The draft declaration for the NBA is not a celebrated sports holiday, mainly due to people watching their alma mater college rosters crumble as players defect to the pros chasing millions of dollars.
This year’s deadline just passed and the group is no different. High profile entries include K-State’s Michael Beasley, Memphis’ Derrick Rose, USC’s O.J. Mayo, Stanford’s Lopez twins and D.J Augustin of Texas.
However, if it were up to Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban all of these athletes wouldn't have a chance to be drafted this year. Cuban wants to raise the age limit to enter the NBA to 22 or when a respective player’s class graduates from college.
Cuban takes this simplistic approach. He writes “If a kid is NBA ready to play at 18 or 19, he will be NBA ready at 22. They don't forget how to play basketball and they don't get worse. What does change considerably between the ages of 18 and 22 is the maturity level of the kids.”
I haven’t agreed with Cuban on a lot recently, especially the Mavs trade for Jason Kidd. But on this topic Cuban just makes sense.
Fundamentals in NBA have been slowly declining for a number of years, although things are slightly improving. That’s in part to the reduction of early entries in the NBA draft from high school. At 6 feet, 8 inches playing basketball in high school athletes don’t need great skills. But fundamentals set winners and losers apart when comparable athletic ability is paired.
To maintain the integrity of the game, the NBA should adopt Cuban’s age philosophy with a twist. Increasing the age limit moderately to 20-years and using the NBA Developmental League as a minor league system would dramatically improve the quality of rookies at the highest level.
NBA franchises should be allowed to draft the rights to kids coming straight out of high school, but those athletes could not join their pro team until they spent two years in the “minors.” The other option is let students go to college as amateurs for two years and then think about coming out.
Looking at baseball as a model, the minor league system works. The NBA should follow Cuban’s lead and raise its minimum age limit yet again.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
Reverse Curse is coming
The attempt was admirable. But a conniving Boston fan’s hard work to bury a Red Sox jersey under the new Yankee Stadium and jinx the Bronx Bombers was foiled.
The shirt was planted in a service corridor behind what will be a restaurant in the new stadium, and over the weekend construction crews dug the David Ortiz shirt up.
Yankees President Randy Levine said the team first considered leaving the shirt, but they just couldn’t let it happen. Unfortunately for Levine and the Yankees, owner George Steinbrenner is committing a more atrocious act, one that will bring a jinx to his beloved franchise.
Steinbrenner is tearing down the “House That Ruth Built,” replacing it with a $1.3 billion monstrosity that’s more than double the size. After snatching The Sultan of Swat, Babe Ruth, from the Red Sox for $125,000 New York changed the landscape of baseball. Ask Boston about those 86 lean years.
In 1923, when Yankee Stadium opened it favored lefthanded power with the right-field foul pole only 295-feet from home plate. Poised to be replaced, Steinbrenner is unknowingly bringing about a Reverse Curse. You don’t tear down the Ruth’s House without penalty.
Next year when the new Yankee Stadium opens, New York will begin a 34-year drought. Why 34 years? Not only does Sox Slugger David Ortiz don 34 on a daily basis, but if you take the Yankee legends Ruth and Lou Gehrig and put their number back-to-back, 3-4, well, you get the picture.
The Reverse Curse is upon you, New York. Watch out.
The shirt was planted in a service corridor behind what will be a restaurant in the new stadium, and over the weekend construction crews dug the David Ortiz shirt up.
Yankees President Randy Levine said the team first considered leaving the shirt, but they just couldn’t let it happen. Unfortunately for Levine and the Yankees, owner George Steinbrenner is committing a more atrocious act, one that will bring a jinx to his beloved franchise.
Steinbrenner is tearing down the “House That Ruth Built,” replacing it with a $1.3 billion monstrosity that’s more than double the size. After snatching The Sultan of Swat, Babe Ruth, from the Red Sox for $125,000 New York changed the landscape of baseball. Ask Boston about those 86 lean years.
In 1923, when Yankee Stadium opened it favored lefthanded power with the right-field foul pole only 295-feet from home plate. Poised to be replaced, Steinbrenner is unknowingly bringing about a Reverse Curse. You don’t tear down the Ruth’s House without penalty.
Next year when the new Yankee Stadium opens, New York will begin a 34-year drought. Why 34 years? Not only does Sox Slugger David Ortiz don 34 on a daily basis, but if you take the Yankee legends Ruth and Lou Gehrig and put their number back-to-back, 3-4, well, you get the picture.
The Reverse Curse is upon you, New York. Watch out.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
It’s over for Detroit?
Hang on a minute.
We’re just over a week into the new Major League Baseball season and one of the pre-season favorites, the Detroit Tigers, are flat on their face. Boasting the worst record in baseball, the Tigers heinous record stands at 1-8, five games behind first place Kansas City.
First place Kansas City!?! And the pundits on ESPN are burying the Tigers? Listen pennants are not won in April, they are won in August; baseball is the ultimate marathon.
If last year proved anything, you can’t eliminate any team until mid-August. Look three-quarters of last season’s National League playoff teams stumbled out of the block.
The Philadelphia Phillies started 3-10, but pulled even by mid-May and finished the season on a 13-4 as the New York Mets fell to pieces. The Chicago Cubs lost sixth straight games and were struggling in early June, before turning on the burners winning 35 of 53 and making up a 7 ½ game deficit to clinch the division.
And Colorado was 18-27 in late May, in last place in the NL West. That’s right the eventual League Champs were dead last in their division in May!
Let's not forget the 1998 Yankees, 2002 Angels and 2003 Marlins were all slow starters and all won World Series titles.
Should the Tigers be worried? Yes, they should be. They team bullpen is shoddy and bats aren't piecing hits together. But is Detroit out playoff contention? Ask me again in August.
We’re just over a week into the new Major League Baseball season and one of the pre-season favorites, the Detroit Tigers, are flat on their face. Boasting the worst record in baseball, the Tigers heinous record stands at 1-8, five games behind first place Kansas City.
First place Kansas City!?! And the pundits on ESPN are burying the Tigers? Listen pennants are not won in April, they are won in August; baseball is the ultimate marathon.
If last year proved anything, you can’t eliminate any team until mid-August. Look three-quarters of last season’s National League playoff teams stumbled out of the block.
The Philadelphia Phillies started 3-10, but pulled even by mid-May and finished the season on a 13-4 as the New York Mets fell to pieces. The Chicago Cubs lost sixth straight games and were struggling in early June, before turning on the burners winning 35 of 53 and making up a 7 ½ game deficit to clinch the division.
And Colorado was 18-27 in late May, in last place in the NL West. That’s right the eventual League Champs were dead last in their division in May!
Let's not forget the 1998 Yankees, 2002 Angels and 2003 Marlins were all slow starters and all won World Series titles.
Should the Tigers be worried? Yes, they should be. They team bullpen is shoddy and bats aren't piecing hits together. But is Detroit out playoff contention? Ask me again in August.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Mario's miracle the exception
After a tournament of blow outs and a general lack of drama, the national championship game delivered. We were certainly due, and finally after weeks of mediocre games we got our just dessert.
Memphis' epic collapse was capped off by Mario Chalmers miracle 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds remaining in regulation. Kansas pulled away in overtime, cruising to a 75-68 victory and their first championship title since Danny his bunch of Miracles won 20 years ago. It was a fitting finale for sure.
So as everyone offers up their opinions on this day after, here’s my take on this year's Final Four.
First, for all his psycho-babble Memphis coach John Calipari was flat out wrong, free-throws matter. The Tigers were ranked 339th of the country's 341 teams in free-throw shooting during the regular season. That proved to be their Achilles heel. It was ironic that Memphis crashed with two of their best shooters, Derrick Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts, making only one of five from the charity stripe over the last 1:12. Or maybe it was poetic justice since the Tigers had made 50 of their last 59 foul shots entering Monday's final. It sure was not a clutch performance.
Another hot topic today is consideration that Memphis should have fouled Kansas guard Sherron Collins before he could have dished the ball. Those were the apparent instructions from Coach Calipari, but the Memphis players did not execute. Personally, I think the Tigers choose the best strategy. I’m a huge fan of making players take and make the big shots; plus putting a Jayhawk on the line with a stopped clock may have yielded the same result.
Finally, there's been a lot of discussion about UNC coach Roy Williams' 'wardrobe malfunction.' Williams after all wore a big Jayhawk sticker in broad view Monday night. That's after Kansas manhandled his Tar Heels during the semifinals, Jayhawks by 18. SI.com' Ted Keith (a UNC alum) wrote "[Williams] first priority should be to UNC, not Kansas, and there was a way to show his divided loyalty that would have been appropriate. He chose to do it in and with inappropriate fashion." I find the whole situation both humorous and stupid. Come on Roy; don’t wear paraphernalia of a team that just stomped you into oblivion. I would still put this below LeBron (Mr. Cleveland) James’ when he wore a Yankees hat to New York-Cleveland playoff game.
In summary this year's tournament just lacked something. No, the tourney wasn't lacking Arizona State, albeit a whopping majority (three of four) voters in my FPS poll thought they deserved a chance to dance. Villanova proved they belonged. The David verse Goliath drama was lacking. Sure, the slipper fit Davidson, who made a Gonzaga-esque run after knocking the Zags out in round one. But with just three memorable games out of 65, this year’s March wasn’t mad enough.
Memphis' epic collapse was capped off by Mario Chalmers miracle 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds remaining in regulation. Kansas pulled away in overtime, cruising to a 75-68 victory and their first championship title since Danny his bunch of Miracles won 20 years ago. It was a fitting finale for sure.
So as everyone offers up their opinions on this day after, here’s my take on this year's Final Four.
First, for all his psycho-babble Memphis coach John Calipari was flat out wrong, free-throws matter. The Tigers were ranked 339th of the country's 341 teams in free-throw shooting during the regular season. That proved to be their Achilles heel. It was ironic that Memphis crashed with two of their best shooters, Derrick Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts, making only one of five from the charity stripe over the last 1:12. Or maybe it was poetic justice since the Tigers had made 50 of their last 59 foul shots entering Monday's final. It sure was not a clutch performance.
Another hot topic today is consideration that Memphis should have fouled Kansas guard Sherron Collins before he could have dished the ball. Those were the apparent instructions from Coach Calipari, but the Memphis players did not execute. Personally, I think the Tigers choose the best strategy. I’m a huge fan of making players take and make the big shots; plus putting a Jayhawk on the line with a stopped clock may have yielded the same result.
Finally, there's been a lot of discussion about UNC coach Roy Williams' 'wardrobe malfunction.' Williams after all wore a big Jayhawk sticker in broad view Monday night. That's after Kansas manhandled his Tar Heels during the semifinals, Jayhawks by 18. SI.com' Ted Keith (a UNC alum) wrote "[Williams] first priority should be to UNC, not Kansas, and there was a way to show his divided loyalty that would have been appropriate. He chose to do it in and with inappropriate fashion." I find the whole situation both humorous and stupid. Come on Roy; don’t wear paraphernalia of a team that just stomped you into oblivion. I would still put this below LeBron (Mr. Cleveland) James’ when he wore a Yankees hat to New York-Cleveland playoff game.
In summary this year's tournament just lacked something. No, the tourney wasn't lacking Arizona State, albeit a whopping majority (three of four) voters in my FPS poll thought they deserved a chance to dance. Villanova proved they belonged. The David verse Goliath drama was lacking. Sure, the slipper fit Davidson, who made a Gonzaga-esque run after knocking the Zags out in round one. But with just three memorable games out of 65, this year’s March wasn’t mad enough.
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