Random Rumblings: April 11th

A wild weekend in sports catapults us into a surely historic week. Kobe Bryant retires after his final game Wednesday night. At the same time, the Warriors will shoot for their 73rd win, which would break the single-season record. The NBA playoff seedings will also be set, and we're getting ever closer to the NFL draft. However before all that, we look back at a heck of a sports weekend.

History (Good)

The Warriors have reached the thought unreachable star of 72 wins, tying the '95-'96 Bulls' record for most in an NBA season. Those Bulls also entered their 81st game with 71 wins, but they lost. The Warriors became the first team to win in San Antonio all season.

The game was rather remarkable considering the Warriors were on the second night of a back-to-back. Golden State beat Memphis in Memphis on Saturday night in game that went down to the final buzzer. The Dubs, including Stephen Curry, haven't had their shooting rhythm as of late. Their numbers are still good overall during the past few weeks, thanks to a few outbursts including a 136 point effort in Portland, but watching them hasn't quite been the same.

That continued in the first half in San Antonio as they scored a season low 35 points. In the second half, it all came back. Curry went bananas in the 3rd quarter, scored 37 points on the night and their chances at sitting alone in history are alive. The reason they were able to overcome the atrocious first half of offense? They were tied at the half, holding the Spurs to the same output. 

As you could imagine with a team that is assured one of the two best regular seasons ever, they're far from a one-trick pony. They're 5th in defensive rating after finishing first a year ago. Draymond Green might win defensive player of the year (it'll be him or Kawhi Leonard). The Warriors sport two of the league's ten best defensive lineups that have played over 100 minutes together (based on defensive rating) and neither of those are its "death lineup" of Green, Curry, Harrison Barnes, Andre Iguodala and Klay Thompson which is the league's best lineup in terms of net rating. 

(Fun aside: the Warriors have the league's best three lineups (min. 100 minutes played together) in net rating and two more in the top 20.)

The natural discussion as we wait for the playoffs isn't to appreciate what Golden State is doing, but to compare it to what the Bulls did. Who would win a hypothetical seven game series? Who knows. It's impossible to know, which makes for a fun discussion. There were different rules and the two teams play very different styles. I would tend to lean towards Golden State because of their propensity to hit threes, but the Bulls were absolutely loaded and had that MJ fella, so I certainly wouldn't have the confidence to bet on it.

In terms of the accomplishment though, I think it's fair to point out that Golden State has done this in one of the golden eras of NBA basketball. The league is so deep right now with star players and great teams. The Spurs are having an all-time season that is being completely overshadowed by the Warriors. The Thunder are likely going to have two players who deservingly finish top 5 in MVP voting. The Eastern Conference is finally back too, as the 8-seed there will finish with a better record than the 8-seed in the West for the first time since 1999. 

I'm not old enough to intelligently remember the league in '95-'96 so I'm not going to put what the Bulls did into similar context. It wouldn't be fair. Just know what the Warriors have done is extraordinary.

History (Bad)

Jordan Spieth did not have a Warriors-like weekend. The 22 year old had a complete and utter meltdown at the 12th hole in The Masters final round, and it cost him his second straight green jacket. 

It was such an odd outcome because the 30-minute, one-hole blunder so overwhelmingly decided the outcome of a four day event. Even if Spieth bogeys the hole instead of quadruple bogeying, he's in a playoff (if the rest of the tournament plays out the same). The seven he threw up on number twelve literally decided the tournament. 

It is likely why Spieth was so distraught afterwards. It's not just the great shots that make professional golfers great, it's the ability to do damage control. Hit a bad shot? Save it with the next one. Spieth followed a bad shot with a worse one and then did it again. He actually did some damage control by getting up-and-down out of the bunker to net the quad, or it could've been even worse.

What I don't get is the narrative today that "how Spieth responds will define his career." Well no kidding. If he stinks for the rest of his life, that's gonna define his career. If he bounces back, people will marvel at his ability to put failure behind him. That's all great, but let's not pretend like this hasn't happened before.

Rory McIlroy had the 54 hole lead at Augusta in 2014 before shooting a final round 80 and losing the tournament. He came back and blasted the field at the US Open to win the very next major. Jack Nicklaus's record 18 majors are made even more remarkable by the fact that he finished second 19 times. You don't think there were a few close calls and heart-breakers in there? 

Spieth will be fine. He's 22. He's already won multiple majors. His game is perfect for Augusta and he'll be the favorite there next year so long that he's healthy. He'll probably win there again. Yesterday's performance will hurt and it'll probably hurt forever. No matter how many he wins, he'll know it always should've been one more, but that doesn't mean he'll crumble into a heap of emotion and forget how to play golf.

Credit also to Danny Willett, who still had to go out and win it. He made sure to make it difficult for Spieth to catch him down the stretch and, in the end, did enough to win comfortably. That capped off a pretty amazing week for him that started with the birth of his first child. The picture of the baby in the green jacket is going to be pretty epic. Also, his brother is pretty great.

No More Bowling

The NCAA announced a three year freeze on adding new bowl games Monday morning, which was surely met with applause around the country. Three losing teams played in post-season games last year, which is a bit ridiculous considering they are supposed to be a reward for a stellar season.

Largely I'm in favor of having a large number of bowl games because they do mean a lot to the players and they really aren't hurting anyone. I didn't feel that way before going to the 2009 New Orleans Bowl and seeing MTSU win it. For a small school, it was a big deal. The players had a solid season, took advantage of the opportunity and walked away with memories they'll never forget.

That's always stuck with me, but there is a limit considering it's supposed to be a reward and the NCAA is long past that limit. We don't need to go back to an era where only the best of the best get to play in the post-season, but there's certainly a happy medium before you get to losing teams participating. It's probably farther back down the path than we've traveled, but at least for the next three years we won't be traveling any further.

Read(s) of the day:

I'm going to start adding some of the enjoyable things I've read to the ends of these random rumblings columns. I read a lot of stuff. Some of it is really good. So why not share:

• ESPN's Ramona Shelburne on the literal, physical pain Steve Kerr has endured this season as his team marches towards history.
• NJ.com's Steve Politi on the one house still standing in Augusta National's neighborhood, and the people who live there.
• The MMQB's Emily Kaplan on Jon Gruden's QB Camp, which starts this week on ESPN

The Battle of the Alma Maters

I left Riverside High School in 2008 bound for Middle Tennessee State University and a career in music production. That lasted about six weeks before I changed my major. Two years later I was a broadcast journalism major leaving Murfreesboro for Syracuse. The details of that aren't particularly relevant at the moment, but it was the best decision I ever made. Being an SU alum has opened more doors than I could ever imagine, but my time at MTSU was just as important, and basketball was an enormous reason why.

Syracuse is as big time as a program can get, which means that it's a little harder to get on the inside. Being a student reporter makes it near impossible. Jim Boeheim has a historical disdain for them and routinely humiliates them in press conferences seemingly for sport. Again, that's a different column for a different day, but I was never more than an educated observer as a member of the media at SU.

That was far from the case at MTSU.

While many of you reading know me as a football guy from my job at ESPN980, basketball is my first love. It's my passion. I love to watch. I love to play. I love everything about it.

That love was cultivated in many ways at Middle. I was incredibly lucky to have two coaches that not only were accessible, but let me into the inner sanctums of their programs. They trusted me. They allowed me to learn.

Rick Insell was an extraordinarily accomplished high school coach before taking over the MTSU women's program. Kermit Davis was one of college basketball's rising stars before he was hit with major violations at Texas A&M and had to rebuild his career, starting in junior college. He made his way back to the D1 ranks and took over MTSU in 2002.

While I watched from press row for much of my freshman year, I started early my sophomore year as both Insell and Davis allowed me to watch practices long before the season started and kept their doors open for the entire year.

It was inside the Murphy Center, where both teams held practice, that I learned more about the game of basketball than at any other point of my life. I learned how much goes into game preparation. I learned the detail with which a team had to execute to be successful. I learned how a coach instills an attitude in a team and a program.

While Coach Insell and the woman's program had more success when I was there, I learned much of that from Coach Davis. The intensity and tempo of their practices showed me what it took to win on the Division 1 level. I knew that if he was given the time, he would be able to build a team that could consistently compete, in large part because of how much Davis taught them to compete.

Not only is Kermit a great coach with an incredible depth of knowledge, but he was also incredibly open and approachable. He, and his staff, would happily answer questions I had about their team and about the game.

Simply put, my career would've played out differently if I didn't spend that time at MTSU, not only from a media standpoint where I was able to get invaluable reps in a less competitive student media program, but from a basketball standpoint where I learned more than I could bargain for.

I took that knowledge with me and was known as a basketball guy until I arrived in DC. I still am. I just have a football education now too.

A lot has changed since I left both schools. None of the players are still at either school, unless you count Trevor Cooney who redshirted during my senior year at SU. Both teams are in different conferences as well. However the coaches are still the same and Sunday they'll play each other for a spot in the Sweet 16.

I've always felt more loyalty to Syracuse because I'm so personally attached to the university. I feel no such attachment to MTSU, and in many ways felt spurned by some of the academic types and administration there. However when it comes to the basketball programs, I certainly could justify rooting for either side.

I have a feeling I'll find myself rooting for the Orange, but if Kermit and company pull out another one, I'll certainly be proud of them. Just like I am now, despite them blowing my bracket to smithereens.

Final Four Weekend Audio

Final Four Saturday was spent at Bracket Town with Hall of Famer Bill Walton, Super Bowl champion Darren Woodson and NBA and NCAA champion Jason Terry.



Monday Night, I caught UConn alumnus Richard Hamilton on the court amidst the celebration. Then, in the locker room, I spent some time with sophomore center Phillip Nolan and senior forward Niels Giffey.

Kentucky vs Wichita State - Where Narratives Went To Die

As Duke, Kansas and Syracuse fell the narrative was growing. The 2012 Kentucky team led by freshmen Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist was the exception, not the rule. You couldn't win with one-and-done players. Even that team had a senior leader in Darius Miller. Carmelo Anthony had veterans around him in 2003 too. It just can't be done.

Down went Jabari Parker and Duke. Down went Andrew Wiggins and Kansas.

Julius Randle was next. His Kentucky squad was matched up against a veteran Wichita State team that hadn't lost since they took one too many punches from Louisville in last year's Final Four.

Wichita State pulled ahead early, executing their gameplan to perfection. I, and many others, thought they would win. Kentucky hadn't played smart basketball all year. Kentucky hadn't played together all year. They had 10 good minutes against Florida in the SEC Championship and that's it.

They picked a pretty good time to start. The Harrison twins played their best game all season. Randle was dominant in stretches. The game was played at a level rarely seen in college hoops. Pressure? Instead of folding, both teams rose. Cleanthony Early couldn't miss. The Kentucky freshmen were money from the free throw line down the stretch.

With all that said, the narrative had a chance to play out. The pressure to execute is never greater than a last second inbounds play. As Luke Winn from Sports Illustrated revealed in this brilliant piece, the play was called "Havlicek" and the number one option was a lob to Cleanthony Early.

Here is a freeze frame as the action starts. Early is the player at the most bottom of the screen.

Things that would inhibit a lob -

1) A defender at the rim

2) A defender inhibiting Early so that he wouldn't have a clear path to the rim

3) Ball pressure making a lob difficult

4) Early getting caught up in the screening action

5) Aliens from outer space

None of these things happened.

James Young (#1 in blue) was guarding Early. He was lost. Willie Caulie-Stein (#15 in blue) is one of the best rim protectors in the country. He had no idea someone was sneaking behind him and it looked like protecting the rim wasn't his assignment. He had a man he was supposed to stick with. It appeared as if no one had the specific job of protecting the rim.

As it played out, Early planted his right foot at the very moment captured above and faded to the wing, out of the play. I would love to ask him or Gregg Marshall what he was reading, because watching the video and looking at the freeze frame above, it seems like he made the wrong read. The pass didn't even have to be perfect. Any where where Early could catch it leads to a layup or dunk. Instead he bailed.

Instead Kentucky shut off the 2nd option, Ron Baker (#31 in white) curling to the corner and Wichita State was left with their 3rd option. Fred Van Vleet came to the top of the key, took one rhythm dribble to his right and launched a 25 footer that missed as time expired. Game over.

As the horn sounded, the narrative died.

Talented freshmen can beat an experienced team that plays together. The key is them actually playing together. That's why Kentucky won in 2012. It's the same reason Louisville won last year. It's the same reason any team wins any year.

There is no new narrative.

Talent will always compete. Execution will always matter. When talent executes, it will win.

Sunday we didn't see talent versus execution. We saw Wichita State's talent executing as they had all year versus Kentucky's talent executing like they hadn't all year. The clock ran out while Kentucky had two more points.

A single game cannot define a season. It can end it. Wichita State is one of the ten best teams in the country and probably the best five. Their problem on Sunday is they ran into another one who finally played like it.

Marcus Smart - Misplaced Outraged and Actual Accountability

Putting your hands on someone typically escalates a problem, not solves it.

However Marcus Smart didn't punch anybody and he certainly didn't shoot anybody and it's about time we started acting accordingly.

Marcus Smart is 19 years old. He is black. Texas Tech super fan Jeff Orr is roughly 50. He is white. According to Smart, Orr used the racial slur everybody who speaks English knows is unacceptable. It's one I've written about extensively. It's one that should never be uttered by anyone under any circumstances directed at another person because there is no way to use it outside of hatefully.

In the moment immediately following this, Smart gave Orr one good shove. He then walked away. This moment was at the very end of a very close basketball game meaning Smart was hopped up, much like Richard Sherman, on incalculable amounts of testosterone and adrenaline.

Orr has denied using the term, but Smart was telling his coaches he did immediately after. It's a lot easier to deny using it out of the moment than to make up that he used it in the spot Smart was in to his coaches. Unless someone else said it and Smart misheard before turning around and confronting Orr, it's a pretty safe bet that he did. And as long as the story from Smart is straight, that aforementioned context is beyond important.

Marcus Smart's 19 years old and was full of adrenaline/testosterone. If dude said THE word, he's lucky he's not gettin his jaw reconstructed
— Craig Hoffman (@craighoffman) February 9, 2014

Jeff Orr is lucky he doesn't have a broken jaw. Marcus Smart is going to be lucky to not be suspended for multiple games. Both are at fault to varying degrees, but one is at fault understandabl ewhile the other is so far removed from reality he might as well be in a movie.

That man is Orr. He's a 50 year old man, who according to a profile by Texas Tech, traveled over 30,000 miles supporting Texas Tech basketball in 2008. That isn't school spirit. It's obsession to the point of insanity. There's no way to do that unless "being at every Tech basketball game" is your number one priority. Not family. Not a job, neverthelessea career. Texas Tech basketball.

This is not his first incident either. Not by a longshot. Immediately following the incident with Smart, former Big 12 players from a number of schools came forward on Twitter saying Orr's said awful things to them in the past. Video of past incidents also surfaced within minutes. He's a grown man who acts like an 8 year old at his big brother's game and doesn't know any better. He went after a kid.

Smart, again, is 19 and made a heat of the moment decision he likely regrets. It's very easy with a cool head to say "you can't react like that" but Marcus Smart didn't have a cool head. That's the lesson he has to learn moving forward. It's not 'what to do' that is the problem. He knows what to do. It's doing it. It's being able to realize that you're entering or are in a state of mind where you're not thinking rationally and snapping out of it before you do something you regret.

The next time someone says something, Smart should be prepared. He'll start towards the person and before his foot even leaves the ground, he'll turn the other way; perhaps towards a security guard to escort the incredulously out of line fan from the building forever. Again, the lesson isn't teaching Smart what he's supposed to do, which is much of what's being debated and will be until some new controversy steals the headlines. He knows what he's supposed to do. It's teaching him when to do it, suppressing the same emotion that has given him a reputation as one of the hardest working players in the country in favor of the rational response to adversity.

Smart shouldn't have done what he did, but I'm not going to pretend to be outraged over it because I'm not. Quite frankly, I'm surprised at how many people are. We're all scarred from "The Malice at the Palace" but comparing the two situations is by no means justifiable for a number of reasons starting with Marcus Smart isn't Ron Artest. Artest is a borderline crazy person. Smart's character on many scouting reports was "beyond reproach" before a chair-kicking incident a few weeks back that was more frustration with himself than anything else.

If you take these same two people out on the street and play out the same result, most people would agree that Orr is lucky to not have had his clock cleaned, and many would probably say he'd deserve it. Now that we're on a basketball court where the antagonized is already high strung, he's supposed to show more restraint? It's just not realistic.

Violence isn't the answer. The high road is. So is proper accountability which is why I am upset. However it's not with Marcus Smart. It's with Jeff Orr because when I was 19, I sure as hell didn't have life figured out yet and my emotions weren't exactly always in check. I'm going to take a wild stab that yours weren't either. For Marcus Smart, this shove is nothing more than a really valuable learning experience in which, luckily, no harm was really done.

And that's okay.

Final Four Primer

This week has been one of the craziest of my life. In the past 36 hours alone I've driven from Kansas to Texas with a pitstop for Spurs/Thunder in OKC, met my new PD, seen my new station, spent an entire day looking for apartments and slept for maybe 3.5 hours. For those that know my sleep schedule, I don't do 3.5 hours of sleep! I'm happy to finally have a minute to write though and with not much time left to do this before the games tomorrow night, here's your Final Four primer.

How'd they get here?

Syracuse

• The Orange got embarrassed and bruised egos propelled Cuse all the way to Atlanta. SU was horrible down the stretch culminating with a blowout loss at Georgetown. This team doesn't have fantastic leadership but it has top flight talent and top flight talent comes with egos. A bruised ego is a hell of a motivating factor and the Cuse turned around their offensive slump thanks to hot shooting from James Southerland, attacking aggression from Brandon Triche and good decision making from Michael Carter-Williams. The defense never really left despite the losses but it's gotten even better in the tournament. The Orange have forced more turnovers than field goals allowed. That's my favorite stat of 2013 and it's not even close.

Michigan

• Point guard Trey Burke has been sensational all year and now he's getting help from freshman Mitch McGary inside making the Wolverines almost impossible to guard. Michigan has run a ton of pick-and-roll in this tournament though and you can't really do that against a zone. That Burke/McGary pick-and-roll has opened up the shooters and with all five starts capable of scoring, Michigan's the most potent offensive team in the tournament.

Wichita State

• Timing is everything and Wichita State picked it's game with #1 Gonzaga in the round of 32 to have it's best shooting stretch of the year from deep. They basically didn't miss from 3 in the second half including some prayers late in the shot clock and there's nothing the Zags could do. They play their game which is in the half-court with nasty defense and it's worked like a charm.

Louisville

• Louisville has gotten here by obliterating people. The only "close" game was the regional final against Duke. The Blue Devils played it close for a half before the Ville did exactly what they did to Syracuse in the Big East Tournament final and turned up the heat. They've gotten exceptional guard play and Gorgui Dieng has held down the fort inside. We've said all year there is no dominant team, but for the last month Louisville has been just that. 

Keys to the games

Louisville vs Wichita St

This game is all about pace. If the Cardinals can speed Wichita State up, the Shockers don't stand a chance. WSU needs to make this a lower numbered possessions game and hope that Louisville's guard throw away one too many. Peyton Siva and Russ Smith have been almost unbelievably good this tournament, yet their larger body of work provides a blueprint to beat them: turn them over. Both guys can be turnover prone at times and Smith takes some horrific shots that might as well be turnovers.

The key for Wichita State is to make both Smith and Siva into jump shooters and hope each has a bad night. Louisville just needs to play it's game and the Cardinals play Monday night. Turn up the press, get to the rim and create organized chaos that's not so organized for the opponent.

Syracuse vs Michigan

This game is about discipline for Syracuse and managing the moment for Michigan. If SU can continue to challenge everything from the perimeter like they have been through the tournament season, Nik Stauskas won't go 6-6 from three like he did against Florida. Michigan has shooters all over the place so it's important that SU's rotations are on point.

Michigan's offense has been largely predicated on the pick-and-roll with Trey Burke and Mitch McGary over the past 4 games and the result has been huge numbers for both and 4 wins. You can't run a pick-and-roll against a zone though so it'll be interesting to see how John Beilein attacks the 2-3. He certainly has experience doing it from his years at West Virginia. He's 0-9 against Boeheim but never had a player at WVU as good as Burke. If Burke penetrates, everything else breaks down. SU has to hope Burke's lack of size causes him problems against the extreme length of Michael Carter-Williams and Brandon Triche.

The last part to Cuse's plan is finishing possessions. McGary's a very good and relentless offensive rebounder and Tim Hardaway Jr. and Glen Robinson III are super athletic wings who will crash the glass. The Orange has to rebound as extra possessions for Michigan is a death wish.

The other end of the floor is pretty simple. Triche needs to stay aggressive. Carter-Williams has to be careful against Burke not to get picked and I'd expect a lot of Brandon Triche bringing the ball up the floor. Get into the offense. Attack the rim. Kick out to Southerland and Fair and SU's offense is just fine.

If Michigan, with it's four freshmen starters, can do the things I listed above they'll have a great shot to win. If the moments too big and they force threes, John Beilein will be 0-10 against Jim Boeheim.


Prediction:

My heart says Cuse wins it all, completing the revenge tour Monday night against Lousiville. This would mean in the tournament season, SU beat Georgetown, Marquette and the Cardinals all whom beat SU in the regular season and in Louisville's case for the Big East Championship. My eyes tell me the Cardinals win it all.

If you've seen my bracket, that means Michigan will win. If Wichita State wins I give up forever.

One and done with it

Nearly everyone hates the one and done rule in college hoops. All year we've heard that it's hurt the quality of play in college basketball because there is very limited top-flight talent. That's true. While there have been an inordinate amount thrilling finishes that can be chalked up to this newfound parity, close games don't equate to good basketball. There is no better example than the 5 OT Louisville vs Notre Dame classic from Saturday night. The first 39 minutes were garbage and the overtimes weren't exactly well played despite the undeniable drama.

Now people are upset with the one and done rule for a different reason after Kentucky freshman Nerlens Noel tore his ACL Tuesday night in Florida. The projected #1 pick is out for the season and his status as the #1 pick is more than up in the air. The result is people saying that the NBA is wrong for not letting Noel and others go straight to the league from high school like they used to be able to. "The NBA is preventing them from making a living." 

First and foremost this statement is patently false. The NBA is preventing players like Noel who think they're ready to make the jump to pro ball from going to the NBA, not from making a living playing basketball. Brandon Jennings didn't want to play college basketball and he went to Italy for a year before entering the NBA Draft. He still was a lottery pick when his time came to shake David Stern's hand.

Secondly, the NBA has every right to do this, just like any other company in any other industry. Chances are if you're reading this you're not an NBA player so think of whatever industry you're in. I'll use my industry for comparison's sake and me as a specific example.

The NBA is a business, just like yours

By the time I was completing my junior year in college, I was ready to be a professional radio host. In fact, I was probably better than at least half of the hosts on stations nationwide. However without my degree, I wasn't deemed ready and in fact I would have been deemed a liability having not yet taken a media law class.

If some station had taken a chance on me, there was super potential. Not being in school and getting reps daily, I could have focused solely on my craft (some would argue I did this anyway and to hell with my schoolwork...hi mom!) and grown at a much faster rate than I was. As long as I avoided getting the station sued, it could have easily been a worthwhile investment. It would have been a risk for me not having a degree to fall back on (although, unlike a basketball player my degree would have been in my industry, not something else) but the general accepted standard of broadcast journalism is you have a degree and are of a certain age before you start working as a professional.

Even now, as I'm on the job hunt again, networks like ESPN and CBS have determined that I'm not ready for that stage yet. I don't have the experience. I'm not old enough. I haven't seen enough.

So why is the NBA, the highest level of professional basketball that exists, any different? It's not. Which is why the one and done rule is stupid. It should be two years, when kids have really had a chance to develop, get some bumps and bruises in the college game (or overseas) and are mature enough to handle the independence of NBA life.

The correct rebuttal against this argument is not "LeBron James was ready for the NBA." The correct rebuttal is "if ESPN thought you were ready, they could hire you while the NBA couldn't hire Nerlens Noel." I understand that and fully acknowledge that many high school players have gone on to great NBA careers. From KG to Kobe to Lebron, the examples are there and of course there are also the examples guys who have been mediocre (Sebastian Telfair) or worse (Ndubi Ebi anyone?).

So why is the rule fair? Sports owners have long proven they can't help themselves when it comes to potential. No matter how a CBA is written, owners will find ways to hand out stupid contracts. Why did NBA owners push so hard for shorter contracts in the last negotiations? Because that way when they handed out stupid contracts, they would only kill their franchises for a half a decade instead of a full one. Hell, they had the amnesty clause so they could get out of a bad contract entirely (at least in terms of the salary cap) because there were so many they had already given out.

The Proof

The more time there is to evaluate a player, the less mistakes you'll make so the one and done rule serves as a safety net for the NBA to make more educated investments. Don't believe me? Here are the #1 overall picks since 2007 when the rule took hold: Greg Oden, Derrick Rose, Blake Griffin, John Wall, Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis. The only bust? Oden who's bust is totally injury related and 1000% magnified by the fact that the guy picked after him was Kevin Durant.

The honest truth is, there have been very few high school guys who have been ready for the NBA. Plenty have had great careers, but with the exception of LeBron, most weren't ready to contribute right away. Making a James go to school for a year and risking they get hurt happens far less than a Kwame Brown coming through where you don't really know what you're getting into.

Want further proof? Fab Melo would have been a top 10 if not top 5 pick purely on potential coming out of school. Scouts needed one year at Syracuse to see he wasn't ready. The same with Dion Waiters whose years under Jim Boeheim helped him come into the NBA ready to contribute and likely on a better career trajectory than if he hadn't been straightened out on the hill. 

Would these two have been better off toiling away on an NBA bench or playing college ball? Unquestionably the latter. While it may have cost them two years of salary, going to school was better for both of their careers and that has nothing to do with their education. This means you can skip the Fab Melo jokes.

Players Play, Owners Own

At the end of the day, it's the owners’ league and they get to make the rules. The players can fight for their rights, but what qualifies you to work is something set by the employer in any industry. It's why the 19-year-old age limit exists and why David Stern wants it upped to 20. Believe it or not, there's a massive jump from playing 20 games against dudes many of whom I could run with in high school to 82 against the best in the world.

Do I feel bad for Noel? Of course. By nearly any account he’s a great kid and there’s a chance he just lost a few million. However this doesn’t make me mad at the NBA for not letting him play. While this overall argument is admittedly up for debate, “who are we made at?” when it comes to Noel shouldn’t be.

We should be mad at the NCAA – the organization that allowed the stanchion Noel ran into to be so close to the court and isn’t paying him a dime. This of course is despite the millions of dollars he’ll make for Kentucky and the “non-profit organization” that they are.

As for Noel, he should quit Kentucky’s team and hire an agent today. There are no rules prohibiting him from rehabbing at Kentucky if he’s not a part of the team and since he’s not going to put on a Wildcat uniform again, he might as well get the best treatment and advice he can. Sound wrong? Feel wrong? If David Stern had his way, that wouldn’t be an option because Noel would be back next year and couldn’t give up his eligibility.

In the end, it's a really dicey issue because athletes have such a limited window for maximizing their earning potential. There's a very strong argument to be made for letting a high school kid make the jump because cutting a year or two off his NBA career means cutting a significant percentage off his max earning potential. Cutting a year off a 10-year career is 10%. That's a lot.

However the NBA is making major investments in these players and they have every right to set the minimum working requirements for their company. It's the elite of the elite. They should have standards.

Now getting mad at the NCAA? I'm all for that.