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Since someone has a thread about players that you thought would be NBA stars but ended up falling short, what about the ones you thought verly little of that turned out to be stars.
I must admit at the top of my list is Rondo. I flat out slammed Ainge for trading the pick before the draft even began, especially when Rudy was available where they had been picking. I even thought Marcus Williams would have been a far better choice than Rondo. I thought Rondo was one of the most overhyped college players I had ever seen. Boy did he turn out to be a steal for the C's when you consider where he was picked.
My gosh was I dead wrong. Although he still struggles shooting the ball from outside, at the stripe and sometimes finishing in traffic, he's turned out to be an incredibly productive player. He's a plus defender with those freakish long arms. He's creative with the ball, not to mention holds it like it's a grape in those huge hands of his. He's got a knack for making big plays on both ends of the floor, may it be stepping into a passing lane or slipping through tight spaces for layups or dishes.
I had my concerns about MW, especially on the defensive end. But I thought his playmaking abilities and good PG instincts would translate okay if he worked hard on his footwork and conditioning. I thought he could be a Deron Williams thick type PG, but he could barely find his way onto the floor. One thing to always keep in mind. If you can't defend, you better be exceptional at something if you want to play very long in the NBA. For example, as good a scorer Ben Gordon is, his minutes always seem to be limited due to his inability to stay in front of his man. Even Rip hit a PT wall, due to his defensive liabilities, and both he and Ben proved to be very good scorers at this level.
The NBA game is simply an unforgiving game. Unless you're on a crappy team, you have to bring something exception onto the floor for an NBA coach to give you starter's minutes.
I must admit at the top of my list is Rondo. I flat out slammed Ainge for trading the pick before the draft even began, especially when Rudy was available where they had been picking. I even thought Marcus Williams would have been a far better choice than Rondo. I thought Rondo was one of the most overhyped college players I had ever seen. Boy did he turn out to be a steal for the C's when you consider where he was picked.
My gosh was I dead wrong. Although he still struggles shooting the ball from outside, at the stripe and sometimes finishing in traffic, he's turned out to be an incredibly productive player. He's a plus defender with those freakish long arms. He's creative with the ball, not to mention holds it like it's a grape in those huge hands of his. He's got a knack for making big plays on both ends of the floor, may it be stepping into a passing lane or slipping through tight spaces for layups or dishes.
I had my concerns about MW, especially on the defensive end. But I thought his playmaking abilities and good PG instincts would translate okay if he worked hard on his footwork and conditioning. I thought he could be a Deron Williams thick type PG, but he could barely find his way onto the floor. One thing to always keep in mind. If you can't defend, you better be exceptional at something if you want to play very long in the NBA. For example, as good a scorer Ben Gordon is, his minutes always seem to be limited due to his inability to stay in front of his man. Even Rip hit a PT wall, due to his defensive liabilities, and both he and Ben proved to be very good scorers at this level.
The NBA game is simply an unforgiving game. Unless you're on a crappy team, you have to bring something exception onto the floor for an NBA coach to give you starter's minutes.
