In discussing OJ Mayo's NBA future with the Duke today, I had what I'd classify as an interesting thought (whether you agree with me, let's just wait and see...with my writing ability, I'll go ahead and guess you won't.) While it's clear all young players benefit from at the very least a year in college before jumping to the league, point guards in particular suffer the most growing pains in the transition from high school phenom/one year college starter to the daily grind of the NBA.
Now, I'm not going to analyze every underclassmen and preps to pro draft pick in the last ten years because that would most likely do nothing but disprove my initial point and more importantly bore you, the reader, to death.
Instead, think about Sebastian Telfair. The kid is a New York City/Coney Island legend, so much that a documentary was made of his journey to the NBA. However, his status as an NBA point guard is far from legendary, peppered with multiple teams and erratic behavior. While a few incidents involving a total lack of common sense have clearly contributed to his bouncing around the league, they're not the main reason the kid hasn't stuck anywhere just yet. His jump shot is.
Outside shooting isn't something he needed to develop in high school. After all, when you can take damn near anyone off the dribble, there's no reason to pull up for a 15-footer. The layup or at worst, free throw, is a much easier alternative. The problem is, the NBA is full of guys who make a living staying in front of the ball-handler.
Once Telfair reached the NBA, his lack of touch from the outside could be hidden no longer. It also doesn't help that he initiates the offense and handles the ball the most. In this sense, the glaring hole in his game is magnified by being in the spotlight and as an integral part of a team.
It may seem like I'm picking on Telfair but really, I'm not. He's an example and nothing more. If anything, his small stature has been as much a hindrance on his career as his outside shot. He's an amazing ballhandler but at this point, not much more. His development has a long, long way to go. Again, it's not just him.
How about Dajuan Wagner? Wait, bad example. The guy has been through enough as it is. The other guy I immediately thought of along with Telfair was Shaun Livingston and what's left of his knee.
Like Telfair, his ballhandling skills are nearly unmatched. Problem is, so are the bricks he's been known to throw at the rim.
I've named two preps to pro point guards that as of yet, haven't panned out. And really, would a now required year in college improve their shooting skills? Not exactly helping my case all that much. Or am I? If you take a look at the point guards selected in the NBA draft over the last ten years, the majority have been upperclassmen. This is no coincidence.
They've had more time to work on every facet of the game, especially running a team. The shooting woes that plague Telfair and Livingston are compounded by their role as floor leader. Sure, they can run the offense but part of it is being able to knock down the open shot when things go awry.
As we've seen, they simply haven't been able to do it just yet. The reason I'm writing about it like it actually matters is because to me, it does. As an avid basketball fan and admirer of Steve Nash (and now Chris Paul and Deron Williams,) a point guard can make or break a team.
When a 6'8" swingman right out of high school gets drafted, at this point, we almost expect him to fail. And if he does, it sucks and sucks hard, but it isn't that big of a surprise. More importantly, while the team invested a year or two in the development of that player, there's always another guy who can jump out of the gym and can make scouts drool with his tremendous upside potential and long length (Jay Bilas is a fucking twit.)
What doesn't grow on trees are point guards. That's why Livingston and Telfair's struggles are important and so very apparent. These guys are drafted to be leaders on the court and to guide their team's offense on every possession. Their purpose is an important one, more so than the raw talent with the 40" vertical.
Their injuries and lack of common sense have hurt, but not anymore than their lack of shooting ability from outside 5 feet. These two have found no where to hide...except for on the bench behind cagey veterans with the ability to knock down the elusive ten footer.
2 comments:
Agreeeeeed. OJ needs to stay in college for another year. So do most ballers.
I think in this and many other cases, a true minor league system for the NBA would work. Maybe if these young players had a decent chance to work on their skills before they hit the big show, maybe they don't struggle as much. Would this encourage a lot of early entries to the NBA? Sure, but I'm sure one of the major points of forcing players to play one year in college was to prevent the great amount of flameouts.
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