2013 - 2014 College Basketball Season

[bobbyhawks]

This KU team seems much more like a Coach Cal Kentucky team than any other year I can remember. It is a grab bag of personalities with amazing talent. I think Cal seems to let the players dictate the team personality much more than he dictates one to them. I'm not sure that Self has figured out how to make so many young guys tough-nose defenders. Normally, January is around the time when the Freshmen and Sophomores figure out how to defend, mostly because they are tired of looking like the weak link on film amongst the older players (just a hypothesis). I'm not sure if it is clicking for this unit as there aren't as many great examples on the floor of composure and consistent, Bill Self, fundamental team defense. My hope is that by the end of the season, we look more like a typical KU team than the recent Kentucky teams that rely on single players taking over.

[KCMax]

A player could decide if he likes his chances in one draft or stay another year. Already has that option but he would be competing with other players at the same level instead of all players in one draft. Or go ahead and play foreign ball, and make some money, instead of college ball.

Wouldn't they all be competing against each other to make the team though? I imagine in your scenario, most of the 3-4 year guys would end up getting cut. Just getting drafted doesn't ensure you are on a team in the NBA.

Foreign ball is already an option out of HS, but only Brandon Jennings AFAIK has taken that route.

[Highlander]

The NBA could simply adopt the NFL's standard which requires 3 years out of high school (I believe it's 3 years but not sure - know it's more than 1). In a sense, the one and done era (which I am not crazy about) has created an NCAA without dominant teams because nobody can stack up on 5 star players and mature them over the years as once was the case. Consequently, a talent rich team like Kentucky is only going to get lucky about once per decade nowadays and mid major teams with under the radar players like WSU can be perennial contenders.

I would just prefer that the Lebron James's of the world just go straight to the NBA. I don't see the point of attending college for a year; I do not think it's good for college basketball.

[shaffe]

I haven't followed this thread too closely with all of the jayhawk talk, but draft eligibility is the one thing that MLB has 1,000% right IMO. You can declare for the draft straight out of high school, but if you go to a 4 year college out of high school you have to stay 3 years. If you to JuCo you can declare any year, but it's very rare. The NBA really should adopt that policy.

[bobbyhawks]

I'm beginning to think that players should be able to declare for the NBA and go to college if they aren't satisfied with their actual draft position. You would have to remove yourself from your agent and endorsements if you try to play college ball, just as you would if you were drafted into the MLB and ended up playing basketball. The fact that they are different sports really means nothing from an amateurism standpoint.

I think the result would be that most drafted high school players would go round 1, since NBA teams would be afraid to take a risk on drafting a guy late round 1 or in round 2. Teams could retain the option to use their 1st round pick on a guy that goes to college instead of being drafted in the first or second round. An example would be if Joel Embiid was drafted 39th by the Lakers, then had a terrific year in college after opting out of the Lakers. The Lakers could then use their 1st round pick on Embiid next year. Auto-drafted players would have to receive lottery money to make it fair for the players. If Embiid stayed for two years, then the Lakers would lose the automatic draft right. Players would think twice about getting locked-in to a team at some arbitraged lottery amount, and teams would think twice about wasting picks (though 2nd round is often a wasted pick). The team would also have to really want a player for lottery money, but they get a reward for losing something in the prior year.

[aknowledgeableperson]

Why not do what baseball does? Why declare? Just let a team draft a player and the player can review his options and either go to school, go to Europe, or sign a NBA contract.

The team takes a chance on drafting a player.

[KCMax]

Why not do what baseball does? Why declare? Just let a team draft a player and the player can review his options and either go to school, go to Europe, or sign a NBA contract.

The team takes a chance on drafting a player.

They used to do that, but teams got mad at players burning them. Its a bit different than MLB. In MLB, you have 50 rounds, so you can afford to waste a few picks on gambles that players will sign. In the NBA, you have 2 rounds, and really only the first round matters. Can't really afford to take that kind of gamble.

In any case, why are you guys proposing the NBA change all its rules so that college basketball can be a better game? The NBA should only care about getting the best talent available, not whether or not KU has a team that can gel.

[bobbyhawks]

Why not do what baseball does? Why declare? Just let a team draft a player and the player can review his options and either go to school, go to Europe, or sign a NBA contract.

The team takes a chance on drafting a player.

They used to do that, but teams got mad at players burning them. Its a bit different than MLB. In MLB, you have 50 rounds, so you can afford to waste a few picks on gambles that players will sign. In the NBA, you have 2 rounds, and really only the first round matters. Can't really afford to take that kind of gamble.

In any case, why are you guys proposing the NBA change all its rules so that college basketball can be a better game? The NBA should only care about getting the best talent available, not whether or not KU has a team that can gel.

The NBA has not done a good job in keeping the next tier of player in their own development league. Most of those guys seem to go to Europe, so unless the pay is better in the D league, there will be little reason to draft beyond two rounds. Even first round picks have opted for Europe.

As for the NBA changing its rules, they are actually for rule changes. They were part of the reason why the one-and-done rule exists. I think teams were tired of being fooled by overhyped players, like a Josh Selby-type with limited scouting in non-AAU situations. You can still get burned on a seasoned college player, but you generally have to invest fewer years in finding that out. Even Kobe Bryant took a few years to get going. The NBA absolutely benefits from getting a player free national attention/marketing, free quality coaching and development, lessons in responsibility, etc., with zero investment from the team they will play for. I think there is a strong argument, from the quality of young players perspective, that forcing college for a year or two makes the NBA product better and saves owners money in bad decisions and development. Schools like KU and Kentucky end up investing millions in these guys and expect nothing in return.

[brewcrew1000]

The NBA is almost unwatchable right now because it seems like very few games are actually good or close but man, how awful would the NBA be right now if "The Chosen One" turned out to be a dud.

[aknowledgeableperson]

"why are you guys proposing the NBA change all its rules so that college basketball can be a better game"

Not for the NBA nor college game but for the player. A player declares and he loses his college eligibility. Just have the team draft and take its chances. Of course the team doesn't want to take a chance like that and be turned down but at least it becomes a player choice than a team choice.

[Highlander]

As for the NBA changing its rules, they are actually for rule changes. They were part of the reason why the one-and-done rule exists. I think teams were tired of being fooled by overhyped players, like a Josh Selby-type with limited scouting in non-AAU situations. Schools like KU and Kentucky end up investing millions in these guys and expect nothing in return.

I could have told the NBA not to waste their time on Selby, you can believe the hype or actually watch the kid play and realize the severe limitations (in Selby's case - poor ball handling skills, bad bball IQ, selfish, and inconsistent shooting). The NBA has nobody but themselves to blame for the "draft on potential (potential being interchangeable with hype)" mentality.

I am starting to think that we've seen maybe the last of the one-and-done dominated teams winning NC's. I could be totally proven wrong, even this year, but the high schools produce soooo many good players any more that there's not a lot of difference between the hyped players and the top 150. With the top 150 not moving on to the NBA after their freshman seasons, the added 1,2, and 3 years experience can put them effectively at a level on par with or above the top 5-10 recruits every year. KU and Kentucky are running into teams with better more experienced players and losing their fair share of games. Kentucky may have size and athleticism, and even talent, but they play ragged, ugly, dumb, lazy at times, and I do not enjoy watching them. I think KU is not that far behind, they look pretty lost at times. I've noticed the big blowouts aren't materializing for these teams either - Boise State hung with Kentucky until the end of the game at Lexington and weathered some one-sided officiating in the process.

[bobbyhawks]

I don't think KU and Kentucky are running into teams with better players, but they are running into teams that play better together. If you took a team like Colorado and changed nothing but installing Andrew Wiggins into their lineup, they would be a much better team. If you swapped out three or four of their starters for freshmen, it would be a different story.

Kansas fans have been pretty spoiled, and even with some frustration this year, Kenpom.com has KU at #8 with a top 15 defense and offense. I don't see how people can be very upset with progress to date. I have found myself upset many times this year because I am one of those spoiled fans that expects too much from the team.

Team basketball to me is what makes college basketball so much better than the NBA. I'm actually glad that one and done players don't dominate the game. College bball would suck if every season ended with the #1 vs. #2 recruits facing off to a shorter shot clock and 6 fouls. I worry that people are too eager to point at the problems with a game that many people love and try to tweak them. Sometimes things are better left alone.

[Highlander]

So when was the last time Kansas had it's basketball teams from all 3 major universities ranked in the top 25?

[longviewmo]

About two weeks ago.

[Highlander]

About two weeks ago.

As in what season not two weeks ago.

[longviewmo]

Oh, then as late as week 13 last year.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketb ... asontype/2

KU #2, WSU #15, KSU #18

[KCMax]

Our own Fox 4 began the Twitter rumor (that appears to not be true) that the Texas Tech superfan hurled racial comments at Marcus Smart!

http://www.pitch.com/FastPitch/archives ... he-weekend

#journalism

[mgsports]

With Comcast buying Time Warner TWCSP channels will know get on Google,Surewestkc and so on.

[AllThingsKC]

Welcome to the Big 12, West Virginia.

http://www.wvgazette.com/Sports/201402120236

[pstokely]

Welcome to the Big 12, West Virginia.

http://www.wvgazette.com/Sports/201402120236

does any pay TV provider even carry the Longhorn Network at all? Google Fiber has it here on an extra sports package