An old buddy of mine (and I mean both that we've been friends a long time, and that we are OLD), is prepping up for his annualy jaunt to the NBA draft. He's hunkering down watching every bit of internet data on every potential draftable kid. He emailed me with an interesting take on Moe Harkless. After seeing the rebouding abllity, jumping ability, and that incredbly quick first step on his drives, my friend says that Moe is "the closest thing he's seen to a young Elgin Baylor in over half a century of watching prospects"....
My friend was in Freedom Hall in Louisville when Elgin's Seatle U team lost in the NCAA title game to Rupp's Kentucky Wildcats in 1958, so when he says "young Elgin", he means it !
I hadn't thought about the comparison. Unfortunately, as a Laker fan, the Elgin I remember is the one from his last 4 years, after the injuries had worn him down, and he'd bulked up to nearly 230 lbs. Had to force myself to remember back to when the Lakers first move out from Minneapolis, and what kind of player Baylor was as a youngster. It's really a good comparison, I think.
I only know Elgin by reputation and not viewing, but if the comparison is accurate, you have to figure someone else with drafting power will have noticed it, making it a smart move for Moe to have entered the draft.
Up till 3 /2 years ago, it might have been the original Big E noticing - he was the Clippers Exec VP and GM for 22 years, till he was forced to resign at 74 years old in 2008. He took a lot of grief because the Clips owner Donald Sterling is such a jerk, sabotaging all attempts to build a team (power of the purse string), but Elg had a pretty darn good history of draft picks in his 22 years: Reggie Williams, Hersey Hawkins, Danny Manning, Danny Ferry, Loy Vaught, Bo Kimble, LeRon Ellis, Elmore Spencer, Randy Woods, Terry Dehere, Greg Minor, Lamond Murray, Antonio McDyess, Lorenzen Wright, Maurice Tayler, Brian Skinner, Michael Oliwakandi, Lamar Odom, Quentin Richzrdson, Darius Miles, Tyson Chandler, Melvin Ely, Chris WIlcox, Shaun Livingston, Chris Kaman, Al Thornton, and Eric Gordon.