Dickie V said Yao Ming would be the next LaRue Martin and Jay Williams should have been our 1st round pick.
mmmm.... There were some who said he would be great There were some who said he would be okay, but that the language barrier and cultural differences would be unsurmountable. And that he did great in the Asian league, but would suffer when it came to the NBA. There were some that said he would be a huge bust. And there were many who just didn't know. Not too many Asians had come to the NBA, and the Asian leagues didn't get that much attention from scouts. -- droxford
Journalists get paid to draw attention to their news organization, I dont see anything wrong with hyping up / hyping down players. Journalists are soulless creatures that will spit out whatever sells.
There will always some risk, and nobody is a sure hall-of-famer prior to being drafted (witness Ralph Sampson). But my point was that drafting Yao (very skilled 7'6" center who was by far the consensus top talent in the draft) should not be used as an example of how well the Rockets identify undervalued players.
there were alot of people who didn't want Yao drafted. For example on this board alt of people wanted us to draft Jay Williams and trade francis. Others wanted us to trade the pick for Odom. But u are right that Utah draft players who nobody knows and suddenly play great.
Utah's definitely making me eat some crow so far. while i thought they'd be in competition for a playoff spot, i in no way thought they'd be playing so well. when the signed boozer and okur to those ungodly contracts this offseason, i was bashing em left and right. well, apparently boozer is worth that money, maybe more. the man is playing phenomenal so far. they have a solid squad. that's cool though, it'll only add some fuel to the rivalry.
This I already knew...I watches some Cav games and the guy was just good, and played very smart ball. DD
