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Message: [QUOTE="billsin01, post: 2544007, member: 837"] Donovan Mitchell has played fewer than 20 in a game three times in 67 games and was the 13th pick in an insanely deep top end of the 2017 draft. It's safe to say he was a pretty freaking impressive player the day he got selected. Regardless, I think people overlook the nuance in the path to improvement and want to connect Point A (getting rid of classes, playing in the NBA) to Point B (much better player who plays his way into the rotation) suggesting that is the only way to improve. I'm not doubting that getting rid of classes and playing basketball full time is beneficial for these guys. But opportunity and touches are HUGE for these guys as well, especially if you need to score to stick in the NBA. I looked at the top 25 in scoring earlier in the year and only two of the top 25 came in and didn't score 10+ ppg from day 1. One was Kyle Lowry (who has the advantage of being a point guard and contributing in other ways) and the other was Khawi. But Khawi averaged 8 ppg on a team that went to the western conference finals and had parker/ginobli/gary neal/richard jefferson/Danny Green on the roster. Forcing your way into that rotation is pretty impressive. So, anyway, not arguing that getting to the NBA can help a player's development -- merely suggesting that it's not the only way for these guys to get significantly better and that, in many cases, it's not terribly helpful. I also would be very wary of the G League until it starts acting as a true funnel to the NBA the way MiLB supports MLB. The idea that Quinn Cook has absolutely dominated for three years (we're not talking good, we're talking ridiculous -- 23 ppg on close to 50/40/90 stats -- 48.5/39.3/89.8) and he's still not really playing in a real rotation in the NBA is pretty damning of that league. [/QUOTE]

Verification: What is a Syracuse fan's favorite color?