Richrich, That is a good post. By the way, for those of you saying he will never play in the NBA, he is only 20 years old. Don't you think you are jumping the gun a little here? Hakeem was not that great at 20. DD
i may be jumping the gun some, but not many times does a player spend multiple years over seas before getting the call from us. because most of the time they are drafted to go over seas so they do not have to sign with us. i was at the draft (i went every year it was in NY so far) when we got him. yes i stayed that long, and i got to shake his hand and wish him luck. let me tell you something about this kid. he is BIG and strong, and not just next to me...he is a bear by nba standards as well. but it doesnt' mean anything unless you can produce on the court. i want this guy to be the next ben wallace. i would believe it more if we didn't store him overseas.
That's true. I still have faith though. Malick was basketball young and raw when we drafted him and as another poster said, we are trying to win with veterans now instead of developing young talent. A good thing is we never hear a peep from our overseas prospects like Venson Hamilton, Tyrone Washington once we sent them away, but Malick is invited to Houston in the offseason every year. The Rockets are monitoring his progress, that's a good sign.
Badiane does not have experience, not physically strong enough, limited offensive skills. For these 3 things, Mo or JH is little better.
The thing I remember about Badiane is that workout video of him repeatedly dunking against restraint. You gotta root for him just because of the intensity.
I am pretty sure the rox havent given up on badiane. He was seen at the University of Houston rec center 2 weeks ago, working out.
Da: I know that you have this bizarre obsession with a guy we drafted in the second round. Odd that you aren't still pining away for Richard Petrushka or Eric Riley. They had good summer camps too you know. But, I know you couldn't have possibly just compared Hakeem at 20 to Badianne. By 20, Hakeem had already played two full years of college ball and was an all American. The next year he played in and lost in the championship game and returned to that game a season later. There is absolutely ZERO comparison between the two. Look, I know we didn't have a first rounder and everyone wanted to hang our hopes on a guy who had a couple of good summer league games, but NO ONE outside of European scouts and really die-hard Rockets fans know who the guy is for a reason. If he plays in the NBA doing anything more than just filling a roster spot deep down the bench, it will be miraculous. It doesn't mean he might not be a serviceable guy at some point in his career and I hope he is, but there is far more evidence at this point to suggest he won't amount to anything than to project him as some type of saving grace at the power forward let alone the second coming of Hakeem. Every realistic indicator we have tells us that he is a guy who isn't ready for the NBA and may never be. If something happens to change that, it will be a contradiction to the odds, not a certainty or even a moderate probability. And now that we know he is out for the year, can we PUH-LEEZE let it go with this guy? It's bad enough reading about Eddie Griffen every other day.
According to oo3gs, Malick signed an extension a few months ago with his German club. He is still Rockets' "property" but his contract will not expire next summer. He signed an extension for security reasons - there is no guarrantee the Rox will pick him up. Also I read one time in Orlando Sentinel that GM Weisbrod hinted that next years summer league will be wiped out by the impending collective bargaining issues (i.e. a short lockout). So many around the league do not expect any summer league actions according to him.
Thanks Jeff! I couldn't have put it any better myself. I realize that the situation is becoming dire and folks are scrambling for that "magical" quick fix to turn this team around and possibly salvage their season but to continue to cling to a false hope like this is tantamount to having no hope at all.
Well anything is better then what we currently have. i would'nt mind giving him a roster spot next season.
Jeff, Hakeem in his sophmore year was a good shot blocker, but not that good of a scorer, he benefitted from the other players that were on his team. His Junior year he blossomed but even then not to a big scorer. Yes, Badiane may never reach those heights, few do, but to write off a 20 year old athlete who just started playing 4 years ago is crazy. So what if we got him in the 2nd round, past drafts etc are not indicative of the current way of being drafted. Just the last few years teams have drafted players and started stashing them in Europe, heck if the NBA would get off it's collective A$$ and get a real minor league going it would benefit everyone. Badiane may not develop, but with that type of freak athleticism, the only thing stopping him is the will to get better. I think he has it. DD
