This is an article I have been waiting all season to write. I knew it would happen and that this piece would basically write itself. Before I get started I would like dedicate this article to ESPN.com NBA Draft expert Chad Ford. For everybody else who advocates taking high schoolers and foreign projects over the polished college upperclassman this one goes out to you as well. The 2004-2005 NBA season should be dubbed the “Return of the Upperclassmen” as the best rookie performers thus far have been guys who spent some time honing their game in college. Let’s get started at the top. The best rookie thus far in the NBA has been Emeka Okafor. Okafor, who graduated with honors from UConn in three years and was dominant on the collegiate level, has been everything everyone thought he would be. Thus far he is averaging 15.4 points and 11.3 rebounds. At one point in the season, Okafor had strung together 19 straight double-doubles. What Okafor is doing is exactly what everybody who had watched him in college and complained about his going in second in the draft knew he would do. The guy who went first in Dwight Howard has not been able to put up better numbers than Okafor. Howard even has the benefit of playing with seasoned guys like Steve Francis and Grant Hill, yet he cannot match the production Okafor is giving. Drafting Okafor over Howard rates with Lex voting keep Amber around on Survivor All-Stars. You just have to scratch your head and wonder if the Magic don’t need to have a more stringent drug testing policy in place.
It hasn’t been just Okafor leading the college upperclassmen renaissance. Let’s take a look at the NBA’s most improved team in the Chicago Bulls. When you look at the Bulls you see a team that learned their lesson from drafting high-schoolers and watching them slowly develop. Over the last two years the Bulls have taken Kirk Hinrich (Kansas graduate), Luol Deng (productive college player though he left as a freshman), Ben Gordon (left UConn as a junior), and Chris Duhon (Duke graduate). There is a definite correlation between the drafting of proven college players and the Bulls ascension. Ben Gordon is averaging 13.1 points a game right now and will be in the running for 6th Man of the Year honors. In fact, if the Bulls wisely continue to use Ben Gordon as a sixth man for the next 15 years, Gordon could go down as the best sixth man in history. Reminds me so much of Ricky Pierce it is scary. Gordon has been the Bulls best crunch-time player as well, hitting daggers left and right. The Bulls starting point guard has been Chris Duhon. Duhon is the exact same player he was at Duke and that is the consummate point guard. He plays great defense and doesn’t make many errors as evidenced by his 2.8:1 assist/turnover ratio.
It has not just been these guys though. If you take a look at the Top 14 rookies in terms of scoring, eight of them were guys that spent more than three seasons in college. Besides Okafor and the aforementioned Ben Gordon the other six are Matt Bonner (Toronto via Florida), David Harrison (Indiana via Colorado), Josh Childress (Atlanta via Stanford), Tony Allen (Boston via Oklahoma State), Devin Harris (Dallas via Wisconsin), and Jameer Nelson (Orlando via St. Joseph’s). Don’t worry; I know there is more to the game than scoring, so I also have the numbers for assists. Try three out of the top five in assists spent more than three seasons in college with the other two having attended. I would go rebounds, but I know proponents of taking high schoolers and foreigners don’t want me to delve back into the subject of Okafor and his dominance so I’ll be nice and just let it be.
Why do I inform you of all this? Because for some reason there is a myth out there about high schoolers and foreign players being better draft picks than guys who spent time honing their craft on the collegiate level. This idea………this concept…….is absurd. Just like in baseball when Billy Beane led the revolution back to drafting productive college players, one needs to be started in basketball. When you pick a stock, don’t you generally like to pick something that is proven and that you are sure will have some degree of success. Why wouldn’t you apply the same standards to choosing guys on a basketball team?
If you have any questions or comments feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].