Phenomanul
06-22-2005, 03:58 PM
"My feeling on the NBA age limit is it won't hold up too long. Flawed logic eventually gets weeded out. They should have went all out and made the NBA age limit 21 and the NBDL age limit 18.
College coaches don't really decide whether a person who could have done doesn't go. If OJ Mayo went to Duke and Coach K rode him on the pine for an entire year, he'd still be the no 1 pick in 2008. These Euro guys do it all the time. He'd have the "studied under a legend" cache to add to the resume. It hurts the marginally-good players if they get oak time. Hype drives alot of the drafting and if you can't sustain what little hype you have, you disappear. Essentially, that's what the age limit's trying to do. In effect, it'll work brilliantly.
The flaw here is people will take this lying down. Say Greg Oden (projected #1 pick in 06 if he went out of HS) breaks his leg in college, having been forced to go based on a questionable NBA rule. It'll get challenged in a court of law and NBA will have to justify how 1 yr of post HS ball makes a player that much better. The reason that the NFL rule can possibly hold up is because it's 3 years instead of one. A lot can change with a player in 3 years across the board. with 1 year, the average player doesn't change that much b/c they're trying to feel their way around. I spent my freshman year making the transition from center to shooting guard. Maturing doesn't happen until at least a 2 is your first digit.
I read about the NBA's plan to increase the NBDL to 15 teams and make each team a breeding ground for 2 NBA affiliates. 1st and 2nd year players are eligible to be sent down to play in it (I assume working under their NBA contracts). If that happens, I think the NBA can dump the age limit since they could play in that for 2 seasons, get the 3rd and fourth year options picked up by the NBA clubs and be at least 20 before they are looked to contribute hard. It also gives credibility to the D-League. Needless to say, I've been selling this angle for over a year. And considering that they could make this OPTIONAL for the NBA clubs, that keeps the Lebrons of the world from being forced to the minor leagues when they are ready immediately.
Bottom line: The age limit is dumb, but it's there. College coaches get some benefit (meaning they should recruit hard 25-100 ranked players ass they'll likely stay in college). The people at fault for the "lack of NBA talent" are the decision-makers for spending these draft picks on "flavor of the month" guys instead evaluating true basketball talent, mental fitness, and long-term potential. And the NBA CBA saved their asses."
Terraun
College coaches don't really decide whether a person who could have done doesn't go. If OJ Mayo went to Duke and Coach K rode him on the pine for an entire year, he'd still be the no 1 pick in 2008. These Euro guys do it all the time. He'd have the "studied under a legend" cache to add to the resume. It hurts the marginally-good players if they get oak time. Hype drives alot of the drafting and if you can't sustain what little hype you have, you disappear. Essentially, that's what the age limit's trying to do. In effect, it'll work brilliantly.
The flaw here is people will take this lying down. Say Greg Oden (projected #1 pick in 06 if he went out of HS) breaks his leg in college, having been forced to go based on a questionable NBA rule. It'll get challenged in a court of law and NBA will have to justify how 1 yr of post HS ball makes a player that much better. The reason that the NFL rule can possibly hold up is because it's 3 years instead of one. A lot can change with a player in 3 years across the board. with 1 year, the average player doesn't change that much b/c they're trying to feel their way around. I spent my freshman year making the transition from center to shooting guard. Maturing doesn't happen until at least a 2 is your first digit.
I read about the NBA's plan to increase the NBDL to 15 teams and make each team a breeding ground for 2 NBA affiliates. 1st and 2nd year players are eligible to be sent down to play in it (I assume working under their NBA contracts). If that happens, I think the NBA can dump the age limit since they could play in that for 2 seasons, get the 3rd and fourth year options picked up by the NBA clubs and be at least 20 before they are looked to contribute hard. It also gives credibility to the D-League. Needless to say, I've been selling this angle for over a year. And considering that they could make this OPTIONAL for the NBA clubs, that keeps the Lebrons of the world from being forced to the minor leagues when they are ready immediately.
Bottom line: The age limit is dumb, but it's there. College coaches get some benefit (meaning they should recruit hard 25-100 ranked players ass they'll likely stay in college). The people at fault for the "lack of NBA talent" are the decision-makers for spending these draft picks on "flavor of the month" guys instead evaluating true basketball talent, mental fitness, and long-term potential. And the NBA CBA saved their asses."
Terraun