Remember when everyone thought that Eric Hayes was the next Steve Blake?

Simply because both were skinny white guys with buzz cuts? In hindsight, that was probably the wrong assumption to make. Rarely do unathletic, skinny white guys make good basketball players. Don't get me wrong, I like Eric, but he's vastly underperformed.

Well, it sounds like he agrees with what we thought about three years ago. He's actually going out to Portland to talk to and workout with Blake. He says he wants to "pick Blake's mind about the point guard position." Here's what I found funny - check out Eric's comparison of himself to Steve.

He's got the same type of game I have. He brings the same athleticism to his game like the way I play. He made it to the NBA with what he had. I can try and pick up some pointers and possibly do that myself. ... We're smart players, but not the most athletic. But our smartness makes up for our lack of athleticism.

Does anyone else think Eric's overvaluing his "smartness"? I don't think his basketball IQ is anywhere near Blake's - and no, I don't think there's actually a "basketball IQ", but it's a useful cliche so I can stop saying smart. Unsurprisingly, his father was the one who contacted Gary Williams to get the phone number, and the one who called Steve. Eric had very little to do with this process.

Does anyone else think Eric could eventually be close to Steve? Write a FanPost with what you think.

Photo from WashingtonPost.com.