Did the players who turned pro directly out of high school from 1995-2005 help themselves to four...

Did the players who turned pro directly out of high school from 1995-2005 help themselves to four extra NBA seasons, or did they simply start drawing down early from a finite account of available minutes?

Steve Aschburner

almost 3 years ago Jeff Clark 8 comments 0 recs |

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High Minutes?

Actually, it depends on the player. Some few have seen extensive minutes from the beginning like Lebron and KG. You could also say many of them rode the bench for a few years like Jermaine O’Neil. On the other hand wouldnt they have played those minutes in college any way?

The key is conditioning and luck. Staying in shape is always going to serve a player well for his future. Luck to keep from being seriously injured. Those who do not take care of their body soon are back on the bench anyway.

"First fix their hearts"-Eizo Shimabuku

by billysan on Mar 11, 2009 5:07 PM EDT reply actions

I feel like guys like Ray, Paul, and KG (despite what was said in the article) could play for a long long time… Especially Ray as an earlier article here pointed out, but they all have tremendous work ethic and seem to take care of themselves.
When your younger you may be able to recover better too… which I’m surprised wasn’t pointed out in this article.
I also feel that coaches and staff, especially ours… are aware of this and will tailor back star players (KG) to keep them productive longer, albeit maybe not as productive as they could be in the short run.

by Jubunta on Mar 11, 2009 5:42 PM EDT reply actions

it's situational

- a case by case basis is the best approach::

kg, kobe, jermaine o’neal, tracy mcgrady, rashard lewis, darius miles, al harrington, kwame brown, lebron james, dwight howard, amare stoudemire, tyson chandler, eddy curry, andrew bynum…

80% of these players, it seems upon just looking at the list, are high quality, valuable players to this day.

Don't fake the funk on a nasty dunk

by mcpu40 on Mar 11, 2009 6:08 PM EDT reply actions

How many

angels can dance on the head of a pin?

by The Real Large James 2 on Mar 11, 2009 6:09 PM EDT reply actions

We have both ends of spectrum

KG will have many more $$$$$$s in his piggy bank for never having gone to college and so will the other Super Novas.
Now take Perk. I really don’t think that he would have developed better in college. Just like the soccer clubs in Europe, he has been professionally developed and guess what….it worked!. I am so amazed at the development of his game. But he succeeded where others didn’t by virtue of great desire. Will he be done by 30. He may be getting better at 30.
Then, of course, there are the legion of McDonald All Americas who just are destined to blow it, whether they go to college or straight to the pros. No telling who they are from my perch but the best pro-pickers should have the predictors nailed by now.

by Wildblu1 on Mar 11, 2009 6:17 PM EDT reply actions

what really matters is first and foremost is that they looked after themselves and their families. hockey, soccer, tennis players, etc., serviceman, garbage men, truckers and on and on and on are all passed the blind eye, this whole high school thing is rediculous. college degree, millions of dollars? bachelor of science, mansion? hmmm?

onto the question, it’s absolutely a case by case basis, the same question could be asked of those that played all the way through college, longevity and basketball IQ to me both seem to be an innate thing.

it’s a good question for sure, but the only thing that makes sense to me is to heck with college. beyond that, it’s all a guessing game, but i will say it comes down to the coaching staffs. college or pro, that’s who should be looked at. it would be interesting to see who the coaches and trainers were of each of the clubs these guys went to.

by davemonsterband on Mar 11, 2009 6:25 PM EDT reply actions

worth noting

that most of those guys only skipped 1 or 2 years of college – they would have been out as underclassmen anyway

"We few, we happy few, we band of brothers" Henry V

by Jeff Clark on Mar 11, 2009 7:12 PM EDT reply actions

Dumb article

Pointless article. Basically babbling. KG has a lot of games because he has been healthy throughout his career. Shaq still plays because his game doesn’t require him to be mobile, but he has had a lot of injuries. That article is truly a waste of virtual space.

Cherry-picking comparisons is pointless. Statistical analysis is impossible because the sample size is too small.

by guava_wrench on Mar 11, 2009 10:25 PM EDT reply actions