The NCAA's Board of Directors voted to slash 5 weeks off the time D1 players have to test the NBA waters. The new rule, due to take effect before the 2010 NBA draft, was passed with wide support during April 30 proceedings in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Two often at loggerheads factions, D1 coaches, eager to clear up lingering roster questions while still in the Spring Signing Period, joined with College Presidents who believe the (nearly) 8 week long tryout period keeps student athletes out of class too long, to pass the legislation by a large margin. Both groups were encouraged by word from NBA administrators who agreed to move the opening date for individual workouts up from early June to April 30. The consensus among NBA scouts and personnel managers is that it should not take long for the NBA to evaluate the talent among the possible early departures. Both the NCAA and NBA have agreed to work together to better coordinate the evaluation period.
I will be curious to see how this affects the flow of undergraduates into and out of the draft process in the next 2-3 years.
Two often at loggerheads factions, D1 coaches, eager to clear up lingering roster questions while still in the Spring Signing Period, joined with College Presidents who believe the (nearly) 8 week long tryout period keeps student athletes out of class too long, to pass the legislation by a large margin. Both groups were encouraged by word from NBA administrators who agreed to move the opening date for individual workouts up from early June to April 30. The consensus among NBA scouts and personnel managers is that it should not take long for the NBA to evaluate the talent among the possible early departures. Both the NCAA and NBA have agreed to work together to better coordinate the evaluation period.
I will be curious to see how this affects the flow of undergraduates into and out of the draft process in the next 2-3 years.
7 comments:
Hello greyCat.
My guess about the slashing of that much time is that it will cut down significantly on the number of "early" entries. And if that's true, I think that would be of great benefit to one Mr. Reynolds.
I believe that is the consensus opinion Stan -- a smaller window would limit the field of entries to those who are truly serious about leaving. I have, however, heard conflicting reports on Scottie's state of mind regarding the draft. He has a few semi-private workouts scheduled over the next few weeks.
Hello greyCat.
I found this from draft express.
http://www.draftexpress.com/rankings/Draft-Eligible-PGs/
I don't know much about draft express, BUT his ranking here seems to me a bit low. I did not compare stats on all these guys, and I haven't seen most of them play, so maybe I'm just talking out of my hat.
I asked a question on another venue how he compared to Delonte West (St. Joe's fame as I'm sure you know, and who also left early and was a first rounder. He's now with Cleveland as I'm sure you also know and from what I've seen in the current Eastern finals, Reynolds would play every bit as good IF NOT better. I never followed St. Joe's, so other than stat's, I have no subjective comments to make about him. I also know he's played PG and SG in his pro career.
I do agree with some of what I've read about Scottie in that he has to work on his "decision making". At times he tries to do too much. ie, too much dribble and not prone to put others in a position to succeed. I do think he can learn that. And at the next level, his need to score wouldn't be as great.
I also think that his stature is such that he could be a Mark Jackson type of point guard. Some team would design plays for him to post smaller guards and also to spot up and take 3's. I am not saying he'll play 17 years and approach being an all time assist leader, but I think if he has the mind set to practice religiously and take care of himself he could be in the league a long time(8-9 years) and end up with nice stats.
I do however think he would be better off staying at Nova to further develop his game(offensive and DEFENSIVE), and of course get his degree.
I am curious as to you comments and/or observations.
My impression (zero expertise when it comes to the NBA draft Stan) is that many scouts don't see the athleticism in Scottie that they do in the other players on that list (especially Lawson, Flynn, etc.), nor do they see the point guard skills (insane dribble moves, ability to efficiently distribute, court vision, etc.) that players like AJ Price, Dru Holiday, etc. have shown. Scottie scores, but not as efficiently as Stephen Curry or Tyreke Evans. His size and weight are liabilities especially when weighed against his athleticism and shot.
My understanding is that coming back to the Mainline is not a foregone conclusion. He was not invited to Orlando nor to Chicago for large-scale workouts, but he has participated in several semi-private workouts (he had one last Monday -- 5/18 -- with Washington). Feedback from those workouts may well determine if he stays in the draft or comes back to school. I suspect that if he knew he would be drafted (even in the 2nd round) he would decide to stay in the draft.
No question that if Scottie were to return he would be the 8th Villanova player to score more than 2,000 during his college career and lead the Wildcats to their 6th consecutive NCAA tournament. Whether those (and an opportunity to work on his NBA "to do" list) are incentive enough to bring him back for his senior year, I guess we won't know until June 15.
All well noted and thanks greyCat.
That court vision thing was a big Mark Jackson plus. He was listed at 6'3" 190lbs and he liked to back the opposition down so much that at some point the NBA imposed the "Mark Jackson' rule. That rule basically allows players to back the opposition down for only 5 seconds.
I also got a kick out of one of Reggie Miller's comments this past week (although I forget the exact context). To paraphrase, "there's a heck of a lot of NBA general managers and scouts who don't know what they're doing"
I wish him the best and 6/15 will be interesting.
A quick note in the DelCo Times Stan, about Scottie's state of mind. Here is the link to the story. Looks like he will make a decision the week before the deadline. He sounds very positive about his NBA potential and chances to workout this spring. Sounds like a terrific kid and a great representative for Villanova.
A great "find" greyCat and I appreciate you passing it along. I agree wholeheartedly with that last sentence!
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