12/21/24
April 20, 2005
NBA has lost touch: In Sterns drive to make the NBA a world wide dominating force bigger than anything he is coming up foul with his development league when he has one sitting right in his lap. NBDL is nothing compared to NCAA basketball and will never reach the lofty heights of the crowds or development made at this level by coaches, yet this article rings true the NBA is trying so hard to flush out all the good players.
posted by bballcoachreid to basketball at 08:39 PM - 14 comments
If the more players head to the NBDL -- thinking that that's easier than the NBA -- I think fans of the college game can only blame themselves for bitching about the very few players who head for the money. It was averaging out to about three guys every year over the last decade, even with the flood last year. And that's the kicker to this whole story. Great point jackhererra.
posted by smithers at 11:07 AM on April 21, 2005
i think the nba is reasonable great we going to see teams that we havent seen the playoffs for a while like the hot suns the suns have bring back the fast paced gun shootin game the sonics r good wat amaze me we will see the boston celtics go against the pacers; we thought the pacers were doom to reach the playoffs and iverson win another scoring title its going to be interesting to see kidd and carter facing the heat its going to be amazing to see detriot tryin a repeat the only thing everyon is bitchin about theres no kobe, phil jackson, lebron james, kevin garnett, or the ny knicks the finals is either pistons vs. sun , or spurs vs. heat
posted by defrag3x at 03:41 PM on April 21, 2005
i'll bitch about Carter making the playoffs rather than Lebron. For Carter to admit dogging it before being traded - he should have been SUSPENDED. what he did is an insult to the fans in Toronto and the professionalism of the NBA (which is admittedly in short supply depending on where you look). Carter is a great player but I will be happy when he gets knocked out with another one of his injuries. Karma, man.
posted by gspm at 03:50 PM on April 21, 2005
Sorry about the hosannas on my end, but the flat earth mentality in sports must end. And to clarify (and to be fair), I'm not counting guys like Taj McDonald, who wouldn't be picked early in a playground game in Butte. But even if you threw them in, the tally is about four guys a year, if that... In other thoughts on this: Busts have always been around regardless of the sport or the background or the reason, and they will always be there. That's why they call them investments. Care to take a look at the 1986 Draft? You can blame it on the dope, but aren't those the things that we're worried about with the 18-year-olds... In a perfect world, I think the NBA would love for every one to hang around in college for four years, for marketing purposes. Unfortunately, there's also a risk in putting your most talented players in the hands of some rather flawed coaches on the college level, in terms of developing talent. (Let alone the time constraints.) With the NBDL, at least the NBA teams would have some quality control. And that's something that the NFL might want to think about. If the college system works so well for football, why are we still wondering where Matt Jones will be able to play football -- QB, WR, RB, TE -- after four or five years at Arkansas. Why are NFL teams so afraid of first-round picks in many years? So as much as I like the eccentricities of college football, it's far from the sophisticated complex that DeCourcy described.
posted by jackhererra at 04:47 PM on April 21, 2005
y u canadians complaining about vince carter ya only like him when he made dunks ya piss him off toronto organization is confusing so he want a ring so he left ya he went to a playoffs contending team i wouldnt be surprise Kevin Garnett leaves the Twolves and join nj nets or soon to be brooklyn nets for those cleveland fans dont worry about lebron james he would stay as long the owner makes some good moves this yr
posted by defrag3x at 08:36 AM on April 22, 2005
Lakers fans never complained about Shaq dogging it? puhleeaze. this thread is about the NBDL rather than Vince Carter so i'll leave you be.
posted by gspm at 11:10 AM on April 22, 2005
This article is so totally off the mark.... His point about the Bulls only works if you ignore what KG, LeBron, and Amare have done for their teams. The idea that College is some pure proving ground while the NBDL is a "cutthroat league".... How about the fact that since NCAA coaches have to win at all costs, they tend to do things not in the players long-term interests, where NBDL coaches will be judged on how the prepare their charges to play in the league. And yes, racism is a factor. LeBron's Hummer has alot to do with the fact that White America doesn't feel comfortable with young Black guys having alot of bling. Even other blacks who figure these men must be getting taken advantage of. There was no hue and cry when Chang won the French, or when Freddy Adu got drafted....
posted by LostInDaJungle at 12:05 PM on April 22, 2005
You couldn't pay me to go watch a bunch of thugs play hoops ever again. The NBA players act, talk and dress like a bunch of fools. The only skill they have left is the dunk. That's not professional basketball, it's playground.
posted by stockman1021 at 03:22 PM on April 22, 2005
yo stockman 1024 shut the hellup u sound sorry aint only about dunks u must thinkin about shaq r maybe u just jealous u cant dunk u got no game
posted by defrag3x at 07:29 PM on April 22, 2005
Nah, won't shut up. Not sorry either. Is about dunks, cause they're all punks No game? Beat you like a drum anytime. chump.
posted by stockman1021 at 12:45 PM on April 24, 2005
Paging Mom and Dad, paging Mom and Dad...the kids got control of the computer again...
posted by lil_brown_bat at 01:31 PM on April 24, 2005
My son used my computer, as of now he is in the process of re-sodding my yard and cleaning out the gutters. Any more worthwhile or more severe punishments are welcome to be posted. Sorry...Stock
posted by stockman1021 at 07:46 PM on April 24, 2005
no game today? So what Steve Nash is going isn't game? So what if the dunk dominates? That's because players aren't defending the paint like they used to. The dunk makes the game EXCITING. It may have saved the game. The old NBA game was about shooting and layups and for the most part it was boring. Not until guys like Dr. J and Jordan came along, did the NBA become as exciting. I admit it has fallen off because the lack of a MJ or Magic or Larry Bird...but the new crop isn't bad..Amare, LeBron, Kobe, Wade, Carmello..
posted by bluekarma at 11:03 AM on April 25, 2005
I don't think the NBA has lost touch any more than the world of college basketball has. The point of minor leagues are not to introduce players to bright lights. It's not to introduce players to cheerleaders and pep bands. The point is to improve players, something that shouldn't be a primary goal of players who go to college. (You'd hope.) DeCourcy seems to be in the pocket of the major college coaches, or at least you'd think so if you'd read his last two columns on this subject. In the previous column, he'd mentioned that Ndudi Ebi would be a greater player if he had the chance to play in the NCAA tournament instead of languishing on the bench for the Minnesota Timberwolves. It's a point I'd buy if (a) he hadn't missed most of the first two seasons with patellar tendinitis; and (b) he would be an understudy to Kevin Garnett even if he was healthy. How does the NCAA tournament remedy the first case, and how does it compare the second? In the current column, DeCourcy extols of NCAA-prepared players by using the Bulls as an example. And I'll be the first one to say that Deng, Gordon and Hinrich have really helped the team. But for convenience, he leaves out two important points: One is that two HS refugees -- Curry and Chandler -- are the leading scorers and rebounders on that team. Secondly, there aren't enough players straight from high school to really gauge their impact on the NBA, compared to those who come from college. This seems like a case wherein Stern is trying to please everyone, and he can't. He knows that guys like DeCourcy think the NBA is ruining the preciousness that is college hoops, but he also knows that the reason why this HS to NBA surge started was that some players weren't interested in being even semi-serious students. I wonder what DeCourcy would recommend for Kevin Garnett coming out of high school. That's what the NBDL would be for, the decent middle ground, not to put the college game under. If the more players head to the NBDL -- thinking that that's easier than the NBA -- I think fans of the college game can only blame themselves for bitching about the very few players who head for the money. It was averaging out to about three guys every year over the last decade, even with the flood last year.