Reading the post on Hayes made me think about Barkley. If Barke came out of the current draft today (where everybody is looking for a flash in the pan), how would he have done? We're talking about an undersized (listed 6'6" but only really 6'4") power forward that just rebounds and plays hard. What kind of role would he have today, would NBA teams today be able to let a guy like that (not the most gifted athelete physically be successful) what do you guys think.
Did you really just refer to a young Charles Barkley as "not the most gifted athelete physically" ? I'm going to guess that you never saw Barkley play back in his younger days. Barkley was close to 300lb, incredibly strong, could run the floor, had great quickness and could jump out of the building. Other than height, what other physical traits could you ask for? The guy was an athletic freak. Nobody had ever carried that much weight and still been able to run and jump like Barkley.
It would haved taken about one practice for that Chuckster to have emerged and had the career he had. That's assuming the close scrutiny of today's process would have diminished his draft value.
he would NOT be drafted as high though and may not have been given the opportunity to shine Rocket River
Nationally, the pick of Barkley as high as he went was met with boos for the most part. No one figured this, at the time, 260-270, 6'6" (more like 6'5") PF could do anything in the NBA, so my guess is that yes, Barkley wouldn't be a number 1 pick or anything in this year's draft. Anyone that never saw Barkley in his youth is missing out. He was a freight train with speed that could run/lead a break at 260 lbs in his first few years. Some of his breakaway dunks were some of the most violent/vicious dunks you'll ever see from the era. There was no way something in a package built like that could do the things he did.
He would take a while to be drafted, but I think he would destroy some of the players parading as power forwards these days.
I actually saw Barkley in a preseason game his first year against the Rockets. When he came into the game my dad and I started laughing. He was huge back then. We thought there was no way this guy could play. Then he grabbed a rebound, dribbled the length of the court passing a few players along the way and threw down a monster dunk. We just sat their stunned for a couple of seconds.
I don't follow college basketball, so I have no idea, but Clarence Weatherspoon was supposed to be the next Charles Barkley. The fact is, Barkley, as out of shape as he was, was a freak of nature. Those don't come around every draft.
I totally disagree. If Barkely were in college today, he'd still dominate just as he did in the early '80's.Every team would see what he could do, just as they did when he was at Auburn. Nowdays, he'd have gone to a draft camp and scored off the charts in all the measurables, even though he was carrying all that weight. A 5'8" guy just got drafted in the first round, so why think that Barkley would have been downgraded? Joey Graham's athleticism moved him way up the draft board. Barkley would have done the same, plus he would have demonstrated more skills and was much more dominant in college. Nowdays, teams are much more likely to draft a player who doesn't fit the traditional body type for a particular position than they were in the early 80's.
Nomination for dumbest post of the year. Nobody today, not Duncan, KG, Ben Wallace, Bowen nor Artest--could come close to guarding Barkley 1 on 1 in his heyday. He would have been a top 10 pick.
hmmm...willamson wasnt half the player charles was. any pf today would have a tough time guarding charles.
What on earth are you basing this on? These days, there's a lot more variety in the kinds of players drafted and teams are willing to take more risks. For example, teams are taking high schoolers and unproven foreign players. I think Barkley would probably be drafter at about the same spot.
Barkley was a beast. The man ran the floor, nearly destroyed the rim with his dunks, and most of all, he was a great passer from the PF spot.
lol come on guys, that was a joke. I don't see any difference how Charles would play in today's vs. yesterday's NBA. However I do see how his draft status would probably slip because all the "experts" would say he is an undersized power forward.
He would have gotten in a game somewhere and grabbed a rebound while boxing out some seven foot stiff, dribbled the length of the floor and then thrown down a monster jam.................and the rest would have been history.
