In case you weren't aware, B.J. Mullens isn't hurting from a lack of self-confidence.
While it's no secret B.J. never really bought into Matta's program even though he committed to OSU out of the womb, his modest stat line as a freshman didn't stop him from comparing his game to some of the best in the League. In fact, he's confident that he's not just the next Garnett, Nowitzki or Stoudemire but instead he's a combo of all three:
“I can get compared to Kevin Garnett, his inside game. Outside game, Dirk Nowitzki, explosive like Amar’e (Stoudemire). Those three guys I like to compare myself and mix them all together and do a little bit of triple threat.”
Wow. Okay. I guess he could turn out to be exactly that - and I honestly hope that he does - but it seems a little far fetched after his one and only season in Columbus produced 8.8 points per game, 4.7 boards, 55% shooting from the stripe and nine - that's nine - assists in 671 minutes. The numbers don't even begin to illustrate just how poor of a post passer he was nor do they accurately depict his lack of any real consistent go-to offensive moves outside of the uncontested dunk.
In Gar-mire-witzki's defense, Matta only played him 20 minutes a game which impacted his per game totals though some of that was the result of foul trouble and/or ineffectiveness as Mullens frequently seemed to mentally check out at times.
Still, he is very young and appears to have some serious tools so hopefully he's committed and has a great NBA career. Even if he does, it's hard to imagine him evolving into anything remotely close to what Stoudemire brings to the table athletically or what Dirk brings to the perimeter.
Not that he really sounds cocky when you watch the actual interview but, for his sake, I hope his confidence is tempered and not the result of those around telling him how great he is. I mean, does he think he's the only draftee working his ass off right now?
What kind of career do you think Mullens will make for himself?
