Posted by DefAndReb:

Posted by Pharzeone:



That's not true at all. Actually just the opposite occurs, most guys rated high on draft rarely make it. See your line of Duke, Michigan, Indiana, Syracuse players, and UK players if you don't believe me. "The Next comings". They never arrive. Then NBA GMs recognize this and well international "can't miss; give him time; more fundamentals" players were the flavor for the new NBA superstar, then the HS thing. I mean it is rare that a player ever lives up to the superstar hype.

I think you misunderstand what I'm saying here. Guys who are superstars right now (Kobe, Shaq, Duncan, Garnett, Iverson, Lebron, McGrady, Yao) were pegged as superstars before they ever got into the NBA. I'm not saying there aren't hyped guys who bomb, but those guys get hyped RIGHT BEFORE the draft, not a year, two years before.

I'm also not saying you automatically get a superstar with a top-3 pick (Kobe, McGrady, Garnett were picked 13,9,5 respectively - KMart, Joe Smith and Kandi were number ones). I'm saying you're chances increase greatly, assuming your GM knows what he's doing, and that the Knicks need to be in a position to draft someone who is as sure a bet as a bet can be. It's always a gamble, nothing is a lock. But I think Garnett got picked so low because at the time on one wanted to wait what they thought would be 4 or 5 seasons for him to be mature physically. GS picked Joe Smith (cough) who was not being hyped as a big deal for the future, but Garnett was, and I mean hyped a long time in advance.

There's a difference between draft-day media hype and long-term media coverage of a player when he's still a HS underslassman. I've yet to see a kid who was followed as an NBA prospect through HS bomb out. Chamberlain, Alcindor, Ewing, Lebron - all those kids were on network news, NOT sports news, mind you, but general interest news, well before they were drafted.

Kwame Brown, on the other hand, I'd never heard of him until he got selected number one. I was like "who? I haven't seen any stories about him on TV." Same with Jonathan Bender. Again, a lot of guys get picked high, then the bottom drops out, like you're saying, and a lot of guys picked low-first, or in the second, make a career of it, but those guys are rarely superstars, and the Knicks need to shoot for the moon, not another McDyess or Sweetney.

Do I think Sweetney's solid? Yes. Do I think he could be a starter someday? Why not! Do I think he'll blossom into Charles Barkley? nnnnnnnnnnnnnneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeooooooooooooooooooo. not a chance, and why do i think that? Because he's in his second year, and has not dominated a single game or managed to earn the playing time a guy like Barkley did when he was a first and second year player. And, yes, maybe, just maybe, Sweetney gets to his third year and turns into a monster, but how often does that happen?! Ben Wallace is the only guy I can think of who improved that drastically that late (maybe McGrady, to some degree) Point is you bet it, use the odds. Odds are, Sweetney will have a long career, but so has Spoon.

Posted by Pharzeone:

Posted by DefAndReb:

Posted by Pharzeone:



That's not true at all. Actually just the opposite occurs, most guys rated high on draft rarely make it. See your line of Duke, Michigan, Indiana, Syracuse players, and UK players if you don't believe me. "The Next comings". They never arrive. Then NBA GMs recognize this and well international "can't miss; give him time; more fundamentals" players were the flavor for the new NBA superstar, then the HS thing. I mean it is rare that a player ever lives up to the superstar hype.

I think you misunderstand what I'm saying here. Guys who are superstars right now (Kobe, Shaq, Duncan, Garnett, Iverson, Lebron, McGrady, Yao) were pegged as superstars before they ever got into the NBA. I'm not saying there aren't hyped guys who bomb, but those guys get hyped RIGHT BEFORE the draft, not a year, two years before.

I'm also not saying you automatically get a superstar with a top-3 pick (Kobe, McGrady, Garnett were picked 13,9,5 respectively - KMart, Joe Smith and Kandi were number ones). I'm saying you're chances increase greatly, assuming your GM knows what he's doing, and that the Knicks need to be in a position to draft someone who is as sure a bet as a bet can be. It's always a gamble, nothing is a lock. But I think Garnett got picked so low because at the time on one wanted to wait what they thought would be 4 or 5 seasons for him to be mature physically. GS picked Joe Smith (cough) who was not being hyped as a big deal for the future, but Garnett was, and I mean hyped a long time in advance.

There's a difference between draft-day media hype and long-term media coverage of a player when he's still a HS underslassman. I've yet to see a kid who was followed as an NBA prospect through HS bomb out. Chamberlain, Alcindor, Ewing, Lebron - all those kids were on network news, NOT sports news, mind you, but general interest news, well before they were drafted.

Kwame Brown, on the other hand, I'd never heard of him until he got selected number one. I was like "who? I haven't seen any stories about him on TV." Same with Jonathan Bender. Again, a lot of guys get picked high, then the bottom drops out, like you're saying, and a lot of guys picked low-first, or in the second, make a career of it, but those guys are rarely superstars, and the Knicks need to shoot for the moon, not another McDyess or Sweetney.

Do I think Sweetney's solid? Yes. Do I think he could be a starter someday? Why not! Do I think he'll blossom into Charles Barkley? nnnnnnnnnnnnnneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeooooooooooooooooooo. not a chance, and why do i think that? Because he's in his second year, and has not dominated a single game or managed to earn the playing time a guy like Barkley did when he was a first and second year player. And, yes, maybe, just maybe, Sweetney gets to his third year and turns into a monster, but how often does that happen?! Ben Wallace is the only guy I can think of who improved that drastically that late (maybe McGrady, to some degree) Point is you bet it, use the odds. Odds are, Sweetney will have a long career, but so has Spoon.

How do we know, what Sweetney is...I would like to see him get starts like Ariza got starts. It is hard to image that Ariza has more career starts than Sweets. I mean come on, you know what you have in KT, he can't post up, he can hit the open jumper, and he can match up with a more than moderate offensive minded PF. But what drives me mad about KT is that rare that he has an all around game. I mean he is a jumpshooting PF, who never gets to the foul line. Sweets is aggressive in the post, I mean he can control a tempo of the game like that. Something we haven't done since # 33. I would like to see this kid get 36 minutes a nite for awhile not this 18 minutes stuff, because it only makes him look freakish with his pts to minutes.