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The result: With great hype comes great expectations. Luck has a 43-27 career record. He led the NFL in touchdowns in his third season, when he also led the Colts to the AFC championship game (which turned into Deflategate, but let’s not get caught up in things). By almost every measure, he was one of last season’s five best quarterbacks, and QBs tend to peak later than any other position. Basically, there’s still a very good chance that Luck will be the best quarterback in the NFL within the next five seasons, for all the criticism he’s taken. |
4. Tim Duncan |
The Wake Forest forward/center was the No. 1 overall pick of the 1997 NBA Draft, selected by the San Antonio Spurs. |
The hype: The 1996-97 NBA season featured two certitudes: The Bulls were going to win the championship again — they went 69-13 after going 72-10 the previous year — and Tim Duncan was going to be the No. 1 overall pick. Those two worked together to create a tanking situation unlike any other in the lottery era. The Spurs, Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, Vancouver Grizzlies and Denver Nuggets all played the odds and took a stab at the arguably biggest draft lottery prize ever. Duncan was such a lock to be No. 1 for three reasons: 1) He would have been the top pick in 1995 or 1996, too, but he kept returning to school; 2) The 1997 draft class was unusually weak; and 3) He was really, really good. As a senior and the consensus national player of the year and defensive player of the year, Duncan averaged 20.8 points, 14.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 3.3 blocks a game and shot 60.8% from the field. Not only was he a prototype superstar big man, but he also was a ridiculously polished prototype superstar big man. |
The quote: “Pop is the luckiest man alive.” — then-TNT analyst Doc Rivers on Spurs coach and president Gregg Popovich after San Antonio won the draft lottery |
The result: Success is putting it lightly. Duncan played 19 seasons for the Spurs, retiring after last season with five championships and zero seasons with a winning percentage below .610 (50-32). He ranks among the 10 greatest players in NBA history. And he kept Gregg Popovich employed through it all, so Rivers had a point. |
3. Sidney Crosby |
The Rimouski Océanic center was the No. 1 overall pick of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins. |
The hype: There was no 2004-05 NHL season, thanks to a lockout. That led to the top pick being determined through an all-teams-included lottery, with odds based on teams’ records and past draft lottery luck over the previous four years. This unique circumstance became known as the “Sidney Crosby Sweepstakes” because there was a greater chance that the next season would be canceled, too, than that any other player would be selected first overall. Depending on who you’re talking to, Crosby was the best hockey prospect since Eric Lindros, Mario Lemieux or Wayne Gretzky. His Quebec Major Junior Hockey League team, the Océanic, went 35 consecutive games without a loss in his second season with them, while he totaled 186 points in 62 games. He had been the top player in his age group since he was a preteen. Crosby’s only real shortcoming was his 5-11 height, and he figured out ways to use that to his advantage, too. |
The quote: “Yeah, he’s the real deal.” — Penguins head scout Greg Malone upon seeing Crosby at age 14, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |
The result: Despite a broken foot, a concussion and a serious neck injury in his early 20s, Crosby still is the best player in the NHL. He’s led the Penguins to two Stanley Cup championships. He’s won the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP twice and the Pearson Trophy as the players’ choice MVP three times. He’s led the NHL in points twice, goals twice and assists once, and he’s sixth in NHL history in points per game, behind Gretzky, Lemieux, Mike Bossy, Bobby Orr and Marcel Dione. USA TODAY Sports’ veteran hockey columnist Kevin Allen ranks Crosby as the 14th greatest player in NHL history. He’s 29. |
2. Bryce Harper |
The College of Southern Nevada catcher and outfielder was the No. 1 overall pick of the 2010 MLB First-Year Player Draft, selected by the Washington Nationals. |
The hype: A baseball prospect should not be this high on this list. No sport has a greater gap between the levels of college (or high school) play and top-level pro play, which is why the minor league system is so extensive. Most college hitters still use metal bats. Harper was the exception to every rule. He was named high school player of the year by Baseball America as a sophomore. He received his GED at age 17 in order to play a season of junior college ball — in a wood-bat league. He played catcher to prove he could, because it was the more difficult position to master. He dominated to the point that he became the first JUCO player in 20 years to win the Golden Spikes Award, given to the best college baseball player. Harper spent his life trying to become the best baseball prospect ever, and he somehow succeeded. Sports Illustrated tabbed him as Baseball’s Chosen One at 16. It didn’t feel like an exaggeration. |
The quote: “Be in the Hall of Fame, definitely. Play in Yankee Stadium. Play in the pinstripes. Be considered the greatest baseball player who ever lived. I can’t wait.” — Harper to SI at age 16 on his career goals |
The result: Harper is 24 and already starting his sixth MLB season. The results: Rookie of the Year, underwhelming second season, injured third season, National League MVP fourth season, underwhelming fifth season, jaw-dropping start to his sixth season. Perhaps the most difficult hurdle for Harper has been the presence of Mike Trout, a player who is accomplishing everything Harper was expected to do and is only 14 months older. But Harper at his best — his MVP season of 2015 and the start of this one — has been Trout’s equal, and he’s still on track to at least be in the mix for that Hall of Fame prediction. |
1. LeBron James |
The St. Vincent-St. Mary’s (Ohio) forward was the No. 1 overall pick of the 2003 NBA Draft, selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers. |
The hype: The easiest pick on this list. In the history of the NBA, only one player — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, then Lew Alcindor — has measured up to James as a high school player or as a draft prospect. James would have been the No. 1 overall pick after his junior year of high school. He might have even made a run at it after his sophomore year, when he was the first 10th grader ever on USA TODAY Sports’ All-USA First Team. He finished high school with a 101-6 record, three state championships and no doubt that he was the most hyped high schooler ever. (Keep in mind that the internet didn’t exist in the 1960s, when Alcindor was dominating.) The beauty of James’ hype was more than accolades, though. He wowed with his pristine passing ability and the way he made everyone around him better. That, plus his 6-8 frame, led many to label him as Magic Johnson with elite scoring ability. He also came along at the exact perfect time, with fellow preps-to-pros players Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady hitting their peaks and most people still not calling players such as Darius Miles and Kwame Brown busts. Then you add in that the nearby Cavaliers won an absurdly hyped draft lottery, and everything worked out. |
The quote: “There’s nobody on either side of basketball, college or pro, who doesn’t think he’s great.” — NBA general manager to ESPN.com before the draft |
The result: Well, he’s LeBron James. He’s been the best basketball player in the world for more than half of his 14-year NBA career. He’s won three championships and four MVPs, yet both of those seem lower than they should be. That’s how high the bar is, yet he keeps reaching it every time it moves. If he’s not better than Michael Jordan, his idol, then he’s the best since. And at age 32 and still able to post career highs in rebounds and assists per game this season, he looks to still have another six to 10 seasons left. One thing we’ve learned: Never count out LeBron James. |
Contributing: Steven Ruiz, Chris Korman, Charles Curtis, other For The Win staff members.<|endoftext|>Bolstered by the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah and its patrons in Tehran, the Syrian Army continued its rapid advance into southern Syria today, inching closer to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. |
"Regime troops and their Hezbollah-led allies are advancing in the area linking Daraa, Quneitra and Damascus provinces," close to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. |
Beginning earlier this week, the Syrian government confirmed they launched a “broad operation” to recapture strategic hilltops and key swaths of territory lost last year to rebel groups including the al Qaeda affiliate in Syria, al-Nusra Front. |
Hezbollah Strikes Israeli Convoy With Anti-Tank Missile; at Least 3 Dead |
A field commander told Syrian State TV: "The military operation launched by the Syrian army in the south continues under the leadership of Syrian President Bashar Assad and in cooperation with the axis of resistance -- Hezbollah and Iran," according to the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq Alawsat newspaper. |
Amin Hatit, a military strategist close to Hezbollah, added that "it appears that the initial results surpass all expectations. ... Within 48 hours, goals were achieved for which ten days were allocated," according to Asharq Alawsat. |
Syrian State television reported the offensive swiftly gained control of the town of Deir al-Adas and the village of Deir Maker and Tal al-Arous and Tal al-Sarjeh. |
But rebels told ABC News the battles are ongoing, and ABC News was unable to independently confirm the captured towns. |
"The Free Syrian Army is still making notable advances across the border with Jordan into Southern Syria. The battle for Deir Addas is not over. We have reports of over 30 Iranian Lebanese Hezbollah and Afghan Shia foreign fighters captured by rebels in the Southern front this week," Oubai Shahbandar, former Senior Advisor to the Syrian National Coalition told ABC News. |
"The Iranian revolutionary guards have taken operational control of Assad’s forces south of Damascus because they have little trust in the competency of what’s left of Assad’s military in the southern front following a string of defeats since January," Shahbandar explained to ABC News. |
This week's southern offensive comes on the heels of a deadly week, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says air strikes to the south and east of the capital have killed nearly 200 people in the last ten days alone. |
But by this afternoon, the Observatory said military operations were more "limited” than earlier this week due to bad weather. |
Activists told the Associated Press that the pace had slowed due to the snowstorm hitting the higher elevations. |
The pressure on Israel’s northern border comes just two weeks after a Hezbollah strike on an Israeli convoy in the Shebaa Farms area, killing two soldiers and wounding at least seven others. The strike was in retaliation for a presumed Israeli attack on a Hezbollah convoy in Quneitra, Syria, near the border last month. The strike, which Israel never officially claimed, killed an Iranian general and six Hezbollah commanders, including Jihad Mughniyeh, the son of one of Hezbollah's most prominent military commanders believed to have been assassinated by Israel. Neither Hezbollah nor Israel escalated the border fire, but analysts say renewed fighting near the border heightens the risk of opening a broader confrontation. |
"The decision to prevent southern Syria from falling into the hands of Israel's collaborators is more strategic than any other, and is equally as important as the decision to prevent Damascus from falling to these same collaborators,” said Ibrahim al-Amin, editor of the pro-Hezbollah daily Al Akhbar, according to Israel’s Ynet. |
According to the Observatory, the Lebanese Shii’ite militant group is currently leading the charge in southern Syria and has deployed at least 5,000 fighters to serve alongside Syrian government forces. Peter Lerner, spokesperson for the Israeli Defense Forces puts that number somewhere between “3,000 to 5,000.” |
The new offensive “should not be a surprise," Lerner told ABC News, “as Hezbollah are an integral component of the regime’s war effort.” |
Avi Issacharoff, the Times of Israel's Middle East analyst, said it’s premature to game out an Israeli response. “It’s early to evaluate the offensive in the Golan heights, Hezbollah's attempts to take the Golan heights is aimed at creating one front from South Lebanon to the Golan heights in Syria - so the next war will be fought on two fronts and not one as it used to be.”<|endoftext|>It was a weekend to forget for Sam Ricketts as he captained Wolves to a 5-0 defeat at Derby County. James Chester was part of Hull side which lost to Burnley but, it wasn’t all doom and gloom for Welsh defenders . |
Neil Taylor gave his best performance of the season against Arsenal. He defended brilliantly and linked effectively with Jefferson Montero going forward. Taylor finding form could be a real boost for Wales especially with Ben Davies’ lack of game time at Tottenham. |
Ashley Williams seems to be mentioned every week but he was solid once again. He scared many Welsh fans when he went down after just two minutes but luckily he got up, recovered and was only caught out by a terrific break from Arsenal late on in an impressive win for the Swans. |
Last weeks’ top performer, Paul Dummett, recorded another clean sheet for Newcastle. This time it came in a 2-0 away win at West Bromwich Albion. |
James Collins ensured another clean sheet for a Welsh defender as his West Ham team could only manage a goalless draw at home to Aston Villa. |
Chris Coleman has named Adam Matthews in his latest squad and he enters international week on a positive note. He took part in a 2-1 win at Aberdeen despite Celtic being down to 10 men for a large part of the game at Pittodrie. |
Joel Lynch scored again from defence for Huddersfield Town but they eventually went down 3-1 to Fulham on Saturday afternoon. |
Wales’ midfielders’ week was not as positive as their defensive teammates. Aaron Ramsey was on the receiving end of the 2-1 score line at the Liberty Stadium while Andy King was part of Leicester team who lost at Southampton. Joe Allen also played the last 20 minutes in Liverpool’s 2-1 home loss to Chelsea. |
Jonny Williams may have picked up three points with Ipswich but it came at a great cost. He also picked up an injury in terrible challenge by Watford’s Joel Ekstrand and will now miss the Belgium game. |
A sight that no doubt pleased all Welsh fans was Gareth Bale’s return to action on Tuesday night in the Champions League. He marked his first start back with a goal after just nine minutes coming back from missing five league games. This started the ball rolling for the Galacticos as Real Madrid dispatched Rayo Vallecano 5-1. |
There were also a couple of notable performances in the Championship. Craig Davies produced a strong performance against Cardiff City in Bolton Wanderers’ midweek win and then scored on Saturday to help defeat Wigan Athletic 3-1. Davies has not featured for Wales since the 0-0 draw against the Republic of Ireland back in 2013. David Cotterill produced the cross to set up a late winner for Birmingham against Watford on Tuesday. |
A special mention has to go the Wales under 16s who have now made it two wins from two in the Victory Shield. After defeating England in Bangor they have now sunk Scotland in St Johnstone. Swansea City’s Liam Cullen scored both goals for Osian Roberts team in their 2-1 win. Wales could clinch the shield outright for the first time since 1948-9 against Northern Ireland on 20 November in front of the Sky Sports cameras. |