Celts Waive Donte...

[sufandu]

20 hours for college includes game time . . . and Kobe Bryant, for one, is in the gym several hours almost every day , home and on the road, game days and off days. The NBA is a full time job and the dedicated ones put in well over 40 hours a week, especially when you include their S&C stuff, which is state of the art (or, can be, for those who take advantage of it). The staff is there to work with everyone and anyone on shooting, drills, S&C, whatever they need. Guys who want to get off the bench do something about it. Some guys take advantage, most guys don't. The guys who don't wouldn't be helped by the more relaxed college atmosphere.

As for Mullin - deeds, not words. The indisputable fact is that the NBA is not filled with former college seniors. Mullin never took a senior in the first round when he was a GM (2 foreigners, 2 freshmen, 1 junior) and the three he picked in the 2nd round played a grand total of 68 games between them. He doesn't seem to believe his own bullshit.

I realize 20 hours per week includes game time. And that would have been game time Donte spent on the floor instead of riding the bench. The NBA may not be filled with Seniors, but it's not filled with all freshman either. It's not an all or nothing thing. There are a lot of guys that played through their junior years (it didn't hurt Dwayne Wade) and I never suggested that Donte had to stay all 4 years. I suggested staying one or two more may have helped him.

Despite Kobe's reputation for a tireless work ethic, I doubt he nor any other NBA player, spend 4 hours practicing during off days. Try doing that every week over the course of a season as long as the NBA, and your body will wear out. The practice time argument simply doesn't make sense.

 

[ssbriefcase]

20 hours for college includes game time . . . and Kobe Bryant, for one, is in the gym several hours almost every day , home and on the road, game days and off days. The NBA is a full time job and the dedicated ones put in well over 40 hours a week, especially when you include their S&C stuff, which is state of the art (or, can be, for those who take advantage of it). The staff is there to work with everyone and anyone on shooting, drills, S&C, whatever they need. Guys who want to get off the bench do something about it. Some guys take advantage, most guys don't. The guys who don't wouldn't be helped by the more relaxed college atmosphere.

As for Mullin - deeds, not words. The indisputable fact is that the NBA is not filled with former college seniors. Mullin never took a senior in the first round when he was a GM (2 foreigners, 2 freshmen, 1 junior) and the three he picked in the 2nd round played a grand total of 68 games between them. He doesn't seem to believe his own bullshit.

He never said, not to take a player coming out early, he said you have to have a well rounded and developed game if you're coming out early and riding the bench. As for his gm accumen, who knows? The only player I see that would've come out early and not got a lot of time was a 7 footer, and we all know that's a whole other story.

 

[two3zone]

I'll repeat it because apparently you missed it. NBA practices are not about player development. They are about preparing for the next game. Benchwarmers don't develop in season. It's not about hours allotted, it's how the time is used. If you look at the post immediately before your reply to me, you'll see that apparently Chris Mullin says the same thing. He may know a thing or two about playing in the NBA. In college Donte would have had playing time in meaningful situations and coaches with a vested interest in developing him.

It's amazing that players are unable to develop after they sign that first contract. You would think that the NBA would draft only maxed out potential guys season after season. I can't understand why the NBA teams would even consider drafting freshman, sophomores, or these crazy young Euro guys. At least the NBA was smart and put in rules against the teams from drafting HS players, I mean, who would want players who come from high school as an NBA team would not develop them throughout the season or seasons. One guy this year I really think should be drafted #1 overall is CJ Fair. I mean, 4 years in school, impressive numbers, good size, probably maxed at his potential, in game proven, and the team will not have to invest any money in developing him. Screw that Wiggins guy.

 

[two3zone]

He never said, not to take a player coming out early, he said you have to have a well rounded and developed game if you're coming out early and riding the bench. As for his gm accumen, who knows? The only player I see that would've come out early and not got a lot of time was a 7 footer, and we all know that's a whole other story.

It's not like he left Syracuse and rode the bench in his first few years. His rookie year he played over 10 minutes a game in 55 games (starting 4) and in his second year he played in 76 starting 50 playing in over 20 minutes a game.

So if he ended up staying lets say until his junior year. His junior year would have been his 2009-2010 NBA season. He probably would have ended up with around 1300-1500 minutes in college. Playing a well rounded schedule against some good teams and our OOC schedule. During his 2009-2010 NBA season he ended up playing over 1600 minutes, against NBA competition. In all reality even playing part time in the NBA is going to get you more game experience, you're going to play against better competition. I'm sure practicing with and against NBA players is going to be tougher than playing a game against Cornell.

 

[sufandu]

It's amazing that players are unable to develop after they sign that first contract. You would think that the NBA would draft only maxed out potential guys season after season. I can't understand why the NBA teams would even consider drafting freshman, sophomores, or these crazy young Euro guys. At least the NBA was smart and put in rules against the teams from drafting HS players, I mean, who would want players who come from high school as an NBA team would not develop them throughout the season or seasons. One guy this year I really think should be drafted #1 overall is CJ Fair. I mean, 4 years in school, impressive numbers, good size, probably maxed at his potential, in game proven, and the team will not have to invest any money in developing him. Screw that Wiggins guy.

I'm not saying everyone should stay nor that nobody develops. If a young guy is good enough to play starter minutes from the get go, he has a much better chance to develop during the season than a guy getting 10 minutes per game because skill development isn't taking place during practice. Preparation for the next game is. If a guy isn't getting starter minutes, most player development in the NBA takes place in the off season for guys that are intrinsically motivated. Donte playing 10 minutes per game means he played a few minutes here and there and, for the most part, didn't get significant stretches of playing time. Playing 2,3, or 4 minutes at a time is not a good way to work on your game. If you think it is, go play some basketball and sit down every few minutes for an extended period of time. You don't have a chance to get into any kind of rhythm or get a feel for the game. You feel like you're starting from square 1 everytime you go back in. If he played 35 minutes per game consistently, he could make a mistake here and there and when similar situations occurred later in the same game, make the correction. That's how muscle memory is established. Developing skills in anything is more complex than total minutes spent practicing those skills. It's why students learning a foreign language learn more in a month of total immersion than a year of formal classes.

Comparing Donte leaving early to Wiggins is asinine. By all accounts Wiggins is ready right now and will play starters minutes from day one. Completely different situations and a weak argument.

Btw, using sarcasm doesn't make your argument stronger.

 

[ssbriefcase]

It's not like he left Syracuse and rode the bench in his first few years. His rookie year he played over 10 minutes a game in 55 games (starting 4) and in his second year he played in 76 starting 50 playing in over 20 minutes a game.

So if he ended up staying lets say until his junior year. His junior year would have been his 2009-2010 NBA season. He probably would have ended up with around 1300-1500 minutes in college. Playing a well rounded schedule against some good teams and our OOC schedule. During his 2009-2010 NBA season he ended up playing over 1600 minutes, against NBA competition. In all reality even playing part time in the NBA is going to get you more game experience, you're going to play against better competition. I'm sure practicing with and against NBA players is going to be tougher than playing a game against Cornell.

Well that's what an ex NBAer opinion was. I realize there's the whole other flip side and many supporters for that and have good points. But in his case, developing his game by staying at least another year would've been to his benefit imo. And the whole Wiggins point? C'mon, Wiggins isn't riding any pine, let's not forget that was the basis for this. It's not an all or nothing thing.

 

[two3zone]

Well that's what an ex NBAer opinion was. I realize there's the whole other flip side and many supporters for that and have good points. But in his case, developing his game by staying at least another year would've been to his benefit imo. And the whole Wiggins point? C'mon, Wiggins isn't riding any pine, let's not forget that was the basis for this. It's not an all or nothing thing.

Ok, I admit that Wiggins will be playing 30+ minutes a game his rookie year but if you look at the past there are TONS of guys who from HS or one year in college only played 10-15 minutes a game their first and second years which is exactly what Donte did, unfortunately Donte didn't pan out which some guys do and some guys don't.

Another thing that bugs me about people here being against Donte is that it's like everybody acts like he KNEW he was a fringe first round pick which simply isn't the case. He was projected late lottery or not far after that. http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/nba/bal-dgreenenbadraft,0,2794120.story

 

[ssbriefcase]

Ok, I admit that Wiggins will be playing 30+ minutes a game his rookie year but if you look at the past there are TONS of guys who from HS or one year in college only played 10-15 minutes a game their first and second years which is exactly what Donte did, unfortunately Donte didn't pan out which some guys do and some guys don't.

Another thing that bugs me about people here being against Donte is that it's like everybody acts like he KNEW he was a fringe first round pick which simply isn't the case. He was projected late lottery or not far after that. http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/nba/bal-dgreenenbadraft,0,2794120.story

Well you'd have to look at those TONS of guys and ask yourself if their game was more well rounded than his, or had a crazy niche. That's what this is about. And speaking for myself, I could care less where he thought he was going to be picked, etc. I'm talking about the best choices for him to maximize his career in the league.

 

[Eric15]

The idea that an extra year at Syracuse would have benefited Donte at this point is absurd. He's been in the league for 5 years - he is what he is. NBA coaches/scouts are the best in the world at their profession, and if Donte had what he took to be a successful NBA player, they would have made it work.