NBA Draft

also Davis needs to lose a lot of weight to be effective in the NBA. He wont be able to go a season in the nba till his conditioning is better and loses about 35 pounds

How could Howard's play not be a big deal? A high schooler being able to immediately come in and play at a high level is quite remarkable, especially for a high school post player.

I'm not saying it's not a big deal, I'm saying there was a lot more media attention on Okafor than there was on Howard at the time. I never said his play wasn't a big deal, if you look at the post I made, you'd see I was talking about how other players were hyped around the guys that have blossomed.

Howard was indeed the first pick, but he didn't have that much media hype. Amare blew up, but he didn't have media hype. That's what I meant, not that his play isn't special orso.

ahh.. your post doesn't seem so clear since some you are commentating about the hype and some you're commentating about their careers so far.

if we're just strictly debating draft hype...

The time around Brown, Chandler, Curry, declared for the draft, hype around high schoolers was at it's all time high IMO. Both Brown and Chandler were getting the Garnett comparison, for Curry it was Shaq. All were considered franchise players.

And once those guys didn't live up to the hype, there was a backlash against drafting high school big men and the new en vogue thing was to draft international big men

and then "skita", lampe, darko, etc followed in the same footsteps and now a backlash has started against drafting young international players

Howard & Amare succeeding have once again rekindled the hype around drafing high school post players. They have paved the way for Oden and Aldrige getting all the hype theycurrently getting

Howard was the player getting more hype then Okafor. The only people doing vice versa were ESPN's college guys- Bilas and Vitale (no surprise there)

Okafor, unfair or not, was getting the "hit his ceiling" label because he was only 6'9 w/o shoes and couldn't jump high...while Howard was getting that dreaded potential tag because of his awesome athleticism and actually had some skills to go with them. The biggest knock on him was his lack of strength. But the hype/draft stock of Howard went through the roof when he put on 15lbs after his initial workouts/draft camp measurements

If I'm not mistaken, Okafor was also being downplayed because of his back. I also thought Curry would be Shaq-esque, guess I thought wrong. Really wrong.

Okafor was highly touted because of his polished skills and intelligence, they remarked a lot about how he was on track to graduate in just 3 years and high IQ.

Dwight Howard was just the opposite, he did what he did having virtually no skills and all based on athleticism: quickness, agility, and insane leaping ability.

They took Howard.

It's like that old baseball saying, if you have two guys who can run a base in exactly the same speed and one has perfect form and one has horrible form, who do you take?

i'm not sure what you got that from, Maes. Howard wasn't like Josh Smith heading into the draft

I got that from following the draft. Howard (like Livingston in a lter draft) skyrocketed in value after some exposure, based on their athleticism & upside, not polished skills. He was very good in school but not incredible, he had 18.5 ppg and 14.9 rpg against high school level competition.

Here are some old pre-draft notes about him:

ESPN:

Every other scouting report is pretty similar. Comments like "he needs time to develop" or "he needs to be a little nastier" are about the only negative things you hear. When Insider saw him in a workout in mid June a few more things stood out. He wasn't in great shape. His shot was all over the place and he seemed to struggle to pick up some basic low post moves....

Insider Projection: Is he the next Kevin Garnett as he claims? Or is he the second coming of Kwame Brown, as another scout warns in hushed tones?

NBADraft.net:

eeds to develop more of a low post game...Tends to rely on his athleticism too much, which is common at this age. Has good footwork, but doesn't use it enough. Tends to drift to the perimeter too often. Strength may be an issue down the line if has asked to consistently play in the post, but the potential is there for him to add it...Dwight at times gets too into the game and picks up cheap fouls...Will need to make the transition from center to PF.... Other than that, a wonderful talent.

are you selectively reading those draft scouting reports? hehe you left out the strengths part from both sites....

from that same report off of Chad Ford's analysis from espn:

Upside: At his size, he can do just a little bit of everything. He dominates in the paint but also has the ability to step out and hit shots on the perimeter. His ball handling is very good. He's murder on the fast break. He's quick off the dribble and off the floor. He's not afraid to crash the glass and is an excellent shot blocker. He hustles, has a nose for the ball and always seems to be in the right place at the right time. He's mature, a hard worker, has a great attitude and has improved dramatically over the course of his three years playing high school ball.

and from nbadraft.net

Strengths: A true talent. Dwight is one of those special talents who has it all. He posseses wonderful ball handling, passing, shooting ability and a super quick first step. Combine all that with an uncanny ability to see the floor and you have something special. People with his height and ability to play the perimeter and pass the ball are hard to find. Dwight also has great leaping ability and quick hands which allow him to get his share of points in the paint. His athletic prowess allows him to rack up rebounds and alter shots frequently. Defensively he is everywhere snatching balls, tipping shots, running back on D, he does it all. Dwight is an extremely hard worker and a very coachable kid. Quite simply, he's the whole package with gigantic upside.

now obviously a high school player going to the pros will need to polish up his skills but at least Howard showed he already has a certain skillset

Hey, i was thinkin to myself how unsucessful killingsworth will be

he only 6'8 and hes 24 so hes at his pinnacle

Dwight was getting his share of hype. From what I heard and read when draft time was coming around I was led to believe people thought he was gonna fit right in. As air gordon said Josh Smith was the one who was all athletics.