Jeremy Tyler Coming Home

Two years ago, high school phenom Brandon Jennings decided he didn't want to go to college. Because of the NBA's rule prohibiting players from entering the draft until they had been out of high school for a year, Jennings opted to go back on his commitment to Arizona and instead went overseas to play in Europe. He struggled mightily, averaging about 18 minutes and 6 points per game in Italy. Still, he was selected 10th in the draft last summer and has had a strong rookie season in the NBA.

He did, however, set a dangerous precedent that has already claimed at least one victim. San Diego high school superstar Jeremy Tyler followed Jennings' lead and has paid the price for it, only he took it a step farther. Tyler essentially dropped out of school and skipped out on his senior season, signing in Israel to play for Maccabi Haifa. After averaging 2 points per game in the 10 games in which he played, Tyler left the team a month before the end of the season and returned home. Tyler's agent didn't even know Tyler was leaving his team and seemed pretty shocked to learn about his clients decision. His time with Maccabi was fraught with issues, most of them due to his immaturity, but even his skill now comes under question. Tyler has dropped to the bottom 3 picks in the NBADraft.net 2011 Mock Draft and the truth is, if he doesn't find a home next season to prove his value, he'll drop further. A promising career may be over before it begins.

I personally wish the best for Tyler and hope that this is simply the signs of an immature kid who has come under the influence of a snake (former Adidas rep Sonny Vaccaro, who is one of the greatest con-men in the world of sports). But at the very least, I hope this will serve as a lesson to those who would follow in his footsteps and influence them to not only finish high school, but go to college for a year or two. If the worst thing that happens to you is you spend a year getting a free education while serving as King of the Campus, your life is pretty good. And I hope Jeremy Tyler knows that now.

-BG

Knicks = Blerg

In the last week, two ridiculous things have happened in New York Knick land. First, coach Mike D'antoni was quoted as saying that his offensive system will produce a title for the franchise. This is, by the way, the same Knick franchise that currently sits in 13th place in the Eastern Conference with an anemic 21-41 record. Then yesterday that same Knick team lost (and incidentally lost BADLY) to the New Jersey Nets who now have their 7th win of the season. This loss was marked by D'antoni's run-and-gun-and-don't-play-defense system that resulted in an NBA-record 0 for 18 from three point range for the whole team.

I used to be a big Knick fan. I stuck with them through 2 Finals losses and a host of tough times and rough basketball. I bailed when they traded Latrell Sprewell (the heart and soul of the team) for Keith Van Horn (who never once in his life cared about the game of basketball). Since that time I have been justified over and over in my decision to bail. Mike D'antoni is an idiot if he truly thinks his system will EVER win a title and anyone who buys into that idiocy is even dumber. He had the perfect players for his system in Phoenix and couldn't get past the Conference Finals. It's a fun system to watch and I imagine it's a blast to play in. But in the end, you are always going to end up on the wrong side of the equation when you get involved with a team that plays hard-nosed defense and controls the pace of the game. And if any of the big free agents this summer end up in New York, we can all safely say it's all about the money. This team has so far gone nowhere with D'antoni and will continue to go nowhere important as long as he's at the helm.

-BG

Jason Kidd: Basketball Genius

This happened last week but I hadn't seen a quality YouTube clip that properly shows the action. In the last couple of minutes in the Mavs-Hawks game on Friday, Mavs point guard Jason Kidd saw Hawks coach Mike Woodson on the court and went straight towards him, drawing contact and a technical foul on Woodson.



At the time the Mavs were down by two. They would go on to tie the game and go into overtime where they picked up their sixth straight victory. This was just one fantastic moment in what turned out to be an amazing game for Kidd (19 points, 16 rebounds, 17 assists). This move has drawn a lot of criticism from pundits around the league but the fact of the matter is, Kidd made a play. He demonstrated why he is widely considered to be one of the smartest players in the history of the game in FORCING the refs to make a call. Just pointing out that Woodson was literally 5 feet out on the court wasn't going to cut it. By making contact it forced the refs to make a call and they made the right one. Coaches cannot be on the court and in all honesty, if Kidd would have cross checked him, it would have been a fair play because Woody's not supposed to be on the court, period. Instead he just sticks the elbow out, grazes him, and makes sure the refs can see it. That's all it took. The best thing about it was that everyone in the building, including Woodson himself, knew it was a genius play. Woodson was embarrassed, clearly, but while he may have been on the wrong side of the play this time, you know he'd LOVE to have a player smart enough to pull the same move for his benefit.

-BG