The two questions I have here are : 1) Which of these three players do you feel has the greatest "upside"? By that I mean not who is most likely to fulfill their potential, but whose potential is the greatest, if realized. This is the question to be answered in the poll. And as to the definition of greatest potential, I will leave that up to each and every person's interpretation, but as for mine it means who has the ability to most dominate their position, both in the present and from a historical perspective, should they use said ability to it's furthest extent (within reason). 2) What do you think is the absolute upside for each of the afore-mentioned players? This will be loosely defined, but it could be charecterized as Annual All-Star, Hall of Fame, Top 3 at position all time...etc., and if you'd like a player whose career Steve, Eddie or Yao Ming might mirror, not in terms of style, but accomplishment/status. For those statistically inclined, you might include a career numbers and/or best year numbers as well...
Yao Ming I think has skills similar to Jabar or Walton. Eddie reminds me of Rasheed on offense and Duncan on defense but personality more dosal than Duncans. Steve is much harder to define. He is quick like Iverson, rebounds like Kidd, Dunks like Jordan and plays defense like Kenny Smith...maybe I should have left out that last one.
Yao Ming,,,,, I saw Jabbar and Walton as rookies, but. I have never seen anyone like Yao Ming, But its too soon to tell how good. He still must prove himself at the NBA level.
APOCALYPSE YAO Yao Ming has the potential to be the second coming of Kareem - a great shot blocker and a good-to-great rebounder with an unstoppable shot. Add in passing skills and he may even be compared favorably to Wilt someday. It remains to be seen how dominating Ming will be when paired up with NBA-caliber teammates. Eddie "The Silent Assassin" Griffin Eddie has the potential to be the best defensive power forward in the league. His quick leaping ability already makes him one of the best, if not the best shot-blocking PFs. Hopefully this will translate into good rebounding skills as well. His offense is really hard to predict, but I'm hopeful that it will blossom as well. He shouldn't have to worry about getting double-teamed on this Rockets team, so that should make it easier for him. Stevie Franchise Steve is amazing. He was an all-star last year but can still add so much more to his game. A scoring and rebounding machine up to this point, he has thrived in the new movement offense, showing off increasing court vision and abilities to break down the defense. His athletic abilities and shooting touch make him enough of a threat to make playing the point easy for him. He will have better targets to assist this year as well, making it even easier to rack up the dimes. If he adds playing defense and a few championships in his career, he will be a hall of famer someday. Yao Ming has the most obvious advantages, so I voted for him, but Eddie and Stevie will be giving opponents nightmares as well. The nicknames may be corny, but I think they will live up to them.
Yao Ming's upside can surpass Kareem. He has better size, at least equal shooting and passing, better blocking ability and equal intelligence. The only thing he is lesser than Kareem in terms of potential is athleticism. Whether he will fulfill it is, of course, another matter. It depends on whether he can figure out how to use all his tools.
the answer has to be yao ming. his height and his abilities make his highest potential the most of the three, though eddie and steve's are freakishly high as well. if he reaches it or gets close he can change the flow of games in ways the other 2 can't. (well maybe eddie, as a comparable defender) based on dominating the position, it's also ming. in his prime there will be no shaq or a lesser shaq, and not too many challengers from the 5 spot. eddie, like guttersnipe said, can be the best defensive forward in the league, and one of the best period. obviously he's got natural instinctive blocking skills that put him leaps ahead of most players. also a nose for the ball. he's only 20 and the jump we've seen from year 1 to 2 has been very impressive. like calvin likes to say, "wait till he learns how to play basketball" steve is the leader and will always be. rudy has said he can be one of the greatest ever at his position. certainly alot to live up too but he has the heart and talent to possibly get it done. his defense has to improve but ming and griffin can help with that if steve feels more confident in getting up on his man. talk about a safety net. in the 2 games he's played fully this year, he's gotten 10 and 9 assists. made 3 beautiful passes in a row last night that led to easy baskets. he's never gonna be relied upon to average those numbers but he definitely looks to have improved in that area. scoring wise he's as explosive as it comes.
Kareem and Walton were fantastic players, incredibly gifted. I am one of Ming's biggest fans, but he has a long way to go to get in their league. Up front, he reminds more of Kareem, but he is nowhere near proving he is the second-coming of Kareem. Time will tell. People forget how amazing Walton was. I saw him score 30+ on the Rockets in the summit years ago; he was awesome. I like him as an announcer; he makes the game exciting with his "overstatements." I think he is very entertaining.
you missed the question. it's highest "potential." of course it's not a given that he'll become a hall of fame center but certainly he has that kind of upside.
Ming is the easy pick, not only because he has the size, skills and smarts, but he also plays a position that is easier to dominate. Especially these days with Shaq being the main competition. Francis has the same "upside" but is at a position with many great players and it's harder to pull a Jordan from his "point guard" position. Ditto Griffin. Too many other great players for him to set himself that far apart. He'll be damn good though, I'd like to see him be a Mc Dyess type player, sans injury...
I voted for Steve. Granted, Yao has an unbelievable combination of size and skill, and Eddie's middle name is 'Upside', that kid is scary! Even so, Steve is still the most talented of the trio. He still has a lot of maturing to do, and is just starting to live up to his potential. I wouldn't be surprised if Steve averaged 22pts, 7asts, & 7rebs as the PG! Unreal!
Too soon to tell with Yao. I truly think that Francis will step up his game another notch this year. I think that he is going to really show his true talents. Not just scoring, but passing, running the total offense, and being a true leader. I look for him to have another break-out year.
The best Francis can do is a smaller and slightly less athletic MJ. Griffin is very difficult to define. The closes comparison is Olajuwon, IMO. Talking about "absolute" potential, I think he might have the tools to become as good as Hakeem with better range. But he is in no way developing as fast as Dream. So I have great doubt whether he actually has the same potential as Hakeem. I voted for Ming. See my earlier post.
(sound of chum hitting the water ....) OK, I'll bite. 1. In terms of examining a player's current game and evaluating potential upside based on that, EG will have another year of NBA experience before he will be the same age as Francis was when Francis entered the league. We are not yet comparing apples to apples. 2. At age 20, EG is already a better defender at his position than Francis is at his at age 25. 3. Point guard requires the highest basketball IQ of any position. Francis' basketball IQ has not improved much over three years and is, IMO, the biggest obstacle to Francis reaching his *maximum* potential. I am not sure that EG has more upside than Francis, I just think it's a legitimate question. Yao has the most upside, for all of the obvious reasons.
If Francis, Eddie, and Yao become the stars that most of you are comparing them to then we should win at least 5 titles. I tend to think that ain't happening.
