teege
02-24-2010, 05:20 PM
Now here is a lesson to all of you young NBA Star What-to-be High School hoopsters, do not think for a moment that possessing natural talents will automatically give you a ticket to the NBA Basketball Olympus in due time. Potential alone will just not cut it neither in the States nor anywhere on this planet. Jeremy Tyler actually tried to check this assumption and found a remote spot a few time zones distant from the United States altogether just to find out what is true back home is the same out there. "No pain no gain".
For those of you that do not remember, last spring a young, promising basketball talent named Jeremy Tyler has decided to skip his senior year in High School to play professionally in Europe, so to pocket some "dough" before becoming eligible for the NBA Draft. I do not question the decision itself since there is actually some logic and merit behind it. The way in which Jeremy Tyler decided to implement his decision is a whole different story.
Having basically two basic options:
1. To play for Olympia Ljubljana, the top team in Slovenia; a team known for its rigorous training style but with a great reputation for skill refinement with young European Basketball Players.
2. To accept an offer from a mediocre team, even by Israeli Basketball Standards, but in a nice City with a beautiful beach and generally pass time until he's drafted.
Guess which path our young Mr. Tyler has decided to explore?
Hint, anyone? Lets just say he chose to take the easy way out. Not a good reflection on his character, is it? STRIKE 1!!
I do not know who's Jeremy Tyler's personal career adviser but there is one thing he should have told him : In Europe, professional sports leagues are based on a truely capitalistic system based on results durring the year. The best win the championship or get promoted to superior leagues and the worst teams get demotioned to lower leagues. No prized draft picks for the losers. Rather, demotion to a lower league means loss of exposure , revenue and fan interest since most of the television coverage and revenue is distributed to teams in the highest levels. Not a good idea to Tank games and hope for a better future in such systems is it? Furthermore, it makes each win and loss crucial beyond doubt so mediocre teams such as Tyler's "Maccabi Haifa" can not afford the luxury of allowing players on court for the sake of gaining experiance and building a team. In Europe if you stink, you sink. It is a basic survival instinct. This harsh reality struck like a huge lump on poor Jeremy's head as he became intimately familiarized with he's teams bench and no playing time to speak off. No one has time to deal with his adolescent growing pains or is willing to take a few losses so he can be the franchise. No Sir Bob , it does not work that way here. Naturally, it quickly turned out that Jeremy Tyler simply just doesn't have any mental skills to cope with such pressure and compete as a pro. School is over, and the here and now is what counts. Maybe most playeres here don't have his god given potential but life sure gave them a few tricks down thair sleeves, enough to beat the crap out of him. STRIKE 2
This week the poor sap left his team in middle of a game and headed home out of frustration since he was not even in his team's game plan. So far, he basically wasted a year without really playing, is behaving like the spoiled brat that he is while exposing major character flows regarding his desire and basketball stamina, and does not even have the luxury to compete against superior players in practice the way Brandon Jennings had last year. With a bad rep in Europe and no way to play collage ball , in my opinion the notion of even considering Tyler as a first round NBA prospect for the 2011 draft is far fetched. STRIKE 3 AND HE'S OUT OF THERE HEADING FOR HOME RATHER THAT HITTING A HOME RUN.
So remember kids, leaving high school does not mean you should stop doing your homework. Playing in Europe can be cool but you go to know where to go.
For those of you that do not remember, last spring a young, promising basketball talent named Jeremy Tyler has decided to skip his senior year in High School to play professionally in Europe, so to pocket some "dough" before becoming eligible for the NBA Draft. I do not question the decision itself since there is actually some logic and merit behind it. The way in which Jeremy Tyler decided to implement his decision is a whole different story.
Having basically two basic options:
1. To play for Olympia Ljubljana, the top team in Slovenia; a team known for its rigorous training style but with a great reputation for skill refinement with young European Basketball Players.
2. To accept an offer from a mediocre team, even by Israeli Basketball Standards, but in a nice City with a beautiful beach and generally pass time until he's drafted.
Guess which path our young Mr. Tyler has decided to explore?
Hint, anyone? Lets just say he chose to take the easy way out. Not a good reflection on his character, is it? STRIKE 1!!
I do not know who's Jeremy Tyler's personal career adviser but there is one thing he should have told him : In Europe, professional sports leagues are based on a truely capitalistic system based on results durring the year. The best win the championship or get promoted to superior leagues and the worst teams get demotioned to lower leagues. No prized draft picks for the losers. Rather, demotion to a lower league means loss of exposure , revenue and fan interest since most of the television coverage and revenue is distributed to teams in the highest levels. Not a good idea to Tank games and hope for a better future in such systems is it? Furthermore, it makes each win and loss crucial beyond doubt so mediocre teams such as Tyler's "Maccabi Haifa" can not afford the luxury of allowing players on court for the sake of gaining experiance and building a team. In Europe if you stink, you sink. It is a basic survival instinct. This harsh reality struck like a huge lump on poor Jeremy's head as he became intimately familiarized with he's teams bench and no playing time to speak off. No one has time to deal with his adolescent growing pains or is willing to take a few losses so he can be the franchise. No Sir Bob , it does not work that way here. Naturally, it quickly turned out that Jeremy Tyler simply just doesn't have any mental skills to cope with such pressure and compete as a pro. School is over, and the here and now is what counts. Maybe most playeres here don't have his god given potential but life sure gave them a few tricks down thair sleeves, enough to beat the crap out of him. STRIKE 2
This week the poor sap left his team in middle of a game and headed home out of frustration since he was not even in his team's game plan. So far, he basically wasted a year without really playing, is behaving like the spoiled brat that he is while exposing major character flows regarding his desire and basketball stamina, and does not even have the luxury to compete against superior players in practice the way Brandon Jennings had last year. With a bad rep in Europe and no way to play collage ball , in my opinion the notion of even considering Tyler as a first round NBA prospect for the 2011 draft is far fetched. STRIKE 3 AND HE'S OUT OF THERE HEADING FOR HOME RATHER THAT HITTING A HOME RUN.
So remember kids, leaving high school does not mean you should stop doing your homework. Playing in Europe can be cool but you go to know where to go.