1. Bob Cousy, Don Barksdale, Ed Macauley, Mel Hutchins, Dolph Schayes, Clyde Lovelette, Cliff Hagan
First off, pretty interesting that 5 out of the first 7 picks have been bigs. The lone PG earns the crown as the best top pick thus far. You can nitpick his turnovers or his slightly less then ideal 3pt shooting but when he’s almost dropping 40 a game, whatever. The fact that he’s never won an MVP might be ending this year. Going down the line, Barksdale and Easy E are very good bigs that have played SF before. Hutch is good and you can tell he’s getting better. Dolph is an interesting case of a player that seems to already be declining. He certinatly is not putting up the same numbers he was earlier in his career. Lovelette is a great scorer and very good rebounder but in a league that values STOCKS, his numbers there are less then ideal. Lastly, Cliff is ok. He’s a rookie so I won’t be super hard on him but his numbers aren’t all that eye popping thus far. Again, it is early though.
2. Red Rocha, Jack Coleman, Paul Arizin, Gene Conley, Ray Felix, Dick McGuire, Lew Hiitch
I was trying to find ways to put Coleman over Rocha. Couldn’t do it. It’s easy to forget how much of a sexy stud Rocha is now a days but the dude is a straight up nasty player. 2nd is not a knock for Coleman at all and some may call it controversial to put him over Arizin. As amazing as Arizin is, Coleman is right there with him scoring wise. He gets rebounds as well. Slightly better stock wise. Honestly, these two are definitely interchangeable. Next up is Conley or Felix. Felix is a rookie while Conley is entering his 2nd season. One looks better on the offensive end while the other looks better on D. Ultimately, for now, I went with Conley over Felix. Dick is a very capable starting PG. His numbers have improved over time and this season appear to be even better. Lew Hitch has Arizin type ratings without the Arizin type production. It does not make me a scrub by any means and I can see a case for him over Dick. He’s a solid player overall but it does not appear like he’ll be able to take that next step.
3. George Brown, Monk Meinke, Frank Ramsey, Larry Foust, Joe Holland, Vern Mikkelsen, Whitney Skoog
George Brown starts us off here. Not a lot to show on the offensive end but he can rebound, block shot and hit his FT’s. A bit higher then you’d want turnover wise but you can live with it. Next up, I was deciding between Monk and Foust. Monk is a pretty solid looking scorer while Foust is a great rebounder. Monk handles the rock a bit better. Neither is all that great stock wise. I went with Monk. After that, it’s clearly Frank and tbh, he might be a bit to low. Might even take the top spot soon but for now, I think he’s behind Monk and Brown because they are bigs. Grouping the next 3 is interesting. I’ve never truly been a Holland fan. I tbink he’s a solid scorer but nothing amazing. Vern is a solid back up. Nothing much more there. Skoog is, idk. I guess a decent PG. He can score but his rebounding is blah. High turnovers. Low stocks. He’s another Garland and we all know how that went.
4. Bill Sharman, Harry Gallatin, Alex Hunnum, Zeke Zowulek, George Kaftan, Alfred McGuire, Ernie Beck
Bill Sharman is a really good offensive player. Really good. Some idiot took Larry Foust over him. Sharman for sure leads the 4th picks. Harry Gallatin is a pretty underrated big. You don’t usually hear much about him but he’s a very capable big. He scores, rebounds and gets some good stocks. Speaking of underrated, Zeke Zowulek is next. Doesn’t look like he’ll be much on offense but his biggest benefit is his solid ability to hit FT’s. After that is Alex Hannum. He’s just a solid big who loves to take pay cuts. I’d put him behind Zeke because while Alex is better on offense overall, I think Zeke will be better on D and rebounding as his career progresses. Some may argue Kaftan over those two bigs but I just can’t do it. He has some really nice ratings but Kaftan just has not delivered thus far at all. He’s been pretty pedestrian overall. IMO, you always take bigs like Alex and Zeke over Kaftan. McGuire’s career has been pretty shaky. His move to PG was a pretty interesting one. He’s clearly a capable scorer. If McGuire ever becomes a starter on a team, who knows what he might end up being like. For now, he’s a solid scoring 6th man. Ernie Beck is a season away from being a season away.
5. Mel Payton, Carl Braun, Walter Dukes, Earl Lloyd, Walt Davis, Jack Nichols, Bob Harrison.
Mel Payton is really good. He can score, rebound, get good stocks and low turnovers. He does attempt 3’s which isn’t ideal. Yes, I’m nitpicking at this point. Some may argue Braun over Payton but I don’t think Braun’s career has been that amazing. His best season was last year, putting up 29 as pretty much a lone scorer. After that, we top off at a little less then 25. Not bad at all but I don’t see it over Payton. Dukes looks really good. I doubt he really has A potential but if he has solid B potential, I can see him eventually overtaking Braun. He can score, rebound, get stocks, solid FT shooter and not to crazy turnover wise. A good base from a rookie big. After that, it’s a bit of a fall off. Earl Lloyd comes from the Jackson Leaf/Lorenzo Longname/Harrison Miller school for solid SF’s. Jack Nichols and Bob Harrison are ok role players that ideally you don’t give a ton of PT to. Pretty interchangeable. Walt Davis has the potential to be better then those two so I did put him above but we’ll see. He thankfully doesn’t attempt 3’s like Cooper. We’ll see what his future holds.
6. George Yardley, Slater Martin, Jim Pollard, Ermie Barrett, Bill Milkvy, Odie Spears, Bob Houbregs,
Yardley can score. 21 in 25 mpg is really nice this season. Last season was his coming out party, playing really well for the Hawks. That said, his shooting percentages can really use some help. By default though, he’s the top 6th pick. After that, it’s pretty much “pick your role player”. Jim Pollard is a pretty all around solid role guy for the Magic. Slater Martin has had a career season for the Clippers. His contract is pretty nice. Ernie Barrett can have his own article written about him but he’s a nice player for the Heat. Nice stocks, solid scoring. Rebounding is a bit weak and it doesn’t seem like he has a ton of room to grow. Pretty similar with Bill Milkvy. Odie Spears seems like he was going to fill a similar role to the last two but he hasn’t been given much of a chance the last few seasons. The biggest thing Bob Houbregs has given BBS is an awesome basketball card as an avatar.
7. Bobby Wanzer, George King, Rip Gish, Ernie Vandeweghe, Kenny Sears, Ken McBride, Jim Kaeding,
Bobby Wanzer was the face of the AARP rookies. That said, even at his advanced age, he became a star, winning an MVP award in 33. Nobody else here comes close. Rip Gish has potential and nice ratings but his production is no where near where it should be. George King has been a pretty welcomed addition to the Kings and while he is likely gone this offseason, he should be paid solidly and start somewhere. Ernie is, ok, I guess. His scoring jumps up and down but doesn’t truly go anywhere special anyways. Kenny Sears could easily slide up this list but hasn’t gotten the PT. I can see him overtaking Ernie pretty easily next season. Ken McBride is who we all thought we would be. So, not great. Looks like Jim didn’t play last season at all. So, yeah.
8. Alex Groza, Gene Stump, Eddie Solomon, Chuck Share, Chuck Darling, Jake Fendley, Walt Budko
Alex Groza is far and away the best guy here. Don’t need to go into details as to why. Stump is a solid scoring swing who has learned how to play PG while at SF. Weird dude. Past that, it’s kind of a who’s who of role guys. I put Eddie above the rest because his stocks are pretty nasty already. I can see skillz getting the most out of him. Share and Darling are solid 3rd bigs. Fendley and Budko are, whatever I guess.
9. Eddie Miller, Dick Holub, Tex Ritter, Nield Gordon, George Dempsey, Don Bagley, Irwin Damrot
I like Eddie. He does need camp love but he can be a pretty solid rotational piece for someone. Holub is the next guy up and yeah. Same thing. He is listed as a big but I think as a 6th man or maybe starting at SF is his ideal spot. Tex is an efficient scorer. Can’t rebound the ball well and that will always limit his mins. After that, we’re back to the whole role players stuff. I put Nield above the remaining bunch because he has potential and that may lift him above the guys in the long run. He may even go above Ritter and Holub this year if things go right. Dempsey looks like a capable scorer at PG but his handles and low rebounding keep him pretty low on the list. Bagley has had an interesting career. Pretty sure he came in raw and A potential. Ratings got better but still needs a lot of help overall. Damrot is kinda blah.
10. Dick Groat, Zippy Morocco, Don Boven, Bill Brown, Stan Christie, Ed Smith, Gene Vance
Dick Groat is entering his 3rd year. If he can improve his handles and his scoring some, he’d be a pretty capable starting PG for the Bulls going forward. Plus, he has the GOAT BBS nickname. I personally really liked Zippy. Thought he could’ve been a real fun player. Not sure what his future holds overall because he has low potential but we’ll see. In an ideal world, he’d be on a team where we can see him AI a season. Doubt it’ll happen though. After that, it’s pretty ugly. Boven is a solid SF. Not great at anything but as long as he isn’t relied upon much you should be ok. Brown and Smith don’t get a ton of PT. Christie is position less. Vance got cut. Idk. Put them how you want.
11. Jimmy Darden, George Kok, Chuck Cooper, Bato Govedarica, Ralph Beard, Bill Stauffer, Bob Santini
Jimmy can score. He would be an ideal back up PG who can come in and get buckets, play D and doesn’t turn it over a crazy amount. Kok is a decent back up big who can score and rebound. Don’t expect great D though. Cooper is another positionless player. He does get steals but eh. I personally could not find a good spot for him. I put Bato over Beard because Bato is a solid TC away from being a pretty good back up. Maybe even starter if he develops well. Beard is what he is. Stauffer is pretty whatever. Santini is 2 years away from being 2 years away.
12. Irv Rothenburg, Don Savage, Herm Hedderick, Jack George, Ralph O’Brien John Oldman, Ed Peterson
Honestly, it’s getting rough. Irv is a pretty solid big. Don Savage is another one of those PF/SF hybrid guys but he’s pretty solid overall. Another good TC can take him from solid to pretty good. Herm looks like what McBride could’ve been. Solid scorer, gets stocks and rebounds. Ed Peterson, I don’t think, is in the file anymore. Oldman is best known for being a FA filler. Ralph O’Brien is a decent back up PG. Jack George can score but turnover prone. He’s for sure a few seasons away although if he gets camped soon, he may be a viable starter.
13. Billy Kenville, Paul Hicks, John Mandic, Andy Tonkovich, Lee Barnhorst, Bill Gossett, George McLeod
The end. Thankfully. Aside from Billy Kenville and Paul Hicks, the rest of these guys suck. The best thing about Mandic is his name. Tonkovich sucks. Leo has played. Sucked. Now in FA. Gossett is in FA also. McLeod is entering his 3rd season so maybe there is hope. Billy is a scorer. With another TC and camps, might end up being a pretty solid starting 2 guard for the Wolves. Hicks does nothing on offense but his D provides a good enough reason to keep him around.
