Yahoo's Top NBA (College) busts

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Morrison is about 9 spots too high.

STOMP
 
[Morrison's] first season in the league wasn't terrible (he made the All Rookie second-team on 11.8 ppg)
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yes it was, his PER was 7.91. that's not just bad, that's historically atrocious.
 
This list is horrible. Laettner wasn't that bad in the NBA. Sure, he wasn't a superstar, but he averaged 18.2 PPG and 8.7 RPG as a rookie staring 81 games. He played 13 years in the NBA and finished his career with a 16.9 PER, averaging 15.5 PPG and 8.1 RPG. That's pretty darn good production over a 13-year NBA career. In his 13 seasons, his PER was below 16 only four times - 14.8, 14.6, 13.7 and 14.5. He actually had a pretty solid NBA career. He just had the misfortune of being drafted in the same class as Shaq and Alonzo Morning. He certainly wasn't a bust.

Pervis Ellison's career was limited by injuries, but he was also not a bust. He ended up playing 11 seasons in the NBA and finished with a career PER of 15.2. Yeah he was a disappointment for a No. 1 pick, but not a total bust. When healthy, he had a couple pretty good years - including one season in Washington where he averaged 20.0 PPG, 11.2 RPG and 2.7 BPG - not too shabby. If you're going to call Ellison a bust because of his injuries, you probably have to include Ralph Sampson, too. Sampson, a three-time college player of the year, had much higher expectations, and was much more decorated than Ellison. He had a couple good seasons, but like Ellison, his production and career were both limited by injuries. If not for his two NBA titles, you could probably include Bill Walton in this same group - great college big man, a few excellent NBA seasons and a career cut short by injuries.

Guys like Mateen Cleaves, Robert Traylor, Corliss Williamson, Steve Alford, Bobby Hurley, Pearl Washington, etc. all belong on this list ahead of guys like Laettner.

BNM
 
number 10 said:
yes it was, his PER was 7.91. that's not just bad, that's historically atrocious.
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Ammo just wasn't a very efficient player, you could have said that instead. :]

37.6 shooting, 33.7% from the three and couldn't draw free throws or do anything else. Then he missed the 07-08 season... And he's still going to make 5.25 million in his expiring contract this season lol.
 
Juan Dixon shouldn't be on the list. I don't think anyone expected him to be a star in the NBA.
 
Boob-No-More said:
This list is horrible. Laettner wasn't that bad in the NBA. Sure, he wasn't a superstar, but he averaged 18.2 PPG and 8.7 RPG as a rookie staring 81 games. He played 13 years in the NBA and finished his career with a 16.9 PER, averaging 15.5 PPG and 8.1 RPG. That's pretty darn good production over a 13-year NBA career. In his 13 seasons, his PER was below 16 only four times - 14.8, 14.6, 13.7 and 14.5. He actually had a pretty solid NBA career. He just had the misfortune of being drafted in the same class as Shaq and Alonzo Morning. He certainly wasn't a bust.

Pervis Ellison's career was limited by injuries, but he was also not a bust. He ended up playing 11 seasons in the NBA and finished with a career PER of 15.2. Yeah he was a disappointment for a No. 1 pick, but not a total bust. When healthy, he had a couple pretty good years - including one season in Washington where he averaged 20.0 PPG, 11.2 RPG and 2.7 BPG - not too shabby. If you're going to call Ellison a bust because of his injuries, you probably have to include Ralph Sampson, too. Sampson, a three-time college player of the year, had much higher expectations, and was much more decorated than Ellison. He had a couple good seasons, but like Ellison, his production and career were both limited by injuries. If not for his two NBA titles, you could probably include Bill Walton in this same group - great college big man, a few excellent NBA seasons and a career cut short by injuries.

Guys like Mateen Cleaves, Robert Traylor, Corliss Williamson, Steve Alford, Bobby Hurley, Pearl Washington, etc. all belong on this list ahead of guys like Laettner.

BNM
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I agree with everything you said except the part about Bobby Hurley, he was having a good rookie season up to the time he got in to an auto accident. He was never the same player afterward.
 
hypnosmurf said:
I agree with everything you said except the part about Bobby Hurley, he was having a good rookie season up to the time he got in to an auto accident. He was never the same player afterward.
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Kind of like Jay Williams.
 
hypnosmurf said:
I agree with everything you said except the part about Bobby Hurley, he was having a good rookie season up to the time he got in to an auto accident. He was never the same player afterward.
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Agreed, but if Ellison makes the list due to injuries why not Hurley? At least Ellison had a few excellent years and a reasonably long NBA career.

Not to bag on Hurley, his accident was tragic. Just pointing out the inconsistency in the list.

BNM
 
Laetttner and Dixon are decent enough role players, but Ammo sucks shit, becoming a millionaire while wearing a suit and getting a backstage pass to LA's title celebration.
 
Huh, they should have qualified their list for the last 20 years or so. Portland has had some at least as big as the ones on their list.
 
Boob-No-More said:
This list is horrible. Laettner wasn't that bad in the NBA. Sure, he wasn't a superstar, but he averaged 18.2 PPG and 8.7 RPG as a rookie staring 81 games. He played 13 years in the NBA and finished his career with a 16.9 PER, averaging 15.5 PPG and 8.1 RPG. That's pretty darn good production over a 13-year NBA career. In his 13 seasons, his PER was below 16 only four times - 14.8, 14.6, 13.7 and 14.5. He actually had a pretty solid NBA career. He just had the misfortune of being drafted in the same class as Shaq and Alonzo Morning. He certainly wasn't a bust.

Pervis Ellison's career was limited by injuries, but he was also not a bust. He ended up playing 11 seasons in the NBA and finished with a career PER of 15.2. Yeah he was a disappointment for a No. 1 pick, but not a total bust. When healthy, he had a couple pretty good years - including one season in Washington where he averaged 20.0 PPG, 11.2 RPG and 2.7 BPG - not too shabby. If you're going to call Ellison a bust because of his injuries, you probably have to include Ralph Sampson, too. Sampson, a three-time college player of the year, had much higher expectations, and was much more decorated than Ellison. He had a couple good seasons, but like Ellison, his production and career were both limited by injuries. If not for his two NBA titles, you could probably include Bill Walton in this same group - great college big man, a few excellent NBA seasons and a career cut short by injuries.

Guys like Mateen Cleaves, Robert Traylor, Corliss Williamson, Steve Alford, Bobby Hurley, Pearl Washington, etc. all belong on this list ahead of guys like Laettner.

BNM
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Beat me to it. Never Nervous and Laethner were not busts.

Jack Goose Givens deserves mention, too. If injuries count, Scott May.

How about Len Bias?
 
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How about Shawn Respert (former Blazer, albeit momentarily)?

Joe Smith has been serviceable, but he never became the player many expected him to be.
 
BLAZINGGIANTS said:
How about Shawn Respert (former Blazer, albeit momentarily)?
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I believe they are looking for guys who great success in college (national POTY, 1st team all-american, national title, etc.), but then went bust in the pros. That's why I tossed out guys like Cleaves, Alford, etc. Respert was a rather high pick, but he wasn't nearly as decorated/honored coming out of college. He was still a bust, but the expectations weren't as high.

BNM
 
William Avery???

Edit, not a consensus All-American.
 
Boob-No-More said:
I believe they are looking for guys who great success in college (national POTY, 1st team all-american, national title, etc.), but then went bust in the pros. That's why I tossed out guys like Cleaves, Alford, etc. Respert was a rather high pick, but he wasn't nearly as decorated/honored coming out of college. He was still a bust, but the expectations weren't as high.

BNM
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Uh, yeah. Not decorated. Respert did win the NABC (National Association of Basketball Coaches) Award, which is voted on by the coaches and awarded to the best college player in their collective opinion. Nearly every year, the winner of the Wooden Award also wins the NABC Award. O'Bannon won the Wooden Award, but by winning the NABC Award, Shawn was arguably the best player in college that year.

He also was a unanimous 1st-team All-American and Big Ten Player of the Year. He also won several other POTY awards from various other publications/organizations. He averaged over 20 ppg in college, other than as a freshman (he only averaged 16 points). I guess I'd say he qualifies for 2 of the 3 qualities you mentioned specifically. I'd have to say that qualifies as a pretty damn big bust.
 
BLAZINGGIANTS said:
Uh, yeah. Not decorated. Respert did win the NABC (National Association of Basketball Coaches) Award, which is voted on by the coaches and awarded to the best college player in their collective opinion. Nearly every year, the winner of the Wooden Award also wins the NABC Award. O'Bannon won the Wooden Award, but by winning the NABC Award, Shawn was arguably the best player in college that year.

He also was a unanimous 1st-team All-American and Big Ten Player of the Year. He also won several other POTY awards from various other publications/organizations. He averaged over 20 ppg in college, other than as a freshman (he only averaged 16 points). I guess I'd say he qualifies for 2 of the 3 qualities you mentioned specifically. I'd have to say that qualifies as a pretty damn big bust.
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Agreed om all counts. I'm just not sure if that qualifies him as one of the 10 biggest NCAA/NBA busts of all times based on their (admittedly subjective) criteria. There are guys who made 1st team all-american two, even three times AND won national titles that also flamed out in the NBA - guys like Steve Alford, Kyle Macy.

And, since we have mentioned injuries and car accidents, it's only fair to also mention that Respert's NBA career was derailed by stomach cancer near the end of his rookie season.

BNM
 
Came across an article on Ed O'Bannon the other day, and he's a cars salesman now. But what was interesting was how bad he wanted to stay on the West coast and he wanted to play for Portland real bad to be close to home.

That was the year we took Shawn Respert and traded for Gary Trent.

The three-year, $3.9 million contract he signed with the Nets helped soften the blow a little bit, allowing him to buy an SUV for himself and another one for his brother, Charles -- who followed Ed to UCLA and then to the NBA. He and Rosa bought a condo near the ocean in Manhattan Beach, Calif., outside Los Angeles -- but that only served to make him miss home even more.

"I wanted so bad to go to Portland, or Phoenix," he says. "It didn't have to be the Lakers. I wasn't greedy. Just give me Utah or Denver, somewhere in the West, where I could shoot home on an off day. People who don't get homesick won't understand what I'm saying, but that's how I felt, and because of that I just never got comfortable."
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/11/AR2009061103332.html
 
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