NBA Draft Combine consensus of several great players

Was watching the beginning of ESPN's coverage of this years draft combine and there were some amusing tags placed on several stars. Some were accurate but the players overcame their deficiency. Others improved their game dramatically.

Here were how some were labeled.

Durant - too thin
Isaiah - too short
Curry - too small
Draymond Green - no upside
Harden - no range
Lillard - no resume
Kawhi - unknown
Jimmy Butler - undefined
Westbrook - unpolished

Yes, the draft is certainly a crapshoot.

The flip side of this are all the Anthony Bennetts, Olawakandis, Beasleys and other high picks who busted out or underachieved.

A crap shoot indeed.



bob


.

Durant shares his own experience at the combine and says it was a joke.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/kevin-durant-nba-combine-waste-time-article-1.3157310

I have to disagree regarding the crap shoot

3 of the nine players on that list greatly exceeded expectations. The remaining players were all top 10 picks.

Durant # 2
Harden # 3
Westbrook # 4
Lillard # 6
Curry # 7

I would even argue that Leonard who was picked 15th by SA in the Hill trade with Indy was a player that POP knew could ball. It matters little what the pundits may say about a player.

IF GM's do their homework and do it well and if they also have an opportunity to draft in the top half they should be able to draft a quality player (unless the draft is actually poor in terms of prospects.

The draft only becomes a crap shoot for those teams that made bad picks.

dboss

Dboss,
The draft is a crap shoot because it's all about probabilities. You have much higher probability to get a star at #1 than at #10 and even higher than at #20. Unfortunately, sample size and other ingredients of the statistical exercise are very far from perfect therefore it's hard to prove.
The comparison with crap shoot is also very far from perfect.

AK

sinus007 wrote:Dboss,
The draft is a crap shoot because it's all about probabilities. You have much higher probability to get a star at #1 than at #10 and even higher than at #20. Unfortunately, sample size and other ingredients of the statistical exercise are very far from perfect therefore it's hard to prove.
The comparison with crap shoot is also very far from perfect.

AK

I think the draft lottery is all about probability but once the seeding is set the teams at the top have the best overall opportunity to draft quality players. That does not always work out for a number of reasons and of course you have the lower rated picks that far exceed expectations. Every year there are 1 or 2 guys that turn out to be big time players but were not lottery picks.

Some GM's just do a great job drafting. I guess when I think of the term crap shoot I would prefer not to associate it with the art of selecting from a pool of prospects.

dboss

Dboss,
Here's a loaded question to you. Will you agree with Bobh's formula draft=crap shoot if he guarantees that Celtics go into the Finals?

AK

Are most of the #1-#3 busts big men such as centers who've had physical ailments? Or mental issues?

sinus007 wrote:Dboss,
Here's a loaded question to you. Will you agree with Bobh's formula draft=crap shoot if he guarantees that Celtics go into the Finals?

AK

yea that might just do it for me

dboss

worcester wrote:Are most of the #1-#3 busts big men such as centers who've had physical ailments? Or mental issues?

Bowie and Oden ring a bell.  Washburn rings a bell, Bargnani, Milicic, Jay Williams, Kwame Brown,Michael Olowokandi, Joe Smith, Shawn Bradley, Benoit Benjamin

A partial list of players chosen in a crap shoot...

Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem (1995)
Archibald, Tiny (1991)
Arizin, Paul (1978)
Barkley, Charles (2006)
Barlow, Thomas (1981)
Barry, Rick (1987)
Baylor, Elgin (1977)
Beaty, Zelmo (2016)
Beckman, John (1973)
Bellamy, Walt (1993)
Belov, Sergei (1992)
Bing, Dave (1990)
Bird, Larry (1998)
Blazejowski, Carol (1994)
Borgmann, Bernard (1961)
Bradley, Bill (1983)
Brennan, Joseph (1975)
Brown, Roger (2013)
Cervi, Al (1985)
Chamberlain, Wilt (1979)
Cooper, Charles (1977)
Cooper-Dyke, Cynthia (2010)
Cosic, Kresimir (1996)
Cousy, Bob (1971)
Cowens, Dave (1991)
Crawford, Joan (1997)
Cunningham, Billy (1986)
Curry, Denise (1997)
Dalipagic, Drazen (2004)
Dampier, Louis (2015)
Daniels, Mel (2012)
Dantley, Adrian (2008)
Davies, Bob (1970)
DeBernardi, Forrest (1961)
DeBusschere, Dave (1983)
Dehnert, Dutch (1969)
Donovan, Anne (1995)
Drexler, Clyde (2004)
Dumars, Joe (2006)
Edwards, Teresa (2011)
Endacott, Paul (1972)
English, Alex (1997)
Erving, Julius (1993)
Ewing, Patrick (2008)
Foster, Harold (1964)
Frazier, Walt (1987)
Friedman, Max (1972)
Fulks, Joe (1978)
Gale, Lauren (1977)
Gallatin, Harry (1991)
Gates, Pop (1989)
Gervin, George (1996)
Gilmore, Artis (2011)
Gola, Tom (1976)
Goodrich, Gail (1996)
Greer, Hal (1982)
Gruenig, Robert (1963)
Guerin, Richie (2013)
Hagan, Cliff (1978)
Hanson, Victor (1960)
Harris-Stewart, Lusia (1992)
Havlicek, John (1984)
Hawkins, Connie (1992)
Hayes, Elvin (1990)
Haynes, Marques (1998)
Haywood, Spencer (2015)
Heinsohn, Tom (1986)
Holman, Nat (1964)
Houbregs, Bob (1987)
Howell, Bailey (1997)
Hyatt, Charles (1959)
Isaacs, John (2015)
Issel, Dan (1993)
Iverson, Allen (2016)
Jeannette, Buddy (1994)
Johnson, Dennis (2010)
Johnson, Gus (2010)
Johnson, Magic (2002)
Johnson, William (1977)
Johnston, Neil (1990)
Jones, K.C. (1989)
Jones, Sam (1984)
Jordan, Michael (2009)
King, Bernard (2013)
Krause, Ed (1976)
Kurland, Bob (1961)
Lanier, Bob (1992)
Lapchick, Joe (1966)
Leslie, Lisa (2015)
Lieberman, Nancy (1996)
Lovellette, Clyde (1988)
Lucas, Jerry (1980)
Luisetti, Hank (1959)
Macauley, Ed (1960)
Malone, Karl (2010)
Malone, Moses (2001)
Maravich, Pete (1987)
Marcari, Hortencia (2005)
Marciulionis, Sarunas (2014)
Martin, Slater (1982)
McAdoo, Bob (2000)
McClain, Katrina (2012)
McCracken, Branch (1960)
McCracken, Jack (1962)
McDermott, Bob (1988)
McGuire, Dick (1993)
McHale, Kevin (1999)
Meneghin, Dino (2003)
Meyers, Ann (1993)
Mikan, George (1959)
Mikkelsen, Vern (1995)
Miller, Cheryl (1995)
Miller, Reggie (2012)
Ming, Yao (2016)
Monroe, Earl (1990)
Mourning, Alonzo (2014)
Mullin, Chris (2011)
Murphy, Calvin (1993)
Murphy, Charles (1960)
Mutombo, Dikembe (2015)
O'Neal, Shaquille (2016)
Olajuwon, Hakeem (2008)
Page, Harlan (1962)
Parish, Robert (2003)
Payton, Gary (2013)
Pereira, Maciel (2010)
Petrovic, Drazen (2002)
Pettit, Bob (1971)
Phillip, Andy (1961)
Pippen, Scottie (2010)
Pollard, Jim (1978)
Posey, Cumberland (2016)
Ramsey, Frank (1982)
Reed, Willis (1982)
Richmond, Mitch (2014)
Risen, Arnie (1998)
Robertson, Oscar (1980)
Robinson, David (2009)
Rodgers, Guy (2014)
Rodman, Dennis (2011)
Roosma, John (1961)
Russell, Bill (1975)
Russell, John (1964)
Sabonis, Arvydas (2011)
Sampson, Ralph (2012)
Schayes, Dolph (1973)
Schmidt, Ernest (1974)
Schmidt, Oscar (2013)
Schommer, John (1959)
Sedran, Barney (1962)
Semjonova, Uljana (1993)
Sharman, Bill (1976)
Staley, Dawn (2013)
Steinmetz, Christian (1961)
Stockton, John (2009)
Stokes, Maurice (2004)
Swoopes, Sheryl (2016)
Tatum, Goose (2011)
Thomas, Isiah (2000)
Thompson, David (1996)
Thompson, John (1962)
Thurmond, Nate (1985)
Twyman, Jack (1983)
Unseld, Wes (1988)
Vandivier, Robert (1975)
Wachter, Edward (1961)
Walker, Chet (2012)
Walton, Bill (1993)
Wanzer, Bobby (1987)
West, Jerry (1980)
White, Jo Jo (2015)
White, Nera (1992)
Wilkens, Lenny (1989)
Wilkes, Jamaal (2012)
Wilkins, Dominique (2006)
Woodard, Lynette (2004)
Wooden, John (1960)
Worthy, James (2003)
Yardley, George (1996)

The year, of course, is their Hall of Fame class.

If this is also the result of a crap shoot, then it's a game worth playing.