Draft '05 : Antoine Wright

[STC]

Why the **** didn't we take Hakim Warrick?

Imagine Hakim Warrick or David Lee who was taken 30th on this team. We would be much better IMO.

 

[bbwSwish]

Hindsight is 20/20. Why did the Magic take Fran Vazquez? Why did every team pass on Gilbert Arenas? Looking back, you notice so many things that would have been done different had all the general managers known what would happen in the future. But that's obviously never going to happen so you have to live with the picks you make.

 

[NJNetz]

I kinda agree. Wright has been sort of a bust. He has had some good defensive games, which is really the only upside about him. Open or not the guy shoots bricks, so I'm not surprised when he passes up a shot.

 

[STC]

<div class="quote_poster">Swish Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Hindsight is 20/20. Why did the Magic take Fran Vazquez? Why did every team pass on Gilbert Arenas? Looking back, you notice so many things that would have been done different had all the general managers known what would happen in the future. But that's obviously never going to happen so you have to live with the picks you make.</div>

Yeah, I understand but I'm saying we needed a big man.

 

[XSV]

Execs are idiots who focus too much on a guy's size and "potential" and not enough on what he can do and what he has proven he can do. For example, David Lee was not highly touted because he's not big enough and his post game is under-developed. But he has a nose for the ball, he rebounds like a beast and he can finish.

Same goes for guys like Boozer who wasn't taken until the second round because he lacked size. So-called "tweeners" like Arenas and Ellis or wings who weren't athletic enough (even though they can shoot the lights out) like Redd and Joe Johnson were somehow over-looked as well.

 

[kobimel]

Looking back, we thought we had our big man, with Zo still "commited" to the team, so we didn't have a glaring need for a big man like Lee or Warrick. Obviously, today they would've been perfect: Lee in the post and as a rebounder or Warrick in the fast break offense with Kidd and as a shot blocker. Still, after trading Kittles and Harris, we needed a shooting guard who could:

a)Defend
b)Shoot

Now, we all know Wright can defend. As for shooting, he was a great shooter at Texas A&M, so obviously Thorn and Co. thought he could be a good shooter in the NBA as well. But, he got off to a rough start shooting wise in the L and since then hasn't regained the confidence in his shot. That's why he's a "bust" (or maybe half a bust). But, you can't blame Thorn for picking him up, because he filled our need for a shooting guard.

 

[og15]

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Execs are idiots who focus too much on a guy's size and "potential" and not enough on what he can do and what he has proven he can do. For example, David Lee was not highly touted because he's not big enough and his post game is under-developed. But he has a nose for the ball, he rebounds like a beast and he can finish.

Same goes for guys like Boozer who wasn't taken until the second round because he lacked size. So-called "tweeners" like Arenas and Ellis or wings who weren't athletic enough (even though they can shoot the lights out) like Redd and Joe Johnson were somehow over-looked as well.</div>
Joe Johnson was actually a lottery pick to Boston, and couldn't shoot the lights out when he first came in the league. Michael Redd actually came in the league as a slasher in Ohio, not a shooter, he became a shooter after playing on Milwaukee with the likes or Ray Allen, G-Rob, Sam Cassell and Tim Thomas. He realized he had to be a very good shooter also in order to have a role on the team.

Ellis really was because he was a highschool tweener PG, not because he was a tweener, because we just saw Ben Gordon go 3rd the previous year, and Devin Harris wasn't considered a "true" PG either (still had to work on those skills) and went 5th himself.

With Arenas, some teams screwed up, since he had a lot of skills, but Arenas' hardwork was also a big part of him becoming a great player. In addition to that, there were some bad experiences with tweeners, and the year before, these guys were in the Top 15: Keyon Dooling, Jamal Crawford, Courtney Alexander. Lastly, Arenas was even suspect as a tweener, he was basically just a shooting guard coming out of college. Carlos Boozer's problem actually wasn't really his size, what a lot of people don't realize is how much work the guy put in before the draft. He should've been a first round pick though, but it happens. Boozer at first wasn't strong enough, wasn't quick enough, and wasn't tall enough, he was more of fat. He was a C in college that would need to move to PF, he wasn't considered an undersized PF really. He came into the league and was now this muscular guy running up and down the court throwing down dunks etc.

Of course GM's make mistakes though, the draft is not supposed to be 100%.

 

[Legacy]

I didn't like the pick since the beginning. We already have VC and RJ, why would we need more players in the same position. Heck, we even had a bench filled with SGs and SFs. He is a pretty good defender, but that's about it. He looks like a bust to me.

 

[AirJordan]

if all gm's drafted in perfect order this would be a boring league