Who you have been wrong about?

You are pretty badly misinformed. He was a very good, but not great, college player. His four-year scoring average was 16.9 ppg, and he averaged at least 15.9 all four years. He scored nearly 2,000 points in college, which was third in the storied history of St. John's basketball at the time he left.

He went on to be a low first round draft pick and played four NBA seasons as a role player before a knee injury pretty much ended his career. He is still trying to make it back, and he's playing for Albany in the CBA right now. He turns 32 next week. He probably won't play in the NBA again.

 

This is for everyone who is beating themselves up about thinking Glenn Robinson was going to be great. I think there were about five of you so far on this thread.

Um, well no, he wasn't Michael Jordan, but I think because he played in Milwaukee everyone kinda forgot how good this guy was. He averaged 20.7 ppg over an 11-year career. He made the All-Star team twice and averaged over 20 ppg in eight of his 11 seasons.

Now his career ain't going to get him in the Hall of Fame. But he was a damn good scorer for a long time.

 

Lopez' problem is that nothing he did at St. John's was good enough. He was supposed to be Michael Jordan coming out of high school. But Michael Jordan wasn't Michael Jordan until he began playing for the Bulls.

 

Andre Ware was drafted from a run and shoot offense by a run and shoot team. In a world free from human error, this was an ideal fit. Hand in glove. It's easy as pie now to say it was a shitty pick. It made all the right sense then.

A few others on the fly:
-- Nick Bell, Raiders
-- Tony Woods, Seahawks
-- J.R. House
-- Adam Hyzdu (that's not a last name, it's a bad hand in Scrabble)

 

Wasn't he the kid from Nitro, W.V. that put up insane numbers in high school? What ever happened with him?

 

All kinds of stuff. Signed with the Pirates out of high school, turning down all kinds of college QB offers. Played three years in minors, I think, got injured, walked away to try to walk on at WVU as a quarterback. His 2005 WVU stats: passing, 2 for 4, 38 yards, no TDs or interceptions. 2 rushes for 16 yards, longest 13, no TDs. Re-signed as a free agent with Astros, got nine at-bats late in the year with the parent club. Signed as free agent with Orioles this offseason.

 

sorry, I'm not a yankee. I just remember the hype and him not living up to it. It was pretty high, though, which was unfair to him.

 

Here are three off the top of my head:

-- thought Kirk Hinrich would warm the bench
-- thought Wisconsin was crazy when they hired Bo Ryan
-- thought Ohio State was nuts when they hired Jim Tressell

 

House is a lot like the bigtime Christian guy in Hoosiers. I would have figured he'd be in the ministry by now. But he was an awesome two-sport player in high school.

 

I'll cop to Kobe. I wrote in a notes column shortly before the '96 NBA draft, "Only three days until some team makes a huge mistake on Kobe Bryant."

Who'd ever come out high school to make a bigger-than-average impact in the NBA at that point? Moses Malone, Kevin Garnett -- tall guys, who could make up in height what they didn't have (at that point) in skills and physical maturity. No way a shooting guard could make that jump and survive long enough to be great.

No way.

I say: No way.

 

I used to play a lot of playground ball in New York City every summer when I would visit my grandparents. I wasn't great, but I was a decent role player at point guard in those city league games. I saw Lopez play a couple times in those games, and he was amazing.

He had a good college career and injuries got him in the NBA, but I would have told you he'd be the guy we're talking about instead of Wade, Lebron and Carmelo.

 

Sirs, Madames,

I thought the Manic Street Preachers were going to be the next big thing. (Ship sailed. What's not to like about socialist rockers who speak Welsh.) Sigur Ros same deal (substitute Icelandic and whatever it is they sing in.)

I thought Tim Duncan would be a good pro, not a great one. (The one time I saw him live he struggled against a Canadian guy at Canisius.)

I never liked Winky Wright. (Still don't.)

YHS, etc