Hello I'm Jay Bilas

[archie44]

and I'm the biggest idoit in the history of basketball.

I'm sorry for predicting that Josh Smith would be a bust. I'm sorry that I didn't remain in the legal world instead of going over my head and becoming a commentator. I'm sorry my first appearance on the NBA Draft coverage for ESPN was also my last. I'm sorry I'm the biggest embarrassment ever to come out of Duke.

I'm sorry I thought Josh Smith was going to flop. But then again, I'm Jay Bilas. What should you expect?

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Just kidding. I am not Jay Bilas. But he sure was an idiot, wasn't he?

Folks the world learned tonight that we have a future. Some of us knew it all along. Now we've just got to go complete the puzzle.

[ATLJA316]

HAHAHA

i would love to see where he is now...

to see the look on his face night after night as jsmoove KILLS his stupid little theory.

think he said it just to sound smart?

after all....chances were...he'd *probably* be right, why not take he risk right?........WRONG!

hahahaha!!!

go hawks!

[cyman3]

in a way, im kinda glad JAY BILAS made those comments.

who knows, maybe those comments MOTIVATED JOSH SMITH and is making him the player we see today...

but as of right now- today, Josh Smith looks like a top 5 player of this draft. Josh Childress looks like a top 10 player of this draft.

definitely one of our better draftings

[Peoriabird]

He won a dunk contest not the NBA championship. This guy never said he couldn't dunk!

[smithrules]

Yeah but Jsmoove has already surpassed being a bust. I don't see what Bilas was thinking.

[IonSen88]

Bilas is a fool! I am glad he stuck his foot in his mouth though. . .

[CBAreject]

Smooth doesn't have to win a championship to not be considered a bust. Better yet, players who were busts have won championships, by virtue of being on the right roster.

For a #17 pick to be a bust, he has to basically make no contribution at all (e.g. Cal Bowdler, a notable 17th pick). For him to come in and win a starting spot in his rookie year, block shots all over the place, and wow everyone in the dunk contest shows that his potential is real and that Bilas' comments were ignorant. Even if he never gets any better than he is right now, even if he is a 10 and 6 man for his whole career, he will not be a bust for a #17 pick.

No, Jay Bilas didn't say that Smith couldn't dunk, but what he did do is completely underestimate his talents. In that way, Smith used the dunk contest (along with his first half exploits) to prove Bilas wrong.

[sick_five]

If Josh Smith becomes what we all hope he does (a perennial all-star), then it could very well end up being Jay Bilas' calling card.

Jay Bilas: the man who said that Josh Smith would be a bust.

Ouch! That would suck for him, even though he never guaranteed that Smith would be a bust. He only stated that he had the biggest chance. Honestly, all the kids coming out of high school have the "biggest chance" because of the quantom leap each one has to take going from high school to NBA. However, it did come out of his mouth, and was something he really didn't have any business saying. I hope he looks back on his remarks and feels like a fool.

[Spiral]

I'm kind of glad Jay Bilas said what he said. It is that kind of pre-draft fodder that caused Smith to fall all the way to us at 17. If Bilas and others weren't out there screaming he's a bust, I feel he would have gone in the top 10.

So I guess I'd like to say thank you to Jay Bilas for helping us obtain our boy.

[AHF]

Bilas is an excellent college basketball commentator who made a very stupid comment about a HS player because he was annoyed that the guy was going to play in the NBA instead of the game Bilas covers - NCAA basketball. Bilas has to regret his comments. Bilas is one of the best college commentators but he and Vitale and other college guys have no business participating in the NBA draft. They aren't qualified and they are biased against early entrants.

[Final_quest]

I think college analysts have a place to comment on the draft because they represent a large segment of the players getting drafted. However the draft has become more bitter than sweet for college fans, and you can hear the bitterness in their comments.

[AHF]

Quote:

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I think college analysts have a place to comment on the draft because they represent a large segment of the players getting drafted. However the draft has become more bitter than sweet for college fans, and you can hear the bitterness in their comments.

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I agree with this to the extent they are commenting on a player's career in college, impact on the college game, etc. They are not very good at assessing pro potential. Moreover, they have a terrible conflict of interest regarding non-upperclassmen because every early entrant hurts the college game. Remember Vitale having an absolute cow over Jameer Nelson last year? Or the bashing of Orlando for picking Dwight Howard? Etc.

Putting them in the role of commentary is like relying on Shaq to assess Kobe's likelihood of success in LA. Shaq may know Kobe's game but the conflict of interest is too big to make his commentary very worthwhile.