FanPost

Marbury a draft bust?

Editor's Note: (Yeah. I'm calling myself "editor" now. You wanna fight about it?) This fantastic diary from Mase is definitely worth a read and some discussion. The Raptors game thread is below, if you're watching it for some reason. All game notes and haikus go down there. Otherwise, appreciate this well-done piece from da Haircut.

Here is an article that I stumbled upon about the worst 100 draft picks of any major sport: http://proxy.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=schoenfield/060427. (note: the article is a year old, so you won't find Mario Williams on there even though you definetly will in future lists)

The rankings used in the list by David Schoenfield were NOT based only on that players' performance.  Some of the rankings were based on what players the drafting team passed up on or what the team gave up for the drafted player.
i.e. Joe Barry Carroll (#3 bust) had a better NBA career (was even an NBA All-Star at one point) than Chris Washburn (#9 bust) but the Warriors gave up Robert Parish plus the #3 pick in that draft (which ended up being used on Kevin McHale) for him.  Side note: two of the top ten busts were Warriors picks.  Poor bastards.

Let me preface all of this by saying that I consider myself a Knicks realist.  For example, I think it's disgraceful for fellow fans to accept a 32-win season as a success just because it's an "improvement" from 23 wins a year ago.  I don't use injuries as an excuse for losing (especially to teams like Philly, Portland and Boston).  I think I'm one of the few Knicks fans that think the Curry deal wasn't good move for the Knicks though he's begun to take steps towards proving me wrong.  And most of all, I've been really hard on Marbury, especially last season when he was dogging it for Larry Brown (and he deserved it).  But, I also believe that it was Scott Layden not Isiah who deserves most of the blame for where the Knicks are today.  I think the Antonio McDyess trade (which Layden masterminded) set the franchise back at least a decade.  And though I think Isiah is a terrible GM, he obviously has is a great draft evaluator of talent.  So I'm not optimistic, or pessimistic, just realistic.  There.  I'm glad I got that out of the way.  

Anyways, while I was scanning through this article, I noticed that Stephon Marbury was listed as the 50th biggest bust of all-time.  Here is Schoenfield's reasoning:

"But he's been a two-time All-Star! I don't want to hear it. This guy has destroyed more franchises than Jeffrey Loria. The facts speak for themselves: Every team he leaves gets better, every team he joins gets worse. He's a disaster with a high scoring average."

I've been critical of Marbury in the past just like most others have.  But placing him 50th on this listed absolutely incensed me.  Marbury has career numbers of 20 ppg (19.9 to be exact) and 8 ppg (7.9 to be exact).  He is a two-time All-Star and a member of an Olympic team.  

Just look at some of the players BEHIND Marbury on this list.  Danny Ferry, Kwame Brown (who is one of the worst #1s ever), and Eric Montross are all less of a bust than Marbury?  Other busts listed better than him include Steve Emtman, Tim Couch (awful), and various huge QB busts like Akili Smith, Heath Shuler and the immortal "Robot QB" Todd Marinovich (!!!!)  What a joke.

And the "what did they give up for him?" arguement has no bearing.  The T'Wolves traded Ray Allen and Andrew Lang for Marbury on draft day in '96.  Allen (21.5 pgg) has basically the same numbers as Marbury and isn't any more of a winner than Marbury is (did have a Conference Finals appearance in '01 but BFD).  

I just think that the article is a microcosm of the harsh criticism (fair or unfair) placed upon Marbury in his career from the national media, local media and fans.  Alot of the criticism is due to the unrealistic expectations that were put on his shoulders after the Knicks traded for him in 2004.  I remember where I was that day when I first heard about that trade and I had to triple-check three different websites to make sure that it was true.  Everyone thought that suddenly the team would become a contender again (Keith Van Horn was considered the top player...enough said).  Everyone gives Marbury alot of shit because this three-year stretch (04-05, 05-06 and this year) has arguably been the worst three-year stretch in Knicks history.  Alot of the blame has fallen on Thomas and somewhat rightfully so.  But many have put all the blame on the player on the court that has been the captain of the sinking ship, and that player is Marbury.    

But, I think we can all agree that the '06-07 season has been a re-birth of sorts for Steph.  He's played great basketball and most importantly he's played TEAM baseketball.  He's played hard, he's played smart and he's played to win instead of playing for a good box score.  Alot of this probably has to do with Isiah taking over and because of their great relationship.  The '06-07 version of Marbury is the one we were all expecting to see when the deal first went through.

This article just really pissed me off and I wanted to bring it to your attention.  Has Marbury deserved some of the critcism in the past?  When he was sitting on the bench pouting and spouting off to the media last year about LB, Yeah he deserved it.  But after seeing Steph on the court this year, his demeanor and his play has drastically changed.

I wish everyone would change their negative opinion of him as well.