Europe vs NCAA for player development

 I say college for the simple fact they will play more.  If I remember correctly, Brandon Jennings barely got minutes overseas.  He would have played 30+ mpg in college.  Plus, they can start working on a degree if basketball doesn’t work out for their future.

 I say college for the simple fact they will play more.  If I remember correctly, Brandon Jennings barely got minutes overseas.  He would have played 30+ mpg in college.  Plus, they can start working on a degree if basketball doesn’t work out for their future.

They should come to Australia. Our season runs at the same time as NCAA, but it is our Summer and your Winter (Huge bonus). They’d get paid about $150,000 for 6 months work. They’ll get plenty of minutes and a chance to showcase their skills on television so scouts can watch. 

The quality of the compeition is quite good and the crowds in my city are around 11,000 each game. 

To prove the league is no joke, the following players are examples of "imports". 

Sam Young – Averaged 6 points in 16 minutes over 5 years in the NBA. 

James Ennis – NCAA All American who was drafted in the second round by the Heat in 2013. They sent him down here as they don’t really need a SF right now. 

So while a top 50 prospect would be a good player, they wouldn’t be league MVP when they are 19 years old but could expect to start. 

Plus they’d get mad love from the local girls and are allowed to drink cos the legal age is only 18. Hell if they want they can even go to college bars on campus to get the experience. 

They should come to Australia. Our season runs at the same time as NCAA, but it is our Summer and your Winter (Huge bonus). They’d get paid about $150,000 for 6 months work. They’ll get plenty of minutes and a chance to showcase their skills on television so scouts can watch. 

The quality of the compeition is quite good and the crowds in my city are around 11,000 each game. 

To prove the league is no joke, the following players are examples of "imports". 

Sam Young – Averaged 6 points in 16 minutes over 5 years in the NBA. 

James Ennis – NCAA All American who was drafted in the second round by the Heat in 2013. They sent him down here as they don’t really need a SF right now. 

So while a top 50 prospect would be a good player, they wouldn’t be league MVP when they are 19 years old but could expect to start. 

Plus they’d get mad love from the local girls and are allowed to drink cos the legal age is only 18. Hell if they want they can even go to college bars on campus to get the experience. 

 Joel Freeland declared for the 2006 draft and was selected 30th by Kevin Pritchard and the Trailblazers. He was encouraged to stay in Europe and develop before finally coming over to the US in 2012. If he had gone to College in the US and stayed for a couple off years, he would have surely gone higher in a subsequent draft.

But as he had been playing professionally in the UK and then Europe, he would have had to have made a switch to the US back in about 2005 and he may well have had eligibility issues with the NCAA having played professionally already.

It was a pity that Portland did not bring him over earlier than 2012 as he was 25 by then but he had made useful money in Europe and got a $9 million plus 3 year deal from Portland, so financially his career hasn’t worked out badly. But he is still playing catch in in the NBA at 27 years old and to be fair has had much more playing time this season than last..

 Joel Freeland declared for the 2006 draft and was selected 30th by Kevin Pritchard and the Trailblazers. He was encouraged to stay in Europe and develop before finally coming over to the US in 2012. If he had gone to College in the US and stayed for a couple off years, he would have surely gone higher in a subsequent draft.

But as he had been playing professionally in the UK and then Europe, he would have had to have made a switch to the US back in about 2005 and he may well have had eligibility issues with the NCAA having played professionally already.

It was a pity that Portland did not bring him over earlier than 2012 as he was 25 by then but he had made useful money in Europe and got a $9 million plus 3 year deal from Portland, so financially his career hasn’t worked out badly. But he is still playing catch in in the NBA at 27 years old and to be fair has had much more playing time this season than last..

"Just something I find quite interesting is the way that going pro can impact a player’s development vs going to college. There’s solid arguments for both"

I’m sorry. Two examples are not solid enough.

"Just something I find quite interesting is the way that going pro can impact a player’s development vs going to college. There’s solid arguments for both"

I’m sorry. Two examples are not solid enough.

As far as American guys…It’s tough to say because there hasn’t been a large enough sample size that have tried their luck in Europe. Jennings, and Tyler are both in the NBA, but Jeremy clearly wasn’t ready for what happened to him in his first pro season, and he did rebound and play much better in Japan. 

For years, I’ve been wanting USA basketball to step up and have an official training facility, similar to the Olypmic facility in Colorado, so young basketball players can practice, train, learn and compete against NBAers,  the high school elite, and NCAA players during their off-seasons, while protecting their amateur status. I think it’d be a great investment in developing American basketball, while giving kids unsure about turing pro a safe oppoturnity to really test with waters. I think it would help USA basketball going forward, preserve NCAA hoops, and give kids that choose to goto school, a great oppoturnity to advance their skills in a safe enviornment where they know they’re not going to be suspended or thrown under the bus by the NCAA. I’m also against paying NCAA players, on a school to school basis, but much like Olympic athletes, they could get endorsements, and have benefits like that through this kind of structure.

As far as American guys…It’s tough to say because there hasn’t been a large enough sample size that have tried their luck in Europe. Jennings, and Tyler are both in the NBA, but Jeremy clearly wasn’t ready for what happened to him in his first pro season, and he did rebound and play much better in Japan. 

For years, I’ve been wanting USA basketball to step up and have an official training facility, similar to the Olypmic facility in Colorado, so young basketball players can practice, train, learn and compete against NBAers,  the high school elite, and NCAA players during their off-seasons, while protecting their amateur status. I think it’d be a great investment in developing American basketball, while giving kids unsure about turing pro a safe oppoturnity to really test with waters. I think it would help USA basketball going forward, preserve NCAA hoops, and give kids that choose to goto school, a great oppoturnity to advance their skills in a safe enviornment where they know they’re not going to be suspended or thrown under the bus by the NCAA. I’m also against paying NCAA players, on a school to school basis, but much like Olympic athletes, they could get endorsements, and have benefits like that through this kind of structure.

Honestly what Rubio did at 14 in U16 competitions is not that relevant. Most of the players in those games are bad and end up never playing ball professionally, so the competition is too soft. Also some guys peak earlier, so it doesn’t really matter. I think players in Europe develop better on some aspects of the game (like help defense, spacings, positioning on the court) that most players in the US learn only after a few years in college and most of the times only when they go to the Nba. And I think Europe gives better chances for development (at least in the best leagues, obviously it’s not the same if you’re playing in, say, Bulgaria), because players can practice whenever they want with professional coaches, there are no rules forbidding to practice any longer than a given number of hours and they don’t have to think about anything else (like going to classes or pretendinge they’re attending classes) except for basketball. Also they play against better competition and with better teammates, so they have a chance to learn from more experienced teammates. Of course the playing time is not the same, so it depends on what part of the game a prospect has to improve in. Also, going to Europe is not that useful if one does it the way Brandon Jennings did, because a team is not going to care much about developing a player who will leave after the end of the season.

Honestly what Rubio did at 14 in U16 competitions is not that relevant. Most of the players in those games are bad and end up never playing ball professionally, so the competition is too soft. Also some guys peak earlier, so it doesn’t really matter. I think players in Europe develop better on some aspects of the game (like help defense, spacings, positioning on the court) that most players in the US learn only after a few years in college and most of the times only when they go to the Nba. And I think Europe gives better chances for development (at least in the best leagues, obviously it’s not the same if you’re playing in, say, Bulgaria), because players can practice whenever they want with professional coaches, there are no rules forbidding to practice any longer than a given number of hours and they don’t have to think about anything else (like going to classes or pretendinge they’re attending classes) except for basketball. Also they play against better competition and with better teammates, so they have a chance to learn from more experienced teammates. Of course the playing time is not the same, so it depends on what part of the game a prospect has to improve in. Also, going to Europe is not that useful if one does it the way Brandon Jennings did, because a team is not going to care much about developing a player who will leave after the end of the season.

As usual, lots and lots of myths and falsehoods being spread by NBA only fans here.

1. Freeland did NOT "dominate" in the Spanish League. He was a good center on a mediocre team. Nothing more than that. He was not even remotely close to ever resembling anything being "dominant".

2. Jennings did NOT play on "one of the best teams in Europe". He played on a very mediocre Italian Euroleague team.

3. Jennings did NOT "barely get any minutes of playing time in Europe". He played just about the normal amount of minutes that most veteran main rotation players play. Or what might be called "starters minutes" in NBA lingo.

Every single time the subject of European basketball comes up in this forum, NBA only fans just start throwing around a bunch of myths and falsehoods.

As usual, lots and lots of myths and falsehoods being spread by NBA only fans here.

1. Freeland did NOT "dominate" in the Spanish League. He was a good center on a mediocre team. Nothing more than that. He was not even remotely close to ever resembling anything being "dominant".

2. Jennings did NOT play on "one of the best teams in Europe". He played on a very mediocre Italian Euroleague team.

3. Jennings did NOT "barely get any minutes of playing time in Europe". He played just about the normal amount of minutes that most veteran main rotation players play. Or what might be called "starters minutes" in NBA lingo.

Every single time the subject of European basketball comes up in this forum, NBA only fans just start throwing around a bunch of myths and falsehoods.