Dunk Base

Potential. There isn’t any league in the world where that word gets thrown around more than in the NBA, thanks in no small part to the extensive scouting of promising players that takes place. Here are the main reasons the word gets brought up so often:

-High school players get scouted based on an estimation of how well they would play in a real team. A high school team isn’t a real team most of the time. It's a collection of individuals who are getting acquainted with team spirit, much like toddlers being taught in kindergardens what's acceptable behavior.

-Most college players have the same coach and team through their college career. This means that scouts only see these players in one specific system. Scouts have to use their imagination to picture what the player would be like in another system, where he’d have a bigger or smaller role, or just a different type of role (being more of a distributor than a scorer for example).

-Athleticism. It goes a long way but it doesn’t guarantee success. If you wow people with your athleticism and put it to good use in high school or more importantly, in college, it gets the scouts’ attention. If you don’t have technical skills but are still able to consistently apply your athleticism with acrobatic finishes, hustle plays and putback dunks, you can be labeled a “top prospect” despite not being a very good basketball player (eg. Joey Graham).

But what I just talked about has more to do with scouting than how the players choose to develop themselves. This brings me to the question of who are the most underachieving players in the NBA? Not guys who were poorly scouted or crippled by injuries but players who themselves failed to do what’s necessary to maximize their abilities.

Players like JR Smith and Tyrus Thomas are frustrating to watch at times because you know the potential is there and you see it in every game but their questionable decision-making keeps them from fulfilling their maximum capabilities. However, the jury is still out on those players. I will only list active players who had the chance to be significantly better but missed out on it.

10. Baron Davis

Baron Davis is one of the most athletic PG’s of all time. This why it’s such a tragedy that his downfall happens to be conditioning. In his first 3 games, Baron Davis didn’t miss a single game. I may be making assuming a little too much, but I get the image that Baron was truly grateful to be in the league. I remember a story of him having trouble sleeping prior to the start of the regular season and practicing through the night in his rookie season because of how excited he was. By the end of his third season, Baron Davis was an absolute beast. He averaged 25 points, 9.2 assists and 9 rebounds in a first-round sweep of Tracy McGrady’s Magic. All indications were that he would be one of the brightest stars in the league for a long time to come. But somewhere along the line the man lost his motivation. Baron failed to make the 2^nd round of the playoffs with the Hornets from that point on and missed a combined 212 games in 6 seasons. That’s a whopping 35 games missed per season. Clearly he wasn’t taking care of his body. Two words I’ve got to say about his revival season in Golden State: contract year.

As a fan, I can’t think of anything more annoying than an amazing athlete who shows no respect for his god-given attributes. Taking ill-advised shots, which makes him underachieve even more, instead of driving to the rim could be interpreted as a sign of preserving your body for the latter stage of your career. But that argument kind of loses its merit once you see that the guy constantly shows up to training camp with a beer belly. B-Diddy is also known for wanting to make the flashy play instead of the right play. He had all the tools to being one of the best PG’s of the modern era, and even today to be right up there with the likes of Chris Paul and Deron Williams, but insisted on being a lazy me-first player.

9. Boris Diaw

He has the same problem as Baron Davis: conditioning. The French Pastry weighed 20 pounds less in the beginning of his career (went from 215 to 235) than last season and from looking at his body, you can tell (almost) none of that is muscle. The latest news on Diaw? Larry Brown is complaining about him being “way of out shape”. So he might have put on even more weight. The amazing part is that Diaw is still a good player. He’s the only player I can think of off the top of my head that has played every single position, from PG to C. Not only is he extremely versatile, he’s a smart player who finds ways to contribute and knows his role. He’s also an underrated athlete. He can beat opponents off the dribble and if the opponent sticks with him, he is a master at turning his shoulder into the opponent and getting off a high percentage shot near the basket. His mass may help him with this move but imagine how good Diaw would be if it was 20 pounds of muscle he was carrying instead of 20 pounds of fat.

8. Vince Carter

This really isn’t a controversial pick at all. Most hardcore fans are aware of how ridiculous Vince Carter’s athleticism and skill-set are. He has unlimited range on his jumper, great upper body strength, good composure in pressure situations and he understands the game. He looks extremely fluid and comfortable on the court. There’s no wasted movement whatsoever in anything he does, it looks like the man was born to play basketball. I could compare his early years to those of a young MJ… except that the young MJ wasn’t as technically skilled as VC or nearly as good a shooter. The Michael Jordan comparisons made perfect sense when you watched VC play in his early years when his lack of motivation wasn’t yet apparent. But gradually VC started settling for more and more outside shots, got more and more reluctant to absorb contact (and he’s extraordinarily good at absorbing contact so it’s not like he’s scared of it) and then he started pouting at the end of his stay in Toronto. The change in his style of play could be attributed to him wanting preserve his body. But some of it had to be pure lazyness because he admitted that he wasn’t trying his hardest in his last year for the Raptors. We could tell, Vince. To be fair, there are players way lazier than Vince. He’s never out of shape and the amount of games he’s missed is largely exaggerated. It’s just that there aren’t any players as disinterested who are as good as Vince. He just doesn’t have the same personality and passion as most other great players that pushed them to be the very best. And that’s really a shame. Now with the Orlando Magic, Vince has been blessed with an opportunity to do some damage control on his image by having a shot at the ultimate image makeover tool – a championship.

7. Tyson Chandler

Simply put, Chandler would have benefited a lot from going to college. He was too immature and raw for the NBA. Or maybe he would have still been too immature. A freak athlete with the size and frame to dominate, Chandler’s rights were immediately traded from the Clippers to the Bulls after being picked 2^nd overall for Elton Brand, a ROY winner and 20-10 guy for his first 2 seasons. In Tyson’s rookie season with the Bulls he was under coach Tim Floyd, who was new to the NBA game and had fallen out of favor with the players. He resigned midway through the season and was replaced by the sociable Bill Cartwright, the former assistant coach of the team. So Tyson didn’t have any authority figure to truly push and challenge him early on in his career. When Scott Skiles was hired during the ’03-04 season, Tyson didn’t take kindly to his disciplinarian approach, which was undoubtedly unlike anything he had experienced before. The two feuded with each other for the remainder of Tyson’s stay in Chicago. Tyson kept showing the same bad body language and work ethic he had for his whole NBA career.  He hasn’t been willing to take advice from anyone during his career and to this day insists that Scott Skiles is “not a good person and that’s obvious in the way he treats players”. He became a good player with the Hornets, mostly because of Chris Paul. It should be noted that the Hornets tried trading Chandler once to save money (didn’t go through because of a failed physical) and have now traded him to take on more money. I’m wondering if there’s more behind this than just money. Maybe Tyson Chandler isn’t exactly a loveable locker room presence.

6. Rasheed Wallace

Sheed is one of the most technically skilled big men to ever play the game. Charles Barkley once said that Sheed had the ability to be the best player in the game. Unlike Vince, this guy has desire. You can see it in his eyes and umm… antics. His problem is that he can’t control it. Too much of his energy goes into complaining with refs and random yelling. There’s an optimal level of emotional input in basketball and Sheed’s goes way overboard. In comparison, Kevin Garnett seems to be a guy that’s teetering right on the edge of being excessively emotional but manages to keep it all together most of the time. Another problem with Sheed is that he doesn’t know how to put his versatility into the best use. He falls in love with the 3 point shot. He’s a good 3 point shooter (34% for his career despite taking him 5 seasons to develop it into his arsenal).but nothing great. In his first 5 seasons, Sheed exhibited what fans would like to see from him today (unless you’re rooting against his team) on a consistent basis: a low post game. He had terrific moves down low and I’m not exaggerating when I say he was right up there with Tim Duncan and Hakeem Olajuwon when it came to footwork and shaking defenders with his back to the basket. When you’re that skilled in the post, you shouldn’t be taking a lot of 3 pointers. I understand that the 35 year old Sheed doesn’t have the same crispness in his moves these days but it would be nice to see him at least in the high post, where he’s actually the most bdangerous, especially when presented with a mismatch. Hopefully Boston’s coaching staff runs more plays for him in the high post than the Pistons did. His positioning and ability to get off a good look at the basket are phenomenal. Since 2001-02, Sheed hasn’t taken less than 3 3-pointers per game in a season. 5.4 is his career high and he shot 4.8 last season, which placed him 26^th in the league for 3 pointers attempted. The only guys with a worse % than him who were ahead of him on the list? Stephen Jackson and Nate Robinson… two perimeter oriented players known for their questionable shot selection. When you take into account that Sheed’s % was a respectable 35.4, it’s clear that he’s attempting way too many 3’s for someone with back-to-the-basket game.

5. Jerome James

Ah, Jerome James, perhaps the all-time biggest con-artist in the NBA; to him it’s all a big fat joke (pun intended). You could literally see him laughing on the court for the D’Antoni Knicks the few times he was brought on the court, clearly enjoying himself and his grand deception. It’s hard to evaluate how good James could have been since the only time I’ve seen him play well was in the 2005 playoffs, particularly in the infamous 1^st round series against the Kings in his contract year. I can’t find stats for that series anywhere but he averaged 12.5 PPG and 6.8 RPG on 51.4 FG% in that series and the following Spurs series combined. That period was the only time in James’ NBA career that he tried. From what I saw he had great hands, great footwork and had a very effective baby hook shot. Add his size to that and you’ve got a solid big man, maybe in the mould of an in-his-prime Elden Campbell. Nothing great but when you consider how terrible Jerome James is or at least how terribly he presents himself, there’s a big drop-off.

4. Quentin Richardson

Quentin Richardson was a beast. That’s not a word many would associate with Q based on his play in Phoenix, where he was a solid player. A beast is someone who plays with tenacity and a mean streak. Besides being a decent defender, Q was mostly a standstill shooter for the Suns. Watching him as a Sun, you would never expect him to have averaged 10.2 RPG on top of 17.9 PPG for DePaul in his 2 seasons there. In ’01-02, he would have likely finished 2^nd in 6^th man of the year award voting had the Clippers not lost 10 of their last 13 games of the season and missed the playoffs. Quentin impacted the team through hustle, physical finishes at the rim, posting up guards and small forwards (and he was stronger than nearly all of them) and by spotting up for 3’s. Then all of a sudden he stopped driving to the rim and posting up. His FG% consequently dipped under 40 and stayed there for 4 consecutive seasons. In fact, let me tell you his FG%’s after his first 2 seasons: 37%, 40%, 35%, 42%, 36%, 39%. God that’s abysmal. But that’s what happens when you one day decide to take away the best part of your game (getting to the rim and finishing with great strength). Having already collected his paycheck, he figured it would be cool to eat his way into getting the biggest ass for any guard in the NBA. Just in time for his contract year, Quentin appears to have gotten himself in great shape for the upcoming season.

3. Mark Blount

Oh how I love Mark Blount’s beautiful silky jumper. Oh god how I hate everything else about him. Mark Blount is another contract year whore who got his disgusting contract with the Celtics after averaging 10.3 PPG and 7.2 RPG on 56.6 FG%. Blount was athletic, strong and had an unblockable jumpshot (not sure if I should use past-tense here) that looked a lot like Rashard Lewis’ and was deadly accurate up to 18 feet. You can’t say that about many centers. Unfortunately he shows no interest in defense, is genuinely afraid of contact and would have a disinterested look on his face even if he was trying to detonate a timebomb.

2. Chris Wilcox

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrM9s4kE1p0 Yes, that was a travel but how ridiculous is his athleticism? Even Red Auerbach was impressed. He looks like he should be a more athletic Amare Stoudemire. Being a good shot blocker in college, Wilcox naturally thought learning the kinks of NBA defense would be a waste of his time. He also neglected to work on his post moves and to this day has none. He’d be higher on the list if it weren’t for the solid 14 and 8 on 59 FG% season he put up in ’06-07 while playing in every single game. He also has a low basketball IQ which to me shouldn’t be thought of something that makes you underachieve, it’s merely a reason why you’re not as good as your athleticism and skills would indicate.

1. Tim Thomas

Tim Thomas was drafted 7^th in the 1997 draft. That was two spots ahead of Tracy Mcrady, although in fairness T-Mac had that slight skepticism that’s placed on players who come straight out of high school. But really, Tim Thomas was like a 6’10’’ McGrady. He was an athletic freak that could shoot over anyone and easily exploit mismatches against shorter players. After his rookie season with the Sixers, there was still hope for greatness. He made the All-rookie 2^nd team but then completely disappeared in his sophomore season and got traded mid-season to the Bucks. He showed marginal improvement from his rookie year after being traded mid-season to the Bucks due to a lack of effort on the court but the potential was still obvious. Fellow Buck Ray Allen went as far as to publically state that Tim Thomas had the ability to be better than Kobe Bryant (Kobe was an NBA champion at the time). Most players would be flattered and encouraged by such sentiments from the leader of the team. Not Tim Thomas. He actually got upset at Ray Allen for saying that. Apparently he didn’t want any expectations on him because he wasn’t going to put in the effort to meet them.

Honorable mention: Eddy Curry, Lamar Odom, Juwan Howard

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