Phx-Suns.Net

ShelC wrote:Jason Whitlock made a good point on Twitter last week. He said we're seeing a lot of these upsets and smaller schools/mid majors beating the powerhouse programs because the one-and-done model is catching up to those schools. The smaller schools recruit less heralded guys who stay for 3-4 years, are coached up and physically more mature than a bunch of 18 years who are put together on a team for just one season, have to learn to play together and can't match up (in a lot cases) physically. I thought that was an interesting observation.

Saw Whitlock but continued reading because I'm on here. I agree Shel, his statement actually makes sense which I find shocking

O_Gardino wrote:From the NBA's standpoint, the only bad thing about drafting younger players is the high salaries while the young'uns learn.

The bigger bad thing is that NBA fans have to watch young green kids play pro hoops who aren't ready and can't keep up. The quality of product of both NCAA and NBA basketball drops. It is bad having a bunch of 19-year-olds in the NBA who don't know what they are doing. They either sit at the end of the bench wasting a roster spot, or they're out there playing before they are ready and putting a mediocre product on the floor. They should be in the NCAAs honing their craft and gaining confidence by playing against a somewhat lower level of competition.

https://twitter.com/DraftExpress/status/979125831938265089 I liked him a lot last year, he had a rough year this year and got hurt, but he's worth a look. I'd gladly take him at 31. He's got good size, can guard multiple positions and was an impressive shooter as a freshman

Split T wrote:https://twitter.com/DraftExpress/status/979125831938265089 I liked him a lot last year, he had a rough year this year and got hurt, but he's worth a look. I'd gladly take him at 31. He's got good size, can guard multiple positions and was an impressive shooter as a freshman

Same. He's a good argument for going pro when you have the opportunity.

Marty [Mori Chu] wrote:So many rookies come out too early in today's NCAA -> NBA model. The one-and-done is ruining a lot of careers. Monk would probably be a great NBA player if he played for 3-4 years in college.

I don't think anybody's careers are being ruined. You either have it or you don't. Whether you continue to work on your game in college or the pros isn't going to change anything.

Marty [Mori Chu] wrote:

O_Gardino wrote:From the NBA's standpoint, the only bad thing about drafting younger players is the high salaries while the young'uns learn.

The bigger bad thing is that NBA fans have to watch young green kids play pro hoops who aren't ready and can't keep up. The quality of product of both NCAA and NBA basketball drops. It is bad having a bunch of 19-year-olds in the NBA who don't know what they are doing. They either sit at the end of the bench wasting a roster spot, or they're out there playing before they are ready and putting a mediocre product on the floor. They should be in the NCAAs honing their craft and gaining confidence by playing against a somewhat lower level of competition.

I can't argue with that. Yet, I don't like enforcing rules to force kids to stay in school.

Superbone wrote:

Marty [Mori Chu] wrote:

O_Gardino wrote:From the NBA's standpoint, the only bad thing about drafting younger players is the high salaries while the young'uns learn.

The bigger bad thing is that NBA fans have to watch young green kids play pro hoops who aren't ready and can't keep up. The quality of product of both NCAA and NBA basketball drops. It is bad having a bunch of 19-year-olds in the NBA who don't know what they are doing. They either sit at the end of the bench wasting a roster spot, or they're out there playing before they are ready and putting a mediocre product on the floor. They should be in the NCAAs honing their craft and gaining confidence by playing against a somewhat lower level of competition.

I can't argue with that. Yet, I don't like enforcing rules to force kids to stay in school.

I'll argue with it. I've got hours to waste before the game.

NBA Rosters aren't bigger because of the age of the rookies. Every team is going to have end-of-bench players regardless of the average rookie age. How does it hurt the "product" to have promising 19 yr old players at the end of the bench instead of established mediocre players?

NBA rosters aren't replacing their best players with rookies. They are replacing their worst. And there are plenty of teams whose young guys are ready to play a specific role in the pros. Ours look like shit because we built a shit team, not because of the youth of the players.

https://www.sbnation.com/2018/3/28/1717 ... -nba-draft

Is Mikal Bridges the next Kahwi Leonard/Jimmy Butler type of standout?

JCSunsfan wrote:https://www.sbnation.com/2018/3/28/1717 ... -nba-draft

Is Mikal Bridges the next Kahwi Leonard/Jimmy Butler type of standout?

Nope. Otto Porter maybe

Dan Majerle

Thunder Mikal!

https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/979442768962641924 Very interesting to see if this becomes a trend. I would love if the g league starts to get more top recruits and becomes a decent league talent wise. Might kill the NCAA though. If this Bazely guy has success and gets taken top 10 in 2019 while getting paid in 2018, we might see a lot of guys follow the same path.

Split T wrote:https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/979442768962641924 Very interesting to see if this becomes a trend. I would love if the g league starts to get more top recruits and becomes a decent league talent wise. Might kill the NCAA though. If this Bazely guy has success and gets taken top 10 in 2019 while getting paid in 2018, we might see a lot of guys follow the same path.

I really hope we see more of this.

Interesting thought I had listening to Bill Simmons podcast with Kevin Durant. They were talking about Donovan Mitchell and when he was asked why he was so much better this year than last year. Mitchell said it's cuz all he has to do now is play basketball. Basketball is his job.

My takeaway is you gotta find the guys that just love basketball. The guys that love basketball and have a strong work ethic are going to succeed. I'd be wary of the athletic freaks/talents that might not necessarily love basketball. Might explain Chriss problem.

Does Ayton love basketball? What's his work ethic? That's what will determine if he figures out how to be elite on both ends.

Same question with Bagley or Bamba. These guys have all the physical/athletic talent. Do they love Basketball and have the work ethic to fix their weaknesses?

I don't know these answers but they're the questions our front office needs to answer. Don't get fixated on talent/size, that's what makes people take kwame brown first overall.

Exactly. There are two kind of players in the league: Guys that play basketball and basketball players. Give me the basketball player every single time. And don't feed me BS about some kid's untapped potential because he just started playing at 16 and has so much more room to grow. Give me the kid who's been playing since he's 6 years old because he loves it.

Yep yep yep

O_Gardino wrote:

Split T wrote:https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/979442768962641924 Very interesting to see if this becomes a trend. I would love if the g league starts to get more top recruits and becomes a decent league talent wise. Might kill the NCAA though. If this Bazely guy has success and gets taken top 10 in 2019 while getting paid in 2018, we might see a lot of guys follow the same path.

I really hope we see more of this.

I agree. On one hand, I enjoy supporting my university, but on the other, fuck the NCAA. I hope it burns to the ground.

Split T wrote:My takeaway is you gotta find the guys that just love basketball. The guys that love basketball and have a strong work ethic are going to succeed. I'd be wary of the athletic freaks/talents that might not necessarily love basketball. Might explain Chriss problem.

This is the exact same thought I had when I heard Durant talk about Mitchell. Chriss hasn't shown the discipline or desire to improve his craft at all so far. He's no different than guys like Kwame Brown or Andrew Bynum were at the same age, and we saw how their careers turned out.

For the record, I think guys can learn to love basketball, but don't draft a guy like that in the top 5.

ShelC wrote:Exactly. There are two kind of players in the league: Guys that play basketball and basketball players. Give me the basketball player every single time. And don't feed me BS about some kid's untapped potential because he just started playing at 16 and has so much more room to grow. Give me the kid who's been playing since he's 6 years old because he loves it.

I generally agree with this thinking. But I don't think you can be too religious about such a rule. If you had this as a must-have quality in the draft, you'd have passed on the Greek Freak, who began playing relatively late in his life. And wasn't the same true for Joel Embiid? Again, I mostly agree with this mindset, just saying that there are some really good exceptions to it.