A Look Back, And a Look Forward.

Excerpt from ESPN / TheSportsGuy's website today (oh, and BTW - the Sports Guy might be the funniest guy on the planet - so, with all due respect):

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/060317

"John Hollinger stole my thunder here. Originally I wrote a longer section in this spot about how Dwyane Wade was the 2006 MVP -- how it wasn't even really that close, how he's the best two-way player in the league; how he's been scoring 33 a game and shooting 56 percent from the field for the past two months; how he's the one star in the league who can completely turn a game around in about 90 seconds; how he got over an early season funk of taking bad shots and makes the right decisions nearly all the time; how he's probably the toughest two-guard since the late-'90s MJ; how he's the most efficient superstar since the early-'90s MJ; how he's been on a mission since he didn't win the MVP at the All-Star Game; how he has a knack for raising his game when it matters -- and then Hollinger blew this same premise into an entire column. Beat me by one day. If it happens again, I'm going to have him killed.

Here's the point: Miami is 20-4 over its past 24 games, mainly because of Dwyane Wade. I see them continuing to get better and better. Why? Because he keeps getting better and better. After MJ retired, did you ever think you would see another guard average 30-35 points a night, rack up another six rebounds and six assists per game, play world-class defense and shoot 55 percent from the field? Well, it's happening."

Message to Hollinger and Bill Simmons - thanks, you are over a year late.

Having clearly proven my prescience, and discerning NBA talent evaluation skills (the Curry and Chandler "suggestion" was quite accurate as well), Ive decided to return to the world of online blogging, if only to contribute my knowledge for public consumption.

So, without further adieu:

Channing Frye is currently the most overrated "prospect" in the league. He's a good player, but hardly a future all-star candidate. Simply not going to happen. He's got a good mid-range (18-foot) jumper, but so do many players. The reason he was considered soft in college (and slipped to the Knicks) was not because he couldn't shoot, but that he simply can't finish in the paint like the elite NBA players do; Shaq, Duncan, Mourning and now most notably, Stoudemire - when those players get the ball in the paint, they dunk the ball with the sole intention of breaking the rim. Frye simply doesn't have the raw athletic potential that someone like Dwight Howard does from that perspective. Frye will never amount to anything better than an Abdur-Rahim type player (which would actually be realizing his full potential). The Knicks should have traded him for some real talent when his perceived value was the most out of line - perhaps they wouldn't be in the severe predicament they are now.

Oh, and by the way, Nate Robinson is probably a close second in terms of overstated potential - he won't even be as valuable as Earl Boynkins, a career role-player / back-up.