ESPN bias

FinalFourCy

Well-Known Member
Mar 5, 2017
10,435
10,160
113
41
A lot of it is just who is THE guy in college as the prospect with the most excitement and NBA upside.

Royce wasn't going to get the hype because the team was an 8 seed, Anthony Davis was clearly a better NBA prospect and was probably 2 years younger than Royce.

This year the best college player right now is Broome. ESPN hypes guys based on NBA upside that happen to also play well in college, not guys that are great college players that may or may not project to have high NBA upside.

It’s not about model citizen, it’s about the mental instability and that’s impact on his game as a prospect. White had huge negative intangibles.

As a prospect he also was coming up in in an era that still was big on guys being tweaners

If Flagg reaches 21 and is a head case like White, that hasn’t improved his weaknesses like shooting, and now takes plays off, let alone practices, it’ll show up on tape. He’d no longer be considered a generational talent. He’d be a White type that can make plays that are generational, but it’ll be watered down by average play


Physically and skill wise it’s not a horrible comp. White was 1 inch shorter with same wingspan, but much heavier and stronger. His instincts for play making were very good.
 

madguy30

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Nov 15, 2011
57,210
55,101
113
Yes, but if it was Duke v. Utah, you can bet your bum there would be highlights. That said, I'm with most on this thread in that I guess I didn't even know whether SportsCenter still existed.

And that's as old as time for the brand names to get the air time.

That network still hypes up the UNC/Duke games like everyone else's season revolves around it even if one or both aren't very good.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Prone2Clone

AuH2O

Well-Known Member
Sep 7, 2013
12,968
20,878
113
It’s not about model citizen, it’s about the mental instability and that’s impact on his game as a prospect. White had huge negative intangibles.

As a prospect he also was coming up in in an era that still was big on guys being tweaners

If Flagg reaches 21 and is a head case like White, that hasn’t improved his weaknesses like shooting, and now takes plays off, let alone practices, it’ll show up on tape. He’d no longer be considered a generational talent. He’d be a White type that can make plays that are generational, but it’ll be watered down by average play


Physically and skill wise it’s not a horrible comp. White was 1 inch shorter with same wingspan, but much heavier and stronger. His instincts for play making were very good.
I guess if you want to say simply, Royce White had enough physical ability and instinct to be great, maybe a top 5 or #1 pick, sure. But there are a ton of guys you can say that about. And really Flagg is not some measurables/physical freak.

Refinement/development of skills is a massive part of "talent." Generational size and athleticism are two completely different things than generational talent. That doesn't mean be great at everything, but that means show the indicators that you are likely to become great at the skills.

The reason Flagg is considered such a high ceiling and talent is that his skill level at being 18 while still probably figuring out how to play in that body shows a hell of a lot. Just like Royce being a guy that pretty much had been physically mature for a couple years and still couldn't shoot 50% from the line showed a hell of lot.

Royce had a massive hole in his game as a jump shooter and FT shooter, and there was no indication that was likely to change. Royce's best comp. was Boris Diaw. And if you pick a guy and you get peak Boris Diaw, you're not disappointed. But you also aren't building teams around that either. There were a few things limiting Royce's draft stock. The combo of being 6'8 without elite quickness and poor shooting were as much contributors as what we knew of the off the court stuff at the time. It seems at draft time at least some teams felt confident they could work with Royce, and I'm sure Royce and his team were giving that impression. So it certainly hurt his stock but there were also significant on the court weaknesses.
 

1TwistedCyclone

Well-Known Member
Jan 16, 2024
481
768
93
Sportscenter was my favorite part of the summer in the 90's. Loved me the baseball highlights. Now, you tune in and it's essentially a sports book promotion. All they talk about is gambling on the NFL and fantasy football.
 

Clonefan32

Well-Known Member
Nov 19, 2008
23,461
25,875
113
Speaking of ESPN bias I see Lunardi dropped us to the 4th overall on his seed list behind Auburn, Duke and Tennessee. They don't even bother trying to hide the bias at this point. We beat a ranked team and conference opponent each by quite a bit and Tennessee gets dump trucked at home. And Duke gets bumped up for beating powerhouses SMU and Pitt.
 

Cyhig

Well-Known Member
Nov 29, 2017
3,250
6,791
113
Speaking of ESPN bias I see Lunardi dropped us to the 4th overall on his seed list behind Auburn, Duke and Tennessee. They don't even bother trying to hide the bias at this point. We beat a ranked team and conference opponent each by quite a bit and Tennessee gets dump trucked at home. And Duke gets bumped up for beating powerhouses SMU and Pitt.
I personally don't really pay any attention to projected brackets until late February. And even then it's just water cooler talk. Don't get me wrong: it is fun to see ISU being ranked high and projected as a 1 seed, but there is still a lot of basketball to be played. I just don't see the need to be concerned over what certain media members think.

To paraphrase the late Denny Green: "Nice thing about America is anyone can have an opinion. The other nice thing is you don't have to listen to them"
 
  • Like
Reactions: NWICY

houjix

Well-Known Member
Jul 21, 2021
1,899
1,902
113
Speaking of ESPN bias I see Lunardi dropped us to the 4th overall on his seed list behind Auburn, Duke and Tennessee. They don't even bother trying to hide the bias at this point. We beat a ranked team and conference opponent each by quite a bit and Tennessee gets dump trucked at home. And Duke gets bumped up for beating powerhouses SMU and Pitt.
People need to learn to check when things are updated. He only updates it twice a week and it was last updated yesterday morning, before Tennessee lost and ISU beat Utah by 20+. As poor as people think his brackets maybe, it's not like he's updating them daily.
 

Clonefan32

Well-Known Member
Nov 19, 2008
23,461
25,875
113
People need to learn to check when things are updated. He only updates it twice a week and it was last updated yesterday morning, before Tennessee lost and ISU beat Utah by 20+. As poor as people think his brackets maybe, it's not like he's updating them daily.

This was updated 5 hours ago and posted on his X....
 

theshadow

Well-Known Member
Apr 19, 2006
19,961
19,606
113
Speaking of ESPN bias I see Lunardi dropped us to the 4th overall on his seed list behind Auburn, Duke and Tennessee.

Yeah, I'm not paying attention to a guy who has Kansas listed twice in his bracket and is known to be one of the worst bracket people out there.
 
  • Like
Reactions: VeloClone

ISUNJ23BS

Active Member
Jan 4, 2025
133
119
43
52
Scotch Plains, NJ
ESPN is thinking about ratings. They don't care much about Ames, Iowa or Iowa State because the coasts don't care that much about college basketball until March. I live in northern New Jersey and even Rutgers is an afterthought around here. If we earn that elusive one seed, then they will be forced to acknowledge us more.
 

rosshm16

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Oct 8, 2023
5,190
8,471
113
I'm no Duke fan but 17.5 ppg on 46/31/78% shooting by a true freshman is not "bad" shooting.

On top of that, Flagg is leading a Top 5 team in rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks.
 
Last edited:

rosshm16

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Oct 8, 2023
5,190
8,471
113
Sportscenter was my favorite part of the summer in the 90's. Loved me the baseball highlights. Now, you tune in and it's essentially a sports book promotion. All they talk about is gambling on the NFL and fantasy football.
This has kind of become a lot of sports media overall. Constant talk about what's the line, what's the spread, what's the over-under, what's Vegas doing, who is the "smart money" on; I just don't care.
 

Dgilbertson

Well-Known Member
Sep 16, 2023
1,669
2,047
113
This has kind of become a lot of sports media overall. Constant talk about what's the line, what's the spread, what's the over-under, what's Vegas doing, who is the "smart money" on; I just don't care.
It’s always been there and a major driver. They’re just allowed to say the quiet part out loud now.