Thursday, March 4, 2010

#2 with a bullitt...in the opposite direction



Last year Hasheem Thabeet was the #2 overall draft pick taken by the Memphis Grizzlies. It was even hotly debated whether the 7 foot 3 center from Uconn by way of Tanzania should be the #1 overall draft pick over Blake Griffin. At the present, Blake Griffin has been out the entire season with a knee injury (the curse of the Clippers) and Thabeet has just been demoted to the NBA D-League.

Thabeet, who was thought to be the second coming of Dikembe Mutombo, was a fierce and intimidating presence in the middle while at UConn. He was a vital part of a UConn team that was a #1 seed in last year's NCAA tournament and made it to Final Four only to be defeated by national title runner-up Michigan State. His size, defense and shot blocking ability was lauded by pro scouts but his offensive productivity was questioned.


His stats with the Grizzlies are as follows: PPG, 2.5; RPG, 2.9; BPG, 1.2; games played, 50; MPG, 10.3; FG%, 58%. Salary: $4.5 million.

Could Thabeet be another Darko Milicic? I hope not. The draft is a funny thing. Like Forrest Gump and Ralph Willard say, it's like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get.

5 comments:

  1. Ralph Willard dresses like a priest and entirely too much press has been spent on his box of chocolates comment. It really wasn't that clever.

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  2. Darko was never sent to the D league. He was just never that good. So what does that say for Thabeet - BIG EAST BUST!

    The big question is, When will T-Will join him???? HAHAHAHA

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  3. True about Darko. I do think it is funny that he used to stuff his face with hamburgers before Knicks games because he knew he wasn't going to play.

    If TWill was on a team with decent talent I doubt he would see the floor. Kind of like Earl Clarke.

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  4. How about kind of like Jodie Meeks? Remember that dead-eye shooter from UK last year? He's shooting 27% from 3 land and 35% overall. Compare that to TWill who is 32% from 3 and 38% overall.

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  5. Jodie Meeks wasn't a top 15 draft pick.

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