Get Off the Pot
Sebastian Telfair (adidas)No, this is not an open plea to Keon Clark…but it does relate to Keon in a way.
With the NBA Draft coming up, college underclassmen are declaring left and right (O.J. Mayo and Eric Gordon being the headliners so far) and international prospects will soon become part of water-cooler Draft talk. From now until late-June you’re going to be hearing the word “potential” a lot. As a general rule, NBA GM’s can’t help themselves in the Draft or free agency when they see potential. It’s why Yaroslav Korolev gets picked five spots ahead of Danny Granger in ‘05, and why Keon Clark — 6-foot-11 with all the athleticism in the world — signs a big-money free agent deal despite character red flags and less-than All-Star numbers. It’s one positive argument you could make for the League’s age limit: That David Stern is saving some GM’s from themselves by eliminating the possibility of them setting their teams back by banking on unprepared 18-year-olds. Because here’s the thing with potential: Once you get in the League, you’re supposed to eventually realize it. Or at least come close.
All over today’s NBA, there are guys carrying that “potential” label who have yet to show the production expected of them, and the time is nearing when they need to show and prove. Or as my Dad says, “S*** or get off the pot.” …
Charlie Villanueva — Greatness has been predicted for Charlie V ever since he played high school ball with Luol Deng at Blair Academy in New Jersey. After an underwhelming run at UConn that led to the Raptors being panned for taking him 7th in the Draft, Charlie, sparked by all the doubters, looked like a future star in his rookie year when he put up 13 points and 6.4 boards a night. Since then, however, his points and minutes have declined every year. Every now and then you see the potential, like when he dropped 38 points and 7 threes on his former team last night, but he’s otherwise wildly inconsistent. For example, in between Wednesday’s 38-point show and Villanueva’s previous 30-point outing (March 5), he’s had four single-digit scoring games. In fact, 24 hours before torching the Raptors, he scored 2 points against the Celtics.
Andray Blatche — Twenty-one years old, 6-foot-11, 250 pounds and athletic. If the ‘05 Draft was re-done tomorrow, Blatche (then a 2nd-round pick) might be a Top 10 pick despite not even being a full-time starter yet in the League. His game log is dotted with great performances, but he only does it maybe once a month.
Sebastian Telfair — Already on his third team in four NBA seasons, and he just happens to be quarterbacking one of the worst squads in the League. Generally it takes point guards a little longer to develop, but everyone expected more from Bassy given how dominant he was in high school.
Adam Morrison — Last year (37% FGA) you could chalk up to rookie jitters and adjusting to the speed and lifestyle of the NBA. This year it was a knee that Morrison blew out in the preseason. Next year there won’t be as much leeway. Look, I know and you know that Morrison isn’t a great athlete. But at the very least, if you’re drafted to get buckets and be a shooter, you should make jump shots. You don’t have to have a 40-inch vertical to do that.
C.J. Miles — Full of “what ifs.” What if he didn’t play on a playoff team, where PT is harder to come by? What if he’d gone to college for just one year? What if he played in a more open system than Jerry Sloan’s? What if he’s nowhere near as good as people think he can be?
Chris Wilcox — Ask any Sonics fan about Wilcox and you’re probably gonna get a long sigh, a shake of the head, and a “He’s good, but…” The guy cannot seem to put together two solid games in a row and drives every coach he has to the brink of going bald.
Amir Johnson — Whenever the Chauncey-Rip-Prince-’Sheed group starts to decline, Amir is supposed to take over. While it’s too early to write him off, so far we’ve only seen flashes that he’s even capable of being an impact contributor. Johnson has a grand total of three double-digit scoring games this year. Meanwhile, Detroit rookie Rodney Stuckey has 18 such outings.
Kwame Brown — I’ve tried to defend Kwame on the site before. It’s a lot harder to do when he’s barely getting off the bench for the Grizzlies. I will say this, though: I don’t blame Michael Jordan for picking Kwame #1 overall. At the time, everyone was drinking the Kwame Kool-Aid; media and scouts were all over the kid calling him the next KG.
Ike Diogu — A Top-10 pick in ‘05 who barely makes the radar now while playing on an average team. Remember when the Warriors had Diogu on near-untouchable status? That same guy is playing 10 minutes a night behind Troy Murphy.
Dorell Wright — In the Players 2 Watch feature from Dime #37, I wrote that Wright “embodied the young player with potential who had no room to realize it,” and that given some decent playing time this year, “The kid we’ve watched grow into a man might be ready to blow up.” It hasn’t exactly gone down like I expected. Before the Shawn Marion trade, Miami’s small forward spot was Wright’s job to lose, but even as the primary starter he faded into the background. Logging a career-high 25 minutes a night, the fourth-year pro averaged a quiet 7.9 points and 5 boards before injuries forced him to shut it down in March.
Stromile Swift — Has anyone developed at a slower rate while getting chance after chance? Back when Stro was taken #2 in the 2000 Draft, the scouting report said he was an amazing athlete with all the tools to be a top-tier player in the League. Some even compared him to Shawn Kemp. Eight years later, dude hasn’t taken any of those tools out of the box. Yes, he can dunk. But at 28 years old and with more than 500 NBA games under his belt, he still doesn’t seem to “get it.”
April 10th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
yallallreadyknow says:
darko
need anyone say more
darko
April 10th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
Spliff 2 My Lou says:
I think after 8 years in the L (Stro Swift) you can’t play the potential card.
April 10th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
yallallreadyknow says:
…and correction; everyone was NOT drinking kwame aid
the dude has always been a colossal bum. yes even in high school.
ppl jumped on him only because they wanted something different from tyson in la and eddy in illi.
but kwame NEVER had any game in high school. and NO one believed (real fans i’m refering to) believed the kwame nonesense….just yall media types (who never seem to watch the actual games or players) and mj
April 10th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
i Fux aka Etheraldinho aka Farouq Obama aka Cecil Cocksure says:
Fuck what you heard Charley Rosen is the realest nigga in print.
April 10th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
who dat says:
your girl is da realest nigga in print
And for YallAllReadyKnow
your an asswipe
April 10th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
dh says:
NOTHING TO DO WITH THE ARTICLE BUT…
HAVE YOU SEEN THIS?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yURa9T0-Rjk
It’s Kobe jumping over a sports car, showing off his new kicks!
(its fake but its still a cool ad)
April 10th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
doc says:
Kwame is Mikes son and his mom was gonna rat.Thats why he picked him.
April 10th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
Saba says:
If you had to pick one just for the hell of it as your starting C…is it Darko or Kwame?
April 10th, 2008 at 8:29 pm
kobeef says:
@doc
I always liked the conspiracy theory that Kwame was Mike’s son. They do look somewhat alike (I think its the eyes)
http://www.nba.com/draft2001/images/kwame_brown_draft_010626.jpg
http://www.motorcyclenews.com/upload/193152/images/Michael%20Jordan.jpg
I think it is safe to assume that some of these guys (Swift, Kwame, Diogu) are never going to pan out.
Others owe their lack of progress to the crappy sitution they are in. Charlie especially has been jerked around by the Bucks (getting benched because of Yi’s PT agreement). Blatche’s PT is on again off again and Telfair was doing well until Foye came back and he also got benched.
April 10th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
kobeef says:
I’d also add Bargnani to the S**** or get off the pot list. He’s currently backing up Rasho Nestervoic which is not what you expect from a #1 pick.
April 10th, 2008 at 10:06 pm
Tim says:
Amir Johnson isn’t an offensive player yet…he has no plays run for him at all…but he sure can block shots :-)….people have called him a poor man’s KG, will he get there…dont think so…but he will be a solid contributing member…
April 10th, 2008 at 11:15 pm
MoxWestCoastRep says:
When I read the title of this article….I thought it was going to be about Damon Stoudamire and Rasheed Wallace.
April 10th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
Promoman says:
Some of the names on here sort of had warning signs from the jump. Telfair’s stock was questioned after his height was overestimated & after Shaun Livingston showed him up. Another factor is his position. He still has to learn how to be a point guard. Any knowledgeable player with common sense knows that just because someone is quick & has a handle, it doesn’t mean that they know how to play point. You can find guys who can’t even play point on the street/pickup level, let alone in any sort of organized basketball. Getting drafted by Portland didn’t help all. They had too many players on the roster. He may pan out thogh givn is age. He also needs to stay out of trouble. Adam Morrison was a no-brainer to experience trouble in the beginning. He was never athletic or known to contribute defensively in the 1st place. Kwame & Stromile are athletes and nothing more. CJ (especially), Amir, Ike, Andray, Charlie, Dorrell, and Chris (slightly) are victims of being at bottom of the barrel PT-wise in the coach’s mind when it’s likely not the truth in the 1st place.
April 11th, 2008 at 3:16 am
josh says:
didnt the sonics get wilcox for a bag of marbles…so half a good player for nothing is pretty good i guess
April 11th, 2008 at 5:29 am
YOUNGFED says:
Yall need to back up off Amir dude is a beast he needs to be starting.
April 11th, 2008 at 5:49 am
Damon says:
yeah, sheed should be on that list
April 11th, 2008 at 6:58 am
boogey banger says:
how come Gerald G-Money Green didn’t make the list.
April 11th, 2008 at 8:24 am
Fish says:
Charles Barkley put it best with regards to Swift: “He’s one of those guys. We’re gonna be saying for years it’s time for him and the time is going to be over. It’s frustrating for me, man, when I see a guy with that kind of ability. I think we can fairly say the jury is still out, but we’ve been saying that for (six) years. You know, one of my favorite lines on television and he’s in that category, is, man, that boy can run and jump. So can a deer. But I’d never put a deer in a game.”
April 11th, 2008 at 9:10 am
Austin Burton says:
If Gerald Green was in the League he would have been #1 on the list.
Who is Amir gonna start over?
April 11th, 2008 at 9:52 am
Juanito says:
Amir’s offensive game is admittedly still primitive, but he rebounds and blocks like a beast, and adds and energy level to the second unit that is critical to its success. Those who expect him to be KG will be disappointed, but his hunger around the rim is Rodman-esque at times. I wouldn’t say he should be starting yet, but I don’t see him at a critical juncture like some of these other busts on this list. He is on a championship level team, is getting top-notch mentoring from Detroit’s veteran bigs, and while he may never be a superstar, he is the future down low. Writing him off now is plain silly…
April 15th, 2008 at 1:32 am
jaceofspades says:
darko and gerald green come to mind when you talk about potential.
darko’s spot as the starting center this year is going to help him. i have a feeling he’s gonna bust open a lil more next season. get into a strength and conditioning camp this year and he should be fine. oh and continue to develop around the basket skills.
gerald green. i always pick him up in free agency in 2k8 or trade for him to develop as a prospect behind the scenes. the only thing thats holdin this guy back is his determination and work ethic. hope he gets picked up this summer by someone. if hed just spend a lot of time with a coaching staff, raise that basketball iq a bit.. he could be a decent role player. and eventually he’ll break out as a superstar.