Thabeet = worst #2 since Sam Bowie

[GuyverADL]

Thabum is not bad in a front court with Zach Randolph. I think a Harden + Mayo backcourt would have lit up the league for years.

[Downtown]

I don't want to dwell on what's already happened, but I agree that Harden would have been the better choice. But I kind of favor that pick since I also want to see Mayo to be the starting pointguard. That backcourt, with Conley as the main backup and Mayo playing the two behind Harden would have been more along the lines of what I would have expected from the Grizzlies youth movement rather than bringing in Iverson to complete a backcourt trio.

It's all done now though and I'm 100% sure that more than a couple posters in here are going to remind everyone this season when Harden or Tyreke Evans lights things up and Thabeet struggles his first season. Not much you can do about it.

[jhern87]

I think you guys are being a little hard on Thabeet.. I'm not even a Grizzlies fan but right now it's really up in the air whether he will have a successful career or not. I mean, Dikembe went to Georgetown to become a Dr. on a USAID scholarship . John Thompson saw him an convinced him to play basketball. Just think about the head start Thabeet has on Dikembe?..

Look I'm not saying Hasheem is going to be the player Mutombo was but a LOT of the similarities are there. You don't have to be Einstein to see that he's a little uncoordinated and raw but a year or two of playing and practicing against NBA players and getting acclimated to the speed of the game could turn him into a deadly defensive presence. I would just be patient with him because with hard work and practice he could be the anchor to your franchises future success. Negativity towards him and how high he was selected is the last thing you guys need right now.

[Forte IV]

If you cant even grab 5 rebounds in the SUMMER LEAGUE and your 7'3, then you are a bust.

[Mezotarkus]

Here are Thabeet's summer league statistics.

http://www.nba.com/summerleague2009/pla ... em_thabeet

8ppg, 4.6 rpg, 0.8 bpg.

Amazing? No. Horrible? No.

Its dangerous to emphasize summer league results too much. The summer league games are very different from regular season games. Less disciplined, less set-play running, less halfcourt offense, more streetball.

Look at Belinelli last year? He tored up the summer league but is an average bench warmer at best in the league.

Look at Joey Dorsey - He's a 26 year old that averaged 14.8 rpg and 2.6 bpg in the summer league but I doubt people are going to part with significant value to acquire him. In fact, the Rockets only played him SIX minutes last season.

Adam Morrison averaged 20.8 ppg in the summer league this year yet he couldn't even buy time on a team as bad as the Bobcats last year.

The jury is still out on Thabeet.

[Joel Embust]

Sam Bowie wasn't bad.

[Marc]

Sam Bowie wasn't bad.

He was just horrible compared to MJ and Barkley.

[Marc]

Why would you group Keith Van Horn in there? Sure, he didn't live up to the hype of being a #2 pick, but no way does he deserve to in there with those other names. He was still a decent player that put up 16 ppg over his career before it was cut short due to injuries.

Van Horn scored 21.8 ppg in his sophomore season!

[rag-time4]

Here are Thabeet's summer league statistics.

http://www.nba.com/summerleague2009/pla ... em_thabeet

8ppg, 4.6 rpg, 0.8 bpg.

Amazing? No. Horrible? No.

Its dangerous to emphasize summer league results too much. The summer league games are very different from regular season games. Less disciplined, less set-play running, less halfcourt offense, more streetball.

Look at Belinelli last year? He tored up the summer league but is an average bench warmer at best in the league.

Look at Joey Dorsey - He's a 26 year old that averaged 14.8 rpg and 2.6 bpg in the summer league but I doubt people are going to part with significant value to acquire him. In fact, the Rockets only played him SIX minutes last season.

Adam Morrison averaged 20.8 ppg in the summer league this year yet he couldn't even buy time on a team as bad as the Bobcats last year.

The jury is still out on Thabeet.

Just peeked at the stats... with a focus on the game boxscores. Thabeet is a defensive player primarily, right? Therefore, the best way to judge his performance might be the Grizzlies defense.

I noticed that the Grizzlies totally dominated their opponents in FG%. There were a couple blowout wins. Looking for a high blocks total isn't necessarily the way to go if you're looking at his stats, because he may not have been tested that much if opponents were afraid to shoot against him...

[GrizzledGrizzFan]

Thabeet has a long way to go. Simply looking at the box scores doesn't tell the story - even from the opposing teams field goal %. It's mostly smoke and mirrors, mainly because in actual games Thabeet would have been on the bench due to foul problems. He's physically weak. His technique needs to be reworked from the ground up as well. He can no longer stand in the paint for as long as he wishes. He's never had to be mobile on defense before, no has he excelled against legitimate, strong post players.

All that said, he has a great personality. Seems to be a genuine, happy go lucky sort of fellow. I hope he can get some fire in his belly, toughen up and evolve his defensive game to the NBA level.

[twinthunder3]

You guys were better off drafting Rubio, knowing that he wouldn't be playing in the NBA than drafting Thabust and knowing that he's a bust.

[Mezotarkus]

You guys were better off drafting Rubio, knowing that he wouldn't be playing in the NBA than drafting Thabust and knowing that he's a bust.

Another idiot who thinks he has a crystal ball because he's paying too much attention to summer league numbers.

[Downtown]

I'm a little tired of all the stale talk from people who have voiced their negative opinions on ALL the offseason developments without having had the chance to watch one game. As far as I'm concerned the talk is over, the roster is pretty much set, and I'm looking forward to seeing the actual season begin.Here's a challenge. Tell us something we don't already know rather than be another parrot saying the same dribble.

Criticize all you want but don't tell me having new additions in Thabeet, Randolph, Iverson, Caroll, Young, and Williams added to the returning core of Conley, Mayo, Gay, and Gasol isn't going to make for a far more interesting season.

If this roster does go down the toilet then have your say. And I'll give in that since there's so many new faces and the pieces on the surface don't seem to fit together it could lead to some early bad results. And if those results multiply then with all the alpha egos things could blow up within the locker room. But there's alot more individual talent than there was last year and when you have a big improvement in individual talent anything is possible, barring injuries.

Lionel Hollins is in for a bigger challenge than last year when not much was expected other than to give the young core plenty of rope to play with and develop. Now he not only has to keep the young players on an even keel but he has to find the system and rotation that motivates both the young guys AND veterans Randolph and Iverson.

And I think even though Thabeet is going to need plenty of time to learn the game they have the luxury of not pushing him into an area he's not ready for with both Gasol and Haddadi capable of logging the bulk of playing time at center. I don't expect much from Thabeet this season. And that's a good thing. It's always better to under promise and over deliver.

[TerryTate]

Actually, I think It was a HUGE BAD PICK.... I'm not sure why did they pick him when Memphis already has Haddadi. His per minutes stats were so much better than Thabeet. With half the amount of minutes he had twice as many blocks as Thabeet and one third the amount of fouls. Granted given more playing time his foul rate would have been higher. Haddadi has played with NBA players already in Olympics and very minimal NBA minutes. His per 25 mins stats would be close to 10/10/2 blks. Memphis so wasted this pick... They really should have taken Evans or even Rubio. If they were willing to spend money on Iverson and the amount of cash considerations they got for all the trades this summer, they could have easily paid for Rubio's buyout...

IMO, by far the worst #2 pick in a long time....

[rsavaj]

If you guys don't like him that much, Robin Lopez is available