After listening to their picks I was looking forward to seeing some major disagreement on here, given the nature of the Boneyard. I guess I'll have to start it off with my two cents.
They established that this was to be based on college performance, not pros, though they admitted to perhaps being influenced by pros slightly. They also mentioned this was the best roster, not the ten best players. They stated some locks among the starting five (Allen, Hamilton, Okafor); I think everyone would agree with that. It's their rationales for starting point guard and back-up center that raises eyebrows. I think one of their problems is being young without much personal experience with Huskies from before the new millennium.
Their starting point guard would be Marcus Williams. I don't have a problem with the rationale for why Walker would not start -- they wanted a distributor for all the other fine talent in the starting line-up. I don't necessarily agree with that opinion, but it does at least have sound logic to it. And it's "logical" to pick out Williams as the best distributor based solely on college performance. Yet in discussing the possibilities they did not mention one guard whose success same pre-2004. No Chris Smith, no Doron Sheffer, no Khalid El-Amin. Not even mentioning the latter's name in consideration is the byproduct of a young'un.
At least they mentioned Voskuhl's name, but that made it all the more comical in their consideration for a back-up center (Thabeet was the starter, Okafor was their PF). Now, I'm not sure I would put Voskuhl in the 10-player roster, but it was funny to listen to them struggle over the need to fill the last spot in their roster with not an offensive threat, but someone who could do all the dirty work. Their pick: Drummond. That's obviously not based on their stated criteria of either college or pro performance, only potential. Once again, I'm not sure I would put Voskuhl in the top ten, but if the criteria you are searching to meet is a big guy who will best do all the dirty work and intangibles, Voskuhl should be screaming in your head -- unless you are a young'un.
My roster, which are not the ten best Calhoun players, just the best roster that could form the best performing TEAM.
El-Amin, Sheffer
Allen, Walker
Hamilton, Butler
Donyell, Robinson
Okafor, Thabeet
I expect and respect that many would differ about Sheffer. Sheffer is not one of the ten best, but I think he would make any collection of individuals function better as a team while being a complete player; Williams falls far short of that total package. For that matter, Gordon at the two and Walker at the one provides a better team roster than one with Williams. If Robinson does not count as a Calhoun player then I might be tempted to slide Okafor to the PF and include Voskuhl. Once again, Voskuhl is not one of the ten best, but he certainly made that 1999 TEAM much better from his position. I don't see any rationale where El-Amin would not be included on the roster, let alone not even mentioned for consideration. I don't see any college performance rationale where Drummond would even be mentioned.
