Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2015 11:17 pm Post subject: Is History Repeating Itself With This Draft?
Something just came to mind recently. This draft, well, the top 3 picks in this draft anyway (Okafor, Towns, and Russell), seem to have SOME similarities to the 1984 draft.
Now before you laugh at me, just hear me out for a second. I'm not in any shape or form comparing the players to the top 3 picks in this draft to the ones in 1984 (Hakeem, Sam Bowie, Michael Jordan). I'm just comparing the...situation sort of speak.
The first two picks that seem like it won't change any time soon are two centers, just like the 1984 draft. Jahill Okafor, being the safest pick to go with, just like Hakeem was the safest pick to go with in 1984. The second pick, is more riskier and more of a project but shows great potential, Karl-Anthony Towns. Just like Sam Bowie, in 1984. And finally, the big time shot creater Guard in the 3rd pick, Deangelo Russell. Just like Michael Jordan.
Two out of the three players selected in the top 3 of the 1984 draft fulfilled their potential AND THEN some, while one turned out to be a bust.
The question is: Do YOU think that this draft, will have similar results with these three players of today? Not at them being THAT GREAT per say but I mean, do you think the same result will happen with one guard being a stud and one center out of the two becomes a stud? Or do you think otherwise?
And IF you do think it will happen, which two out of the three players will be great, and one being the bust?
Just a little fun thing I thought would be fun to talk about considering the drag of tanking this season.
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Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2015 11:25 pm Post subject: Re: Is History Repeating Itself With This Draft?
History isn't repeating itself. The draft is so different now. The league is so different now as well.
Doubt any player in this draft will have peaks that compare to Jordan or Hakeem, thus "the Sam Bowie's" won't exist either.
I see this draft being similar to last years.
Alot of project pieces at the top of the class and some gems scattered out throughout the mid 1st to mid 2nd round. _________________ "Every hurt is a lesson, and every lesson makes you better”
Last edited by kikanga on Fri Mar 20, 2015 11:28 pm; edited 1 time in total
I doubt it because there's no guarantee Russell goes in the top 3. He wasn't the super athlete or had the size of Jordan. There was also no nba combine back then like it is now.
Plus, unlike 84', all of these top prospects are freshman, not seasoned veterans. Bowie, Olajuwon and Jordan were all in college for a number of years and we had a chance to see them longer and evaluate them better. We also saw them against better competition.
Actually I thought the OP was going to contrast this draft with the 2001 draft, where you had a potentially efficient scorer but poor defender (Eddy Curry) with a good defender but poor scorer (Tyson Chandler).
Joined: 24 Dec 2007 Posts: 35855 Location: Santa Clarita, CA (Hell) ->>>>>Ithaca, NY -≥≥≥≥≥Berkeley, CA
Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2015 7:47 pm Post subject:
angrypuppy wrote:
Actually I thought the OP was going to contrast this draft with the 2001 draft, where you had a potentially efficient scorer but poor defender (Eddy Curry) with a good defender but poor scorer (Tyson Chandler).
Okafor is a poor scorer? _________________ Damian Lillard shatters Dwight Coward's championship dreams:
It's not quite fair to label Bowie a bust. The guy could play and had a solid rookie season. He had a decent career considering the serious injuries he had. He had a shot at being a very good player if not for the injuries.
John Stockton carved out a nice little career for himself as the 16th pick.
Playing for the Zags had to be the thing that obscured him, he had the game to be taken earlier than 16, not just the tools or po', but the actual game. You can't find any footage of him where he doesn't play exactly the same way he did for 19 yrs in the pros. Beyond that, as hard as it is to conceive of a 4 year college player today, it took Stock 4 years before he got the PT sufficient to start being called a "star". Pippen and Ho were called potential stars like it was a foregone conclusion that same year as rookies. The surprise there is that Johnny happily hung in there that long even after he did 4 yrs of college. Such concepts in today's pro NBA boggle my mind. _________________ GOAT MAGIC REEL SEDALE TRIBUTE EDDIE DONX!
It's not quite fair to label Bowie a bust. The guy could play and had a solid rookie season. He had a decent career considering the serious injuries he had. He had a shot at being a very good player if not for the injuries.
He did miss a helluva lotta games, but it's odd that he seems to be more known and criticized for it than forgotten injury bust outs like Greg Oden. Erratic or not, Bowie stuck in for 10 yrs and Sam's injuries were snapped legbones requiring plates and screws. He deserved credit for merely slogging back out there to fulfill his contracts the best he could. It's like how Shaq is cited for his injuries (the agenda is usually transparent), when he's actually one of the very best examples of a center in the 300lb range having a full career. Check Yao, e.g. Minor miracle Shaq was as sturdy as he was. _________________ GOAT MAGIC REEL SEDALE TRIBUTE EDDIE DONX!
It's not quite fair to label Bowie a bust. The guy could play and had a solid rookie season. He had a decent career considering the serious injuries he had. He had a shot at being a very good player if not for the injuries.
I have always felt this label gets thrown around loosely. People get labelled busts when their career is derailed by injuries that they could not necessarily prevent. They get labelled busts because GMs vastly overestimated their ability (even when they go on to have long, if unremarkable, careers).
I feel that the bust label ought to be reserved for those guys who flame out quickly, usually for personal reasons, despite having the talent and the health. But I have a hard time calling a guy like Bowie, who worked hard despite the injuries, a bust. He has the misfortune of being picked instead of Jordan, so there is no way that he could, injured or not, ever live up to that draft position. But the GM should earn the notoriety for that, not the player. That seems hard for people to wrap their heads around sometimes. Like Darko or Kwame, both of whom would have been considered utterly average role players if they had been picked late 1st round or in the 2nd round. But their draft position created an impossible gap between the expectation of their potential and their actual ceilings.
Actually the repeat of history I am hoping for is 1997, when the Spurs tanked themselves a record of 21-61, got the first pick and drafted Duncan. Now, in 2015, all you have to do is replace Spurs with Lakers and Duncan with either Okafor and Towns.
(Admittedly, a 1984 repeat with us picking the next Jordan in Russell at 3 would not hurt either.)
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