Quick, name the last good thing to come from the combination of “soft” and “ungodly expectations.” If you answered Starbucks’ black-bottomed cupcakes, you would be correct.
Unfortunately for No.8-pick Channing Frye, he is a basketball player and not a sugary confection.
If compared with other surefire clunkers such as Charlie Villanueva, Frye will probably have an overall better career. But Frye isn’t in a sleepy little backwoods basketball market like Toronto. He’s in Spike Lee’s domain, and will have to be subjected to all the media scrutiny and fan fervor that comes with it.
Ever since Patrick Ewing left New York, Knicks fans have been clamoring to find their next great big man. Marcus Camby was the guy they loved to hate. Tim Thomas was a worse rebounder than Earl Boykins. And Frederick Weis? Go wash out your mouth with soap and never mention his name again.
Frye is the next great hope for a city clinging to a prayer that the days of Starks, Ewing and Oakley will come to pass again. Want a little more added pressure? 2005 is the 20th anniversary of New York’s draft of Ewing, a date that will no doubt be thrown in Frye’s face before, after and during every game.
Besides the normal perils that come with playing in the biggest fishbowl in the country, another thing working against Channing is the fact that he just isn’t that great of a player.
Much of the hype that elevated Frye from late first round to late lottery was based on his inspired run in the NCAA tournament. It’s true that he did indeed play well and was for the first time in his career a beast around the rim. But this accomplishment is deceiving.
Arizona played four times in the tournament. The Wildcats’ opponents were Utah State, University of Alabama, Oklahoma State and Illinois. Only Utah State and Illinois started a player over 6-foot-8, and Frye will probably encounter much tougher competition in the NBA than Cass Matheus and James Augustine.
Besides the impressive postseason showing against unimpressive talent, Frye has had a pretty bland-albeit consistent-career. He played in a conference devoid of any top-shelf centers, racking up career averages of 13.5 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.
Such few rebounds in a guard-dominated conference should raise red flags immediately. These stats are also eerily similar to the last All-American Arizona center, Loren Woods, who had career averages of 11.1 points and 6.5 rebounds. Where is Woods now? He’s rotting on the bench in Toronto, sporting career averages of 2.7 points and 3.2 rebounds.
I will concede that Frye has a much better mental makeup than Woods and will worker harder at his craft, but Loren is an example of what happens to OK centers when they leave the friendly confines of the Pac-10 for the rough-and-tumble NBA.
Frye is a classy guy and I wish him the best, but it will take more than class and smarts to succeed in the nothing-you-can-do-is-good-enough New York jungle.
