Poll: Who will be the Best player out of the 2001 Draft

[ATLien_]

Kind of hard to choose isn't it? I think I'm still going to vote for my boy Kwame coming from Georgia. He may not of done much last year, but I never invisioned him doing much in his first year. I am going to at least give these guys 3 years. The media started calling DJ a bust after one year also.

[ATLien_]

Sorry Walter I forgot to put Gerald Wallace. LOL

[Admin]

Personally I had a hard time deciding between Tyson Chandler and Eddie Griffin because I think they will both be all-stars within two years. That may sound crazy but both of them showed the potential for it this year. I think that Chandler looked far better than Kwame this year and I also think he looked better than Curry. I really feel that this will go down as one of the best draft classes ever in 3-5 years once they all grows up!

By the by, I chose Griffin myself since I have seen him play personally several times and he is just an electrifying player.

[ATLien_]

Pau Gasol come on guys I know he had a good rookie season, but do you really think he will be able to compete with the high schoolers when they mature. He was already ready to play plus he actually got to play unlike most of the other rookies. I will go down as saying I will very suprised if he is the best in the class.

I just don't see Gasol being the best out of the class 5 years from now, and as a matter a fact I think Zack Randolf will be better than him.

[Guest]

I voted Pau....Diop will never ammount to anything with

already having foot problems as a teen.Curry/Chandler

will be alright....It comes between Gasol and Griffin I voted

for Pau.

[Traceman]

Gasol averaged 18/9 as a rookie and was 6th in the NBA in blocks with over 2 per game. He was 10th in the NBA in double doubles. If Kwame Brown, Tyson Chandler or Eddy Curry match those numbers any time soon, I will be impressed. All 3 certainly have the potential to put up those numbers but Gasol already has and just like them, he will get better. If any of those 3 guys end up being better than Gasol, I won't be surprised. That being said, all 3 have a long way to go to get to Gasol's level.

I think Jason Richardson has a chance to be the best of the bunch before it's all said and done but if I were a betting man, I'd have to go with the proven man in Gasol.

[jaywalker72]

Richardson poured it on at the end of the season and established himself, not Jamison, as the core player around which this team will function.

With Dunleavy at the 3, Jamison at the 4, and Richardson scoring from the 2, the Warriors have the makings of another Holy Trinity of talent (Run TMC).

Richardson was electric and IMO can be more dominant than Gasol by taking over games in the future.

And that's my two cents...

[Admin]

Lets break down Pau's numbers compared to those of Chandler.

Gasol averaged 17.5 pts and 9 boards per game and 2 blocks in 37 minutes.

Chandler averaged 6 pts and 5 boards per game and 1.3 blocks in 19 minutes.

If you double Chandlers minutes (which I realize doesnt mean his production will double, but its the only real way to measure this)....anyways, if you double his minutes to just about match Gasols minutes, he would have averaged 12 pts and 10 boards and 2.6 blocks per game. Those stats are likely to fluctuate either way because if he had played Gasols minutes he may not have been able to put up those numbers due to being tired or he may have exceeded those numbers because of likely being the teams go to guy like Gasol was.

Curry is just slightly behind or ahead of Chandler also statistically speaking. I think that in 2 years you wont find a GM in the NBA that would take Gasol over either of these guys. Krause was crazy for making the Brand trade, but in 2 years it will have paid off because both Chandler and Curry will be better than Elton and since they sucked again this year likely worse than they would have with Elton they are going to be able to get Baron Davis or Andre Miller or worst case scenario Jay Williams.

[Traceman]

The points you raised about Richardson are precisely why I mentioned him specifically in my post as well. He could very well end up being the best of the bunch but in order to get there, he has to improve a lot more than Gasol does. The reason I went with Gasol is that all he has to do is average 2 more points and 1 more rebound and he will average a 20/10 double double. In other words, a relatively minor improvement over last year's production will put him in fairly elite company. I think the likelihood of Gasol averaging a double double next year is very good. As for J Rich, I can see him averaging 20 ppg next year as well and over 25 ppg down the road. If he ends up being a better player than Gasol, I won't be surprised but as a betting man, I'd have to go with Pau "POW" Gasol!