Kentucky recruiting (I know slippery slope)

[champs99and04]

I think making his talent a little weaker (taking away Anthony Davis, for instance) would even the playing field a bit. So too, I think, would making the NBA age limit 20, since a player like Nerlens Noel might not be comfortable sitting behind Davis.

But the guy isn't a bad coach. He adapts well. You don't have to like him to know he can coach (those UMass teams were very good without this type of challenge). He a scummy guy and not a great in-game coach, but he can recruit and game-plan well. You can't go to 4 Final Fours and win a title in 5 years without being good at this coaching thing.

Taking away Anthony Davis would certainly even the playing field...but under the scenario you present (age limit 20), wouldn't he be there for two years instead of one? I agree that Noel opts to go elsewhere if Davis is in the fold, and you can probably say the same about Poythress, Goodwin, WCS, etc.

You're right that the implementation of a higher age limit would strengthen the overall talent pool. If Wall and Cousins are around for two, there's probably no Knight, Jones, etc. Maybe Knight goes to UConn.

To me, though, the rich get richer the longer you postpone draft entrance. The teams with the best players typically win...but they're a hell of a lot more vulnerable with freshman than sophomores.

 

[tzznandrew]

Taking away Anthony Davis would certainly even the playing field...but under the scenario you present (age limit 20), wouldn't he be there for two years instead of one? I agree that Noel opts to go elsewhere if Davis is in the fold, and you can probably say the same about Poythress, Goodwin, WCS, etc.

You're right that the implementation of a higher age limit would strengthen the overall talent pool. If Wall and Cousins are around for two, there's probably no Knight, Jones, etc. Maybe Knight goes to UConn.

To me, though, the rich get richer the longer you postpone draft entrance. The teams with the best players typically win...but they're a hell of a lot more vulnerable with freshman than sophomores.

But you also spread that talent around more when it is a two-year gig, I think, relative to what it is now.

Does Terrence Jones go to UK with Cousins in front of him? Instead he goes to Washington, right? Not all these players are choosing between Duke and UK, and suddenly Top 10 talent is spread out further.

 

[tcf15]

But you also spread that talent around more when it is a two-year gig, I think, relative to what it is now.

Does Terrence Jones go to UK with Cousins in front of him? Instead he goes to Washington, right? Not all these players are choosing between Duke and UK, and suddenly Top 10 talent is spread out further.

But if they can't even leave after the first year, playing right away might not be as much as an incentive as it is right now with the one year rule.

 

[tzznandrew]

But if they can't even leave after the first year, playing right away might not be as much as an incentive as it is right now with the one year rule.

True, but there are actually fewer roster spots available on the team.

Bledsoe, Wall, Cousins, and Orton would have likely meant that Jones and Knight went elsewhere, in part because there wasn't space. Now, obviously, a team with those 4 on it are better than what was put out there for us, but then you realize there's a stacking effect, and the talent can and will often get spread because there's consistently fewer roster spots, so the teams they play are also deeper and better.

 

[intlzncster]

But if they can't even leave after the first year, playing right away might not be as much as an incentive as it is right now with the one year rule.

For top guys, I gotta think that playing time is always a top priority. Especially these days, when everyone and their mother has been calling them the next Lebron for last 10 years. Lebron does not sit the bench.

 

[BUConn10]

All the one-and-done rule is doing currently is consolidating the elite freshman talent each year (the so called "one and dones") at a select few schools each year. Now whether you think OADs help or hurt a programs aim of winning is a completely different debate. But as it stands, the system encourages these guys to play at really 3 or 4 of the same schools each year due to their (a) massive turnover year to year due to being fully invested in the OAD system and (b) their level of national recognition within the media which is an essential factor in a OADs decision.

 

[Paesano]

I could have sworn you posted something about your grandkid once, so you're obviously not an eight year old, but you definitely post like one.

Incidentally, since you've got this figured out, and since you know that Ollie "isn't willing to do what it takes" to get "unanimous 5 star players," tell me what rules Coach K or Bill Self are breaking to get those kids, or is it just Calipari that sends guys with bags of cash in your fantasy-land? Oh, that's right, you have no idea what you're talking about.

You really are a douchy moron. I don't have to "figure anything out". I was told by someone very close to Ollie what the deal is and, surprise, it was pretty much what I suspected all along. You are the one who doesn't have a clue what you are talking about. But you will never see it because you are weak little man who won't even answer a simple question. Why are you a Calipari fanboy? Listen champ, everyone here knows you are. Just tell us why. Is it because I am right that you have some tie to umess, either as a former student or as a former resident? It would suck to have to verify that I was right again, wouldn't it? Come on man, be proud of who you are! Embrace it! Don't be ashamed of it.

 

[Paesano]

There are reasons not to go to UK, but the only thing stranger than the reaction to Cal's recruiting results is the notion that he is somehow wronging these kids, or "brainwashing them." How? The guy has put a billion guys in the NBA (and not just bench types, bonafide superstars), so if you're goal is to get to the NBA, it's been proven you're better off going to Kentucky or Duke than UCLA or Indiana or Baylor.

Actually, stranger than that is the idea that the abolishment of the one-and-done would disintegrate Cal's system. I would argue quite the opposite - I mean Jesus, he had one of his best teams ever last season and only started one freshman. The guy can skin a cat in multiple ways and will continue to do so (see Tyler Ulis).

He isn't brainwashing them. He is buying them. Big difference.