So we flash back now to the fall and recall all the caterwauling that cascaded down from countless quarters. It was torrential, constant and centered always on that new NBA rule that declared a player couldn’t enter the league until he was at least 19 and a year removed from high school.
“I don’t like the rule. I think it’s a bad rule,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said, echoing the sentiments of most, and then he explained why.
“The thing is, if you have to go for one year, I may be placing you in a situation you don’t want to be in. So what do you do? What courses do you take? Do you go to school in the second semester? Do you ever unpack your bags? … It’s a very dangerous thing. When you put people in situations that they don’t want to be in, and they’re really talented, they’re going to look for alternatives or they’re not going to be fully vested in doing some of the things they don’t want to do.”
That was his polite way of saying they might be too selfish and too hard to handle, which was but one fear then roiling college coaches. They feared, too, that some players might skip college altogether and hide out at a prep school, where any flaw in their game would go unexposed. Or come to their college and not care about winning a league title, which would do little to further their pro ambitions. Or, even worse, come to their college and care only about their stats, which would do even less for team harmony.
Yes. We flash back now to all that caterwauling and wonder, with the latest NBA draft behind us, just what all the wailing was about. For not only did the sky fail to fall upon us, the new rule also gave those of us who cherish the college game a chance to savor the skills of Greg Oden, Kevin Durant, Mike Conley Jr., Brandan Wright and, at least on the West Coast, Spencer Hawes.
They were among the Top 10 choices Thursday, and all, with the possible exception of Conley, could have jumped straight from high school to the NBA if that new rule hadn’t prevented them. That same was also possible with Ohio State’s Daequan Cook and the Georgia Tech pair of Thaddeus Young and Javaris Crittenton, the other first-round freshmen selections who also served both their game and their schools well.
This is not to say that some would not have served themselves better by returning to school. The feeling here is that is especially true of Cook, whose performances actually regressed as last season progressed. But recall Krzyzewski’s concern and then hold it up against the collected works of Oden, Durant and Conley, who were three of Thursday’s first four picks.
Durant was not only the consensus Player of the Year in college basketball. He also, with his play and his attitude, transformed a preternaturally young Texas team into a team that spent the season in the Top 20. Conley, in turn, was precociously calm and unusually unselfish as the point guard who guided Ohio State to the Final Four. But the biggest pleasure provider for me among these three was Oden.
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Here’s why. When he returned in December from summer surgery on his wrist, he was already a dominant defensive force but tentative and uncertain on offense. He was still that way in mid-January in a Buckeyes loss at Wisconsin, but then he changed his approach, infused his game with some aggression and started to develop before our eyes.
That is what we most enjoyed about watching the Buckeyes through the second half of last season. We got the chance, that rare chance, of seeing a special talent blossom and add to his game, fully flower and prove he was every bit as good as the outsized press clippings that had preceded him.
LSU junior Glen Davis, Arizona sophomore Marcus Williams and Duke sophomore Josh McRoberts were the true losers in Thursday’s draft when they dropped into the second round. This is not to say it would not have been nice to have Oden, Durant and Conley drop onto campus for another season.
But at least we got to savor them for a year, and for that we must thank the rule so despised by so many.
Making an impact, early and often
All eight Division I freshmen who entered the draft were selected in the first 21 picks:
%% POS PLAYER SCHOOL TEAM PICK
C Greg Oden Ohio State Portland 1st
G-F Kevin Durant (above) Texas Seattle 2nd
G Mike Conley Jr. Ohio State Memphis 4th
F Brandan Wright North Carolina Charlotte* 8th
C Spencer Hawes Washington Sacramento 10th
F Thaddeus Young Georgia Tech Philadelphia 12th
G Javaris Crittenton Georgia Tech L.A. Lakers 19th
G-F Daequan Cook Ohio State Philadelphia 21st
*-traded to Golden State %%
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