion. Hell I've seen both Kareem Rush and Drew Gooden play live and they were both awesome, so I endorse them. What Vitale fails to recognize is JWill's lack of "true PG" skills. Williams is a scorer, who's passing needs work. Chris Duhon took over at point frequently.
Let me get this straight, it's not ok for us to get mad at Vitale for his opinion, but it's ok for you to get mad at us for having an opinion about Phil Jackson? I've lost all respect for Dick Vitale and his credibility is shot. ALL he does is kiss up to Duke players. Period. I'll be watching another college b-ball game and if he's doing the broadcast all he'll do is brag about Duke. This isn't an exaggeration. The guy is pathetic. And yes it's unbelievable. A lot of people might believe this, but Jay Williams hasn't proven jack in the NBA so to assume he's going to be another Isiah Thomas and better then Francis is ridiculous.
Maybe Jay was just the better 2 guard.... I'm with <b>gettinbranded</b> why go ape-**** over a guy's opinions. DickieV has done a helluva lot for college basketball. Just because you (delusionally) think you could do better is no reason to demean him. Coach K's accomplishments are legendary ... and are still on-going. Give credit where credit is due. <b>DoItDickau</b>: That mock is hilarious....
As soon as I saw Danny Ferry and Cherokee Parks in his mock, I stopped reading. Dick Vitale is a bimbo.
