A look back at the HS Senior Class of 2000

[Erick Blasco]

1. Zach Randolph, F, Michigan State

 

 

Randolph turned many heads for the first time as the MVP of the 2000 McDonald's All-American Game, posting 23 points, 15 rebounds, four assists, one block and one steal against the top prep senior competition in the nation. Although some predicted he could be an NBA lottery pick if he declared for the draft, Randolph instead opted to attend Michigan State, whose Spartans had just won the National Championship in April 2000. Going into college, Randolph was regarded as the best big man prospect in the country, but the Spartans were so stacked that they brought him along slowly and still made the Final Four. Complaints also arose about Randolph's weight/conditioning habits, and his stock fell after a freshman year in which he scored 10.8 PPG, failing to make the kind of immediate game-changing impact some had expected.

 

Still, his hands & ability to score down low led the Blazers to draft him 19th overall in 2001. Like Tom Izzo at MSU, Portland coach Maurice Cheeks brought Randolph along slowly, giving him 13.0 MPG through his first two seasons (perhaps the most action he got those years was the time he sucker-punched Ruben Patterson in practice and had to hide out in Dale Davis' closet for fear that Patterson would shoot him, a classic Jail Blazers tale). However, his per-minute stats impressed as a 21-year-old 2nd-year player, and when he carried them over despite a huge hike in playing time, he became one of the poster children for the per-minute revolution.

 

Not that the stats painted a totally rosy picture for Z-Bo. After a 7.1 WS season in 2004, his first as a starter, Randolph's offensive efficiency fluctuated wildly in subsequent years, and his defensive reputation was hardly sterling. He bounced back from a poor 2006 season with a decent 2007 campaign, but injuries and a trip to hoops hell -- he was a member of the Knicks & Clippers in 2009 -- had some (myself included) questioning what Randolph had left in the tank. But shockingly, at age 28 he has turned around his game with the Grizzlies this season, posting arguably the best campaign of his career, a development that few saw coming.

 

 

http://www.basketbal...om/blog/?p=4453

Edited January 27, 2010 by Erick Blasco