Read the new Sports Guy basketball blog, and came across an idea that I agree with, and will never understand. He says that Roy Hibbert of Georgetown will jump to the top 7 of the draft if he "handles Greg Oden" instead of being a late teens pick. Basically what he's saying is that one team in the NBA, will jump this guy 10 picks or so, based on one game instead of on his entire body of work. There are so many factors in him having a good game, defensive help, Oden having 1.5 hands at this point if you still believe his right hand is slightly injured, Oden just having a bad game... etc. that I will never understand this idea of one big game skyrocketing your draft stock.
The other guy who comes to mind with this, is JaMarcus Russell from LSU football, who jumped to potentially the number 1 pick after his game against Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl. Never mind the fact that he came to the combine at Big Van Vader size or whatever crazy weight he was (ESPN still has him listed at 255 just to prove my point a little more) Never mind that Notre Dame's defense was apparently not all it's cracked up to be, all that matters is he won the big one on the big stage, and impressed people. The experts are fully admitting that one game jumped him from the second-fifth best QB in the draft to the first-second best QB in the draft, and they're the experts? If I were an NFL drafter, and my team had to pick a QB, I would NEVER pick one who came to the combine weighing 270+, that does not bode well for his work ethic. A good history of his college career is here and you'll notice a rookie season, an injured season, and an excellent season. Pro scouts would be looking at that and saying "Hmmmm.... this guy isn't quite proven yet, is there another direction we can go?" if it wasn't for his huge win. I watched the LSU/Notre Dame game and what I was thinking during it wasn't how good Russell is, it was how overmatched ND was in every aspect of the game. 2 TD's were thrown to wide open receivers, the lines got blown off the ball, and LSU's D was excellent, and JaMarcus gets all the credit? Doesn't make sense.
On the flip side, we have Brady Quinn. He went from sure number 1 QB to probable number 2 or worse in one game. Never mind as I just mentioned that his TEAM sucked that day, it's all his fault. He had nobody open, was under pressure, and yes, made some mistakes. When you are hit like a NASCAR wife all day, you'd make mistakes too. Why do you think NASCAR husbands shirts are always dirty? The wife's making mistakes from being hit to much. Brady Quinn had an excellent college career, but his whiteside.... I mean his upside isn't as good as Russell's apparently. He's gotta stop being a smart QB with all the tools necessary to be a good QB. ESPN even had this dig "Quinn will need the right scheme and solid pass protection in order to reach his full potential" NO FUCKING SHIT. So he shouldn't run the option in the pros, or get knocked on his ass a bunch.
One game makes or breaks draft stock, and yet they're the experts.
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