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Big lessons The Rockets should beware the allure of Ming's heightPosted: Monday May 20, 2002 11:42 AM
Sports Illustrated senior writer Phil Taylor touches on a Hot Button issue each Monday on CNNSI.com. After you read Phil's take, give us yours. You can't teach height, as the saying goes, but there's a corollary to that cliché -- you also can't teach NBA people not to be obsessed with height. The Houston Rockets, winners of Sunday's draft lottery, will probably be the next team to fall into the trap of letting a tape measure do their thinking for them. The Rockets are likely to take 7-foot-5 Chinese center Yao Ming with the first pick of the draft next month, and if they do, it probably won't be long before the congratulations are replaced by condolences. The Rockets won't take Ming because he's the most skilled player available; he's not. They won't take him because he dominated high-caliber competition; he didn't. They won't take him because they're certain he's going to be an All-Star; they aren't. They'll take him because 7-foot centers, regardless of their skill level, make NBA coaches, general managers and scouts go weak in the knees. It's always been that way. The league has a long tradition of teams drafting towering stiffs over more talented smaller players -- and soon coming to regret it. Call it the Shawn Bradley Syndrome. In 1993, the Philadelphia 76ers, convinced that the 7-foot-6 Bradley was a franchise player, chose him with the second pick of the draft, leaving players like Penny Hardaway and Jamal Mashburn on the board. That may be the most memorable flub, but there are plenty of other examples. If you don't remember when Indiana took Steve Stipanovich with the second pick while Clyde Drexler and Byron Scott were still available in 1983, you'll surely recall 1998, when the Los Angeles Clippers grabbed Michael Olowokandi with the No. 1 pick, passing up Mike Bibby, Vince Carter, Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce. In 1985, the league really loaded up on big lugs who couldn't play. The Clippers took Benoit Benjamin at No. 2, Atlanta chose Jon Koncak at No. 5 and Sacramento selected Joe Kleine at No. 6 -- three 7-footers who didn't amount to a hill of beans. The trio of clubs also passed over a future Dream Teamer named Chris Mullin, but how were they to know? Mullin was only 6-foot-7. When in doubt, NBA personnel people go big, especially at the top of the draft, even though there's plenty of evidence that it's far from a fool-proof philosophy. The taller a player is beyond seven feet, the more willing teams are to overestimate his strengths and overlook his shortcomings. Ming, for instance, has drawn raves for his outside shooting touch, as if anyone wants a 7-foot-5 center to step out and take jumpers. As for the fact that he seems passive, has a relatively short wing-span and comes with all sorts of strings attached courtesy of the Chinese government -- well, did we mention Ming was 7-foot-5? Granted, it's next-to-impossible to win an NBA title without a quality big man, especially in the age of Shaq, but does anyone really see the slender Ming doing anything against O'Neal other than getting body-checked into the fifth row? Maybe three years from now Ming will be a monster, but the betting here is that Jay Williams of Duke, Drew Gooden of Kansas, or my pick for next season's Rookie of the Year, Caron Butler of Connecticut, will all turn out to be better pros, and the Rockets will kick themselves the way the Sixers did over taking Bradley. By the way, Philadelphia didn't start to recover from that flub until three years later, when they had the good sense to choose 6-foot Allen Iverson with the top pick over 6-foot-11 Marcus Camby. It's a good thing for Philly that Camby wasn't an inch taller, or the Sixers might not have been able to resist him. Sports Illustrated senior writer Phil Taylor writes about a Hot Button issue every Monday on CNNSI.com. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer. |
