Double Standards Again

[ToughJ.Riggins]

Interesting, I just heard Jay Bilas state that McRoberts didn't test out well athletically at the NBA's combine in Orlando. There was no mention at all in the draft discussions on ESPN that Kevin Durant didn't test out well athletically either, and you would expect him to being the 2nd pick. McRoberts and Durant both were in the middle of the pack for big men (Men 6'8 or over) in 3/4 sprints this draft. Durant ran a 3.45 seconds (12th of 20) and McRoberts ran a 3.47 (13th). In fact Noah ran a 3.47 also. However, Noah performed well in the vertical leap test posting a 37.5 (tied for 2nd). Oden performed well in the 3/4 sprint running a 3.27 (2nd).

Durant didn't stand out anywhere athletically amongst big men posting the 9th best vert out of 22 men who tested with a 33.5, Oden was 8th at 34. McRoberts was 13th with a 31.5, but tested much better than Durant in the lane agility. In the lane agility Durant was one of the worst in this years draft at 12.3 seconds(18th of 21) compared to McRoberts 11.7 (9th)and Odens 11.63 (8th). You'd think if they were fair, someone would have mentioned Durant's "average" measurables for the position. The analysts also took other jabs at McRoberts in their basic approval that McRoberts dropped to where he did in the second round.

If you'd like to know where Jason Smith stands amongst big men this draft, he is tied for 2nd in the vert at 37.5, 4th in 3/4 sprint at 3.29, 1st in lane agility at 10.96. The thing I always notice is that unless a white guy is extremly athletic the annalists always find something to nit pick at. It seems that blacks have less to prove and the hosts always forget to mention a black player who performs badly in workouts. If they do remember, they always say he plays better than his measurables. You'll never hear that about a guy like J.J Reddick who is in the middle of the pack athletically, he is labeled a "poor athlete" despite his ability and resume at Duke.Edited by: ToughJ.Riggins

 

[Guest]

I don't think McRoberts is very good, and he's strictly a bench player in the NBA.

But he definitely took it up the butt in the NBA draft. Here was a guy who was a first round pick last year, who decided to stay in school for another season, and fell all the way to the second round this year.

He lost millions of dollars. He does not even have a guaranteed contract - he might not even make the team.

 

[Guest]

I don't think McRoberts is very good, and he's strictly a bench player in the NBA.

But he definitely took it up the butt in the NBA draft. Here was a guy who was a first round pick last year, who decided to stay in school for another season, and fell all the way to the second round this year.

He lost millions of dollars. He does not even have a guaranteed contract - he might not even make the team.

I think he was the one giving it to the nba up the butt. The guy shouldn't have even made the draft. He's terrible. But then again so is 90% of the nba with tons of black sticks and twigs who haven't nary a f**king chance of ever amounting to anything special.


Nba quality is piss poor and has been for a long time.


Edited by: voltaire

 

[GreatLakeState]

Josh McRoberts is a fool when he cast his lot with Duke. How many 6-10
white prep all-Americans has Coach K ruined? McRoberts was projected
as a lottery pick out of high school!

 

[ToughJ.Riggins]

If you guys think McRoberts sucks, I ask why? He didn't show that he has the confidence in himself to be a go to scorer but still shot 50% from the floor which is a better FG% than Durant. McRoberts is a great passing forward and a stat filler who can rebound and block shots. Although McRoberts only tested in the middle of the pack athletically for big men, just like Durant he plays more athletically than his measurables. If you think he sucks than you must also think Jeff Greene should have fallen the same way McRoberts did because he is not comfortable taking a lot of shots or being a go to guy in crunch time, despite having other good skills like passing and defense.Edited by: ToughJ.Riggins

 

[Guest]

If you guys think McRoberts sucks, I ask why?

I've watched him play a couple NCAA games now and his impact on the NCAA game did not seem to be that big. He plays OK but he rarely dominates other college players. How is he going to do against NBA players? Probably not that great.

He definitely should have been drafted in the first round though. It's dumb that he fell into the second round. Nobody who average 13 points and 7 rebounds playing the teams that Duke plays should be dropping into the second round.

He still has room to get better, but I never see him turning into an NBA starter. A guy like Tyler Hansbrough is so much more dominant. He can and does dominate NCAA players.

 

[Guest]

He is a "decent" player and is certainly better or more qualified than half of the black pf stiffs that make it into the Nba but he is not a great player imo.

 

[ToughJ.Riggins]

Interesting article about how workout numbers can be overrated. However poor performances always seem to be held against whites much more than blacks IMO. Obviously guys at Scout and Rivals.com overlook lots of white guys in Basketball and football. There are loads of good white athletes in these sports in H.S, but a white guy has to be "above and beyond" in both measurables and production to get accolades, it's a skewed system.

But Can He Play? Analyzing the NBA Pre-Draft Combine Results

by: Jonathan Givony - President
June 5, 2007
He has a 7-6 ¾ wingspan, and a 9-3 ½ standing reach. He jumps out of the gym with a 39 inch one-step vertical, bench presses 185 pounds 24 times and runs a 3.3 in the three quarter court sprint. But can he shoot? Dribble? Catch a rebound? Play? Do we even care?

It's that time once again, our favorite time of the year of course; a few weeks before the draft when everything logical in regards to analyzing basketball gets flushed down the toilet. Instead we focus on superficial things that have proven again and again to have very little correlation with actual success in the NBA.

This player is superior to that player because his standing reach is two inches longer. That guy is a better prospect because he bench pressed 185 pounds 19 times instead of the 8 someone else did. Let's just forget irrelevant things like how many points and rebounds a player averaged, what kind of drive he has to improve or how many games he helped his team win, because those obviously have no bearing on a player's success.

Who was the top athlete in the 2003 draft? Thinking logically about that draft, you'd probably assume it was a toss up between Dwyane Wade and Lebron James. But in fact, it was 6-2 shooting guard Troy Bell, who did not make it past his rookie contract before being cut by the man who reached badly to draft him in Jerry West. Bell was affectionately nicknamed "Troy Airbell" by ACB Spanish league fans he horrified with the air-balls he jacked up playing for Real Madrid, and struggled this past season to run a D-League team. Bell measured a 41 inch vertical leap (which would rank 1st in this year's combine), ran a 3.06 in the ¾ court sprint (also 1st), and bench pressed the 185 pound bar 17 times (fourth amongst guards). If Bell were eligible this year, he most likely again would be deemed the top athlete in this year's draft too.

Who was (supposedly) the 2nd best athlete in that draft? Brandon Hunter, an eventual late 2nd round pick who was relegated to the 2nd division in Italy this year playing for Livorno. Dwyane Wade, possibly the best overall athlete in the NBA today, ranked 14th. Chris Bosh finished 51st. Chris Kaman 45th. In that same year, TJ Ford measured in as being slower in the various footspeed tests than Chris Kaman, Kirk Penney and Carmelo Anthony. Huh? Anyone that has ever seen him play would tell you that he is one of the fastest players in the NBA, if not the fastest.

In 2004, we found a similar story. Kirk Snyder came out as the top overall athlete, while players like Andre Iguodala, Luol Deng and Al Jefferson's draft stock supposedly took a hit by measuring out as relatively poor athletes. That same Andre Iguodala who was robbed of the slam dunk championship a year ago, only recorded a 34 inch vertical leap, one inch more than J.J. Redick last year. Rickey Paulding, Timmy Bowers and Luis Flores were all declared amongst the top 10 athletes in the draft. One averaged 13 points per game this past season in France, one came off the bench in the Israeli league, and the other finished just a notch ahead of Brandon Hunter's team in Italy and was also relegated to the 2nd division.

The 2005 draft combine was equally as pointless. Monta Ellis ranked as the worst athlete of all the players measured, coming out slow, weak and with very little leaping ability. Once the NBA season started and the ball actually rolled out on the court, though, he magically transformed into a spectacular athlete who can get his shot at will and dunks anything and everything that is remotely close to the basket, despite only being 6-3. Eventual rookie of the year Chris Paul was declared only the 15th best athlete amongst the players tested, and was somehow deemed slower than Deron Williams, Sean May and Wayne Simien. The athletic tests also led you to believe that Andrew Bogut was some kind of stiff who would never be able to keep up with the speed of the NBA--that is, until the players actually started playing basketball and we found out that he is actually a fine athlete for a player his size. Julius Hodge is out of the league thanks to a bad attitude, awful shooting mechanics and some very average athletic ability, but don't tell that to the people who tested him out as the 26th best athlete in that draft, with a ¾ court sprint that would rank him amongst the fastest players in 2007.

In 2006, we again found some head-scratching results that made us question the validity of the NBA draft combine, and even make us wonder why exactly it's even held. At the top of that list was Marcus Williams, who was, according to the combine results, probably one of the most unathletic guards to ever be considered a first round pick. We're talking about a player that played in the best conference in America and got into the lane and created offense for his team almost whenever he pleased against the top defensive guards the NCAA has to offer, and then continued to do so in the NBA playing for the New Jersey Nets this season. All it took was five minutes watching him on tape or in person to realize that, but the results of the combine would never tell you that. The top ten athletes in the draft last year were, in this order: David Noel, Ronnie Brewer, Dwyane Mitchell, Daniel Horton, Rodney Carney, Randy Foye, Taquan Dean, Brandon Bowman, Nik Caner-Medley and Louis Amundson. Edited by: ToughJ.Riggins

 

[Guest]

It looks to me like they're trying to make excuses why such blacks players should be givin a pass. The problem is that without the refs help, they wouldn't be givin a pass. Look when these so-called "stars" play in the olympics or w.c. They are nothing without Nba refs to give them foul calls. The last part of the story is just the typical part about burrying some tough white players. Amundson looked great for sacramento but he was just cut. Because he's white. I watched him play a bit. He was incredibly athletic. Just like a lot of scandinavians are. I'd also say manu ginobili is arguably the best athlete in the nba. Dwayne wade is a lazy piece of sh*t, at times. To be the best you have to win. Ginobili wins. He litterally pulled the spurs back from disastor on many occasions the last few years in the playoffs. Same with nocioni for the bulls. They are the true athletes and studs. The winning players. If they were black, the league would give them the same hype they give kobe bryant.


I've followed the nba for a while now and all of this stuff is quite easy to see. It's just outright discrimination against caucasion athletes. We can call it something else or analyze it differently, but ultimately it's still the same thing. Racism against people with fair skin. Edited by: voltaire