disclaimer: This thread isn't about biggest busts of all time, it is about OUR personal bonehead predications of all time. This elevation of Rookies to NBA starters is getting ridiculous. I think many posters need to hear from the Vets of at least 10+ NCAA pools and NBA drafts. Making bonehead draft day predictions is what NBA fan maturity is all about. OK: all the vets, it is up to us to temper the enthusiam of those who haven't fallen on their faces in life, yet. Give me your most stupid, bonehead prediction for rookie success...you know the one...where afterwards around March you quietly conceded to yourself, only taking solace in the fact no one remembered, then promised never to make bold predictions again about college stars, only to do it over and over still. Extra points for a Rocket rookie or someone the Rockets passed over who you yelled for. Mine is: ah this is hard... Chievous the Missouri star. "He's another James Worthy" Non-rocket is Joe Smith (the predictions that finally ended my propensity to make predictions about non-NBA players). Take off your shrouds of confidence MManal and RF34...you guys have done a great job of researching college players...but your research has giving you the equivalent of investor irrational exuberance. If you don't believe me, read some further bonehead predictions many of us have made through the years. [This message has been edited by heypartner (edited June 06, 2000).]
I thought for sure that Mashburn was going to be a 25ppg carreer guy. Sure, he does not suck, but he is not what I thought. Joe Smith got me, too. I thought Garnett would bomb (oops). I thought McGrady would have a faster impact - I started hearing about him when he was in middle school - telling everybody to "watch out" for this guy. I gave up a long time ago trying to figure out Rocket picks. Two things though, to build my ego back up - I knew Rhodes would not make it and I had a big feeling Mobley would. I knew a little about both before they were drafted. ------------------ rimbaud post-a-thon 2000 [This message has been edited by rimbaud (edited June 06, 2000).]
I thought Bender would play this year Jamison, I thought his quick release would help him be a big time scorer. I only saw about 10 minutes of his play in college and he completely dominated.....Yinke Dare. I would say my best prediction was Van Exel. He has dropped off of late due to being in denver. I cursed when the rocks drafted cassell. I cursed when we drafted Riley. Cassell turned out to be good, but Van Exel is much better than Riley. ------------------ "You've got 6 fouls, use them well" -Derrick Coleman
i thought for sure that byron houston would be the next barkley, lol. Also thought that dave jamerson would pan out into a craig ehlo type of player. I predicted kobe would be a bust, wrong again. i look right about nowitzki, i think he will only get better. ------------------ "Don't they get cable in Canada ?" Keith olbermann, after watching hakeem block terry catledge's shot 5 times.
I thought Clarence Weatherspoon was going to be the next Barkley Kandi, Kandi, Kandi - man, did I jump on that band wagon. I was stoked about Stiff Zwikker. Wasn't that Turner guy we drafted supposed to be good? (John, I think) ------------------
I remember when we drafted Cuttino Mobley I was furious that we didn't draft Arizona star Miles Simon. Where is he now? ------------------ Cheaters never win. Unless you play for LA that is.
simon was a guy who doesnt really have a position. Im sure he's playing overseas or something, unless albert belle crippled him. j/k. I was mad when houston took dickerson over simon,lol. yinka dare. come on y'all fess up. i wasnt the only one who thought he was gonna be the next dream. ------------------ "Don't they get cable in Canada ?" Keith olbermann, after watching hakeem block terry catledge's shot 5 times.
This one is very ugly: "What, no Baby, Jordon!!!. Some stick named Oary ." It is a good thing I am not in the drafting business. I thought Glen Robinson was a combination of Worthy/Glen Rice, and would an an instant 25 and 9 guy and be totally dominant through his career (*the next coming of Larry Bird). He isn't bad, but that other SF who I didn't think was quite as good has been much better (Grant Hill). I also thought John Wallace was good, and also Randolph Childress. A couple I was right about--Shaq, Mourning, and Webber would be great pro's while the guy that could beat them all in college (Laetnner) would be another Danny Ferry (I said Ferry, my friend said he was the best player and would be another Bird). I did think G Hill would be the best player off that Duke team and I was right about that, even though I thought Robinson was even better than him. ------------------
I always thought Bo Outlaw would be a quality NBA player and I was utterly shocked when he went undrafted in 1993 and I was so pissed that the Rockets passed up on him twice in the second round for Richard Petruska and Marcelo Nicola. On the other hand, I was there at the Summit for the Rockets draft party that year when Cassell was picked 24th. I was like Sam who? I was hoping we'd get Nick Van Exel or Rex Walters (!) [This message has been edited by outlaw (edited June 06, 2000).]
9 posts to this thread and no one has mentioned the Deathstick? he got both his number and his contract to match his size, 76, but 86'd any effort to improve himself or his game. Shawn Bradley has to represent the least bang for the buck (excluding Juwan Howard)in lottery pick history. Bo Kimble. Steve Harris. Randy White. Stanley Roberts. I'm sure I missed a few... ------------------ "We have no eternal allies and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual."
Oh yeah, I forgot about Shawn "Stick Boy" Bradley. One of the top busts of all time, especially for his size. And by the way, did anyone else for just a second have the same feeling I did reading over payaso's post? I just quickly glanced over his name, and saw a six letter word starting with a lowercase p. It had my hopes up for just a second if you know what I mean... ------------------ Cheaters never win. Unless you play for LA that is.
"DC", Derrick Coleman from Syracuse: Why not? I thought he would be the greatest power forward to ever play the game. I was right in a way [as DC does have the skills], but this just goes to show you that it takes alot more to succeed than talent. Walt Williams from Maryland: They called him "The Wizard" because he could handle the ball, drive, pass, and shoot. Walt always had the skills, but I think his biggest problem is conditioning. He's always been overweight, and I still believe if he had ever gotten in that training room, he would be a very good player today. Jamal Mashburn from Kentucky: I thought "The Monster Mash" would end up being remembered as one of the greatest forwards in league history. Nowadays, it's pretty common, with your Corliss Williamson's, but up to that point (1992), I don't think I had ever seen a small forward who could put it in the post and bang. Mash was good early in his Dallas career, but injuries and inconsistency have saddled him since. Recent drafts? I thought Antawn Jamison would be the biggest bust since Yinka Dare. I didn't think Elton Brand was big enough to bang in the NBA. Most shockingly, believe it or not, before this year's NBA draft, after watching Steve Francis at Maryland, I did not think he would make a good pro. He was a highlight reel, who I didn't think had the mentality to play the point guard. After being traded to the Houston Rockets, I quieted down and decided to watch the kid play. Man, was I ever wrong.
I thought Ryan Leaf was Bledsoe two and I thought Peyton Manning was a Heath Shuler waiting to happen..... Oops. In Basketball it was Kurt Thomas I thought he would be a Rasheed Wallace type player....Oops ------------------ "We need to fockass".....Dream back in the day
Antonio Daniels: I really liked his talents a lot. I just love big, athletic point guards that are explosive. His downfall was that his playmaking ability never really developed to NBA standards. I still think he can develop into a decent point guard though but nowhere near what he was expected to. Daniels lack of huge success has tempered some of my zeal with Keyon Dooling who has similar talents and similar question marks. However, if I needed a PG, I would still take the risk on Dooling as I would have on Daniels b/c if players like this develop their true PG skills, they can be deadly in the NBA. Elton Brand: I did not expect Brand to make a run at ROY. I thought he was just too short to play PF, I figured he would be an ok PF but nothing special. I have a lot of similar questions with Marcus Fizer. I think Brand will be a good PF, but I still dont think he has the superstar potential of Francis and Odom. Part of the reason his stats were so good this yr imho is b/c the Bulls had very little else. Walt Williams: I liked Wizard's skills a lot. I drool over 6-7 to 6-10 type SFs that can handle the ball, pass, rebound, shoot. Walt just never did pan out to what he was capable of coming out of Maryland. ------------------ Check out the Best Source for Draft Info Draftsource.net
What about Walter Barry(St. Johns), Pearl Washington('CUSE), Fennis Dembo (Wyoming), Tommy Lewis (Pepperdine), Douglas Edwards (FSU) and "Rocket" Rod Foster (UCLA). I remember people talking about these guys like they were each the second coming. Most of them were high school all-americans, and had decent to great collage years but they could'nt hack it in the NBA. As far as Mashburn, his knee injury was the cause of his problems. Someone brought up Ralph Sampson. Thats not fair because he had tremendous knee problems that cut short his NBA life. But one guy that is still playing and is a total scrub is John Salley. Man don't even get me started..............Can you beleive that he was an all-american. ------------------ the Heat suck!!
I think Mashburn, Glen Robinson and Rodney Rogers all have the same problems. They were just too dominant in college and thus there pro potential got overestimated. There just aren't many 6' 7" or 6' 8" guys in the college ranks with inside and outside skills, and good athleticism--so these guys were just unstoppable at the college level. But in the pro's their are plenty of large frame bodies who can move and cover. You better be a lights out shooter (not simply a good shooter), like Rice or Bird, or guard like quick, like Hill or Pippen, to be a special NBA small forward. It is not like Mash or the Big Dog are bad players, if they were drafted when Bryan Russel was drafted, everyone would be saying what a gem they found. Now John Wallace, Walter Berry (boy I hadn't thought about him in a while) and Joe Smith, who also somewhat fall into this pattern (great college players whose games don't translate to the pros), really are full blown busts because they don't even have average shooting skills for an SF. If you ask me the player perhaps more likely to not deliver up to expectations, it seems to me K-Mart. Maybe he can defy the odds, but if he really is only 6 7.5 and 225 that is very small to play 4 in this league and he might need to become a 3 (like Jamison). At least guys like Brand and Fizer have big rear ends to make some space. I would be inclined to take Swift over any of them. [This message has been edited by sir scarvajal (edited June 06, 2000).]
I really thought Shea Seals would pan out.... I thought his 1 point production in his final collegiate career was no indicator of his skill. oh yeah... I was also really pissed the Rockets passed on Jacque Vaughn for Rodrick Rhodes (I was right about that one though!). --Rocketman ------------------
no mention of donyell marshall yet ? i thought for sure he would be a dominant 3 in this league. larue martin ? ------------------ "Don't they get cable in Canada ?" Keith olbermann, after watching hakeem block terry catledge's shot 5 times.
