<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">"I'm teed off because I just don't understand what they're trying to prove or what this will accomplish," Oden's mother, Zoe, said as she prepared to watch her son in the Indiana Junior-Senior All Star game at Pendleton Heights. "This means that Greg is held back a year. . . . The option has been taken from him. I don't think that's right. I'm not happy." Indianapolis Star</div> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">"It's said and done, so there's nothing you can do about it now," Greg Oden said. "I'm not sad, but I feel bad for whenever the next LeBron comes along and he has to go to college and something happens, either he gets injured or doesn't live up to expectations." Indianapolis Star</div> source
I don't think an age limit is very fair either. Look at all of the best players in today?s game and you find a few that made the jump from the high school to the NBA. It isn't fair that you can go to Iraq when you r 18 but you can't step on a court and play a simple game at 18, what is that? When 18 you are a legal adult am I right? So I agree with Oden's mom what kind of point are they trying to make, I honestly don't think this is going to help the league. From a business standpoint a lot of people want to see high school stars, this age limit might ruin business.
If I?m not mistaken, Greg Oden is most likely a lottery pick and no matter how old you are, as long as you?re in the lottery, you can still make a successful jump from high school to the pros. I still don?t know what the big deal is; the worst case scenario is he gets a free education at a school of his choice and he still gets to play basketball. I don?t see the problem with the age limit and I support it 100% of the way. With the amount of LeBron?s, Kobe?s, McGrady?s and Garnett?s there are, there are tons of Jackie Butler?s, Taj McDavid?S, Ellis Richardson?s, Lenny Cooke?s and Tony Key?s out there. The success of those players is magnified while the truth of reality isn?t. There are many high school players we?ve never heard of who haven?t gotten drafted either so drafting high school players is extremely risky. With the age limit, at least you get to see more flaws in a player?s game and it is more bust-free than drafting from high school. It also increases the overall level of a team who has been in the lottery not only presently, but obviously for the future. Counting on many of these projects who aren?t guaranteed success in the NBA isn?t the right move for the NBA in my opinion. Even if a high school player isn?t in the lottery and has to go to school for a couple of years, if he truly is good and really does have a future, he would make it in the league and will only become a better player and get more playing time rather than ride the bench and get the Darko treatment.
Odens mom's opinion is irrelevant because the position shes in forces her to be biased.The fact is the league made this agreement with its best interests in mind.I have no problem with that.I have a feeling that as soon as these GM's and talent scouts see these highly recruited highschoolers flop in college they'll be more hesitant to draft a kid out of highschool once the next contract comes around that allows them to do so.Then things will be back to the way they should be,which means you wont see 10 highschoolers drafted within the first 20 picks.So now the busts get weeded out and the phenoms are more prepared to make an immediate impact.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting B-22:</div><div class="quote_post">I don't think an age limit is very fair either. Look at all of the best players in today?s game and you find a few that made the jump from the high school to the NBA. It isn't fair that you can go to Iraq when you r 18 but you can't step on a court and play a simple game at 18, what is that? When 18 you are a legal adult am I right? So I agree with Oden's mom what kind of point are they trying to make, I honestly don't think this is going to help the league. From a business standpoint a lot of people want to see high school stars, this age limit might ruin business.</div> Why isn't it not going to help the league? You've got these high schooler's that clearly are not ready to play in the NBA that are declaring like crazy now all because of the money. Now they will have to earn the chance to play in the NBA by attending college for at least one year. The rule really helps in the NFL where you have to attend college for at least 2 years and I think it will help the NBA as well. FWIW, I think the players coming out of high school better be lucky that the rule is 19 years old instead of 20 like it was originally was supposed to be. Either way, it will make the college game much better and I'm obviously all for making the college game better!!!
Wasn't Greg Oden planning on going to college anyways? I'm sure I heard him say that in some interview before. There's nothing unfair about an age limit. It will help the college game, the NBA's rookie class will improve, and players like Greg Oden will still become millionaires. It's not like he'll have to pay to go to college.
^I think the reason some people dont agree with the age limit is because of the possibility of a top level player getting injured in college and never having the opportunity to avoid that before they recieve an NBA paycheck.It also makes players whos familys are impoverished continue to live in poverty until the player is allowed to be drafted.Those are pretty much the only two downsides of the new agreement though.Upsides outweigh the downsides in my opinion.
I don't feel bad for him, and why should I. He'll just have to live the college life for a year then come out and make millions of dollars. So he has to wait a year for the millions of dollars, big whoop. He was considering on attending school anyway so I don't see why his mom would be upset. I don't know what this will do for college basketball though, will it improve the play or will it just let some money crazy players in that want to just impress scouts. It will soon be answeared I guess.
I cant believe shes upset. Whats a one year wait compared to a lifetime dream playin in the NBA? Maturity is the factor. Not just skillz. Money made in the NBA has people going crazy....
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting UKOwnstheSEC:</div><div class="quote_post">Why isn't it not going to help the league? You've got these high schooler's that clearly are not ready to play in the NBA that are declaring like crazy now all because of the money. Now they will have to earn the chance to play in the NBA by attending college for at least one year. The rule really helps in the NFL where you have to attend college for at least 2 years and I think it will help the NBA as well. FWIW, I think the players coming out of high school better be lucky that the rule is 19 years old instead of 20 like it was originally was supposed to be. Either way, it will make the college game much better and I'm obviously all for making the college game better!!!</div> That is easy for you to say, young African American kids want to get paid because they want a better life for themselves and their family. Guys like Telfair who live and the hood and their only way out is the NBA. Of course there are going to be the high scholars that aren't ready but what about the ones that are ready? If a high scholar wasn't NBA ready doesn't that player still have a chance to go back to college and try again? Of course this will make the college game better and that?s a good thing but there are still the high scholars that are ready and wasting their time by playing college ball. I'm not saying they should skip college itself because that is not the point I'm trying to make. If a player could get his college education and play in the league at the same time then they really wouldn't need college. But now with the age limit a player basically has to play college ball if they want to get drafted.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting B-22:</div><div class="quote_post">That is easy for you to say, young African American kids want to get paid because they want a better life for themselves and their family. Guys like Telfair who live and the hood and their only way out is the NBA. Of course there are going to be the high scholars that aren't ready but what about the ones that are ready? If a high scholar wasn't NBA ready doesn't that player still have a chance to go back to college and try again? Of course this will make the college game better and that?s a good thing but there are still the high scholars that are ready and wasting their time by playing college ball. I'm not saying they should skip college itself because that is not the point I'm trying to make. If a player could get his college education and play in the league at the same time then they really wouldn't need college. But now with the age limit a player basically has to play college ball if they want to get drafted.</div> Did you know that in college football you must play for at least 2 years before you can enter the NFL Draft? I bet there are a ton of poor kids that are required to college footbal, so what's so different with basketball? Besides, all they have to do is play college ball for only 1 year, then they can enter the draft. Something just had to be done with these college kids entering left and right and being.
I think the new age limit is great. I didn't like seeing kids come right out of school and going right to the league. Yes there have been a "few" that have made an impact right away but there have been many many failures and maybe making some of these kids come out and play a year or 2 of NBDL or wherever will help everyone. As fans do we want to see some 18 year old sit on the bench for 3 years cause he's not ready and then leave and sign with some other team? It's to the point where teams were scared to pass on some kid just in case he got real good, so instead they draft him and pay him for 3 years to keep a seat warm. Send them to the NBDL and develop them and that league.
You know what I don't get about the age limit? The NBA says that it would help athletes who don't make it so that they would have something to fall back into. On what though, their one-year degree? That would definitely make them better people in the society. If I had a say I would advocate either not having a 19-year old limit at all or raising it to 21, so that whoever doesn't succeed in the NBA would at least have a legit degree to fall back on, instead of just one year of part-time college studies.
This is all made on racism in my opinion.Whens the last time a white high school player has been drafted right out of high school?Forget college they can get their degree online if they want.
I personally agree with an age limit, I think every player should be forced to go through one year of college. If they do not have the academics to go to college and have no choice but to go to the NBA like a few in the past, they shou8ld be forced to take 2-3 hours of tutoring a day for the length of a full college year. But yes, finally somebody not happy about the age limit who isn't blaming it on racism. Thank you Zoe Oden.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Flames:</div><div class="quote_post">This is all made on racism in my opinion.Whens the last time a white high school player has been drafted right out of high school?Forget college they can get their degree online if they want.</div> That is very ignorant. If these (black) players from highschool cant be drafted directly from highschool anymore, and they go to college to play first, wouldnt they still be drafted because of their tallent? Or is your point that white players somehow gets better in college than black players? With these highschool players having to go to college to play just means that there will be a few more black players going to college. Remember that very few of the highschool players get drafted. With the age limit raised, scouts have an opportunity to see if these players can actualy play against good opposition, or if the only reason to their good play in highschool was because of bad competition.
I have no problem with the Age Limit. It makes the Players get a good education and makes them more responsible. Someone mentioned being poor in the hood and wanting money. I think Telfair's mom wouldve loved for her son to go to a college and get a good education while still trying to support them. The new limit also decreases the probability that a hs player gets hurt and cant enter college. There are alot of more unsuccessful hs players than successfull hs players. I have no idea why a mom would prefer money over education. Oden even wanted to attend OSU, since u can never be to sure that you will get picked and succeed.
I guess Oden was going in the draft after his senoir year I guess he will be number 1 pick in the 2007 draft
