Georgia Tech – SOL?

07-08 Basketball General NCS Basketball48

Maybe it really will be a big year for Tobacco Road (and Clemson gets a better shot to finally break out of the middle of the pack) – ESPN is reporting that Thaddeus Young will stay in the NBA draft:

Georgia Tech freshman Thaddeus Young has decided to stay in the 2007 NBA draft. The move is expected. Young is projected by most NBA teams as a Top 15 pick.

About BJD95

1995 NC State graduate, sufferer of Les and MOC during my entire student tenure. An equal-opportunity objective critic and analyst of Wolfpack sports.

07-08 Basketball General NCS Basketball

48 Responses to Georgia Tech – SOL?

  1. noah 06/19/2007 at 3:37 PM #

    The NBA has many, many things wrong with it. You could write a book on all of the things the NBA has working against it.

    We all know it…we all have said it….in college basketball, you go pro before the scouts can find the hole in your game. You go pro BEFORE scouts realize what you CANT do.

    And NBA scouts and teams ENCOURAGE this behavior. The NBA has finite resources and finite roster spots. And they continue to waste both of those resources on people who CANT play in the NBA!!

    Steve Czaban did a really good segment last week on how sports marketing is killing the NBA and how sportsfans are are getting more and more cynical about athletes.

  2. packpigskinfan23 06/19/2007 at 4:20 PM #

    I guess I am the only one who remembers that play…

  3. packbackr04 06/19/2007 at 4:35 PM #

    im with sixpack^ i know you cant make the big bucks at my company without a college degree why should it be diferent becuase you are 6’10” and have a 40″ vertical.
    they should make it so that if you dont have the education, there is a glass ceiling for you, and its called the NBDL.

    “Seems less people more and more do not want to watch a High School graduate or college drop out with 10 tatoos put up 20 shots a game and miss 12 of them” perfect quote six pack, and it sums up why i dont watch NBA!

  4. PackGirl 06/19/2007 at 4:55 PM #

    This is a bit off-topic, but does anyone have the scoop on Engin Atsur? Will he be playing in Europe or what? I have been scouring the internet for info but haven’t come up with much of anything. The only thing I could find is that they anticipate he will play for Turkey again in the 2007 FIBA tournament late this summer. Is there a European draft or how else do players get selected for the various European professional teams? Pardon my ignorance. Thanks.

  5. Gene 06/19/2007 at 5:11 PM #

    The reason people don’t watch the NBA is the same reason people complained about Herb-ball: as a fan of basketball watching a low scoring game, where teams hold the ball till the shot clock is about to expire is painful.

    I turned on ESPN SportsCenter and saw highlights of the recent Finals. The score was like 65-60 and the part of me that remembers watching the NBA in the 1980’s (and enjoying it) was thinking, “boy, the third quarter’s just getting under way”, but to my shock and surprise there were 2 minutes left in the 4th quarter.

    Bringing the NBA back isn’t hard. Get players, who can shoot and shoot more shots. More shots = more points = faster game = more fans = happier fans.

    The coaches, who encourage their teams to not shoot the ball, should be strung up, since they are as much a part of this problem as anyone.

    There’s no reason the Spurs can’t be a high scoring team. They have enough talented players on their roster, who have good offensive games. They’re just coached to not try and score 100 pts. per game.

  6. pakfanistan 06/19/2007 at 5:28 PM #

    Why would they bother to score 100 pts. a game when they’re winning championships with what they’re doing now?

    Who wants to see an McD’s AA game every time out anyway?

    The answer to fixing the NBA isn’t more points. Wasn’t that the purpose of decreasing the shot clock? To increase the amount of offense?

  7. noah 06/19/2007 at 6:04 PM #

    The problem isn’t shooters. The problem is the defense.

    When you play defense with one hand extended, holding your man in place…um, you’re not playing football. And this garbage about how if you come in the lane, you’re going to get decapitated….

  8. redfred2 06/19/2007 at 8:23 PM #

    Great post sixpack!

    Hard working people and professions aren’t going watch the NBA on TV, much less pay to watch in person, when it’s a bunch of kids who haven’t really gone through the proper steps and earned the outrageous money that they’re getting. It’s a business that readily pays and encourages young kids to skip out on valuable lessons in life. Just go sell drugs on the street corner, no education, no vertical even required, and good money. Same mentality, just talk trash and spend as much time at it as one would shooting hoops on the playground. Tattoo’s might even be more helpful in that vocation.

  9. redfred2 06/19/2007 at 8:26 PM #

    ^boo boo…professionals

  10. Luke12321 06/19/2007 at 10:36 PM #

    Should I not use microsoft because Bill Gates dropped out of college and spent the majority of his time in the computer industry? Bottom line is, people want to see the best players in the world in one league. The NBA is the league that provides it! Is it the most fun game to watch? NO! NCAA is. Why? Because the fans show passion…the players show heart and hustle hard. Would I want to stay in college if I had the chance to make millions in the NBA? Nope. Even if I went early and after a year or two (making a few mill) I was not quite ready for the NBA. I could go overseas and make atleast 500k a year for the next 10 years! What I can’t stand is someone who has made 8 million (using my example above) and when he retires he has nothing to show for? If he could of just managed that money wisely, he would never need a degree to make another dime and could live well.

  11. Rochester 06/20/2007 at 7:35 AM #

    So you’re saying Lebron James should never advance past the NBDL because he didn’t go to college. Hmmm … yeah, I bet that would go over big time. Especially when the NBDL TV contract eclipses the NBA’s.

  12. Wulfpack 06/20/2007 at 8:26 AM #

    Excuse me for bringing a shed of realism into this discussion, but this whole ante NBA argument is a bit hypocritical. Wouldn’t you chase the big bucks??? For most of these guys, their only true skill in life is the physical gifts God has granted them. I do not fault them for using these skills to their advantage in any other way any “average” human being uses intelligence to make sound business decisions.

    Lebron James could have gone to college. The only drawback is that he’d probabably be giving up somewhere in the order of $200 million had he chosen to do so, considering his popularity. Now would that have been smart?

    Go to Europe. Go to South America. They turn pro at about the age of 16 there. In fact, our best golfers, our best swimmers and tennis players, they all usually drop out of school to focus on their careers. Why? Because time is limited. You are only to going to have one chance, so why not go all out?

    Baseball players are notorious for quitting school to try to hack it in the minor leagues, and you don’t hear anyone badmouthing them. The argument just doesn’t hold up. Why is it NBA players we despise?

    I’ll tell you this, for guys like Lebron James and Jermaine O’Neal and Kevin Garnett, the NBA has afforded them opportunities that would have never been possible without the league. They’ve been wise to take advantage of the opportunity. And it gives them an avenue to travel the world, to make connections, so that business isn’t a problem after they are done playing.

    And Gene, I don’t think the Spurs need to apologize for not being a “high scoring team”. You think Popovich really gives a darn? Count them: 4 championships. Not bad. The problem ain’t the Spurs, in fact I praise their style of play. Team work. If you need an example, go no further than Tim Duncan.

  13. Rick 06/20/2007 at 8:29 AM #

    “The problem isn’t shooters. The problem is the defense.

    When you play defense with one hand extended, holding your man in place…um, you’re not playing football. And this garbage about how if you come in the lane, you’re going to get decapitated….”

    Bingo

    I watched about 3 minutes of the first SA and Cavs game. In it James made a cut and Bowen literally was arm in arm with him. The next play James drove and one of the big men knocked him on his rear. No call on either play.

    They need to clean up the defense. When you watch the old NBA (Bird and Magic) you saw defense but it was straight up defense. Actually trying to stop the man not beat on him. Until that is fixed (thanks Pat Riley) the NBA will continue to be unwatchable.

    Sidenote: what was the whole “James has not been around long enough to get thsoe calls” discussion? A foul is a foul no matter who is fouled or who commits it. They need to get rid of this star treatment crap.

  14. PamlicoPack 06/20/2007 at 8:44 AM #

    Here is Tudor’s take in this morning’s N&O on the PG situation in the NBA post draft deadline. He has us in the “unproven” category with the two Techs, but I have the feeling even our inexperienced PG can eclipse Ismael Smith at Wake, Hayes/Vasquez at Maryland, and Toney Douglas at FSU, at a minimum…

    [url]http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/story/610338.html[/url]

  15. westwolf 06/20/2007 at 8:52 AM #

    ^Hayes/Vasquez at Umd are very, very good. And they will both have more ACC experience than either of our guys. But Umd loses some key players and I think Sid is a better coach, so we’ll see what happens.

  16. BJD95 06/20/2007 at 9:05 AM #

    College hoops should have the same rule as baseball – either you sign out of high school or not eligible again until 3 years later. You either stay in college a reasonable length of time, or you skip it altogether. Colleges can plan better, and we won’t have to worry about our players having “too good” freshman years.

  17. noah 06/20/2007 at 9:07 AM #

    “Wouldn’t you chase the big bucks???”

    If I were David Stern, I would be concerned with putting out the absolute best, most entertaining product possible.

    That, to me, seems like the best plan for long-term success. If David Stern honestly thinks that this is the best, most entertaining product he can muster….well, you might as well shut the doors right now. Buggy-whips have a better long-term future than the NBA if that’s the case.

  18. noah 06/20/2007 at 9:09 AM #

    BJD – I’ve been saying that for years.

    You also shouldn’t have to DECLARE for the draft. You ought to have three draft windows….18, 21 and 22…if you like where you get picked during those windows, you’re free to sign. If you don’t…come back to school.

    I also think a draft-and-follow rule might make more sense for the NBA as well. Hockey and baseball have used those successfully for a number of years.

  19. Rochester 06/20/2007 at 3:32 PM #

    ^Baseball killed its draft-and-follow rule this year in an effort to keep the signing negotiations for dragging on forever. I believe they now have a hard deadline of August 15 or somewhere around there for players to either sign or forget about it until next year’s draft.

  20. Mr O 06/20/2007 at 3:48 PM #

    IMO, rules forcing kids to go to college would help UNC and Duke a whole lot more than it would help the rest of the ACC.

  21. redfred2 06/20/2007 at 5:15 PM #

    Luke, I’m not saying that these kids, or anyone, wouldn’t jump at that kind of money for doing nothing more than playing a sport. What I’m saying is that there should be a gradual pay scale from the ages of 18 to 22. Whether the NBA/MLB/NFL cares if these kids get an education or not, there should be limitations in place that make skipping the FREE OPPORTUNITY, that they are afforded over others without their same athletic abilities, much less enticing.

    “Bottom line is, people want to see the best players in the world in one league. The NBA is the league that provides it!”

    Actually, people DO NOT want to see “the best players in the world” when the league, and the circus style of play that it dictates, is none other than “the NBA”. The decline in interest bears me out.

    “What I can’t stand is someone who has made 8 million (using my example above) and when he retires he has nothing to show for? If he could of just managed that money wisely, he would never need a degree to make another dime and could live well.”

    You are contradicting yourself there. Wouldn’t that possibly be where at least part of an education for an eighteen year old without any affluent role models, and having to a least make an effort to honor the process before being just handed an ungodly wad of cash, would probably make a huge difference in their long success?

  22. redfred2 06/20/2007 at 5:17 PM #

    ^long “term” success

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