Bor-ing
Boring Players
By popular demand, here is one opinion of the 10 least exciting regular players in the league, in no particular order:
Rasho Nesterovich
Todd MacCullough
Allen Houston
Brian Grant
Morris Peterson
David Robinson
Karl Malone
Matt Harpring
Reggie Miller
Rasheed Wallace
Where Does It End?
We write a lot about LeBron James and other draft prospects. Much has been written about James' debut on ESPN2 last week, both from a scouting and sociological perspective. Is it exploitation? I don't know, really. It sure doesn't seem normal, but this is the system that has been created. But what about the next Big Thing that comes down the line? Somewhere in the next 10 years, there is going to be a highly-skilled ninth-grade behemoth out there; does he declare pro at 16, the way baseball players can currently do? Do we show his games on ESPN2? How far down the line of "projectability" do we go before we see that we've had enough?
I didn't see James on ESPN2; I wish I had from the standpoint of watching the kid play to see what all the hype was about. But I also wonder if seeing all those other high school kids on the floor would have made me question whether this was too much, too soon. Since I haven't seen the spectacle, it makes it easier for me to ignore the more problematic aspects of this kind of hype machine.
The Next KG?
Don't look now, but at least one GM (who won't have a high pick) says he would take Darko Milicic over LeBron James if the lottery were held today, and both were available. Milicic is said to be a Kevin Garnett-style player with exceptional skills and floor vision.
Of course, as my wife pointed out to me this weekend, there never is a "next" anybody. Many tried to ascend to the throne of the "Next Jordan" (with Kobe finally being annointed), but by the time Kobe was good enough to make the comparisons valid, nobody cared about the Next Jordan anymore. He's Kobe, with his own skills, pitfalls, charisma, etc. The comparison game only helps us to conceive of what a player might be down the road, but the truly special ones can't be pigeonholed. They form their own identities. I think basketball is unique in that way among many sports. The players have an individuality about them that baseball and football typically don't offer. I think there are some comparisons to pitching, but even that falls short. Truly great baskeball players take very simple acts and interactions with teammates, and make them seem revolutionary. Just when you think you've seen it all, along comes a Shaq, or Iverson, or Garnett that is unlike anything you've seen before. That's why I want LeBron James (and everyone, really) to succeed; they might show us a new way to play that we've never seen before. It's why I wish we had a ton of footage of guys like Oscar Robertson or Connie Hawkins or Spencer Haywood. You wouldn't think you could get that kind of variety with just a ball and a hoop after all these years...
12:41:14 PM 
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