Let me start this article by saying that by no means am I becoming a vigilante against the National Basketball Association. This is in response to the various emails, tweets, and phone calls I’ve been receiving, concerning my disdain for the recent atrocious and bizarre behavior of the NBA authority and its officials. Folks please don’t mistake my passion as hate or rebellious behavior towards authority or change. I’m just a very passionate individual who just doesn’t lay down or roll over because someone in charge says so.
Certain changes to rules or protocol should make sense for everyone involved. I know that bosses have a tough job and not all of them are going to win a popularity contest, but along with power comes responsibility and looking at the bigger picture. I can go on for days regarding the NBA and its ridiculous changes and formats, but I have bigger issues at the moment.
Charles Barkley was recently quoted as saying that the terrible play of the teams in the Eastern Conference, was due primarily in part to the young players on those teams. He also stated that the Draft eligibility rules should be tweaked again, forcing college players to stay in school longer than the now mandated one year. That’s just absurd! I think sitting in that broadcast chair on TNT has fried Barkley’s brains just a little bit. I totally disagree! He should be looking at some of the veterans on these rosters as well as how the teams were put together.
The majority of the problems with the franchises in the Eastern Conference stem from poor judgment by General Managers and the lack of experience with the Head Coaches of these teams. Just look at Boston, Milwaukee, Brooklyn, Toronto, Orlando, Charlotte, and Cleveland. A first year former college coach in Boston, terrible roster moves in Milwaukee, a combination of the two in Brooklyn, and INSANE roster moves in Cleveland, Charlotte, and Toronto. In my opinion the Magic are probably the one team out of all of the ones that were named, that can actually be excused. These guys play extremely hard night in and nigh out for Jacque Vaughn. It’s just that their lack of experience catches up to them at the end of most games, where a veteran team steps up the intensity and will usually get the win.
What were they thinking in Cleveland when they drafted Anthony Bennett as the number one overall selection, along with hiring Mike Brown as the coach for a second term? With the exception of the 2007 season, Brown couldn’t get the Cavs past the Eastern Conference Finals, and he had the best player in the league for over 3 seasons. What were the expectations of owner Dan Gilbert? Did he expect Coach Brown and Kyrie Irving to lead a team of misfits to the promise land?
Courtesy: Yahoo Sports
Don’t even let me start in on Anthony Bennett. The guy is averaging 2 points and 2 rebounds per game. There is absolutely no excuse for this type of performance from the top pick. Along with that honor comes a ton of deserved pressure and expectations from everyone. No one is suggesting that he perform like the last couple of top overall selections by Cleveland (King James, Kyrie Irving), although I’m sure not a single fan in the great state of Ohio would mind but his play thus far is ATROCIOUS! He often looks lost and the Cavaliers don’t know where he fits in.
How does the number one overall pick get lost in the shuffle? Who thought the results would be any different? This kid didn’t dominate when he was at UNLV. If you can’t dominate in the Mountain West Conference, what kind of success are you hoping for in the NBA? As I’ve said in past articles, when you’re a General Manager, you need to perform your due diligence and find a player who is going to have a positive impact on your franchise. A player who is going to help improve upon what you already have.
In Milwaukee, not only did they ship one Brandon out for another, but they couldn’t land anyone else from the free agent market besides O.J. Mayo. They were duped into signing Larry Sanders to a ridiculous contract and have been saddled with a horrible roster to boot.
Charlotte actually fields a decent and competitive team on a nightly basis. They just need to hire the correct coach (Patrick Ewing) to get the maximum output from their players. The signing of Al Jefferson was a great acquisition to go along with Kemba Walker, Gerald Henderson, Cody Zeller, MKG, and a solid bench of veterans that include fill it up scorer Ben Gordon.
Courtesy: NY Daily News
A tree may have grown in Brooklyn but I know what hasn’t; the contender that everyone said would own the city. The Nets are a JOKE and the entire league knows it (I wrote an article about the Nets not being the Kings of NY and so far they are proving me right). General Manager Billy King continues to show that if given the chance, any idiot with an owner’s checkbook can become a GM in the NBA. He botched the Philadelphia 76ers organization and ran to New Jersey, where the roster he constructed has only been to the post season ONCE! He traded valuable role players to Boston for an aging trio whose best days are clearly behind them. Then he hires an inexperienced former player to be the Head Coach and it’s been downhill ever since. Please don’t be fooled by their recent winning streak. When the dust finally settles and the playoff seeds have been announced, the Brooklyn Nets will definitely be on the outside looking in.
So the “death” of the Eastern Conference has absolutely nothing to do with the underclassmen that declare for the draft, and everything to do with the decision makers of these franchises. Youth is served throughout the league on several competitive and perennial playoff teams. The Houston Rockets, OKC Thunder, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trailblazers, and the Toronto Raptors, are proof that youth isn’t necessarily a bad thing when put together with the correct nucleus. Talented players shouldn’t have to risk career threatening injuries or waste precious years rotting away playing college ball.
How would the landscape of the NBA be shaped today if Kevin Durant(Texas), Russell Westbrook(UCLA), Kevin Love(UCLA), Jrue Holiday(UCLA), Lamarcus Aldridge(Texas), and James Harden(Arizona State), would have opted to stay in school, rather than entering the Draft as underclassmen? Just some food for thought.
The best years of college basketball was in the 80’s—Which led to some of the best basketball of all time–in the 90s—.If we can increase rivalries, competition and talent in both nba and ncaa by having players stay longer in college…I’m all for it…Barkley hasn’t fried his mind, he just has a seat where he can see everything from above. I’m with him.
Although I do agree with your comments about college basketball in the 80’s and 90’s, it still doesn’t prove that having players stay in college, helps their perspective teams in the pros. I find it hard to believe that if Westbrook, Durant, Love, Holiday, Lillard, Aldridge, and Harden would have stayed in school longer, their games would be more polished than they already are. Barkley doesn’t see things better because of his seat. He’s speaking from a network’s point of view. He’s already succeeded in having you believe his idiotic ideas. You guys sound like those commentators that I laugh at every Saturday. It’s a classic case of Jealous One’s Envy. So these kids should risk life and limb (Kevin Ware), just so these Universities can continue to rake in millions in tournament dollars and endorsements. At least if they’re in the pros, the blow of being dealt a career ending injury is somewhat softened by their salary. That’s something to fall back on! What University’s tuition costs millions for one individual? These athletes can always pay and get their education after. This is a topic for another time. Stay tuned
I still believe having players stay in college will increase the talent and rivalries in college and make the NBA better if players were more “polished”…..Though, I have always been a fan for paying college athletes and providing better scholarships and expense to student-athletes, I’m not saying they should stay in college and play for free and being exploited.the NCAA should do a way better job of taking care of their athletes.Its not jealous when I want other to succeed as best as possible.
You may find it hard for them to stay in school but with a big pay check waiting in the NBA and nothing great coming from the NCAA , yes it’d be easy to make the switch….but staying in college provides other FALL BACK OPTIONS …….like education…..for players who could have career ending injuries. The NCAA IS a cartel and I’m not for them extorting college students
I was published in a journal talking about that :http://amst.umd.edu/powerlines/jack-bolesta-all-play-and-no-pay/
a lot athletes go bankrupt or take care of other things with their money and I’m sure after leaving school they do not plan on going back, I’m unsure of how many athletes might have a rain day college fund incase they get a career injury.
You changed the argument when talking about colleges taking advantage of athletes… you find it hard for players to stay in school but the whole point i’m making is the NBA USE TO BE BETTER and the NBA needs to do something to increase the level of play, your going to tell me you disagree with that when you wrote an article RIP Eastern Conference….While you only mentioned a small handful of athletes, who are all stars, the majority of athletes could use some extra time in college or the NBA should set up a farm system. Yes, GM’s do stupid things but most players could use time to polish skills and mature. It could make for a higher level of talent.