B.J. Mullens hype machine warm and ready
July 13, 2008 by Ryan Pravato
Filed under Basketball
Actually, I think it’s been warm and rearing to go for months now, but I wasn’t paying good enough attention.
At first glance 7′1 B.J. Mullens reminds me of the classic stiff, the guy who had all sorts of people saying great things about him prior to even lacing up sneakers in the NBA.
Robert Swift, Michael Olowokandi, Chris Mihm, Jim McIlvaine, uhh, maybe not Jimster there, but those first 3 were supposed to be the next really good, even spectacular, pivots, but are the epitome of Muresanian stiffness and Will Perdue blandness.
Beating up on Gheorghe like that isn’t like me, so I’ll say Ostertag stiffness instead.
Muresan had game.
Hoops analysts and geniuses –just about every one of that species—has proclaimed B.J. to be the next Oden type impact in college basketball. He can shoot it like Dirk, dunk it like Dominique, run the floor like a gazelle and can kiss it in off the glass like Mr. Fundamentals.
Just imagine how much more we would hear about B.J. if he was going to an ACC school?
Dickie V. would be saying he’s the number one Diaper Dandy!
Milicic
Is Mullens the next Darko flop?
Does he wow people in solo workouts like Darko apparently wowed Joe Dumars?
I’m not going to sit back and say Mullens will be a total disaster his freshman year.
First off, he’ll play at least 19 games against a disaster of a conference, the Big Ten. That alone should guarantee him at least a double digit scoring average.
Northwestern, Michigan and Iowa probably have enough combined talent to make a run in the NIT if they joined together, but split up that core and you have three downright weak teams.
Penn St. and Illinois won’t turn any heads either.
Indiana, it will be awhile.
Second, Mullens will (already has) easily impress others with his hops on wide open dunks and such, inflating the esteem of the many futile videos that already exist exhibiting his growing heap of skills. With every little highlight play he makes, the koolaid will be traveling more and more.
I’ll be really blunt… there haven’t been any white (American) centers who have taken the NBA by storm in recent years. There have been quite a few who were projected to be real good, like a couple mentioned above. Add on Bryant Reeves and Travis Knight to that list save Kandi Man.
Chris Kaman is the closest definition of a solid white “center” out there now. And by all means, Chris is a valuable player and really had a breakout year in 07/08. He’s a border line All-Star caliber player.
Brad Miller is on the honorable mention list, but he’s never been a back to the basket player anyways.
So this B.J. guy has a lot to live up to and many people he must prove wrong, and also, prove right.
I think too many basketball fans and “analysts” are often overly gaga over an athletic white guy, a smooth white guy, someone who they think can break out and be considered the next Larry Bird or Bill Walton, Rex Chapman, Brent Barry, Kevin McHale, John Stockton, Chris Mullin.
Good American white players are hard to come by lately.
B.J. is a phony as of now.
You can’t teach height.
True.
But you can teach others to be aware of Darko.
Boy, what a terrible post.
BJ is a phony because he is white? You sir, are an idiot.
Regardless of race, there has not been a 7 foot basketball player with as much skill and athleticism since Dwight Howard.
He is more offensively skilled than Oden, much bigger than Love, Horford or Handsborough, and more athletic than Chandler, Mimm or Bogut.
To associate him with Wil Purdue and George Muresian because he is white is idiotic. His game is nothing like their games. You either have never seen him play and are prejudice against white players or you are absolutely clueless when it comes to evaluating basketball talent.
Either way, it makes for an ignorant article.
Get a clue you fool.
Besides your ineptitude of spelling names correctly, you also have no idea of the recent history of this.
Sorry to break it to you but what I stated is just a fact. Many of these up and coming centers are getting so much attention for no real reason besides their flashy nature and whatnot. They aren’t panning out as of late.
Dwight Howard is a good player, but still cannot shoot a lick from the charity stripe, nor can he even control a game from the offense end, unless, of course, he’s dunking the ball.
Andrew Bynum is the best young center out there right now. He has total ball skills and will end up being a more complete player than Howard.
For all I know Mullens will set the NBA on fire in two years, but I’ve seen this kind of thing before and am not willing to jump on the bandwagon of a guy who is flashy and can shoot the ball well, hell, anybody with an ounce of skill should be able to dominate high schoolers a half a foot shorter.
I believe Joe Alexander will be very good, it’s not a race thing, it’s a positional thing. It’s predictable.
This is a somewhat races article. If someone wrote “this guy cant be a football star because he is a black QB”, I’d be going off and someone white should go off abou this.
Besides…..I live about 3 blocks from B.J. and in my book he is a star until proven otherwise.
So Dwight Howard is a good player and Bynum is a great player or will be? Just asking so I can gauge how much or little you know about basketball. Right now I’m going with little.
He’s a dud until proven otherwise…
that’s how it usually goes
Olowokandi is not white
As of recently, American white centers have flopped.
Plus the analysis reminds me of what was being said about Darko
Dwight Howard is as highly regarded as he is because he’s so fit and powerful and agile…
his skills haven’t caught up yet.
Bynum might not be the athlete, but has the needed skills already.
Both could be great… Howard is just one dimensional
Ryan- You need to take a break from being a racist and go learn for a couple years about basketball and than come back and write a blog.
Ok, so you’re giving me permission to return to being a racist after I go get educated?
That’s thoughtful.