Turns out that Walter Sharpe, the Pistons top pick, appeared in more college games than we knew about.
It was pointed out by a reader of this blog that Sharpe played in 40 college games, not 18 as previously reported. The discrepancy was due to the information sheet that was passed out to the media during draft night, apparently copied from the UAB media guide. His 2004-05 freshman season at Mississippi State, the first college he attended, was omitted. Sharpe appeared in 22 games that season but didn't play many minutes, as he averaged 2.4 points.
Sharpe admitted during a conference call that he needed to become a much better defender. He should have thrown in free throw and 3-point shooting into that mix. Sharpe put up Ben Wallace-like foul shooting numbers in college, averaging 49.5 percent on 112 attempts. He also only attempted three 3-pointers and missed them all.
Bottom line: The Pistons better get themselves another small forward through free agency because Sharpe needs to improve his game dramatically before he becomes a rotation player.