Ewing, Shaq or Hakeem out of college?

[Demitri98]

Shaq
Duncan
Robinson
Ewing
Hakeem
Sampson

if they are raw prospects and their real future is unknown

I think everyone knew Shaq and Duncan would be great. Front offices knew Ewing and Robinson would be pretty good. Sampson was an injury risk and Hakeem was extremely high-risk, high reward.

[Prime_Shaq]

Aside from Lew I don't think there's anyone ever I would pick over Shaq out of college.

[Siemens]

Would Davis or Oden be taken above any of them?

Oden probably. He was widely considered a once in a generation player.

[Marchesk]

Oden probably. He was widely considered a once in a generation player.

Was he though? Is that still the consensus if he could have stayed healthy?

[SsKSpurs21]

Was he though? Is that still the consensus if he could have stayed healthy?

he definitely was. there were articles in Sports Illustrated about him in middle school being the next shaq and david robinson. david was his favorite player which is why he also wore #50. teams were tanking that year to get a chance to draft him.

[Siemens]

Was he though? Is that still the consensus if he could have stayed healthy?

I don't think that is still the consensus, but at the time it was.

[KungFuJoe]

Maybe my memory is hazy but I don't recall a lot of hype around Duncan. He was a four year college player and most heralded guys came out early. Robinson was the exception because of his Navy commitment.

Either way, out of all those guys Shaq had the most buzz and hype. It was pretty ridiculous.

[Smoke117]

Shaq
Duncan
Robinson
Ewing
Hakeem
Sampson

if they are raw prospects and their real future is unknown

I think everyone knew Shaq and Duncan would be great. Front offices knew Ewing and Robinson would be pretty good. Sampson was an injury risk and Hakeem was extremely high-risk, high reward.

Duncan wasn't heralded as much as any of those guys coming out of college...hence why I have him last on my list. Fact of the matter is, he is by far the weakest athlete of the bunch and when you are drafting that is going to be an important attribute you are looking at. Shaq and Robinson were by far the two most hyped because of what physical specimens they were and they would go on to have what are still the two best rookie seasons over the last 35 years. Sampson had a lot of hype too because of how big he was and how he could move and Ewing was expected to come in and dominate defensively right from the beginning.

Hakeem had great physical gifts, but started playing basketball later than most and was still developing. Even Alonzo Mourning had more hype than Duncan. If all these guys were in a draft, Duncan would certainly be drafted last. That has no bearing on how their careers played out...just what kind of prospects they were.

[SsKSpurs21]

Duncan wasn't heralded as much as any of those guys coming out of college...hence why I have him last on my list. Fact of the matter is, he is by far the weakest athlete of the bunch and when you are drafting that is going to be an important attribute you are looking at. Shaq and Robinson were by far the two most hyped because of what physical specimens they were and they would go on to have what are still the two best rookie seasons over the last 35 years. Sampson had a lot of hype too because of how big he was and how he could move and Ewing was expected to come in and dominate defensively right from the beginning.

Hakeem had great physical gifts, but started playing basketball later than most and was still developing. Even Alonzo Mourning had more hype than Duncan. If all these guys were in a draft, Duncan would certainly be drafted last. That has no bearing on how their careers played out...just what kind of prospects they were.

yup. similar to hakeem, duncan started playing basketball at 16 and was still polishing his game. i remember it was about 60/40 split between him and keith van horn for the #1 pick. alot of analysts loved van horn because he played like dirk... a 7 footer with range and that was the hot commodity at the time.

not to say that noone cared for duncan...rick pitino at the time offered the spurs the entire celtics roster for duncan, but out of all the guys listed, duncan had the least hype.

[SsKSpurs21]

there is also a lottery draft conspiracy that Ewing was suppose to be the next great star and stern wanted him in NY. if you look at the draft lottery, one envelope has a bent corner which was the Knicks.

[game3524]

Kareem is the only man I would consider taking over Shaq out of college.

[MJistheGOAT]

Kareem is the only man I would consider taking over Shaq out of college.

Agreed.
With a solid work ethic Shaq should be GOAT, and I refer to CONSENSUS GOAT. What a waste of talent

On the list

Shaq
D Rob
Ewing
Hakeem
Duncan

[game3524]

Agreed.
With a solid work ethic Shaq should be GOAT, and I refer to CONSENSUS GOAT. What a waste of talent

On the list

Shaq
D Rob
Ewing
Hakeem
Duncan

I wouldn't go that far(dude is still a top 10 player of all-time), but Shaq should have had a career where he is in the discussion along with MJ, Kareem, Russell etc. when it comes to GOAT.

[Nowitness]

Bill Walton >>>> Every other C ever out of the college.

[Knicksfever2010]

ewing was so hyped out of college, and thats before the days of twitter/youtube. ESPN didnt really blow up yet, and Ewing STILL was considered the next Bill Russell. The problem was that the Knicks asked him to change his game. He was asked to become a scorer and devote all his practice time to learning how to shoot a jumpshot.

If the Knicks had Bernard King at full health, and Ewing was asked to fill the role of a Russell, it wouldnt have been a problem. The Knicks never surrounded him with a scorer. After Ewing the next scoring threat was John Starks.

Ewing was a MONSTER on defense at Georgetown. So all of a sudden he forgot how to play like that in the pros? NOPE.