Like the "Madden curse," the #2 pick always seems to have injury problems or have something that messes up their career. Here, I took the time to list the recent ones: 2006: LaMarcus Aldridge has heart problems. 2005: Marvin Williams has had injury problems. 2004: Emeka Okafor has had injury problems his whole career. 2003: Darko Milicic is a complete bust. 2002: Jay Williams ruined his whole career in a motorcycle accident. 2000: Stromile Swift is a bust. 1999: Steve Francis has had injury problems. 1997: Keith Van Horn has had a lot of injury problems. 1996: Marcus Camby is a walking injury. 1995: Antonio McDyess has had a lot of injury problems that ended his star-status. 1993: Shawn Bradley is a bust. 1992: Alonzo Mourning had his kidney problems that almost ended his career. 1986: Len Bias died after he was drafted due to cocaine overdose. 1984: Sam Bowie had injury problems. I mean I do not believe in curses or whatever, but I definitely found it interesting.
Their has always been talk about this, but I dont believe in it at all...its just a coincidence. After this draft, you will see that there is nothing wrong with being selected #2. Oden or Durant are going to go #2, and as long as they dont have freak injuries, they arent going to be busts...Just a coincidence...
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Retroshow @ Apr 13 2007, 01:04 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>half those guys will be better than durant will ever be in the nba</div>Why the Durant hate?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Retroshow @ Apr 12 2007, 10:04 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>half those guys will be better than durant will ever be in the nba</div>right, the greatest freshman in NCAA history is going to be worse than Darko Millicic
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Retroshow @ Apr 13 2007, 01:04 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>half those guys will be better than durant will ever be in the nba</div> It's pretty clear Retroshow doesn't watch college basketball. He doesn't watch college ball and he sucks at fantasy basketball. :HAHAHA: Good combo.
while I don't think you can blame a team for drafting a good player who had but luck with injuries. Okafor, Mourning, McDyess, Aldridge.there are truly some sucky 2nd choices there.that's why I'm pessimistic when people rant about college players before the draft, because so many of them become busts.Of course Oden and Durant are obviously the real deal, there is going to be 4-5 disappointments or busts in the top 10 players chosen. It happens pretty much every year.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CelticFan @ Apr 13 2007, 08:23 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>there are truly some sucky 2nd choices there.</div> Really only a couple, the rest have been plagued with life/career-ending accidents or have been screwed with injuries their entire careers. <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>that's why I'm pessimistic when people rant about college players before the draft, because so many of them become busts. Of course Oden and Durant are obviously the real deal, there is going to be 4-5 disappointments or busts in the top 10 players chosen. It happens pretty much every year.</div> I don't know about 4-5 out of the top 10, I think that's little out of hand, but there will be a couple.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CelticBalla32 @ Apr 13 2007, 01:30 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I don't know about 4-5 out of the top 10, I think that's little out of hand, but there will be a couple.</div>Well let's see for fun; (bold = bust) (Bold & italics = picked to soon/has had a so-so career)ignoring the last 2 drafts because it's too soon to tell;2004# Team Name College/HS/Country 1 ORL Dwight Howard Southwest Christian Acad. (GA) 2 CHR Emeka Okafor Connecticut 3 CHI Ben Gordon Connecticut 4 LAC Shaun Livingston Peoria Central HS (IL) 5 WAS Devin Harris Wisconsin 6 ATL Josh Childress Stanford 7 PHO Luol Deng Duke 8 TOR Rafael Araujo BYU 9 PHI Andre Iguodala Arizona 10 CLE Luke Jackson Oregon 3/10 a good year2003# Tm Name College/HS/Country 1 CLE LeBron James St. Mary / St. Vincent (ohio) HS 2 DET Darko Milicic Serbia 3 DEN Carmelo Anthony Syracuse 4 TOR Chris Bosh Georgia Tech 5 MIA Dwyane Wade Marquette 6 LAC Chris Kaman Central Mich 7 CHI Kirk Hinrich Kansas 8 MIL TJ Ford Texas 9 NYK Michael Sweetney Georgetown 10 WAS Jarvis Hayes Georgia 4/10 average2002# Tm Name College/HS/Country 1 HOU Yao Ming Shanghai Sharks 2 CHI Jay Williams Duke 3 GSW Mike Dunleavy Duke 4 MEM Drew Gooden Kansas 5 DEN Nikoloz Tskitishvili Italy 6 CLE Dajuan Wagner Memphis 7 NYK Nene Hilario Brazil 8 LAC Chris Wilcox Maryland 9 PHO Amare Stoudemire Cypress Creek HS (Fla.) 10 MIA Caron Butler Connecticut 7/10 disappoint or flop2001# Tm Name College/HS/Country 1 WAS Kwame Brown Glynn Academy, HS 2 LAC Tyson Chandler Dominguez, HS 3 ATL Pau Gasol None 4 CHI Eddy Curry Thornwood, HS 5 GSW Jason Richardson Michigan St. 6 VAN Shane Battier Duke 7 NJN Eddie Griffin Seton Hall 8 CLE Desagana Diop Oak Hill Academy, HS 9 DET Rodney White Charlotte 10 BOS Joe Johnson Arkansas 4/10 and Eddy and Tyson have just turned it around recently2000# TM Name College/HS/Country1 NJN Kenyon Martin Cincinnati 2 VAN Stromile Swift Louisiana State 3 LAC Darius Miles East St Louis (IL) HS 4 CHI Marcus Fizer Iowa State 5 ORL Mike Miller Florida 6 ATL DerMarr Johnson Cincinnati 7 CLE Chris Mihm Texas 8 CHI Jamal Crawford Michigan 9 MIL Joel Przybilla Minnesota 10 LAC Keyon Dooling Missouri 9/10! UGH, best player was probably Q-rich at #18. Martin started off strong, but he's been a huge let down since he stopped playing with J-Kidd.1999# TM Name College/HS/Country1 CHI Elton Brand Duke 2 VAN Steve Francis Maryland 3 CHA Baron Davis UCLA 4 LAC Lamar Odom Rhode Island 5 TOR Jonathan Bender Picayune (MS) HS 6 MIN Wally Szczerbiak Miami(OH) 7 WAS Richard Hamilton Connecticut 8 CLE Andre Miller Utah 9 PHO Shawn Marion Nevada-Las Vegas 10 ATL Jason Terry Arizona 3/10 and Francis has some really good years before injuries/mental attitude affected his play.1998 # TM Name College/HS/Country1 LAC Michael Olowokandi Pacific 2 VAN Mike Bibby Arizona 3 DEN Raef LaFrentz Kansas 4 TOR Antawn Jamison North Carolina 5 GSW Vince Carter North Carolina 6 DAL Robert Traylor Michigan 7 SAC Jason Williams Florida 8 PHI Larry Hughes Saint Louis 9 MIL Dirk Nowitzki Germany 10 BOS Paul Pierce Kansas 4/10 1997# TM Name College/HS/Country1 SAS Tim Duncan Wake Forest 2 PHI Keith Van Horn Utah 3 BOS Chauncey Billups Colorado 4 VAN Antonio Daniels Bowling Green 5 DEN Tony Battie Texas Tech 6 BOS Ron Mercer Kentucky 7 NJN Tim Thomas Villanova 8 GSW Adonal Foyle Colgate 9 TOR Tracy McGrady Mount Zion (NC) Academy 10 MIL Danny Fortson Cincinnati 6/10 another bad year1996# TM Name College/HS/Country1 PHI Allen Iverson Georgetown 2 TOR Marcus Camby Massachusetts 3 VAN Shareef AbdurRahim California 4 MIL Stephon Marbury Georgia Tech 5 MIN Ray Allen Connecticut 6 BOS Antoine Walker Kentucky 7 LAC Lorenzen Wright Memphis (TN) 8 NJN Kerry Kittles Villanova 9 DAL Samaki Walker Louisville 10 IND Erick Dampier Mississippi State meh, he's somehow still in the league...4/10 and AbdurRahim, Walker and Marbury have been up and down.1995 # TM Name College/HS/Country1 GSW Joe Smith Maryland 2 LAC Antonio McDyess Alabama 3 PHI Jerry Stackhouse North Carolina 4 WA1 Rasheed Wallace North Carolina 5 MIN Kevin Garnett Farragut Academy (IL) 6 VAN Bryant Reeves Oklahoma State 7 TOR Damon Stoudamire Arizona 8 POR Shawn Respert Michigan State 9 NJN Ed OBannon UCLA 10 MIA Kurt Thomas Texas Christian 5/10 LOL Shawn Respert and Ed O'bannon1994# TM NAME College/HS/Country1 MIL Glenn Robinson Purdue 2 DAL Jason Kidd California 3 DET Grant Hill Duke 4 MIN Donyell Marshall Connecticut 5 WA1 Juwan Howard Michigan 6 PHI Sharone Wright Clemson 7 LAC Lamond Murray California 8 SAC Brian Grant Xavier (OH) 9 BOS Eric Montross North Carolina 10 LAL Eddie Jones Temple 4/10 average year.so we have 53/110 top ten drafted players in the last 11 years, that were straight out Busts, disappointments, injury prone or just drafted to soon as far as I count. You can argue some, of my choices, but top ten picks shouldn't be medicore starters or bench players IMO.that's also an average just under 5/draft.so when I say 4 to5 will be busts or disappointments, I'm not that off.this is a good deep year because of the HS rule just implemented so we can say 2-4 instead.okay by you?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CelticBalla32 @ Apr 12 2007, 08:27 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Like the "Madden curse," the #2 pick always seems to have injury problems or have something that messes up their career. Here, I took the time to list the recent ones:2006: LaMarcus Aldridge has heart problems.2005: Marvin Williams has had injury problems.2004: Emeka Okafor has had injury problems his whole career.2003: Darko Milicic is a complete bust.2002: Jay Williams ruined his whole career in a motorcycle accident.2000: Stromile Swift is a bust.1999: Steve Francis has had injury problems.1997: Keith Van Horn has had a lot of injury problems.1996: Marcus Camby is a walking injury.1995: Antonio McDyess has had a lot of injury problems that ended his star-status.1993: Shawn Bradley is a bust.1992: Alonzo Mourning had his kidney problems that almost ended his career.1986: Len Bias died after he was drafted due to cocaine overdose.1984: Sam Bowie had injury problems.I mean I do not believe in curses or whatever, but I definitely found it interesting.</div>Hmmm, I think you're reading more into that than you should.-Aldridge is expected to make a full recovery and its too early to tell how good he will be.-Williams hasn't has that many injuries as far as I can remember, he still looks like a good prospect-Okafor, yes he has had injuries but the guy is a beast. Too early to tell if the injuries will last his whole career-Milicic is finally starting to realise his potential, I think we should re-visit how much of a bust he was in 3 years time-Steve Francis can still be a good player. He has shown in the past what he can do, IMO he needs to adjust his attitude.-Van Horn had a pretty great career. So he won't be going to the hall but he did well over a good period.-Camby - some bad injuries but he is still one of the top defensive players in the league-McDyess - will still end his career with pretty decent averages despite the injuries-Mourning - dominant in his day There are some busts for sure and a number of them had injuries but you missed out on a lot of the good points and good players.Tyson Chandler, Jason Kidd, Mike Bibby, Kenny Anderson, Gary Payton etc
Excellent post CelticFan, very well put together. Some of those drafts were just complete jokes, I know that. I just don't know if I see 5 complete busts this year in the top 10. It depends who picks who, really. I think some guys will get the short end of the stick. People are talking about Hibbert like he's gonna be an All-Star, I don't think he will. If he becomes a solid starter, he isn't a "bust" to me, but he will to a lot of people who have him way too high on their draft boards. So it depends. <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Milgod @ Apr 14 2007, 04:13 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Hmmm, I think you're reading more into that than you should. -Aldridge is expected to make a full recovery and its too early to tell how good he will be. -Williams hasn't has that many injuries as far as I can remember, he still looks like a good prospect -Okafor, yes he has had injuries but the guy is a beast. Too early to tell if the injuries will last his whole career -Milicic is finally starting to realise his potential, I think we should re-visit how much of a bust he was in 3 years time -Steve Francis can still be a good player. He has shown in the past what he can do, IMO he needs to adjust his attitude. -Van Horn had a pretty great career. So he won't be going to the hall but he did well over a good period. -Camby - some bad injuries but he is still one of the top defensive players in the league -McDyess - will still end his career with pretty decent averages despite the injuries -Mourning - dominant in his day There are some busts for sure and a number of them had injuries but you missed out on a lot of the good points and good players. Tyson Chandler, Jason Kidd, Mike Bibby, Kenny Anderson, Gary Payton etc</div> Milgod, I noted that I didn't take it seriously nor do I believe in "curses." I just thought it was interesting. Either way, whether you make excuses or not, I just pointed out that the majority of the 2nd picks have injury-riddled careers. - Aldridge is EXPECTED to make a full recovery, and I hope he does, but we have no idea. Heart problems are heart problems, we'll see. And whether it messes with his career or not, it's STILL a concerning factor. That's the point of the thread. - Williams missed the start of the season. Sure, it wasn't career threatening, but it is STILL an injury that kept him out a while. - Okafor has had injury woes since college, I don't see him every being an "iron man." - Francis is never going to be any better than he is right now, give that one a rest. - Van Horn has missed a lot of games throughout his career, and never reached the potential people thought he would. - Camby is a walking injury. Yes, he's a good player, but you can't dispute the fact that he has only played 70+ games once. - You're missing the point with McDyess. Injuries ruined his star status. - You miss the point with Mourning as well. Yes, he was a great player.. BEFORE THE KIDNEY PROBLEMS THAT ALMOST ENDED HIS CAREER.
yeah, I changed it to a possible 2-4 busts as this is a deep year.Hibbert, so long as he's able to rebound and play D and catch passes around the basket will be a solid if unspectacular pro. Since he's a center, that's a rare commodity so he'll go higher than his skills are currently at due to his size. Because he is so raw, he may just continue to improve and surprise everyone.p.s. I had way too much fun going through all those drafts :happy0144:
Don't forget Arman Gilliam and Neal Walk, the guys the Suns were forced to pick after they lost the coin toss for Kareem and lost in the lotter for David Robinson.
