<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>The Toronto Raptors have seen the sights of one of the world's great cities during their four days in Rome.</p> It's the game tape they might not want to look at after their first two exhibition contest of the 2007-08 season.</p> The Raptors evened their pre-season record at 1-1 as they defeated Roma Lottomatica 93-87 to follow up their opening-night loss to the Boston Celtics.</p> Toronto had to work for it against Roma, an Italian League club with a lot of tradition but not considered one of Europe's elite. The Raptors trailed 45-44 at the half after Joey Graham fouled Christian Drejer as he was draining a three-pointer.</div></p> The Globe & Mail</p> </p>
It must be fun to play for the higher-end Euro teams.</p> I wonder if in the future young players out of high school, prevented from entering the draft by the age limit, will opt to play overseas for two or three years instead of going to college. Make some money, sharpen their skills, and have a great life experience.</p> Seems like a viable option if they are good enough to get playing time over there.</p> I imagine that certain European teams would pay through the nose for elite young talent like Durant or Oden. Then again, colleges do too </p>
Thing with that, the NBA would probably stop that. They did the age limit so players can get an education, not just go play basketball. If that started to happen, I'm sure Stern would stop them from doing so.</p>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Master Shake)</div><div class='quotemain'></p> Thing with that, the NBA would probably stop that. They did the age limit so players can get an education, not just go play basketball. If that started to happen, I'm sure Stern would stop them from doing so.</p> </div></p> LOL common man, If you were the next best thing coming out of high school and rather play in Europe then go to college then theres nothing Stern can do to prevent that from happening.</p> </p>
Its good rep for both Stern and the NBA to encourage young players to go to college for a year but if someone refuses to go to college and waits out the year over in Europe then I dont see much Stern can do in that situation.</p>
It is true, he cannot stop them, but he might be opposed. If they go to a year of college, then Europe, then okay. I just think, that age limit is a great way to keep the kids in school instead of letting them just go to Europe.</p> It could be good rep, but if they are truly "amazing" those kids, then why wouldn't the NBA want them for publicity. The NBA is a market, they sell their players. So why let good young players go over seas.</p>
Actually, the idea of playing a year or two in Europe makes sense for some kids. If you're going to leave school early and not get your degree or diploma then really is it all that important? How much effort do student athletes actually put into their studies? I have no idea but the stereotype suggests very little. If you're a pretty good ball player without much chance of making it to the NBA then you're probably better off going to school and walking away with something that can provide for yourself beyond the next few years.</p> In a few years when the relationship between European and American basketball continues to grow a but more I could see someone doing it.</p>
</p> </p> </p> Guys, let’s be serious here, from a number of people I know who have good connections in the basketball world and a few former NCAA players it’s not uncommon for some of these "university graduates" to be borderline literate. These guys are majoring in basketball no matter what their diploma says. The schools give them as much of a challenge as they are interested in. Someone who’s serious can work their way through school, the guy who isn’t can take four years of gym class management without any real testing if he wants to.</p> The problem is that there is no real bridge of a development system in basketball like you see in other sports. Players in soccer or hockey for example start playing pro earlier and work their way through a professional system before they get to the first team. The D-league starts to address that, but it’s more for fringe players as opposed to serious talent.</p> It is possible for players to mature in a professional environment like Europe, providing it's setup properly. Stern can't really restrict what these guys do before they show up NBA eligible because it's not an occupational requirement related to basketball, so it's descriminatory. If anything he'd be forced to setup a better development system so he wouldn't have to compete with european teams taking top talent because they can pay the player legitimately as opposed to college which at most provides scholarships and stuff you can only take undercover.</p>
Yea, realistically that wouldn't make much sense for an up-and-coming prospect. If the end goal is to become an NBA player, then college is the best place to find the kind of coaching/training that leads to the right type of development within a relatively short amount of time. The competition isn't as tough as the European leagues, but players are at a place where they can mature on and off the court in an environment that's not as demanding. European teams are professional teams after all, and there's no guarantee that a prospect will get time to develop if he's competing for a spot with a veteran who can provide a more steady contribution. Also, you have to consider the different rules and gameplans that they'd be learning (there'd be a huge adjustment for a player who developed in Europe coming to the NBA). And finally, for the students that take advantage of it, college at least provides an opportunity for a fall-back career if basketball doesn't pan out.</p>
Agreed. At the end of the day European teams are much different than the NBA squads, the biggest development factory is still the NCAA. The vast majority of players will continue to play their college ball without a doubt.</p>
The rule change is a significant factor considering where these players would be on their development curve.</p>
