Khadeem Lattin filed for the NBA Draft

cvangild said:
I agree on Hollis getting NBA snubbed. I also thought Ace McGhee would make a team....and also Taj Gray. But sometimes you got to be at the right place at the right time.
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I think it just speaks to how difficult it is to get into the NBA. There are, at most, 450 people in the entire world on NBA rosters at any given time, and fewer than 400 active. Fewer still factor into any meaningful minutes. Put it this way, if you assume the average NBA rotation goes about 9 deep, there about 270 men in the entire world who actually play meaningful minutes in the NBA. Those numbers help me put things in perspective when this discussion comes up.

All three of those guys were tremendous college players, but in each instance, they had some physical limitation that made it next to impossible for an NBA team to justify paying them to occupy one of those precious roster spots.
 
Zimwillett said:
All three of those guys were tremendous college players, but in each instance, they had some physical limitation that made it next to impossible for an NBA team to justify paying them to occupy one of those precious roster spots.
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Fair points, but then there are cases like Ryan Humphrey. Hardly one of the 270 best basketball players in the world. Was he better Ace, Taj or Romero?
 
skyvue said:
Fair points, but then there are cases like Ryan Humphrey. Hardly one of the 270 best basketball players in the world. Was he better Ace, Taj or Romero?
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Ace could have played in today's NBA. Taj was too limited. Romero has had his shot, wasn't good enough.
 
Seen his new car he bought with his signing bonus
2017_nissan_versa-876x535.jpg
 
skyvue said:
Fair points, but then there are cases like Ryan Humphrey. Hardly one of the 270 best basketball players in the world. Was he better Ace, Taj or Romero?
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From a "talent" or "upside" standpoint, probably, but that's subjective. From an objective standpoint, keep in mind, we OU fans have a little bit of a skewed memory of Humphrey. He came in as one of the most hyped recruits in the history of the program. While he averaged a respectable 9 ppg/7rpg as a freshman and 11/7 as a sophomore, that wasn't anywhere close to the hype that was laid on him.

But at Notre Dame, he averaged 14/9 as a junior and just shy of 19 points and 11 rebounds as a senior. Plus, he was always a better shot blocker than any of those 3, and as a senior at ND, he averaged 2.6 assists per game (which is really good for a college big). So even just by the numbers, as a junior/senior, Humphrey was objectively more productive than those three.

Look, I'm not denying that there isn't an element of good fortune or "right place/right time" (just ask Kurt Rambis). But the truth is that no matter how much we all loved guys like Hollis or Ace McGhee (and I did), bad luck just isn't the main reason those guys couldn't crack an NBA roster.
 
Zimwillett said:
From a "talent" or "upside" standpoint, probably, but that's subjective. From an objective standpoint, keep in mind, we OU fans have a little bit of a skewed memory of Humphrey. He came in as one of the most hyped recruits in the history of the program. While he averaged a respectable 9 ppg/7rpg as a freshman and 11/7 as a sophomore, that wasn't anywhere close to the hype that was laid on him.

But at Notre Dame, he averaged 14/9 as a junior and just shy of 19 points and 11 rebounds as a senior. Plus, he was always a better shot blocker than any of those 3, and as a senior at ND, he averaged 2.6 assists per game (which is really good for a college big). So even just by the numbers, as a junior/senior, Humphrey was objectively more productive than those three.

Look, I'm not denying that there isn't an element of good fortune or "right place/right time" (just ask Kurt Rambis). But the truth is that no matter how much we all loved guys like Hollis or Ace McGhee (and I did), bad luck just isn't the main reason those guys couldn't crack an NBA roster.
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this ryan Humphrey was a freak athlete ...

hollis was an undersized (way undersized) 2 that couldn't dribble

and ACE was a way undersized 4 man ..
 
BoulderSooner said:
this ryan Humphrey was a freak athlete ...

hollis was an undersized (way undersized) 2 that couldn't dribble

and ACE was a way undersized 4 man ..
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Ryan was also a little on the lazy side. He was such a great athlete and player he was a man among boys in high school. He didn't have to work hard to dominate a game, so he took plays off on both ends of the court. I saw him play in the state high school championship game his senior season when he was the last man down the court both ways on a number of possessions.

The tendency to take plays off followed him in college and the pros. Thus, a once in a lifetime athlete and basketball player who had the goods to be one of the best ever to play the game did not reach his full potential. Good player nevertheless, just not nearly as good as he could have been.
 
AdaSooner said:
Ryan was also a little on the lazy side. He was such a great athlete and player he was a man among boys in high school. He didn't have to work hard to dominate a game, so he took plays off on both ends of the court. I saw him play in the state high school championship game his senior season when he was the last man down the court both ways on a number of possessions.

The tendency to take plays off followed him in college and the pros. Thus, a once in a lifetime athlete and basketball player who had the goods to be one of the best ever to play the game did not reach his full potential. Good player nevertheless, just not nearly as good as he could have been.
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I remember all the excuses that people made for his lack of hustle up and down the court. He had quite a few defenders here.
 
coolm said:
I remember all the excuses that people made for his lack of hustle up and down the court. He had quite a few defenders here.
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I hope no one thinks what I posted was a defense of Humphrey. I 100% agree he was lazy and the team was better off without him. I was only pointing out that he really did have a statistically better college career than most OU fans think. I think the numbers he put up in spite of his bad traits is an illustration of his talent, and ultimately why he got drafted.
 
Taj Gray was a great athlete but had zero basketball skills. He was also lacking in the mental aspects of the game in a big way.
 
Zimwillett said:
I hope no one thinks what I posted was a defense of Humphrey. I 100% agree he was lazy and the team was better off without him. I was only pointing out that he really did have a statistically better college career than most OU fans think. I think the numbers he put up in spite of his bad traits is an illustration of his talent, and ultimately why he got drafted.
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no no. I wasn't referring to you. I think you were dead on. He was very talented and he could have been much more. But what he did do was still useful.
 
Zimwillett said:
I hope no one thinks what I posted was a defense of Humphrey. I 100% agree he was lazy and the team was better off without him. I was only pointing out that he really did have a statistically better college career than most OU fans think. I think the numbers he put up in spite of his bad traits is an illustration of his talent, and ultimately why he got drafted.
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Zimwillet, I certainly didn't take it that way. I was adding my own two cents to your post in response to what Boulder had to say.

Ryan had a good college career. I just think he could have done so much more in college and the pros if he had been driven to use his God-given athleticism and talent. Can you imagine how great he could have been with the motor of someone like Eduardo Najera?
 
AdaSooner said:
Can you imagine how great he could have been with the motor of someone like Eduardo Najera?
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quite honestly ... Ryan Humphrey lacked heart. It was rap on him from many years before and it followed him throughout. He didnt have the competitive fire or the tenacity necessary to match his athleticism.
 
coolm said:
quite honestly ... Ryan Humphrey lacked heart. It was rap on him from many years before and it followed him throughout. He didnt have the competitive fire or the tenacity necessary to match his athleticism.
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He also was too lazy to improve his game. It was too easy just manhandling boys in high school but once he was in college it wasn't as easy. He had all the tools except his shot was horrible. Lon and crew could have helped his shot immensely based on what they have done with Lattin and others.
 
I've no desire to revive arguments from 15 years ago about whether Ryan Humphrey was lazy or not, but it should probably be noted that the dude was anemic.
 
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