Stromile Swift — Has all the tools to be an All-Star, but lacks an understanding of the game. As far as he's concerned, there's no reason to pay attention to what's going on out there unless he has the ball in his hands.Rasheed Wallace — Except for the 2004 playoffs and the 22 games he played with Detroit that season, Wallace has been a model of inconsistency. Blame his failure to be an All-Star-caliber performer night in and night out on his emotional instability.Tim Thomas — If he were tougher, both mentally and physically, he wouldn't be a chronic rider on the NBA merry-go-round.Eddy Curry Will he ever get into game shape? Will he ever learn how to pass? Rebound? Defend? Bounce the ball without turning it over? This guy has All-Star moves when he can catch the ball with his foot in the paint — but, after five years in the league, he still plays like a confused rookie.Eddy Curry has yet to play up to his potential. (Glenn James / Getty Images)Derrick Coleman — He could score from near and far. He could also rebound, pass, handle and even play a modicum of defense — whenever the spirit moved him, which it didn't do often enough.Ralph Sampson — A lack of toughness was his main problem. And at 7-foot-4, he'd rather diddle with the ball in the backcourt than wrestle with the other bigs in the paint. With the proper coaching, the proper motivation and without any interference from the myopic media, Sampson should/could have been a premier defensive specialist.Frankie J. Sanders — San Antonio's No. 1 draft pick out of Southern University in 1978 had the whole package. He could run, jump and shoot with any of the NBA's elite wings, and he was even capable of playing earnest defense. But Frankie J. (his self-proclaimed middle initial stands for "Jump-shot") was more interested in partying than in buckling down and taking full advantage of his incredible talents. After 69 games with the Spurs, Celtics and Kings, Sanders became a CBA lifer.Elmore Smith — On the basis of sheer talent, Smith was a Hall-of-Famer. Too bad he really didn't like playing basketball.Mel Davis — Too stubborn for his own good, Davis was unwilling to work on his weaknesses (defense and running plays). Instead, he relied exclusively on his outstanding hops and streaky jumper to keep him in the league. He provides an early example of the too-young-too-much-too-soon syndrome that continues to diminish the full potential of some NBA hooplings.Cal Ramsey — He measured only 6-4 and weighed only 200 pounds, but Ramsey was a ferocious rebounder and defender at the small forward position. Despite that fact, his entire NBA career consisted of 13 games with St. Louis, New York and Syracuse from 1959-61.Ramsey is too nice to complain about any personal injustices done to him, but the primary reason why his NBA days were so limited was the color of his skin. Simply put, Ramsey was one of the several African-American players in those days (Cleo Hill and Barry White are others) who were led out of the league due to quotas.Jack Molinas — He played a total of only 29 games for the 1953-54 Fort Wayne Pistons, averaging 7.2 rebounds and 12.1 points per game. Molinas was good enough to have merited a rare honor — being named to participate in the All-Star game as a rookie. Too bad he'd rather gamble on hoops than play hoops.When the NBA tapped several of his incriminating telephone conversations with a bookie, Molinas was ousted from the league just days before the All-Star game. Molinas went on to become a fixer of numerous college games in cahoots with various mobsters, a producer of porno-films, a jail bird and ultimately a shot-in-the-head victim of mob justice.Reggie Harding — A powerhouse 7-foot, 260-pound center, Harding had the stuff to be a legendary NBA big man. Actually, he did become a legend: For covering the walls of his hotel room with his own excrement while he was on the road with the Pistons; for wearing only a flimsy mask and trying to hold up a store where he'd shopped for years in his own neighborhood; for averaging a double-double in his first two years with Detroit (1963-65) and also with Indiana in the ABA (1967-68); and for being killed in suspicious circumstances at age 30.Joe Barry Carroll &3151; Despite some impressive numbers — 24.1 ppg for Golden State in 1982-83, plus three more seasons averaging more than 20, Carroll sleep-walked through most of his career. Hence his nickname, Joe "Barely Cares."Here are some others who failed to make the cut:Carlos Arroyo — A point guard who's too reluctant to give up the ball.Baron Davis' selfish nature on the court keeps holding him back. (Fernando Medina / Getty Images)Charles Barkley — A poisonous presence in the locker room, who was the source of much team-wide disharmony and who rarely played hard on defense.Vince Carter — Despite his stupendous talents, he seems to have little understanding of how to play winning basketball.Stephon Marbury — See Vince CarterTyson Chandler — Still too young and too sensitive to play at maximum effectiveness.Baron Davis — Too self-involved to be a winner.Zach Randolph — Overweight and lazy.Kareem Rush — Still trying to live off the glory of several outstanding playoff games with the Lakers.Chris Webber — Like the Cowardly Lion, he'd be a true monster if he only had a heart.Bonzi Wells — Like the Scarecrow, he'd be an all-time high-flyer if he acted like he had a brain.http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/5948258
This is an interesting read, I'm sure most of it is accurate but Charley Rosen (the author of this article) is well known around the league and sportswriters as a loonytune. He's been fired from everywhere and eventually someone picks him up...etc...I've been reading his articles for around 7 years now and he's said some outlandish/stupid stuff.
I don't know who most of those players are, but I will agree. Seeing Vince Carter become another spoiled athlete with no desire has been a painful process for me, seeing as he was my idol a few years back.
I dont think Rasheed Wallace is an underachiever. He has helped a team win a championship. My List:WebberFrancisB.DavisRandolphJ-RichGlenn RobinsonSwiftJamal MashburnTim Hardaway
Hold up, How is Jrich an underachiever. He is only 25 years old, hes not anywhere near his prime yet and he still averaged 23/6/3 last year. I cannot believe you said that. Anyways I agree with the rest of that list because they are all older and shown that they are under achievers.
Jason Richardson is hardly an underachiever...does he lack leadership? A killer instinct? Does he take over games and become 'the man'? No...but he's been solid and continues to improve every year. Baron Davis doesn't get mentioned enough with other 'underachievers'...He's got endless talent and he's wasted it being fat and lazy. It's sad really.<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (wolverine30 @ Sep 15 2006, 03:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I dont think Rasheed Wallace is an underachiever. He has helped a team win a championship.</div> Rasheed Wallace had Tim Duncan-esque talent but never achieved greatness because of pot and being lazy...He could have been a longtime defensive stopper inside, a dominant rebounder/shotblocker and for some reason has never put up 20ppg which blows my mind...
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (wolverine30 @ Sep 15 2006, 03:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I dont think Rasheed Wallace is an underachiever. He has helped a team win a championship.</div>Yeah, that's why Rosen said, "Except for the 2004 playoffs and the 22 games he played with Detroit that season, Wallace has been a model of inconsistency." If you do your research, you'll realize that the Pistons won the championship in '04. Basically, Rosen is declaring that after the 2004 championship ring, Sheed has fallen off.Anyway, I agree with the list for the most part. I might have complaints for some players, but not at this very moment.
Kareem Rush? Come on, he's a streaky shooter who got hot in a big game. He's a career backup, he's not underachieving.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Lakaboy42 @ Sep 15 2006, 11:06 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Kareem Rush? Come on, he's a streaky shooter who got hot in a big game. He's a career backup, he's not underachieving.</div> Kareem Rush is useless unless he's shooting wide-open three-pointers.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (wolverine30 @ Sep 15 2006, 03:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I dont think Rasheed Wallace is an underachiever. He has helped a team win a championship. My List:WebberFrancisB.DavisRandolphJ-RichGlenn RobinsonSwiftJamal MashburnTim Hardaway</div>Zach Randolph is still young and he has had pretty good individual statistics since he has been in the league. He has won the NBA's MIP Award which shows alot to me. Sure, he has had some attitude problems, but wouldnt you if you were stuck on the Trailblazers team? I say that if he went to another franchise, he would be a totally different guy. I dont think he has underachieved basketball wise though....
Whoever said that J-Rich is an underachiever is talking out of his ass. J-Rich can average 25 a game easily if he wanted to or if his other teammates all played with same intensity as he did. The one thing that was amazing last year was that the Warriors didn't have an identity, they would play a slow Stanford style halfcourt set one game, J-Rich gives 20 +, the next game they go out running, he gets another 20 +. Forget the fact that he is a great rebounder for his size, J-Rich is still one of the most underrated players in he league.As for Baron, I don't think that Baron is underachieving, he may not always get along with coaches, but often times coaches don't want to buy into the style that his teams need to play which is a running game. Whether there were conflicts between Mike Montgomery and Baron Davis last year or not, one thing remains true. Monty didn't want to play a running game which limited Baron's passing options and his ability to get to the rack. Oftent imes in games where we would play slow halfcourt offenses, nobody would shoot the ball or initiate good ball movement, so Baron would be forced to shoot a three near 3 seconds left on the clock, and the next possesion down he would know that nobody would pass the ball to get a shot, or make a good shot, he'd be forced to take a three early in the clock to get the ball near the hoop.Say what you will about both Warriors, but the most underachieving player in the league right now would be Mike Dunleavy. He has shown flashes of greatness in running games, but the next 5 games after he'll shoot around 30 percent from the field and play little or no defense. Worst of all is that when Dunleavy got drafted, we were promised a Larry Bird type player who could shoot, pass, dribble, and all the other things our team needed. We passed up Amare Stoudemire and so far Dunleavy has been a flop, averaging 13 points a game in his highest scoring year and still having years left on his huge contract.
I'm not so sure on Tim Hardaway being an underachiever.Tim Thomas is the perfect example of an underachiever. Face it, he could be an All-Star.Bobby Hurley?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (SunnyD @ Sep 16 2006, 11:08 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I'm not so sure on Tim Hardaway being an underachiever.</div>Hardaway was not the best athlete in the world, he couldn't jump, he could just pass and create his own shot well. He reminds me of a less athletic Baron Davis who had enough heart to make up for his lack of talent or physical abilities.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Chris Webber ? Like the Cowardly Lion, he'd be a true monster if he only had a heart.Bonzi Wells ? Like the Scarecrow, he'd be an all-time high-flyer if he acted like he had a brain</div> Harsh stuff. Did anyone notice he listed Baron Davis twice, must not like him but I agree with his analysis of him. I don't agree with Kareem Rush and Carlos Arroyo being up there. I think even if they maxed out on their potential, their not mind blowing.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Rok @ Sep 16 2006, 11:11 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Did anyone notice he listed Baron Davis twice, must not like him but I agree with his analysis of him.</div>Rosen has always been blaming Davis for any problems his team has. Last year he had been saying that the Warriors would have been better off with Derek Fisher running point guard, which if he had watched any Warriors games, he would have seen that Derek Fisher is the defenition of a shoot first PG.
