[rtbtParticipant]

After BJ Mullens declared for the draft during his freshman season at Ohio State, I vividly remember debating with other group members about his decision. He was a guy with a lot of physical talent, but like many freshman, he was completely lost out on the court. I repeatedly stated he wasn’t even ready for the Big Ten, let alone the NBA. I constantly said Mullens should change his mind and stay in school.

I took a great deal of verbal abuse from some members of this group, but now I’m wondering where all of you BJ Mullens supporters are. The guy’s done absolutely nothing since he was drafted in the first round. And if the report I just saw is accurate, he was shipped off to the D-League.

BJ Mullens is a guy who could have become a very good pro if he stayed in college  2-3 years and learned how to play the game.

[sheltwon3Participant]

He is a big man who has yet to really see minutes.  I think he has a ton of raw ability and if he can gets some minutes and seasoning, he should be alright.  You have to kind of look at him as a guy out of high school. Do you remember how long it took for Bynum to be as good as he is now.  Some teams lack good teachers of the game but I think OKC has done pretty good developing players.  Look at Ibaka as far a big men.  Westbrook, Durant, Green, and a few other like Thabo and Harden has been showing vast improvements as well.

[joecheck88Participant]

byron mullens, proof that the one year of college rule is working. if allowed, he would have went pro from hs and been a top 5 pick. instead he dropped to mid 20s, which was still probably too high. if he puts in the work he could be a samuel dalembert type in the league.

[Anton123Participant]

 BTW he was just assigned to the D-League today, it’ll be nteresting to see him play. 

I think he settles for midrange shots far too much, the guy is huge, work the paint!

[rtbtParticipant]

trinajoe, how does this prove the one year rule is working? The only thing this proves is BJ Mullens used very poor judgment as a freshman. I’m still amazed that some  people don’t see that very obvious point.

[delfamParticipant]

^ he meant it’s working for the scouts, they get to evaluate players better and not waste a top 5 pick on a guy(Mullens), when in reality he was a late first.

[BothTeamsPlayedHardParticipant]

"BJ Mullens is a guy who could have become a very good pro if he stayed in college 2-3 years and learned how to play the game."

The coaching and teaching in the NBA is far better than in college. It is one of the great fallacies of college basketball fans and analysts that players should stay in school to develop their game. There are plenty of reasons a player can want to stay in college, but exposure to great coaching and teaching is not one of them.

[Tongue-Out-Like-23Participant]

^

I tend to disagree with that.  In college, they teach you basics and fundamentals and in the NBA , they expect you to already know basics and fundamentals, so they teach you advanced stuff.  So although better teachers, they don’t show you the things you’re suppose to know as they do in college.

[midwestbbscoutParticipant]

he’s gonna beat your ass if you don’t start callin him Bryan

[rtbtParticipant]

Tongue-Out-Like-23, that was a very good point but it goes way beyond that. Both Teams Played Hard took a very simplistic view of how players develop. There are many variables hs comment doesn’t factor in. I’ll be back in a few minutes to explain what I mean.

[goneParticipant]

^^^Commerical break??? lol

[BKKnicksfanParticipant]

I’ll say this…OKC didn’t give up on him. They kept him and plan to develop him.

 

He’s a legit 7-0 guy who, with more playing time, should at least be a backup. I still like him.

[Tongue-Out-Like-23Participant]

Wow.  Very true ^

[BKKnicksfanParticipant]

I’ll tell you what, if he cuts: I can see 29 other teams wanting him.

22 years old, still has the upside and can develop into a solid backup

[rtbtParticipant]

1. As Tongue-Out pointed out above, the emphasis in college is on fundamentals. In the NBA their focus is on refining your skills. They expect you to already understand the game.

2. In the NBA, BJ Mullens is the last guy on the bench. How much time and effort does the coaching staff want to put into a guy who NEVER plays?

3. At Ohio State, BJ Mullens would be the focal point of the entire coaching staff. They would work with him every day because he’s a critical piece on their team.

4. In the NBA, once the season starts there’s very little time for coaching, teaching, and developing players. That’s one of the biggest complaints of NBA coaches.

5. In college, there’s a lot of  time between games to work on fundamentals, teaching, and the kind of skills a player needs to develop.

6. Next, at Ohio State, once Mullens received the necessary coaching/teaching he needed, he could then apply what he learned in LIVE GAMES.

7. In the NBA, even if the coaching staff has the time to work with the last guy on the bench, he NEVER plays so he can’t practice what he learned. I don’t care how much you learn in practice, the biggest learning experience is playing the game.

8. And finally, all athletes need CONFIDENCE. Once a college player learns new skills he can practice them in games and develop that much needed confidence in his new skill set.  That isn’t going to happen for BJ Mullens @ Oklahoma were he’s glued to the end of the bench. And that’s never good for building one’s level of confidence.

And if he ever did get into an actual game, going up against Dwight Howard is not a confidence building experience.

 

[BothTeamsPlayedHardParticipant]

You just made up that stuff up with no facts to back them up.

1. NBA coaches aren’t above teaching what needs to be taught. Those that are get fired quickly. The Bulls have done some really remedial teaching with Joakim Noah and Omer Asik on how to shoot the ball.

2. A lot. The Thunder have invested $4 million into him. How incredibly foolish do you think they are? Teams have huge coaching staffs for a reason. Maz Trakh is emplyed by the Thunder and has the title, "Assistant Coach for Player Development" because they value developing the players on their roster.

3. No, he would not have been. Ohio State has plenty of talented players. Mullens wasn’t going to get special treatment on a team with Evan Turner, David Lighty, William Buford, Jon Diebler. and Dallas Lauderdale. He was going to get typical college coaching (which is inferior to the NBA in part due to the value of player development and teaching is far less a priority in the hiring of coaches at the highest levels of college basketball than is the ability to recruit).

4-5. The NCAA system with lesser coaches limits the amount of time coaches can spend teaching their players per week in season and out. Even with packed schedules, NBA teams still have more time to spend with their players.

6-7. He can do that in the NBDL right now while also making more than $1 million.

8. How is all the confidence and success from college helping Evan Turner, Cole Aldrich, Patrick Patterson, Gordon Hayward, Luke Babbitt, and Luke Harangody right about now? Heck, how did all the swagger and confidence help Super Cool Beas when he got drafted and failed miserably in Miami?

 

 

[JoeWolf1]

 Mullins actually played pretty well last season in the D-League, I think it’s way to early to close the books on him.  He is a good outside shooter and can create matchup problems in the post.  The Thunder will continue to bring him along slowly, and In my opinion his game doesn’t at all compliment his physical gifts, but I think he can and will become a good back up center who can put up points off the bench, but probably not help you out as far as rebounding goes.  

[rtbtParticipant]

I disagree with many of your points. I’m not going to address all of them but here are a few comments.

As for Evan Turner, Cole Aldrich, Patrick Patterson, Gordon Hayward, Luke Babbitt, and Luke Harangody, how can anyone judge them after only 2 months in the NBA?

In addition, each player is different. There are college freshman whom I think are ready for the NBA. John Wall was one prime example and there were several others. My comments on BJ Mullens was specific to him, not all freshmen.

I completely disagree with your coaching time comment. I’ve been around basketball all of my life, and one common theme NBA coaches almost always address as one of their regrets when they leave a team, is the comment I made earlier. They almost always complain that once the season starts they have very little time for teaching.

I didn’t say Mullens would get special treatment, please read what I wrote. BJ Mullens would be the focal point of the entire coaching staff. They would work with him every day because he’s a critical piece on their team.  That does not mean nor imply his teammates would be treated any less. 

However, I would add that unlike the guys you mentoned, BJ Mullens needed far more attention and coaching than his teammates.

[Meditated StatesParticipant]

More playing time and patience in college. Sometimes more playing is what the guy needs.

[BothTeamsPlayedHardParticipant]

The development of confidence in college in one’s abilities means nothing in the NBA. It is the same as those stupid "killer instinct" arguments. The NBA is a different animal. Mullens had no interest in school and needed to make money for his family. He went pro and supposedly is working so that one day he might be a player. I think the NBA is worse when rosters have guys like Mullens who aren’t ready to play in the league, but developmentally (from a basketball standpoint) I don’t see any good that staying in Columbus would have done for him.

[rtbtParticipant]

"I don’t see any good that staying in Columbus would have done for him."

Obviously you either missed or completely disagreed with all of the factors I quoted above. If he stayed at Ohio State just one more season, he would have played regularly and possible could have developed his game to the level where he was ready to become an NBA backup.

I’m not proclaiming that won’t happen eventually, but my point was pretty basic and obvious. He wasn’t ready for the NBA after his freshman year and he would have benefitted big time by staying and getting the coaching, playing time, and experience he clearly needed.

And one other trivial point reference my end of the bench comment. The guy is being paid slightly over a million dollars a year by OK City. You tried to make it sound as if that was big money, and a major investment for the team, but it isn’t. By NBA standards, a million dollar annual salary is bottom of the scale chump change.

[delfamParticipant]

^ he didn’t want to play in college, if he didn’t have the desire to play I doubt he would have tried as hard or tried to improve. There was no reason to stay in his mind as he got a huge pay day and wa living his dream of playing in the NBA.

[JoeWolf1]

 I was under the impression one of the main factors of him going pro was that his family was struggling financially and he had the opportunity to help them by going pro.  I think the decision had very little to do about his development as a player.  It just made sense as the thing to do for his family.

[rtbtParticipant]

Delfam, I think you made a very good point that I overlooked, he didn’t want to play in college. Although I completely agree with you, I don’t think that changes my opinion because I still think he made the wrong decision. Even though he wasn’t motivated to stay in school, there’s no substitute for playing time, which is what he would have experienced.

You also said he received a huge pay day. For most regular people that statement was very true. However, if he stayed in school one more year and bumped up his draft position, he could have easily doubled his salary.

Finally, you said, "living his dream of playing in the NBA."

Maybe you should have said, "sitting at the end of the bench in the NBA"?

 

[rtbtParticipant]

I think your comment was right on the money, no pun intended. However, his family made it 19 years without the NBA, so I’m confident they could have held out one more year . If he did such, BJ had a chance to improve his draft position and possibly double his salary.

Yes a million dollars is a lot of money for most people, but in today’s world it doesn’t go very far if you have to support an entire family. But then again, I understand how hard it must have been for a 19 year old, with no money, to turn down one million a year. It had to be a difficult decision but that doesn’t mean it was a wise one.

[sheltwon3Participant]

A lot of coaches because of young guys coming have hired extra coaches who can teach young players the basic and this has been going on for years.  The issue is that in college there was structure and in the pros you have freedom.  The coaches can’t force you work on your game but they are there to help if needed. If Mullens needs to work on his basic and actually wants to get better, there are coaches to do that.  I think right he needs to get playing time and he should get that in the D league.  I think he can blossum to some degree like DeAndre Jordan.  Decent production from the 5 spot but nothing spectacular cept Mullens is probably a better shooter from 15 and out.

[BothTeamsPlayedHardParticipant]

sheltwon3, his problem is that he has Slava syndrome. He gets a touch and the ball is going up.

"Obviously you either missed or completely disagreed with all of the factors I quoted above. If he stayed at Ohio State just one more season, he would have played regularly and possible could have developed his game to the level where he was ready to become an NBA backup.

I’m not proclaiming that won’t happen eventually, but my point was pretty basic and obvious. He wasn’t ready for the NBA after his freshman year and he would have benefitted big time by staying and getting the coaching, playing time, and experience he clearly needed.

And one other trivial point reference my end of the bench comment. The guy is being paid slightly over a million dollars a year by OK City. You tried to make it sound as if that was big money, and a major investment for the team, but it isn’t. By NBA standards, a million dollar annual salary is bottom of the scale chump change."

Yes, I thought I made it clear that your factors meant nothing. You can’t seem to get past your assumed sentiment that college basketball is somehow this better teaching haven for developing basketball players than the NBA. If he had stayed another year, there is absolutely no evidence to suggest he would be in any way better taught or prepared to play in the NBA than he was to actually being in the NBA. He got coaching – BETTER COACHING- in the NBA. He got to play in 27 D-League games and received 31 minutes per as well as appeared in 13 NBA games. 40 games is more than Ohio State played last year. He received more coaching during the offseason as well.

And yes, the $4 million plus that the Thunder have sunk into Mullens is significant. The Thunder aren’t a big market team that is essentially an ATM like the Lakers, Knicks, or Bulls. If they weren’t invested in his development, they would have turned down his third year option so as not to pay the $1.8 million he will get next year. They didn’t. He is a 7-footer with good frame, some athleticism, and some skills. It would be just stupid for them to ignore his development and write him off as some back of the roster bum. He might end up being one, but it won’t be for a lack of the Thunder trying to get more out of him.

[jaysmith1987Participant]

He can develop at the end of the bench into a really good player ala Jermaine O’neal.  Also most college coaches outside of John Calipari don’t care how many nba players they develop they’d rather have the wins.  Bj made the right decision for himself by coming out when he did because his stock was falling fast.  He went from considered top 5 pick to late first round who is to say he didnt go back to Ohio state and stayed a back up as a freshman being a back up isnt big deal but not breaking out after his second year would probably have ruined his career.  His coaches are definately working with him on the thunders staff because he has at least another guranteed year on his contract.  In college you dont work out they recruit another guy.  He practices every day  against nba players hes gonna develop more than being a college back up.  If he stayed to long his stock would have went like Andrew Ogilvy of Vanderbilt.  At one point he was considered first round material last year he doesn’t even get a second round slot in a draft with no dominant big men.

[rtbtParticipant]

We clearly disagree as we almost always do. But one specific area where you are wrong is the money. As I mentioned earlier, his salary is CHUMP CHANGE by NBA standards. It’s hardly the kind of investment that makes team management care very much.

[sheltwon3Participant]

Both teams played hard, I was in a rush and did not read your comments mainly because you had the longest ones but I read it now and I got you.  I don’t disagree that he is not the most motivated but i think at worse with his skills if he can put up half a effort and do simple stuff like box out and rebound and run the floor to get easy shots. He can give you 10 min or so.  In a league where big men are low, I will I was 7 feet.

[Author]

Posts