Here are some archetypes. Nominate this year's version. The Clarence Weatherspoon: undersized PF whom everybody says can either play SF or be the next Charles Barkley, but turns out, can't. The Pavel Podkolzine: nobody knows if he can play but check out the measurements!!! The Joe Alexander: Look how high he can jump! Oh, the upside! The Tony Allen: fairly inept on O but so ferocious on perimeter D that it makes up for it. The Taj Gibson: "he's too old!" "Very low ceiling!" Drops to the low first/early second and turns out to be a very good rotation player. The Shelden Williams: Puts up great numbers for a great program and gets drafted way too high. The Paul Millsap: had great numbers for an obscure school and ends up being a steal because of doubts about measurements The Paul Pierce: the surprise slipper who comes back to be great Feel free to add your own.
The Sebastian Telfair An undersized, overhyped PG who dominated in the overrated, narcissistic city of New York and was drafted by a complete idiot.
The Clarence Weatherspoon: Anthony Bennett. The Pavel Podkolzine: Rudy Gobert The Joe Alexander: Cody Zeller The Tony Allen: Gorgui Dieng The Taj Gibson: Mason Plumlee The Shelden Williams: Kelly Olynyk / Michael Carter-Williams The Paul Millsap: Tony Mitchell The Paul Pierce: Shabazz Muhammad
Good choices, MM. Interesting cross-positional nomination of Dieng. I see Muhammad as either a Beasley (high-rated, drafted high, bust) or a Bayless (high-rated, dropped in the draft, but not quite far enough), myself.
I agree with several of MM's nominations The Clarence Weatherspoon: Anthony Bennett. The Pavel Podkolzine: Rudy Gobert The Joe Alexander: DJ Stephens The Tony Allen: Gorgui Dieng (I really like this one!) The Taj Gibson: Jeff Withey The Shelden Williams: Cody Zeller The Paul Millsap: Jamal Franklin The Paul Pierce: Ben McLemore (I don't know why, but I just have a feeling he might drop a couple spots unexpectedly)
Greg Oden The big black guy Center hung like a horse, that lets his dogs fall off balcony's and is built of glass.
Tracy McGrady a really young wing player with incredible physical tools but nowhere near the skill or mental fortitude for anyone to compare them to Kobe Bryant. See: Green, Gerald; DeRozan, Demar. Mark Price whitey PG who balled ass in college, probably from a mid-major conference. Great all around skills but again no ones comparing to Steve Nash or John Stockton because everyone knows they've still got a REALLY high bust ratio due to lack of athletic ability. Luol Deng wing player with good size who no one has the balls to call as either a complete bust nor a legit star. Lacking in "it" factor and ability to take over games. Derrick Coleman/Weatherspoon/Tractor Trailer fat fuck who has talent but needs to drop weight to do anything in the league. Larry Hughes/Marquis Daniels we love to oogle this guy's PG skills but since the last 12 6'5+ guys who we touted as true PGs all ended up being busts we're gonna go conservative. See: Hodge, Julius; Weaver, Kyle; Livingston, Shaun; Crittenton, Javaris; Brewer, Ronnie; Wroten, Tony.
Got some more for this year: The Marcus Camby/Tyson Chandler - athletic big man who will dominate on D and disappoint on O The Ben Wallace - bulkier than the above and not half as heralded The Steph Curry/Damian Lillard - small school superstar that nobody knows whether it'll translate The Kyle Korver - pure shooter who will drop because people are scared he's... The Adam Morrison - star in college, bust in the NBA. The Pops Mensah-Bonsu/Jerome "JYD" Williams - great athlete who puts up great stats but plays out of control so bounces around from team to team (ours was Thomas Robinson) The Russell Westbrook - (in the draft, that is) you have to gamble on him because he wasn't given minutes on a stacked college team. The big version is The Zach Randolph And everyone's favorite this year: The Draymond Green - heralded college player who drops because of size/speed concerns, but who ends up being a total steal, and can defend multiple positions
I never follow College BBall - I try to catch up between Portland ending play and the draft, so these will be guesses: The Taj Gibson - Rakeem Christmas The Paul Millsap - Alan Williams (UCSB) (Because Richaun Holmes would be too obvious) The Marcus Camby - Willie Cauley-Stein The Pops Mensah-Bonsu - Montrezl Harrell The Draymond Green - Branden Dawson (this is more because he's a very versatile defender from Michigan State, but he has very little offense to speak of. However, if he goes undrafted, I hope we're the first people on the phone to him)
Presumably Cameron Payne is supposed to be the Damian this year, although he's more like The Elfrid Payton, who was last year's Curry/Lillard. If you follow that.
The Jerome Kersey- Very athletic with small hands and a big heart from a small girl’s school with a very new men’s BB program.
That's pretty specific... But here's a guy who's second in the NCAA in PER, won't get drafted, is absurdly athletic and is seen playing against Longwood (Jerome's school) in this video: Javonte Green
The Joe Alexander: Mario Hezonja The Tony Allen: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson The Taj Gibson: Aaron White The Shelden Williams: Trey Lyles The Paul Millsap: Tyler Harvey The Paul Pierce: Stanley Johnson The Steph Curry: RJ Hunter The Tyson Chandler: Karl Towns The Draymond Green: Brandon Ashley The Larry Hughes: Emmanuel Mudiay
Clarence Weatherspoon may not have lived up to the hype but he had a very solid career. In 93-94 he averaged a double double. http://espn.go.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/896/clarence-weatherspoon
Here's a category full of so many young players I can't count them. The tallest guy in the league, who also moves like a guard.
The Clarence Weatherspoon: undersized PF whom everybody says can either play SF or be the next Charles Barkley, but turns out, can't. -- Jarrell Martin The Pavel Podkolzine: nobody knows if he can play but check out the measurements!!! -- Rakeem Christmas The Joe Alexander: Look how high he can jump! Oh, the upside! -- Pat Connaughton The Tony Allen: fairly inept on O but so ferocious on perimeter D that it makes up for it. -- Montrezl Harrell: Not a perimeter defender but this describes how I think he'll translate. The Taj Gibson: "he's too old!" "Very low ceiling!" Drops to the low first/early second and turns out to be a very good rotation player. -- Delon Wright The Shelden Williams: Puts up great numbers for a great program and gets drafted way too high. -- Kevon Looney: Not great numbers, but solid: 12/9/22PER -- a few years away from being a few years away. Maybe Trey Lyles? The Paul Pierce: the surprise slipper who comes back to be great -- R.J. Hunter
