Anthony Benneth bust??

[kNicKz]

Misses 3 shots coming off an injury

Called a bust

[secund2nun]

Got to love the revisionist historians, especially by the LeBron James ballboys who love nothing more than to blast his former team. And, they say Cavs fans need to "get over it."

These guys literally cannot resist the temptation to post about the Cavs and Cleveland in general at every turn.

As for the revisionist history...

I remember the lead up to the 2012 draft very vividly. There were something like three people on this board -- at most -- urging the Cavs to take a hard look at Drummond and that was me and a couple other guys. I don't recall you being a part of that conversation.

In fact, the guy who the vast majority of people were saying was probably going to be the best talent on the board at 4 was not Drummond, but Thomas Robinson. According to these draft gurus, the Cavs made a major blunder by selecting Tristan Thompson the year before, because TRob was so clearly going to be a better PF on the next level.

What happened to all those pro-Robinson prognosticators? It seems they've now become the "Cavs should have taken Drummond crowd."

Wait, you mean to tell me it's possible the Cavs didn't draft the best possible player with every pick over the past four years? That can't be right.



For all the sh!t that Waiters takes as being basically a worthless chucker, the guy did shoot 48% from the field in the last couple months of the season last year and was First Team All-Rookie. Unfortunately for him, first impressions are hard to shake and he did start his rookie year with a one track mind.

This year, he's struggled out of the gates, no doubt, but I'd argue a lot of that is due to a new roster of guys who've created a situation where rotations are still being figured out and it has hurt his rhythm. He's been playing 30 minutes one night, 8 minutes the next. On the bright side, his defense is much improved, as is the whole team's defense.

As for Tristan, have you been watching him lately? It's sort of odd that you would note him as a guy who the Cavs failed with when trying to "build around" Kyrie when, in fact, TT has been better than Irving through the first four games.

He also basically averaged a double-double last year as a 21-year old sophomore in the NBA. Just a "solid starter?" He's already better than that.

Through his first four games, he's averaging 14/10 on 50+% from the field with excellent defense.

On top of all that, not even Kyrie Irving himself was considered the consensus pick at the time. A LOT of people on here and in the media were wondering loudly how the Cavs could take a chance with a No. 1 pick on a guy who played 9 collegiate games over the more "proven" Derrick Williams. They said, "go with Williams/Knight combo."

Where are all those people now, because not only is Irving 20x the player Williams is, Tristan is way better than Knight (and Williams, for that matter).


So, for all these revisionist historians, it might be worthwhile to go back and actually take a look at what people were saying at the time instead of just looking at what turned out to be the best players from each draft and assuming everyone knew those should have been the easy picks.


It's way too soon to give an opinion of Bennett other than he's struggling offensively to start his rookie season, but other than that, Grant has actually drafted very well in his tenure with the Cavs.


Thomas Robinson -- the guy everybody wanted the Cavs to take -- has been a complete bust... Thompson and Waiters have not.

I was not posting much, if anything on the draft. I had very little interest on it because it was not relevant to my rooting interest. But I will say this about Robinson vs Drummond. Drummond came into college as a barely 18 year old freshmen and played really well. He had very high potential and everyone knew it. Robinson did nothing his freshmen and sophomore seasons then exploded his junior season. That is usually a red flag for me. A NBA player does well in their freshmen or at least sophomore seasons in college. I am a huge fan on big men especially with potential. I think big men are very underrated and perimeter players are very overrated. I was always a fan on Drummond.

Drummond was certainly a far superior pick than Waiters, who is a shooting guard and an inefficient chucker at that. Waiters did not even do much in college as a SO. He was an average SG prospect- 13-2-2 was his stat line. I would almost never take a SG prospect over a top big man propsect.

In the NBA Waiters has done nothing to impress me. He has been unimpressive so far this season. He was not impresive last season either with his 41% fg. He only had one good (but not great) month last season, and high volume chuckers by the laws of statistics will always have occasional good months.

Thompson is impressive though. He was a good pick. Irving was a very good pick, but unfortunately Drummond was a gigantic miss. He is gonna be a top 4-5 player within the few years imo. Dominant centers are very rare. He has it.

[jbryan1984]

Im fairly confident Bennett will turn out well.

He needs to get in shape and get his confidence up first.

Waiters for me was an awful pick. I just dont see what he brings that made him that high of a pick.

While I am satisfied with Dion..... I wanted Harrison Barnes out of who was left.

[ZMonkey11]

He doesn't have stats because he hasn't played yet.. Its hard to be a smart ass when you're a dumbass..

I just spit out part of my breakfast.

You get the cookie for the day.

[rufuspaul]

Too early to call any of the rookies a bust. If I were a betting man I'd say ROY will come down to Oladipo, Zeller and MCW.

[ZMonkey11]

For all of you who are saying that Cleveland made a huge mistake on a can't miss Drummond prospect, do you remember him playing in college?

Athletic freak, yes. Oodles of potential, yes. But he was downright LOST on the floor at Connecticut. And because of this, there were questions marks if he could play the NBA game properly. He was RAW.

In a league where personnel can get fired on a whim, it was a very risky proposition to draft this kid.


But I'm a Pistons fan, so thanks you suckers.

[FreezingTsmoove]

NBA game is 50x faster than college. Anyone with a brain could see that Drummond was going to excel in such a fast moving game. Lets be real tho Bennett is fat and everyone knew that going into the draft. Its obvious the Cavs see a BETTER conditioned Ben could excel in such a fast game. Thats the only reason I have for Cav scouts picking a fatty with the #1. I give him 2 years to get properly conditioned before I call him a bust. People forget how badly conditioned Drummond looked last year when asked to play 20 mins

[DeuceWallaces]

For all of you who are saying that Cleveland made a huge mistake on a can't miss Drummond prospect, do you remember him playing in college?

Athletic freak, yes. Oodles of potential, yes. But he was downright LOST on the floor at Connecticut. And because of this, there were questions marks if he could play the NBA game properly. He was RAW.

In a league where personnel can get fired on a whim, it was a very risky proposition to draft this kid.


But I'm a Pistons fan, so thanks you suckers.

Big men routinely look bad in college because of zone and poor PG play. It's all a crap shoot but the Cavs have made some very questionable draft selections as of late. Putting up a donut hole your first 4 games is not a good sign.

[Qwyjibo]

For all of you who are saying that Cleveland made a huge mistake on a can't miss Drummond prospect, do you remember him playing in college?

Athletic freak, yes. Oodles of potential, yes. But he was downright LOST on the floor at Connecticut. And because of this, there were questions marks if he could play the NBA game properly. He was RAW.

He was also playing with two ball dominant guards, one of who was a total moron on the court (Napier). I think his lack of assertiveness on offense owed a lot to that. He was still a monster on defense.

[rustycage]

I don't know why, but this reminded me of this

[MP.Trey]

For all of you who are saying that Cleveland made a huge mistake on a can't miss Drummond prospect, do you remember him playing in college?

Athletic freak, yes. Oodles of potential, yes. But he was downright LOST on the floor at Connecticut. And because of this, there were questions marks if he could play the NBA game properly. He was RAW.

In a league where personnel can get fired on a whim, it was a very risky proposition to draft this kid.


But I'm a Pistons fan, so thanks you suckers.

Not to mention his 29% FT's in college. That can be quite a turnoff as well.

[Dbrog]

Why is he shooting so many 3's? He should get his baskets closer to the rim. He's got some size on him. It's still too early, he might explode for 30 in the next game. But I just have this feeling that he was taken 1st as a joke. He's basically a fall guy. I hope he does better. A number 1 pick has to contribute. Lin wasn't even drafted so he's done great.

This. Idk what happened either. In the preseason he showed he already has decent post-moves and a pretty legit post-fadeaway. Idk why he has resorted to an almost Derrick Williams role in the regular season (go to perimeter and jack em up till benched). I actually see quite a bit of similarities between them..though Bennett definitely has more upside. I agree with others. He should be much better once he gains his confidence. I guess my question is will he be able to do it on this team? Cavs are pretty much looking to win now and just aren't giving him that many minutes.

[RedBlackAttack]

I was not posting much, if anything on the draft. I had very little interest on it because it was not relevant to my rooting interest. But I will say this about Robinson vs Drummond. Drummond came into college as a barely 18 year old freshmen and played really well. He had very high potential and everyone knew it. Robinson did nothing his freshmen and sophomore seasons then exploded his junior season. That is usually a red flag for me. A NBA player does well in their freshmen or at least sophomore seasons in college. I am a huge fan on big men especially with potential. I think big men are very underrated and perimeter players are very overrated. I was always a fan on Drummond.

Drummond was certainly a far superior pick than Waiters, who is a shooting guard and an inefficient chucker at that. Waiters did not even do much in college as a SO. He was an average SG prospect- 13-2-2 was his stat line. I would almost never take a SG prospect over a top big man propsect.

In the NBA Waiters has done nothing to impress me. He has been unimpressive so far this season. He was not impresive last season either with his 41% fg. He only had one good (but not great) month last season, and high volume chuckers by the laws of statistics will always have occasional good months.

Thompson is impressive though. He was a good pick. Irving was a very good pick, but unfortunately Drummond was a gigantic miss. He is gonna be a top 4-5 player within the few years imo. Dominant centers are very rare. He has it.

It's very easy to say that it was a no-brainer now. Go back and read the threads at the time. A very small minority of people were talking about Drummond that high. I was one of them. IGotGame was another. There was maybe one or two others.

Everyone else was sh!tting all over him.

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/sho...266633&page=12

As for Waiters, there's no doubt in my mind that we'll look back at that draft years from now and he'll be considered one of the best players to come out of it. I think Drummond has "best center in the NBA" potential, so will he reach those kinds of heights? That's doubtful. And, as much as I like Drummond, he's still no sure thing either.

But, Waiters will at the very least be a solid starting SG in this league or a great sixth man off the bench. When you consider real busts that are drafted every year -- like a Thomas Robinson or a Jan Vesely -- that isn't such a bad thing.

And, I think solid starter/great 6th man is worst case scenario. He has the talent and work ethic to be a top flight 2-guard. He was the second highest scoring rookie in the league last year behind only Lillard and he did so with a better FG% than guys like Brad Beal (just barely).

So far, he's been far from a bust. It's unrealistic to expect a team to take the best guy available every year, like it looks like the Cavs MAY have done in 2011 with both picks. That's not going to happen every year or even most years. I don't care if we're talking about the Bobcats or the Spurs.

And, Drummond slipping to 9th is proof that the Cavs' opinion on him was more in line with consensus and not an outlier.

When it comes to drafting in the NBA, the biggest thing is just to avoid completely striking out on a pick and the Cavs have not done that yet. We'll see about Bennett, but I think he'll eventually be good. It's way too early to make any kind of even half-@ssed opinion, let alone definitive statements.

[outbreak]

doesn't anyone remember at the time how drummond was being described as the kind of big man who could get a GM fired if he doesn't pan out? Noone considered him a sure thing

[RedBlackAttack]

This. Idk what happened either. In the preseason he showed he already has decent post-moves and a pretty legit post-fadeaway. Idk why he has resorted to an almost Derrick Williams role in the regular season (go to perimeter and jack em up till benched). I actually see quite a bit of similarities between them..though Bennett definitely has more upside. I agree with others. He should be much better once he gains his confidence. I guess my question is will he be able to do it on this team? Cavs are pretty much looking to win now and just aren't giving him that many minutes.

It didn't matter who they drafted, that was going to be the case. There wasn't a single guy in that draft who would start for the Cavs right now or get a ton of minutes right away. They knew Bennett was a work in progress and wasn't going to come out of the gates getting 25-30 minutes a night.

I doubt the organization is worried about his slow offensive start. It sounded like their biggest concerns about him initially was his defensive focus. That's been there for the most part. I even think part of his offensive struggles may be because he's been focusing so much on improving at the other end.

He's still getting minutes and that's because he has shown capable on the defensive end. The offense will come eventually.