Making a Fresh Start

I started thinking about the effect this 0-8 start would have on Kevin Durant. It can’t be easy starting your professional career with 8 losses, can it? Is he moping around his apartment, calling his friends back in Austin, watching NBA highlights to see what the other first-rounders are doing this year? Maybe watching old videos on YouTube of when he was on the winning team?

It all got me to thinking, though, how have the other top picks in the NBA draft fared in their first ten games? (And, yes, I am aware that Greg Oden was the top pick, but since he’s not playing, I consider Durant the top overall pick for this year). Since those folks were probably on lousy teams, hence the high draft choice, did they struggle as badly as Durant's Sonics? Well, here’s the list, from 1980 to the present.

First 10 games of top overall picks in the NBA draft:

2006: Andrea Bargnani, 2-8
2005: Andrew Bogut, 6-4
2004: Dwight Howard, 6-4
2003: LeBron James, 3-7
2002: Yao Ming, 6-4
2001: Kwame Brown, 2-8
2000: Kenyon Martin, 6-4
1999: Elton Brand, 1-9 (started year 0-5)
1998: Michael Olowokandi, 0-10 (started year 0-17!)
1997: Tim Duncan, 7-3
1996: Allen Iverson, 4-6
1995: Joe Smith, 3-7
1994: Glenn Robinson, 5-5
1993: Chris Webber, 4-6
1992: Shaquille O’Neal, 7-3
1991: Larry Johnson, 2-8
1990: Derrick Coleman, 2-8
1989: Pervis Ellison, 3-7
1988: Danny Manning, 4-6
1987: Armon Gilliam, 4-6
1986: Brad Daugherty, 3-7
1985: Patrick Ewing, 2-8
1984: Hakeem Olajuwon, 8-2
1983: Ralph Sampson, 3-7
1982: James Worthy, 7-3
1981: Mark Aguirre, 1-9
1980: Joe Barry Carroll, 6-4

The breakdown is as follows:
8 wins: 1 (Olajuwon)
7 wins: 3 (O’Neal, Duncan)
6 wins: 5
5 wins: 1
4 wins: 4
3 wins: 5
2 wins: 5
1 win: 2
0 wins: 1

Sadly, the one “no win” contender is also the biggest bust of the past two decades, Olowokandi. However, Elton Brand has fared just fine, thank you, despite the 1-9 start to his career, and Mark Aguirre was no bust, either. Of note, the three best finishes belonged to the three best players (Hakeem, Shaq, and Duncan). Unless, of course, you consider Joe Barry Carroll the best, in which case you must be a former Golden State Warriors executive, and may God have mercy on your soul.

Does it mean anything? Probably not, but just thought I’d throw it out there.

Did You Know?

Here's some trivia for you. PJ Carlesimo's last attempt at "guiding" an NBA team came in 1999, when the Warriors canned the bearded one after 27 games.

Did you know? The Warriors started out the year 2-16, and that woeful start included an 11-game losing streak? Which means that in the last 35 games PJ has coached he's won the grand total of six?

Yeah, I'm not too excited about the rest of the season, either. But at least when PJ tells the guys in the lockerroom, "Hey, it could be worse," he knows from which he speaks.

Eight is Enough

In the popcorn machine of life, last night's loss to the Orlando Magic was a entire bag full of duds.

The Sonics put on their worst display of the season in the first game of a five-game road trip that has gotten ugly almost before it has started. While it wasn't the worst game in Orlando in team history (you'll recall the game of two years ago when 3 or 4 guys got food poisoning and only 7 or 8 players dressed), it was plenty bad enough. To wit:

- Kevin Durant: As many turnovers (4) as field goals made

- 3 Point Guards: Combined 3 of 19 from the field (!)

- Team: 2 of 10 from 3-point range

- Kurt Thomas: 4 fouls, 4 points

I could go on, but there's no point. Even Magic fans aren't celebrating this one: "It's not that we played well enough to win this game, but rather that Seattle played horridly enough to lose it." (courtesy of Third Quarter Collapse's Ben Q Rock).