The 10 college players I was most wrong about
 

Heres my list, feel free to add your own. Mine is going to be all NFL/NBA, but you can include any sport.

#10: JJ Redick- Its still early, so maybe I shouldn't count him yet. But I was firmly in the pro-Reddick camp(and I'm a UMD fan). I remember arguing last summer against all the people who called him just another Steve Kerr. I told them how Kerr never dreamed of scoring 25+ per game in college in the toughest conference in America, and that only a legit talent could do that.

#9: Mario Williams- Like Reddick, this one is still way too early, which is why I have them as only #9 and #10 on my list. But I thought that he had to be the real deal if they were taking him over Bush. I thought he'd be DROY for sure.

#8: Kenyon Martin- I only include him at #8 because he certainly hasn't been a total bust. But I really thought he'd be a superstar in the NBA.

#7: Marcus Fizer- From the same class as Martin. I thought he'd be another Charles Barkley. I'm still not sure how these guys were so amazing in college yet so average(Martin) or poor(Fizer) in the pros.

#6: Joe Smith- I am a Maryland fan, so what do you expect?

#5 Carmelo Anthony- I have no clue why I felt this way, but I thought he'd be a bust. Looking back, it was probably my worst prediction on this list because all facts pointed otherwise. I was just biased and didn't like him I think.

#4: Philip Rivers- If you remember correctly, he wasn't supposed to be a high first rounder until very late. In fact, Big Ben was very much thought to be the better prospect. Along with quite a few others, I thought he was a big reach. I thought he was a 2nd round talent.

#3: Carson Palmer- With so much talent round him at USC, I thought he had to be just another product of the system. I thought that Leftwich was the best QB of that draft class.

#2: Elton Brand- I thought he was a complete tweener and wouldn't be big enough for center or quick enough for PF. I thought Chicago made a huge mistake by not taking Francis #1(although I was obviously biased as a UMD fan and Duke hater).

#1: Mike Williams- Minnesota decided to go with Troy Williamson, and he slipped to the Skins. I was so happy....and when they drafted Carlos Rodgers instead, I almost stopped being a fan. I thougt BMW was going to be huge on the next level. I thought it was ridiculous that he was falling due to poor workout numbers. After all, just look at what he did on the field. I still have no clue how hes so bad.

Re: The 10 college players I was most wrong about
 

Martin got hurt, repeatedly. He was an acceptable #1 pick caliber player when healthy.

Also, haha at thinking Reddick was going to be good.

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i'm pretty sure everybody thought mark prior was gonna be awesome, but pitchers get hurt. [censored] happens.

Re: The 10 college players I was most wrong about
 

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Also, haha at thinking Reddick was going to be good.

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Obviously I was wrong so far, but he averaged 26.8 points per game in the toughest conference in America, while being the main focus of the defense. Its not like there aren't any NBA calibre defenders in the ACC, so why wouldn't some of that translate to the pros?

At worst, I thought he'd be Steve Kerr with better driving ability.

I thought that people were unfair in evaluating him because A. He was white, so they automatically think hes not athletic and compare him to other white spot up shooters and B. He went to Duke and people hate Duke.

I compared him to Ray Allen or Rip Hamilton.

Like I said, I'm clearly wrong so far.

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I'm amazed Joe Smith has been in the league this long. He's not above average in any NBA skills category.

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Martin got hurt, repeatedly. He was an acceptable #1 pick caliber player when healthy.


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True, maybe I shouldn't have included him.

I just thought he'd develop more moves and not just rely on his athleticism. Kinda reminds me of a smaller version of Dwight Howard in that respect.

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I'm amazed Joe Smith has been in the league this long. He's not above average in any NBA skills category.

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Looking at his stats now, I'm actually surprised at how effective he was early in his career. But then he got traded to Philly, and it was downhill ever since.

In his first two years, he put up:

15.3 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.6 blocks
18.7 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.1 blocks

Then in his third year he was having a decent year(17.3/6.9/0.8) and was traded with Brian Shaw for Jim Jackson and Clarence Weatherspoon. Can anyone remember why exactly Golden State traded him for so little? Seems weird to give up on a #1 pick that early, especially since his stats certainly weren't horrible.

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thats the weird thing about Smith, he was actually decent early on. but i remember watching him this past season and just couldn't believe hes still playing. did he suffer any serious injuries over the years? i mean what gives?

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#5 Carmelo Anthony- I have no clue why I felt this way, but I thought he'd be a bust. Looking back, it was probably my worst prediction on this list because all facts pointed otherwise. I was just biased and didn't like him I think.

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I thought he would be a big bust too. He's done better than I thought but I still think he's way overrated.

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Very good thread idea.
I'm going to ignore people who got injured.
I was wrong about Jason Gardner, I thought he would be a serviceable NBA player.
I thought Joe Forte would be awesome.
I really hope I'm wrong about Brady Quinn.
I really hope I'm right about Chad Greenway, but I doubt it.
It looks like I was wrong about Marvin Williams.

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I didn't think Hinrich would ever be more than a backup.

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#5 Carmelo Anthony- I have no clue why I felt this way, but I thought he'd be a bust. Looking back, it was probably my worst prediction on this list because all facts pointed otherwise. I was just biased and didn't like him I think.

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I thought he would be a big bust too. He's done better than I thought but I still think he's way overrated.

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Among the top 9 scorers in the NBA this year, he had the highest shooting percentage. And the #10 guy is a big man.

For a guard, he scores at a very efficient rate. I will agree that he isn't exceptional at any other area of the game though.

Re: The 10 college players I was most wrong about
 

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I thought Joe Forte would be awesome.


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He and Keith Bogans played right down the road from me in High School. All the local papers hyped them to no end.

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I thought Glenn Robinson would be a HOFer

I thought Keith Van Horn would end up being better than Tim Duncan

I thought Jay Williams would at this point be the best PG in the NBA, although this could be an injury one.

I thought Emeka Okafor wouldn't be able to make it on the pro level.

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I thought Chris Paul would be decent not great because of how he always got flustered by big physical defenders in college. Oops.

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#5 Carmelo Anthony- I have no clue why I felt this way, but I thought he'd be a bust. Looking back, it was probably my worst prediction on this list because all facts pointed otherwise. I was just biased and didn't like him I think.

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I thought he would be a big bust too. He's done better than I thought but I still think he's way overrated.

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Among the top 9 scorers in the NBA this year, he had the highest shooting percentage. And the #10 guy is a big man.

For a guard, he scores at a very efficient rate. I will agree that he isn't exceptional at any other area of the game though.

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You always do this kind of stuff, Assani. You knew when you wrote this that it was [censored]. For one thing, he's tied with James(and James obviously takes more 3s). For another, that "big man" is Dirk, so it's not all dunks.

It's not that he isn't an impressive scorer, so why do you need to play these kind of statistical games?

Re: The 10 college players I was most wrong about
 

I thought both Iverson and Marbury wuld be busts, because being tiny skinny fast chuckers obv couldn't work in the NBA where they'd just get broken in two. Doh.

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#5 Carmelo Anthony- I have no clue why I felt this way, but I thought he'd be a bust. Looking back, it was probably my worst prediction on this list because all facts pointed otherwise. I was just biased and didn't like him I think.

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I thought he would be a big bust too. He's done better than I thought but I still think he's way overrated.

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Among the top 9 scorers in the NBA this year, he had the highest shooting percentage. And the #10 guy is a big man.

For a guard, he scores at a very efficient rate. I will agree that he isn't exceptional at any other area of the game though.

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You always do this kind of stuff, Assani. You knew when you wrote this that it was [censored]. For one thing, he's tied with James(and James obviously takes more 3s). For another, that "big man" is Dirk, so it's not all dunks.

It's not that he isn't an impressive scorer, so why do you need to play these kind of statistical games?

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I'm not playing "statistical games." He scorers more efficiently than any other guard among the top scorers in the league. What is deceiving about that? Yes, Dirk shoots a lot from the outside...that doesn't change the fact that hes still a big man. And last year, Carmelo shot an even better clip from the field.

Are you disputing the notion that Carmelo is a very efficient scorer for a guard?

Edited to add: You're right, he is tied with Lebron. I overlooked that and I apologize.

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#5 Carmelo Anthony- I have no clue why I felt this way, but I thought he'd be a bust. Looking back, it was probably my worst prediction on this list because all facts pointed otherwise. I was just biased and didn't like him I think.

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I thought he would be a big bust too. He's done better than I thought but I still think he's way overrated.

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Among the top 9 scorers in the NBA this year, he had the highest shooting percentage. And the #10 guy is a big man.

For a guard, he scores at a very efficient rate. I will agree that he isn't exceptional at any other area of the game though.

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You always do this kind of stuff, Assani. You knew when you wrote this that it was [censored]. For one thing, he's tied with James(and James obviously takes more 3s). For another, that "big man" is Dirk, so it's not all dunks.

It's not that he isn't an impressive scorer, so why do you need to play these kind of statistical games?

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I'm not playing "statistical games." He scorers more efficiently than any other guard among the top scorers in the league. What is deceiving about that? Yes, Dirk shoots a lot from the outside...that doesn't change the fact that hes still a big man. And last year, Carmelo shot an even better clip from the field.

Are you disputing the notion that Carmelo is a very efficient scorer for a guard?

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I think the dispute is that Carmelo doesn't play guard.

That said, the idea that he's been anything but a great NBA player is silly and he's only 23.

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#5 Carmelo Anthony- I have no clue why I felt this way, but I thought he'd be a bust. Looking back, it was probably my worst prediction on this list because all facts pointed otherwise. I was just biased and didn't like him I think.

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I thought he would be a big bust too. He's done better than I thought but I still think he's way overrated.

[/ QUOTE ]


Among the top 9 scorers in the NBA this year, he had the highest shooting percentage. And the #10 guy is a big man.

For a guard, he scores at a very efficient rate. I will agree that he isn't exceptional at any other area of the game though.

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You always do this kind of stuff, Assani. You knew when you wrote this that it was [censored]. For one thing, he's tied with James(and James obviously takes more 3s). For another, that "big man" is Dirk, so it's not all dunks.

It's not that he isn't an impressive scorer, so why do you need to play these kind of statistical games?

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I'm not playing "statistical games." He scorers more efficiently than any other guard among the top scorers in the league. What is deceiving about that? Yes, Dirk shoots a lot from the outside...that doesn't change the fact that hes still a big man. And last year, Carmelo shot an even better clip from the field.

Are you disputing the notion that Carmelo is a very efficient scorer for a guard?

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I think the dispute is that Carmelo doesn't play guard.

That said, the idea that he's been anything but a great NBA player is silly and he's only 23.

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I use the term "guard" to mean any perimeter player(usually PG, SG, and SF). And I use the term "big man" when referring to PFs or Cs. I do this to avoid silly debates like whether or not Duncan is a center.

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I use the term "guard" to mean any perimeter player(usually PG, SG, and SF).

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That's nice and all, but the rest of the world uses "guard" to mean "guard".

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I use the term "guard" to mean any perimeter player(usually PG, SG, and SF).

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That's nice and all, but the rest of the world uses "guard" to mean "guard".

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Carmelo Anthony can play SG or SF. I'm not going to sit here and argue what we classify him as. I apologize if it mislead you when I referred to him as a guard.

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Clark's right, Assani. I wouldn't even call him a perimeter player, so the "guard" swingman classification. His game is pretty much all midrange and in the paint.

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Alfredrick Hughes. He wasn't so great, and he lacked any sense of military strategy.

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I thought Ryan Leaf was going to be a better NFL quarterback than Peyton Manning.

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I thought Keith Van Horn would end up being better than Tim Duncan

I thought Jay Williams would at this point be the best PG in the NBA, although this could be an injury one.


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even if i wished these at some point, i could never shake the feeling that i was backing a severe underdog.

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I thought Emeka Okafor wouldn't be able to make it on the pro level.

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i admit i thought this too, but only because of his back injuries.


my biggest college players i was most wrong about:

i thought ron dayne was going to be the next bettis and much better than tiki.

i thought mcgahee was going to be a horrible bust for the bills.

i actually thought eli manning would actually BE better than peyton and tom brady put together.

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Harold Minor. Oh, and Isiah Rider.

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Kinda reminds me of a smaller version of Dwight Howard in that respect.

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lol @ thinking D-Ho relies solely on his athleticism.

And Melo does not play SG. Nine percent of his team's minutes there, two percent at PF, 50 percent at SF. Guard = PG SG. Forward = SF PF. Get it?

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I thought Ryan Leaf was going to be a better NFL quarterback than Peyton Manning.

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Erik Montross.

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redick has been in the league for 1 year. He plays on the team loaded with shooters so he is not that needed. He wont be an all star but he should be a solid role player. He will prob average 12-15 pts with starters minutes.

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Guard = PG SG. Forward = SF PF. Get it?

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This is a really silly thread hijack, but you guys are wrong. In 50% of basketball offenses the 2 and 3 positions are completely interchangeable, as they're the same exact position except on different sides of the court(and the PG can run the play to either side as a result).

My college coach never reffered to them as SG and SF, but rather as 2 guard and 3 guard. From all my experiences(which I'll gladly admit include nothing in the NBA) I've never heard the term "small forward" used in practices or by coaches...its a term that fans use.

I've heard all my coaches use 3 different terms when referring to it.

First is the 3 guard, as I mentioned above.

Second, if they're splitting up the team to do a shooting drill, they'll usually say something like "Ok, guards down on this basket and bigs down here." Carmelo would fit in the "guards" here.

Third, if they're doing something like ball handling drills sometimes they'll want to have PGs separate from the other perimeter players so they'll say "Points down here, wings down there, and bigs over here." Carmelo would fit with in with the wings here.


Next time you're watching a game, watch the 2 and 3 the on offense. I bet you'll see that there really isn't that much of a difference of their role on offense and that they do play the same position just on different sides of the court.

Now the coaches may choose to do something different with each player based upon their strengths. For example, the Pistons offense probably has the 2 coming off of screens looking to shoot a lot more than the 3. But that has nothing to do with their positions, and is solely due to the fact that Hamilton is good at that while Prince is not. I guarantee you that if the Pistons signed a small SG like Iverson and Rip was playing the 3 that he would still do the same exact things on offense. In other words, there is absolutely no difference between the 2 and the 3 spot on offense.

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I thought Tayshaun Prince would suck balls in the NBA.

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I don't think you should include Mario Williams on this list. Other then having some injury problems, he had a pretty strong first year. DE isn't an easy position to make an instant impact at in the NFL, no matter how athletically skilled you are.

He isn't ever going to put up sack numbers like a Freeney, but hes going to get a good amount while not creating a huge gaping hole on one side of the line vs. the run.

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I compared him to Ray Allen or Rip Hamilton.


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http://www4.ncsu.edu/~kacollin/images/HeadInHands.jpg

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Top notch effort Thayer.

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I don't think you should include Mario Williams on this list. Other then having some injury problems, he had a pretty strong first year. DE isn't an easy position to make an instant impact at in the NFL, no matter how athletically skilled you are.

He isn't ever going to put up sack numbers like a Freeney, but hes going to get a good amount while not creating a huge gaping hole on one side of the line vs. the run.

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I'd rather have that Bush guy.

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I compared him to Ray Allen or Rip Hamilton.


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http://www4.ncsu.edu/~kacollin/images/HeadInHands.jpg

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hahahaha

awesome

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Redick is an A+ shooter and he's only been in the league 1 year.

He won't ever be an all-star, but he could be a quality contributer and a 12ppg scorer in the right situation.

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I don't think you should include Mario Williams on this list. Other then having some injury problems, he had a pretty strong first year. DE isn't an easy position to make an instant impact at in the NFL, no matter how athletically skilled you are.

He isn't ever going to put up sack numbers like a Freeney, but hes going to get a good amount while not creating a huge gaping hole on one side of the line vs. the run.

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I agree with this 100%. I'm not saying he was the best or right pick, but it's def too early to put him on this list. He had a solid first year and if Okoye lives up to his potential and learns his position next year, they're going to be tough to run on in 2008.