2002 Draft Bargains and Busts

[Way Of The Ray <wayray@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

http://nbadraft.net/justaminute05.htm

Brown and Forte listed as past busts....

Bargains and Busts
By Justin Young
Senior Writer, NBADraft.net
6/25/02

Every NBA team spends millions of dollars flying their scouts around the
country and the world to look for their next potential employee.
Sometimes they fail miserably by taking a player with a lottery pick but
only have him fail miserably. Other times, they find a future team
player late in the second round. Who will it be this year?

Over the course of the last four drafts there has been a certain trend.
In every first round of the draft there was an average of 12 first round
bust. In comparison, there was an average of 5 bargains found in the
second round.

2001 - 11 first round busts (Sagana Diop, Rodney White, Kedrick Brown,
Vladimir Radmonovic, Steven Hunter, Kirk Haston, Michael Bradley, Joe
Forte, Jeryl Sasser, Brandon Armstrong, Samuel Dalembert), 5 2nd round
bargains (Trenton Hassell, Gilbert Arenas, Earl Watson, Loren Woods,
Jarron Collins) Keep in mind that this draft is difficult to judge
still. It was a young draft and players are still developing. The
numbers will of course change.

2000 - 12 first round busts (Marcus Fizer, DerMarr Johnson, Chris Mihm,
Joel Pryzbilla, Mateen Cleaves, Jerome Moiso, Etan Thomas, Jason
Collier, Dalibor Bagaric, Mamadou Ndiaye, Primoz Brezec, Erick Barkley)
5 2nd round bargains (Marco Jaric, Eddie House, Eduardo Najera, Michael
Redd, Jake Voskuhl)

1999 - 10 first round busts (Jonathan Bender, Trajan Langdon, Alek
Radojevic, William Avery, Cal Bowdler, Kenny Thomas, Tim James, Scott
Padgett, Leon Smith) 3 2nd round bargains (Wang Zhi Zhi, Lee Nailon,
Todd MacCulloch)

1998 - 12 first round busts (Robert Traylor, Michael Doleac, Bryce Drew,
Radoslav Nesterovic, Mirsad Turckan, Pat Garrity, Roshown McLeod, Brian
Skinner, Felipe Lopez, Sam Jacobsen, Vladimir Stepania, Corey Benjamin)
5 2nd round bargains (Ruben Patterson, Rashard Lewis, Shammod Williams,
Cuttino Mobley, Greg Buckner)

What is a bargain? A bargain is a player who was drafted in the second
round and is still in the league and making a valuable impact for his
team as either a role player or even a starter. It has proven to be a
difficult task to find bargain players in the second round.

Bargains

J.R. Bremer, PG/SG, St. Bonaventure

Bremer stole the show while in Chicago during the pre draft camp. While
at St. Bonaventure, he doubled as shooting guard and point guard.
Several NBA teams wanted to see if he could run a pro style offense.
During Chicago, he proved that he could do so. That shouldnt come as a
surprise though. He has played big on the bigger stages. Bremer averaged
28.4 points, 6 rebounds and 2.6 assists against tournament teams. Not
bad considering his numbers in the regular season (24.6 points, 4.7
rebounds, 3.1 assists per game). His biggest strength is his really his
strength. He can bench close to 400 pounds. Amazing. That comes in handy
when he takes the ball to the rack. Bremer averaged 8 trips to the free
throw line every night. That type of offensive aggressiveness will earn
the respect of NBA teams right away. Look for him to go closer to the
top of the second round. Washington is in need of a point guard. He has
worked out for MJ and the Wizards so the possibility of him going there
is pretty solid.

Juan Dixon, G, Maryland

True champions always find reasons to prove critics wrong. Dixon is no
exception. From the day he signed with Maryland, the haters said he
wouldnt and couldnt in the ACC. Four years and a National Championship
later, Dixon is on the verge of earning a paycheck from a NBA team.
Houston would be a good fit for Dixon. Rudy T loves guys who have proven
themselves in the college ranks. Check. Steve Francis gets what he
wants. Look at last year, the Rockets traded for former Terp Terrance
Morris. Francis has expressed that he would love to have Dixon on his
team. Plus Houston could use a guy on their team that would be a silent
leader (there are already enough mouths between Cutino Mobley, Francis
and Glen Rices wife on the team.) Houston would be a great stage for
Dixon to show once again that he is for real.

Darius Songalia, PF, Wake Forest

Songalia is a warrior. He has the unteachable fire that coaches dream of
in every player. With so many players being drafted with the potential
tag, this former ACC star will make a coach and a team very, very happy
in the second round. He has the attitude and work ethic that all coaches
drool over.

Predrag Savovic, SG, Hawaii

So is Savovic a prized international player? Nope, he has just been
hiding on the big island in Hawaii for the last three seasons. (He spent
his freshman year at Alabama-Birmingham.) The one knock against him is
the fact that he is 26 years old. Savovic averaged 14.7 points per game
while at Chicago. One question: If Savovic hadnt gone to Hawaii and
stayed in his home country of Yugoslavia, would we be looking at a mid
first round player or even a lottery pick?

Casey Jacobsen, SG, Stanford

Jacobsen is perhaps the most underrated player in the entire draft. His
name keeps bouncing back and forth between the bottom of the first round
to the middle of the second. Regardless of where he goes, he will be a
good NBA player. He is a great scorer and a tough nosed player. He wants
to dominate every time he steps onto the court. It is hard to find a
player that determined to succeed.

Tito Maddox, PG, Fresno State

You can throw away your milk cartons that had Maddoxs face on the back
of them. Hes back. After a year away from college basketball an above
average showing in Chicago, Maddox has put himself back onto the draft
radar. Maddox became causality to the draft rules last season. He
declared for the draft but then pulled out of it and somewhere amongst
it all, he became too involved with his agent. He was subsequently
kicked off of the team. Maddox then tried to play in the ABA but pulled
out of the league to focus on individual workouts. Hopefully his soap
opera wont detour NBA teams away from him. Maddox is a very complete
point guard. He does it all and he has great size at 64.

Busts

What is a bust? A bust is a player who was taken high in the draft, most
likely the lottery, or a player who had a lot of fanfare coming into the
NBA but never panned out. There are really two types of busts. 1. The
lottery bust and 2. The first round pick that is no longer in the
league.

Mike Dunleavy, Duke

Yes you read that correctly; Dunleavy will be a bust. May the Duke gods
strike me now. He has all the tools but does he have the speed to play
shooting guard? Does he have the strength to play small forward in the
NBA? Can he take a defender off the dribble? He can stroke. He can
rebound. But I really question his ability to take over a game in the
NBA. A player taken at number three needs to do that. Sure, I remember
Duke's (and mostly Mike D's game in the Final Four last year.) He took
over in that situation. But I still wonder. I really hope he does turn
out because I love the kid...but I'll believe it when I see it.

Rod Grizzard, Alabama

Grizzard fell into a rut last season and never really seem to look like
the Grizzard of his sophomore season. If he had entered the draft then,
he would have been a lottery pickand a bust. He had the unfortunate
luck of being injured when all of the other draft prospects are working
out for their potential jobs. Grizzard can only watch and hope teams
dont forget about him. He is a good player; there isnt a question
about that. But the question is concerning his dedication to the game.
His teammate Erwin Dudley, a more mechanical player than Grizzard,
played much better and was more consistent. A team that takes him will
either love him or despise him. At this point, he looks like a bust. He
could however rebound and become a solid pro. Lets hope so.

Vincent Yarbrough, Tennessee

A lot has been expected of Yarbrough but he continues to fall short of
those expectations. And if Chicago was any indication of the type of
player he truly is, then I dont know why teams are still looking at
him. He was the poster child of inconsistency. On the last day of
participation, Yarbrough just frustrated scouts and general managers
with his wonderful performance. But during the first two days and during
his final season at Tennessee, Yarbrough struggled to hit consistent
shots.

Curtis Borchardt, Stanford

Remember how Chris Mihm was supposed to be a future All Star after he
starred for Texas? This time next year, we will be saying the same thing
about Borchardt. Life as a center in college basketball is nothing like
life as a center in the NBA. Next to the point guard position, center is
the second toughest position to adapt to in the league. Borchardt isnt
a physical presence either. He has had problems with his feet as well.
That is never a good start to a career in professional basketball. Give
Borchardt credit though. He is a tough cookie. With all of that said
though, Borchardt wont be a 15 point, 10 rebound kind of player.

Roger Mason, Virginia

Mason was forced to play point guard when teammate Majestic Mapp fell to
injury for the second straight season. Mason did a great job in filling
that needed role. He also was Virginias leading scorer as well as
assists leader. So whats the problem, you ask. The problem lies in
the fact that teams may be looking at Mason to continue to play the
point. Bad idea. Mason is a shooting guard that can handle the ball.
Teams force players to play out of position all the time. It never ends
well. Mason could possibly fall victim to that type of thinking.

Smush Parker, Fordham

Street ball does not translate well into the NBA game. Parker is a smart
kid though. He understands that. He has been working extra hard to
impress several NBA teams. But the bottom line is simple. He needed
another two years of NCAA ball in order to compete for a roster spot in
the NBA.

Qyntel Woods, NE Mississippi CC

Ive said it all along: Woods is a bust. The next T-Mac, huh? Maybe a
very poor Tim Thomas at best. Even still, he will forever have to live
up to the McGrady comparison. That is really unfortunate. Regardless, if
Woods struggles with his offense, his days are numbered. He doesnt and
never has played a lick of defense.

Yao Ming, Shanghai Sharks (China)

Ming already has two things stacked against him. 1. He is 7-5. 2. He
will be the number one overall pick. Both spell trouble from the get go.
And to have 2 billion people in China watching his every move, you
almost have to feel sorry for the kid. There is so much attention that
comes with the number one pick and as soon as a player that has gone
first overall makes a mistake he is automatically called a bust. Its an
unfair situation.

Ming has a lot of things to get used to. First he will have to learn the
physical style of the NBA. It isnt the same or anywhere close to the
Chinese Basketball Association. Players that stand only 6-5 are licking
their chops to dunk it on the 7-5 project.

Rebounding may be a problem for Ming as well. Because of his desire to
settle for 10-12 foot jumpers, he wont be under the basket like most
centers. At 7-5 he will be asked to pull in a lot of boards. But because
he will be out of the paint, he may struggle with that. The reasons are
numerous. Sucks to be 7-5 sometimes doesnt it?

If you have any questions, comments, or any man you are crazy, DerMarr
Johnson isnt a bust type of comments, please feel free to email me at
ygsports@yahoo.com.