skyvue
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Late during the ku-oswho broadcast, color man Lance Blanks all but proclaimed Cade Cunningham the best player in the country. Cunningham ranks in the 90s nationally in points per game, in the 180s in assists per game, in the 340s in assists-to-turnovers ratio, somewhere worse than 350th in the country in steals, and I stopped there.
I'm not knocking the kid -- I've no doubt he's a quality player. But I hate the way sports media hypes a guy like him so much more than what his performance on the court (so far) merits. Shades of Marcus Smart.
Trae wasn't a perfect player and I know he got plenty of hype, but he was at least delivering stats that warranted the hype. At this stage, Cunningham's hype, like Smart's, feels predetermined, scripted. You want to say he's playing very well for a freshman? Great. Maturity beyond his years? Fair enough.
Best player in the country? Right now (and barring a major surge on his part down the stretch), that's just over the top. I know the NBA loves his potential, but that's not what Blanks said.
I'm not knocking the kid -- I've no doubt he's a quality player. But I hate the way sports media hypes a guy like him so much more than what his performance on the court (so far) merits. Shades of Marcus Smart.
Trae wasn't a perfect player and I know he got plenty of hype, but he was at least delivering stats that warranted the hype. At this stage, Cunningham's hype, like Smart's, feels predetermined, scripted. You want to say he's playing very well for a freshman? Great. Maturity beyond his years? Fair enough.
Best player in the country? Right now (and barring a major surge on his part down the stretch), that's just over the top. I know the NBA loves his potential, but that's not what Blanks said.
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