OT- NBA players you were wrong about

[otp85]

I agree with everyone who's said Noah, I don't think anyone saw this coming. Stephen Curry has pleasantly surprised as well.

A few more that stand out to me; Mike Conley, Aaron Brooks, David Lee

 

[RichZ]

Tayshaun Prince. Thought he would get muscled and never amount to anything.

 

[auror]

I agree with everyone who's said Noah, I don't think anyone saw this coming.

Noah was the consensus #1 overall pick after their first championship, but went back to school and his team went back-to-back. Ended up getting drafted 9th. Why did you guys think he wouldn't be good?


"After shockingly deciding to return for his junior season and passing up the opportunity of potentially becoming the #1 pick in the draft..."
"It is hard to see Joakim Noah falling out of the top 5 in this year’s draft, were he to declare. All that’s left is to find out whether Noah will cash in on his incredible sophomore season, or head back to Florida to defend his title. And it wouldn't shock anyone to see him go #1 if he does."

-DraftExpress.com http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Joakim-Noah-589/

 

[husky91]

Thabeet, thought he could play a little and contribute and he gets total garbage minutes in meaningless regular season games, let alone anything meaningful

Okafor, it's amazing to suggest he was ever considered as a better pick over D12, wow. He's a bust from the standpoint of $$ he's paid vs. production. He's the worst max contract in the history of the NBA.

 

[Socki]

Joe Alexander. 6'9" athletic freak who could shoot and D-up. Lottery pick, lasted 1 year on the bench. What happened?

 

[Mots010]

He was a lottery pick.

So was Thabeet. I don't think there was anyone predicting Noah would be and MVP candidate back when he was drafted.

 

[joober jones]

Kevin Pittsnoggle is another.

 

[huskypantz]

Kevin Pittsnoggle is another.

But the dude knows how to get married in style.

 

[Scoe]

Is it cause he's white?[/quote]

Yes it is, I did think he would be a good pro just not this good, I thought he would be like Wally Sczerbiak.

 

[Scoe]

Thabeet is a bust in every imaginable sense of the word, and nobody is using Thabeet in certain situations or for matchup purposes, he's firmly planted on the bench.

Thabeet is a bust but the grizzlies were stupid enough to draft him number 2 overall. He was a project player drafted number 2, when he should have been a late 1st early 2nd round pick and start in the Dleague to work his way up.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Lee Mayberry from the Arkansas teams in the early 90's. Thought he would be a defensive terror.

And from UConn I'll go with Chris Smith. Thought he had the talent to stick around for a second and third contract.

 

[uconnng8]

Blake Griffin. Thought he was way to one dimensional (could only dunk in college) to be a top 10, maybe even a top 5, player in the league. He's starting to become pretty well rounded too.

 

[elduderino]

Thabeet, thought he could play a little and contribute and he gets total garbage minutes in meaningless regular season games, let alone anything meaningful

Okafor, it's amazing to suggest he was ever considered as a better pick over D12, wow. He's a bust from the standpoint of he's paid vs. production. He's the worst max contract in the history of the NBA.

Challenge, Rashard Lewis's contract was much worse! Personally I never really thought Thabeet was a 2 pick. I've never been a huge fan of the raw potential argument in the first 5 picks. He seemed more like a 10 guy to me and unfortunately in hindsight even that was optimistic. Also, loved STAT, but he died a ways back and took a Knicks max contract down with him.

 

[Huskybass]

Thabeet is not a bust. GMs will always have a spot for a plus 7 footer in their arsenal. Those guys are the lefty relievers in MLB who stick around for ages because they can get leftys out. Randy Choate 13 year vet has been in 540 games, won 13,never pitched more than 50 innings in any year. Now 39 yrs. old.

Thabeet is the epitome of a bust. He was the #2 overall pick. His production is the lowest EVER for someone drafted that highly.

 

[huskypantz]

Thabeet is the epitome of a bust. He was the #2 overall pick. His production is the lowest EVER for someone drafted that highly.

Darko Milicic is a rough equivalent.

 

[UC990411]

JJ Redick is at the top of the list, I didn't think he would do anything in the league and he has become a very good NBA player. I give him a lot of credit for working extremely hard to diversify his game. Miles Plumlee and Josh McRoberts are two more that come to mind, it's amazing how little they did at Duke.

Posts that aren't even about Duke even have a way at bringing out the Duke obsession.

 

[Huskybass]

Milicic averaged 8 points and 5 rebounds a couple of years. Thabeet has never even averaged 3 points per game other than his rookie year.

 

[boog204]

Joe Alexander. 6'9" athletic freak who could shoot and D-up. Lottery pick, lasted 1 year on the bench. What happened?

Agree... Thought he would be a Tom Chambers-ish type of player.

 

[tzznandrew]

I hear Kevin Love all the time. Did people really think that? Wide bodied, 6'10, bruiser in the paint, rebounding machine with post skills and a professional pedigree? UCLA star? McDonald's AA? Top 5 recruit?

Is it cause he's white?

I remember I argued with people over this a lot. I thought he would be very good (not this good), but people argued he was not athletic enough, and that he's have trouble scoring. He developed some range on his jumper, which mitigated some of that concern.

 

[muhmitchell]

Surprised that Marcus panned out the way he did, same with Blair. Always thought he'd be feasted on by faster PFs and outjumped/outreached by taller C's

 

[huskypantz]

Milicic averaged 8 points and 5 rebounds a couple of years. Thabeet has never even averaged 3 points per game other than his rookie year.

Not until his fourth year. Darko was drafted 12 years ago, Thabeet has time.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Is it cause he's white?

Yes it is, I did think he would be a good pro just not this good, I thought he would be like Wally Sczerbiak.[/quote]

This is accepted racism. Like when every white WR is compared to Wes Welker.

 

[Scoe]

Yes it is, I did think he would be a good pro just not this good, I thought he would be like Wally Sczerbiak.

This is accepted racism. Like when every white WR is compared to Wes Welker.[/quote]

I just can't help the fact that a lot of white players never are the same player they were in college everybody has that on their mind they just won't say it. Bill Simmons said European players don't count as white guys.

 

[Huskybass]

Not until his fourth year. Darko was drafted 12 years ago, Thabeet has time.

Time? He has been in the league for 5 years and done virtually nothing.

 

[Huskyforlife]

Better then I thought: Bledsoe, Davis, mcw, waiters, Ross, hardaway,

Worse then I thought: mkg, lamb, bismack, others....