JoeyB

Mateen Cleaves signed a 10-day contract Monday with the Cleveland Cavaliers, who need help at point guard while Jeff McInnis is on the injured list.

Cleaves, who helped Michigan State win the 2000 NCAA championship, participated in a shootaround with the Cavaliers in San Antonio.

Cleaves averaged 5.4 points and 2.7 assists as a rookie for Detroit, then spent most of the next two seasons on Sacramento's bench.

He was released by Boston during training camp last summer and joined Huntsville of the National Basketball Development League, where he averaged 14.1 points, 5.8 assists and 4.3 rebounds in 47 games.

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Seeing Cleaves' name in the heart of March Madness made me think of how he led the Spartans to the title. His college success hasn't translated into NBA success....yet.


Who had the best college game---that DIDN'T translate into NBA success??

I remember Khalid El Amin carrying UConn for a time and I don't think he's even on a roster right now.

I saw a report on Mario Austin on ESPN today....


Any Duke player also qualifies for this....

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Averett

Hey now, I wouldn't go with any Duke player

But before I saw this the first name that came to me was Bobby Hurley. Of course he was in a horrible car accident that ended his career, who knows where he could have been had it not been for that.

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nash

Not the [i[best[/i] game, but I thought of Christian Laettner. Instead, Len Bias probably had the best college game, but then died of cocaine overdose. Sad, sad, sad, sad story. Most people agree he had the talent to be Michael Jordan's rival.

sixate

Lawrence Moten from Syracuse and Shawn Respert from Michigan State. It floors me that those two couldn't play in the NBA, and what is even more unbelievable is that Eric Snow was on that same Michigan State team, and he stunk in college, but he's had a solid NBA career.

Those are the first two that came to my mind, but there are so many it's not even funny.

djtestudo

Christian Laettner and David Thompson would be my picks. Laettner was never really THAT good, although he managed to dominate two straight tournaments, and Thompson had some success, which he promptly snorted through a rolled-up hundred-dollar bill.

I don't think you can count guys like Bias, or Hurley, since they never got the chance to really get going. Jason Williams too.

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Nimbletoe

Ehhh, Laettner was on the dream team, that's more than a lot of people can say. True, people thought he was going to have an amazing career, and he hasn't really, but there are others out there, namely who sixate said, that owned up in the NCAA and didn't do jack in the NBA.

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JoeyB

The Bias and Hurley picks are solid and without question, Bias is one of the most disappointing endings of any athlete.....

however, just for the sake of discussion, let's limit the discussion to people who for whatever reason---fell short for reasons other than off the court injury or death.

BTW--I meant no offense to Duke, but look at the all-star disappointing lineup.

C--Christian Laettner
F--Cherokee Parks
F--Grant Hill
G--Jason Williams
G--Bobby Hurley

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Mojo_PeiPei

Grant Hill isn't disappointing, he had a really solid career until he got injuries and health issues.

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jay-g

Calbert Chaney-Indiana
Kendall Gill-Illinois
Bryant Reeves-Oklahoma State
I know theres more, but cant think right now..

JoeyB

Fair enough.....I shouldn't judge him based on injuries.


I'll take him out and put in Chris Carrawell or William Avery.

For the record, this isn't Duke bashing. I think they're the greatest program of the last 20 years. I'm just amazed that they have not produced more impact players in the NBA.

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Bigt6909

I think that Kendall Gill has had a solid career... I mean he's moved around the league a lot but he is still a decent bench player. However I'll agree with almost everyone else in saying Christain Laettner is a huge dissappointment... again he was on the dream team and then what else has he done? And when I saw Cherokee Parks on that list it made me laugh... I almost forgot about that guy.

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EbolaVirus

Bo Kimble - He was a scoring machine in college (at Loyola Marymount, a mid-major) but never did much in the NBA.

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JoeyB

Nice mention!!

I think he was another Clipper pick!

Ed O'Bannon was another one(a disappointment...not necessarily a Clipper pick), but I think his problem was injuries.

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tim2shady

although the following have had somewhat of nba career they are those i can think of now....

calbert cheaney
steve alford (very limited nba, greatest shooter in college in 80's)
mashburn from KY...is he still playin' somewhere?
laettner (why was he on the dream team and not shaq???stupid)
nervous pervis from UofL ...center, played in late 80's...good in college noda in nba
kenny sky walker from KY...dominate in college, very limited pro career
OK...i'm done

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EbolaVirus

Ralph Sampson was a college player of the year. His NBA career consisted of injuries and moving from team to team.

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sixate

Are you kidding me? Mash has been in the league for 11 years now. His averages for his career are nearly 20 points a game, a little over 5 boards, and just over 4 assists for his career. He's a great player. He's playing for the Hornets now. Although, he's had a few seasons with a bunch of injuries, but when he's healthy he's a dominant player.

JoeyB

Pervis built a career out of a great month. He led Louisville to the national championship as a Freshman and that March cemented his reputation.


Good choice on that one!

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mikeysj

what about the o'bannon brothers from ucla? also..what exactly happened to hurley at the nba?

JoeyB

Ed had a bad knee if I remember correctly and Hurley never completely recovered from his car accident.

I don't know if Charles O'Bannon ever had the expectations of his brother.

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jay-g

Trajon Langdon -Duke
Joe Smith -Maryland
Robert Traylor -Michigan
Keith Van Horn -Utah

AL9045

You kind of have to feel sorry for those players who were all hype, but nothing happened...

JoeyB

Duke.

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