International Big Men Bust

This is becoming a bit of a trend I've noticed. International big men being unable to live up to expectation placed on them by being selected highly in the NBA draft.

A lot of highl draft pick internationals have either busted hardcore or not lived up to expectations. For example:

2007: Yi Jianlian- Maybe not classified as a big man but the dude is still 7' (maybe) Could be too early to tell maybe but Yi was selected with the 6th pick and is showing signs of maybe not busting, but certainly not living up to his potential.

2006: Andreas Bargnani- First overall pick and has played well under what was/is expected. He has a lot of time to fill his shoes but signs are dubious early on.

2005: Andre Bogut- when you were picked at number 1 ahead of Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Danny Granger and Monta Ellis amongst others, I'm sure the Bucks would take it back if they could. He is putting up solid numbers, but the dude was a number 1 overall pick.

2004: Rafael Araujo- Hardcore bust and you'd be lucky if you've heard of him. Picked by the Raptors with the 8th pick, his career averages speak volumes, 2 ppg and 2 rpg.

2003: Darko Milicic- Possibly one of the most noted busts in NBA draft history. He was selected 2nd overall in front of players such as Carmelo Anthony, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Kirk Hinrich, TJ Ford and Josh Howard.

2002: Nikolay Tskitishvili- This guy was awful. Kiki Vandewhege, the then GM of the Denver Nuggets, allegedly didn't even watch Skita personally and selected him at number 5 overall. Career average of 2.9 ppg.

2001: Desagna Diop and Vladimir Radmanovic- Although a pretty weak draft class, they were picked at 8th and 12th overall. Expectations may not have been sky-high however they did under-perform overall.

1998: Michael Olowokandi- Big bust. Selected number one overall, the 'Candy Man' who is native of the pacific islands, put up 8 pts and 6 boards a game over his career. He was picked ahead of stars like Vince Carter, Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce.

So as you can see it happens too often to be ignored. There are obvious exceptions such as Pau Gasol in 2001 and Dirk Nowitzki in 1998, but it seems a very regular trend.

A question that becomes of this is; Ricky Rubio could/should be one of the first European guards actually drafted in the lottery. Does this mean that he will follow the fate of many internationals that have busted and underachieved ahead of him? Personally it's too tough to tell. Big international players often get beaten down by the more physical American players in the paint, unable to get the shots they want and getting butchered on defense. Rubio has the skill-set to be just as good as any PG in the game and it will be interesting see how his game translates into the NBA which is a very alien game compared to international leagues.