30 for 30: I Hate Christian Laettner

Laettner was the epitome of the player you love to have on your team and hate when you play him. He was a great college player. His combination of skill and toughness is lacking anymore. There was very little he couldn't do in the college game.
 
docholihawk said:
I doubt they'll say much about Laettners pro career but it's safe to say he was one of many misses the Timberwolves have had in drafting players.
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He averaged 17 pts and 8 rebounds per game for the T-wolves. That's a draft miss?
 
HawkeyeMike23 said:
Well you're missing the point of this thread then. And Hill proved he couldn't win one without Laettner either.
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This feels like a Jordan/Pippen debate. Pippen never got a title those 2 years Jordan was gone, but it is/was an unfair comparison because Jordan never played without Pippen. I think the same thing applies here.
 
FCAS said:
He averaged 17 pts and 8 rebounds per game for the T-wolves. That's a draft miss?
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Depends on what you want out of the 2nd pick in the draft. You want a franchise hof'er or an above average player who will give you long time production.
 
I absolutely hated Laettner and Hurley when I was growing up. The older I get, the more respect I have for both of them.
 
trj said:
Depends on what you want out of the 2nd pick in the draft. You want a franchise hof'er or an above average player who will give you long time production.
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He was the 3rd pick. And if you look at the picks after him in that draft (other than maybe Jimmy Jackson), it's hard to say they made a bad choice.
 
FCAS said:
He was the 3rd pick. And if you look at the picks after him in that draft (other than maybe Jimmy Jackson), it's hard to say they made a bad choice.
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Forgot about Alonzo Mourning I thought he was 2nd after Shaq, my bad.........That being said you could have got similar production out of Gugliotta/Ellis.
 
trj said:
This feels like a Jordan/Pippen debate. Pippen never got a title those 2 years Jordan was gone, but it is/was an unfair comparison because Jordan never played without Pippen. I think the same thing applies here.
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WHAT? "Jordan never played without Pippen"? Really? Jordan was drafted in 1984; Pippen in 1987. There's three seasons that Jordan played without Pippen. And he scored a lot of points in those three seasons but didn't win a playoff series, in fact the Bulls only won one playoff game in those first three seasons. The best the Bulls did with only Jordan was 40 wins in a season. The first year with Pippen had them winning 50 games and they got to the second round of the NBA playoffs. And they had all-stars with Jordan his first three years, namely Oakley and Woolridge. Also, Corzine was a very capable center at the time.
 
Knight78 said:
WHAT? "Jordan never played without Pippen"? Really? Jordan was drafted in 1984; Pippen in 1987. There's three seasons that Jordan played without Pippen. And he scored a lot of points in those three seasons but didn't win a playoff series, in fact the Bulls only won one playoff game in those first three seasons. The best the Bulls did with only Jordan was 40 wins in a season. The first year with Pippen had them winning 50 games and they got to the second round of the NBA playoffs. And they had all-stars with Jordan his first three years, namely Oakley and Woolridge. Also, Corzine was a very capable center at the time.
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That's my whole point people gave Pippen crap for not winning a title without Jordan....After their first title in '91 no one questioned the idea if it was possible for Jordan to win a title without Pippen. Maybe i need to enroll in a composition course at a community college so I can learn how to better express my opinion.:eek:
 
FCAS said:
He averaged 17 pts and 8 rebounds per game for the T-wolves. That's a draft miss?
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I would expect the 3rd overall draft pick to be an all star. Laettner made 1 all star team in 13 years and it was after he left Minnesota.
 
docholihawk said:
I would expect the 3rd overall draft pick to be an all star. Laettner made 1 all star team in 13 years and it was after he left Minnesota.
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Again, it was a weak draft. If you are going to say it was a "miss" for the T-Wolves, you have to identify players that were drafted after Laettner that were clearly better. Maybe Jackson, but other than that no one jumps out.
 
FCAS said:
Again, it was a weak draft. If you are going to say it was a "miss" for the T-Wolves, you have to identify players that were drafted after Laettner that were clearly better. Maybe Jackson, but other than that no one jumps out.
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I wouldn't consider Shaq/Mourning weak. You would have gotten similar production out of Ellis/Gugliotta that you got out of Laettner and both guys were drafted after Laettner.
 
trj said:
Depends on what you want out of the 2nd pick in the draft. You want a franchise hof'er or an above average player who will give you long time production.
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Not every class is going to have a HOFer in it... He played like 13 years and made 50 million bucks or more I'm sure. Nobody can say he's Kwame Brown or anything close to that. He was a solid NBA player for years and a HOFer in terms of what he did in college. I see why he's hated by KY fans yet I respect his game. He could play ball. He and Bobby Hurley were the leaders of that team. Hill being younger did defer to them. He was a good player in his own right no doubt but Duke doesn't get to the final 4 all those times without Laettner and that's a fact.
 
trj said:
I wouldn't consider Shaq/Mourning weak.
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Correct. Which is why they were correctly selected before Laettner. The overall 1st round, however, was pretty weak.

trj said:
You would have gotten similar production out of Ellis/Gugliotta that you got out of Laettner and both guys were drafted after Laettner.
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You're kind of reinforcing my original point that Laettner was not a "miss". Ellis/Gugliotta were arguably SIMILAR to Laettner, but not defnitively better. In order for Laettner to be a miss, I would say he would have to have been a complete bust or there were several selected after him that were much better.
 
That was a pretty good 30for30.

The avid Laettner/Duke hater (I think his name was Rosenberg) comes across as a real d*ck.
 
Xerxes said:
I'm not arguing who was a better college player. I'm arguing who is a better basketball player period. Duke never wins those championships in 1991 & 1992 without Hill. He was their best and most athletic player who could play & guard 4 positions well. They needed him to beat the the UNLV/Kansas/Indiana/Michigan type teams. Hill & Duke did have an early exit in 1993 tournament. Of course the next year, Hill's SR season, he carried Duke to the National Championship game against Arkansas and lost on Scotty Thurman's rainbow 3.
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Lattener was Dukes best player for those championship teams. Not even debatable.
 
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