Rants and Ranks

Lottery: 1. Hakeem Olajuwon 2. Sam Bowie 3. Michael Jordan Would you rather Bowie or Olajuwon?  That was the question of the '84 draft.  4. Sam Perkins 5. Charles Barkley 6. Melvin Turpin 7. Alvin Robertson 8. Lancaster Gordon 9. Otis Thorpe 10. Leon Wood 11. Kevin Willis 12. Tim McCormick 13. Jay Humphries Remixed: 1. Michael Jordan (3) 2. Hakeem Olajuwon (1) 3. Charles Barkley (5) 4. John Stockton (16) 5. Alvin Robertson (7) 6. Otis Thorpe (9) 7. Kevin Willis (11) 8. Sam Perkins (4) 9. Michael Cage (14) 10. Jerome Kersey (46) 11. Jay Humphries (13) 12. Tony Campbell (20) 13. Vern Fleming (18) I've been avoiding doing this one just due to the fact that it's one of the most historic/infamous, fill any other adjective, draft ever.  Also due to the general population's bias's, any draft Jordan was in would be called "greatest" even if the rest of the draft sucked.  Fortunately this one didn't suck. Speaking of "...

Daniel Bryan, Samoa Joe, CM Punk, Austin Aries, AJ Styles, these are the names of the men that went from "Internet Darlings" to world champions in their respective companies.  Why?  There's lots of reasons that I could list as contributing ingredients, but at the end of the day they have the "x-factor" that a talent needs to have to transcend to main event glory. I get a little annoyed by the "smarks," or whatever they want to call themselves these days, when they get their collective panties in a bunch over "Internet Darling X" getting a WWE tryout, then WWE isn't interested in signing them, followed by internet outrage.  "Vince and HHH don't know talent when they see it."  "They just lost a potential main-eventer!"  "They just lost the next Daniel Bryan!" I, myself, keep tabs on the young guns on the independent scene.  I cheer like crazy every time one of them get to TNA or WWE and proceed to take ...

Lottery: 1. Shaquille O'Neal 2. Alonzo Mourning 3. Christian Laettner 4. Jim Jackson 5. LaPhonso Ellis 6. Tom Gugliotta 7. Walt Williams 8. Todd Day 9. Clarence Weatherspoon 10. Adam Keefe 11. Robert Horry 12. Harold Miner 13. Bryant Stith Remixed: 1. Shaquille O'Neal (1) 2. Alonzo Mourning (2) 3. Latrell Sprewell (24) 4. Robert Horry (11) 5. Doug Christie (17) 6. Christian Laettner (3) 7. Tom Gugliotta (6) 8. Jim Jackson (4) 9. P.J. Brown (29) 10. Clarence Weatherspoon (9) 11. Walt Williams (7) 12. LaPhonso Ellis (5) 13. Matt Geiger (42) This has been the only draft I've done that numbers 1 and 2 have went in the correct order.  That being said, this isn't the best draft.  The gap between Shaq (one of the best ever) and Zo is quite substantial.  Zo is a Hall of Famer too, and there is no shame coming up second to Shaq.  However, the drop to the third best player (Sprewell) is pretty much a considered a free-fall.  Sprewell had so...

1985 Draft Lottery: Not the traditional draft picture, but both guys were drafted this year.  1. Patrick Ewing 2. Wayman Tisdale 3. Benoit Benjamin 4. Xavier McDaniel 5. Jon Concak 6. Joe Kleine 7. Chris Mullin 8. Detlef Shrempf 9. Charles Oakley 10. Ed Pickney 11. Keith Lee 12. Kenny Green 13. Karl Malone Remixed: 1. Karl Malone (13) 2. Patrick Ewing (1) 3. Chris Mullin (7) 4. Joe Dumars (18) 5. Terry Porter (24) 6. Detlef Shrempf (8) 7. Xavier McDaniel (4) 8. Charles Oakley (9) 9. A.C. Green (23) 10. Wayman Tisdale (2) 11. Arvydas Sabonis (24) 12. Spud Webb (87) 13. Hot Rod Williams (45) Honorable Mentions: Benoit Benjamin (3), Tyrone Corbin (35), Mario Elie (160), Bill Wennington, just kidding. Remember there were 7 rounds back then, which is why there is a "160" next to Mario Elie.  Although the '84 draft (Jordan year) was more heralded, this actually had more All Stars than '84 did.  It's also strange that the best ...

'94 Draft Lottery:  1. Glenn Robinson 2. Jason Kidd 3. Grant Hill 4. Donyell Marshall 5. Juwan Howard 6. Sharone Wright 7. Lamond Murray 8. Brian Grant 9. Eric Montross 10. Eddie Jones 11. Carolos Rogers 12. Khalid Reeves 13. Jalen Rose Remixed: 1. Jason Kidd (2) 2. Grant Hill (3) 3. Eddie Jones (10) 4. Glenn Robinson (1) 5. Juwan Howard (5) 6. Jalen Rose (13) 7. Donyell Marshall (4) 8. Brian Grant (8) 9. Wesley Person (23) 10. Lamond Murray (7) 11. Aaron McKie (17) 12. Voshon Lenard (46) 13. Charlie Ward (26) Had injuries not played a huge role, Grant Hill was on pace to be one of the greatest players ever.  25.8 PPG 6.6 RPG 5.2 APG were his '00 stats.  Or how about: 20.2 PPG 9.8 RPG 6.9 APG from '96.  Or '97's 21.4 PPG 9 RPG 7.3 APG.  Hill probably got the closest to anyone of averaging a triple double, and yes that includes LeBron.  However with all that said, another guy (ironically also fli...

1995 Draft Lottery: 1. Joe Smith 2. Antonio McDyess 3. Jerry Stackhouse 4. Rasheed Wallace 5. Kevin Garnett 6. Bryant Reeves 7. Damon Stoudamire 8. Shawn Respert 9. Ed O'Bannon 10. Kurt Thomas 11. Gary Trent 12. Cherokee Parks 13. Corliss Williamson Remixed: 1. Kevin Garnett (5) 2. Rasheed Wallace (4) 3. Jerry Stackhouse (3) 4. Michael Finley (21) 5. Antonio McDyess (2) 6. Theo Ratliff (18) 7. Damon Stoudamire (7) 8. Joe Smith (1) 9. Kurt Thomas (10) 10. Brent Barry (15) 11. Eric Snow (43) 12. Corliss Williamson (13) 13. Gary Trent (11) After Kevin Garnett, this class has a serious dropoff.  Rasheed had his moments, I don't think you will be calling him a HOF'er anytime soon.  A lot of these guys never lived up to their potential.  Joe Smith the number one pick, wasn't never an All Star despite having a "nice" career.  Definitely unworthy of his draft position.  Anyone remember "Big Country" Bryant Reeves?  The first G...

2007 NBA Draft Lottery: 1. Greg Oden 2. Kevin Durant 3. Al Horford 4. Mike Conley 5. Jeff Green what can you even say about this?? 6. Yi Jianlian 7. Corey Brewer 8. Brandon Wright 9. Joakim Noah 10. Spencer Hawes 11. Acie Law 12. Thaddeus Young 13. Julian Wright Remixed: 1. Kevin Durant (2) 2. Joakim Noah (10) 3. Marc Gasol (48) 4. Al Horford (3) 5. Jeff Green (5) 6. Mike Conley (4) 7. Carl Landry (31) 8. Thaddeus Young (12) 9. Wilson Chandler (23) 10. Rodney Stuckey (15) 11. Aaron Afflao (27) 12. Glen Davis (35) 13. Aaron Brooks (26) Honorable Mentions: Nick Young, Spencer Hawes, Marco Belinelli, Jared Dudley, Josh McRoberts, Corey Brewer (Just because he scored 51 points last week.) These guys are still young guns, so this is probably the newest class I will do.  The obvious blunder of the night was Greg Oden at number 1.  Had Oden not been possibly the most injury-prone player ever and lived up to being worthy of a number 1 pick,...

Last night's Raw showed that there is going to be a crop of new NXT talent over the next few weeks.  I found it pretty fascinating, due to there usually only being one new young talent debuted the night after WrestleMania.  With these new faces (plus the returning RVD) obviously somebody has to be moved out the way.  Whether they are fired, (unlikely) quit, (possibly) or get demoted to NXT (most definitely).  Here's the guys who I think has limited time left on WWE main programming.  (I'm only including guys that have had a decent amount of TV time) Alberto Del Rio They've given this guy the moon in his short career, and he has honestly been average at best.  When I look back, I don't think he was ever truly over, it was his association with Ricardo Rodriguez that got him over (WWE misses him sorely in my opinion.)  He's sporadically on TV as it is, so I foresee his days to be numbered.  I would also say he is the most likely candidate to qu...

1998 Draft Lottery:  courtesy of NBA.com 1. Michael Olowokandi 2. Mike Bibby 3. Raef Lafrentz 4. Antawn Jamison 5. Vince Carter 6. Robert Traylor 7. Jason Williams 8. Larry Hughes 9. Dirk Nowitzki 10. Paul Pierce 11. Bonzi Wells 12. Michael Doleac 13. Keon Clark Remixed: 1. Dirk Nowitzki (9) 2. Paul Pierce (10) 3. Vince Carter (5) 4. Antawn Jamison (4) 5. Rashard Lewis (32) 6. Mike Bibby (2) 7. Cuttino Mobley (41) 8. Jason Williams (7) 9. Larry Hughes (8) 10. Ricky Davis (21) 11. Rafer Alson (39) 12. Matt Harpring (15) 13. Nazr Mohammed (29) Right out of the gates, Vince Carter and "White Chocolate" Jason Williams looked to be the superstars of this draft.  Vince Carter underachieved, but still had a good career.  Jason Williams pretty much fell off the planet after a few seasons.  The stupid trade of the night was the Bucks trading Dirk for Robert "Tractor" Traylor.  Yeesh.  It was pretty slim pickin's af...

2006 Draft Lottery: 1. Andrea Bargnani 2. LaMarcus Aldridge 3. Adam Morrison courtesy of USAToday.com 4. Tyrus Thomas 5. Shelden Williams 6. Brandon Roy 7. Randy Foye 8. Rudy Gay 9. Patrick O'Bryant 10. Mouhamed Sene 11. J.J. Reddick 12. Hilton Armstrong 13. Thabo Sefolosha Remixed: 1. Rajon Rondo (21) 2. LaMarcus Aldridge (2) 3. Rudy Gay (8) 4. Paul Millsap (47) 5. Brandon Roy (6) 6. Andrea Bargnani (1) 7. Kyle Lowry (24) 8. Randy Foye (7) 9. J.J. Reddick (11) 10. Ronnie Brewer (14) 11. Thabo Sefolosha (13) 12. Jordan Farmar (26) 13. P.J. Tucker (35) Honorable Mentions: Leon Powe, Shannon Brown, Tyrus Thomas, Steve Novak Look at all the busts in this lottery: Adam Morrison, Shelden Williams, Patrick O'Bryant, Mouhamed Sene (who?), Hilton Armstrong.  Barngani has seriously underachieved, I don't know whether you would call him a bust.  Definitely not a number 1 pick though.  Tyrus Thomas is another that really has underachieved. S...