Is a One and Done player worth it?

[passthepuck?]

Mr. N: Kevin Love is the exception. How many white high schoolers have made the jump to the NBA? I am guessing not many. It would be interesting to see if the NBA would bend the rule for an 18 year old from Europe. Didn't Ms. Wie start her professional career at age 15 or so? The point of the post is that this rule is applied in only sports dominated by blacks NBA and NFL. That's wrong in my view. The greatest hockey player ever, Bobby Orr went from Parry Sound, Ontario to the NHL as a teenager. When his playing days were over he had no post hockey skills at all. It is not right but it is the way that it is and to single out young, mostly black athletes and tell them you must go to college for a year or two, in my view smacks of the plantation.

[Mr. Neutral]

I actually see your point(s), pass, I just thought you were a little broad in how you made them.

I think you can argue with equal force that while the 18-year olds have shown they can (sometimes) play in the NBA, both the league and the players' union is genuinely concerned that these guys show up with as much basketball AND life maturity as possible.

I mean, you could argue that 16 & 17 year old kids should be allowed to take a shot at the league, but nobody wants to go down that road.

So, yes, maybe the "one year" rule is arbitrary, but I can't say that's it without merit.

[passthepuck?]

Mr. N: Ok let’s do it in all sports. This would make the uneven parallel bars very interesting. I might even watch the Olympics.

[Mr. Neutral]

Only if all sports had a 10-foot high basket. Think how interesting that would make hockey, and golf!

On a serious note, in baseball, most guys spend several years in the minors. You almost NEVER see an 18 or 19 year old player on a major league roster full-time, and certainly not performing at an All-Star level.

In the NFL, guys play 3 years, so they're turning pro when they're at least 21.

As you brought up Michelle Wie, even Tiger went to college first, and you can count on zero fingers the 18-21 year old golfers who are at the top of the PGA leaderboard, or even making cuts.

The NBA is actually the exception among major sports in having guys of HS age, give or take a year, coming into the league and performing on a level equal to that of older players.

The NBA also has its share of young guys who aren't prepared to be an "adult" with a lot of money and a lot of ways to get into trouble with that money.

[passthepuck?]

10 foot net no problem, I had six this morning in old man hockey at Northland. Somedays everything works, most days at 52, nothing works.

[thatoneguy]

carmelo anthony

[olsingledigit]

I agree Neutral - Racist? Where did that come from?

Also, you were right on in your first post in this thread.

Racist? My head is still spinning on that one.

[xuhuh!]

It's a never-ending argument. From 1996-2005, was it better to be the Florida Marlins, win 2 World Series, and pretty much suck in between, or the Atlanta Braves, win 0 World Series, but consistently be one of the top teams in baseball?

Is OSU unhappy because Oden and Conley took them to the championship game? Probably not, though I'm sure they wish they'd won one more game.

Is UCLA unhappy with this season? My guess is yes, because, as you point out, they've been there without him.

Is KSU unhappy with how this season turned out? I'd say no, given how bad their team looked when we played them, and how much better they were at the end.

I'd say the same about USC. They didn't expect Mayo to take them to the Final Four because the rest of the team wasn't that strong.

IU's a different case because the team pretty much quit playing after Sampson left. Had they made a serious run in the NCAA, they may have felt Gordon's one year was enough.

Our approach works for us, but if Miller's ever got a chance to land THE high-school player, it would be hard to walk away, even knowing the kid would likely only spend one season at X. Realistically, that type of player will probably go elsewhere, so we won't be faced with that decision.

Miller was asked the "special player" question recently. he answered 'it would be worth it to land a 1 year "special player" and that player would have to conform to the guidelines of Xavier student athletes, i.e. go to class, study groups, and all the rest. face it, X fans wouldn't 'thumbs down' a final 4 or more!

[_LH]

I wish the NBA had a minor league systems similar to MLB with maybe just Triple A affiliates but the players union won't allow it. That would make the one year ban worthless and solve problems in the NBA as well.

[Mr. Neutral]

Well, the NBA does have the NBDL, but so far, it seems to be the farm system for the last spot on the roster, and not really a developing ground for major contributors/startes. That could change with time.

And you're right about the union opposing that sort of system. Rather than follow baseball's model where the players learn the game in the minors at 15K a year (or whatever they're paid), and then play their way into the majors, the NBA union would rather have their guys learning on the job (and sometimes failing on the job, or sitting) at 3 million a year.

Good for the players, not so good for the game.