Terry Brown (?) of ESPN wrote an article for Insider called "Questions to ponder over the summer." The first: 1. Who gets to dunk on Yao Ming first? Quentin Richardson? Shawn Marion? Jason Richardson? Or any other player devoid of postseason aspirations in sore need of motivation. Sorry. It's Steve Francis, of course. With all the ulterior motivation in the world. The Rockets were a pseudo-center away from doing some serious damage in the postseason. Instead, they've got a 7-foot-5 three-point specialist who will be fishing in the Yangtze river come the first round of the playoffs. The Rockets missed the postseason by two games two seasons ago. This past season, they missed them by 16. You get the idea. Imagine what that No. 1 pick would have fetched in trade. Now, imagine Steve Franchise running the point with Pau Gasol and Drew Gooden on the wings. ---------- Granted, this and the rest of the article (which is devoted to non Rockets stuff) simply point out the guy is trying and failing at humor. And he's entitled to his opinion. But if Jerry West wanted Ming badly enough to possibly offer Pau and Drew G., then why shouldn't Carrol Dawson have the same astute eye for talent? The main thing, to me, is the fact that this guy (less friendly to us at ESPN than Aldridge, Katz, Ford, et al), doesn't even take into account that we got a real gem of a small forward at #15. So, in effect, if a year ago, Pau Gasol was the great unknown, and turned out to be great, isn't it possible that Ming + Nachbar = Great Freakin' Draft? Anyway...
Ever watch Billy Crystal's 61*? Best line in the movie was between one sportswriter who raged on Roger Maris for the simple fact that Maris wasn't Babe Ruth, or worse Mickey Mantle, and another sportswriter who defended Maris in the paper. Paraphrasing: 'Roger, have you ever played baseball?' 'Um, no, not really.' 'That's what I thought.' I would be willing to wager that 99.9% of sportswriter have never seriously played the sport they cover, and by serious I mean contributing player at the varsity level in HS. Something to keep in mind when you read or listen to some of these 'analysts'.
