He also believes that was the case a year ago.
If Bamba – the massive Texas center who will likely be taking his 7-foot-10 wingspan to a lottery team at the NBA draft next month – was a high school senior in 2020 http://www.buffalobillsteamonline.com/marcus-murphy-jersey , he probably would have bypassed college and made the jump straight to the league. The expectation around the NBA is that will be the year where so-called ”one-and-done” rule will come off the books and players will no longer have to wait a season before going to the pro ranks.
So Bamba went to college and waited his turn, though he’s not sure it was needed.
”I thought about it a lot,” Bamba said. ”It’s an area I probably would have explored.”
Out of the 30 first-round picks that will be made at the draft, it’s entirely possible that as many as 25 will have played no more than one season of college basketball. Some didn’t even play in college – there are a couple of European players likely to be first-rounders, and intriguing combo guard Anfernee Simons did a year of postgraduate work at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
Simons tested off the charts at the draft combine this week, with a 41 1/2-inch vertical. He’s a former Louisville commit, who decided to hold off on college after the scandal that ultimately led to the dismissal of coach Rick Pitino.
”I’ve just been working hard on all aspects of my game, trying to get better every day,” Simons said.
The NBA makes no secret of the fact that one-and-done doesn’t work ideally for any party involved – the pro ones or the college ones. The league has talked about making 20 the minimum age where a player can enter the NBA; the players’ union has said it would prefer it going back to 18. And now with the college game on the cusp of massive changes amid an ongoing federal investigation, it seems quite likely that the one-and-done policy will be scrubbed soon.
Bamba’s reaction to that: About time.
”It’s only right by the athletes Tom Waddle Jersey ,” Bamba said. ”Some kids have lifelong dreams of wanting to play in the NBA. Not manipulating, but changing the rules so we have more of an option as players is what’s most beneficial to us.”
There were 38 freshmen who applied to be early entry candidates in this draft. Some will go back to college, but the majority of those should get picked.
Some guys simply needed the year.
Kentucky’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander played his way onto NBA draft boards and decided to leave after one season, with Wildcats coach John Calipari raving about how hard he worked and how much better he got in his one college season.
And Duke’s Trevon Duval, who had 207 assists in his lone college year, isn’t exactly sure that he was ready to go pro out of high school either.
”My whole thought process and training process would have been a little bit different if the rule was in effect,” Duval said. ”I think it’s a good rule. There are definitely kids who can go straight from college to the NBA.”
Sometimes, the perceived one-and-dones get to college and realize they’re not ready.
Miami guard Bruce Brown Jr. came to the Hurricanes with that one-and-done label. He wound up staying for two seasons, and knows that was the better move for his development. Same goes for Michigan State’s Miles Bridges, who insists he’s better for having stayed.
”I’m more ready now,” Bridges said.
In his interviews with teams this week at the combine Pat McAfee Jersey , Bridges was often asked about why he didn’t come out as a freshman. His sense was that they liked his answer.
”They were kind of impressed with that,” Bridges said. ”So, me staying was a good thing. I stayed so I could mature and they respect that about me.”
Bamba sees a similar payoff in himself as well.
As much as he would have liked to be in the NBA already, he’s not resentful about having to wait. And he does concede that the college experience made him better than he was when he exited high school.
”I got everything I wanted out of Texas,” Bamba said. ”Obviously, you’d love to win more. You’d love to win a national championship and compete at that level. But as far as relationships and development, I couldn’t be happier.”
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The New Jersey Devils have moved to the brink of their first playoff berth since 2012 by forgetting the big picture and concentrating on the little things.
There is nothing more important than the here and now, and the Devils conveyed that message to the rival New York Rangers on Tuesday night in moving within two points of the postseason.
Taylor Hall and rookie Will Butcher scored two goals apiece, and the Devils scored three times in the opening 10:40 to power their way to a 5-2 victory, their third straight and sixth in seven.
”It just shows our readiness to start the game,” goaltender Keith Kinkaid said after making 22 saves. ”We talked about getting off to a good start and we were ready at the drop of the puck and excited that we’re in control of our own destiny.”
Coupled with the Flyers’ loss to the New York Islanders http://www.buffalobillsteamonline.com/kelvin-benjamin-jersey , the Devils (95 points) moved into the top wild-card spot ahead of Philadelphia (94) in the Eastern Conference.
New Jersey can clinch a playoff spot either with a win or two overtime losses in its final two games, any combination by Florida in its last three games that cost it two points, or if the Flyers lose their final two games.
The Devils are also one point behind Pittsburgh and Columbus in the Metropolitan Division. They also have two games left and play each other Thursday.
”We’re all trying to perform and get better and trying to improve and tighten things up,” Devils veteran center Brian Boyle said. ”We’re being challenged to improve. We haven’t played necessarily good in certain areas but we understand the big picture and how we have to tighten that stuff up. We’re a motivated group.”
Travis Zajac ignited a three-goal first period with a tap-in tally 25 seconds after the opening faceoff, and New Jersey’s power play took over after that.
Butcher, who had never scored more than once in a game, got both with the Devils using an extra skater, while Hall scored his first on a power play and got his 39th of the season on a second-period penalty shot that easily beat Henrik Lundqvist.
”Maybe he thought I was going to go five after scoring a few lately there, but I saw it and just tried to get it off my stick as quickly as I could,” Hall said.
Ryan Spooner and Kevin Hayes scored for the Rangers, who will miss the playoffs for the first time since the 2009-10 season. Lundqvist made 39 saves.
Forward Chris Kreider said the Rangers didn’t get out of their own zone well Willie Young Jersey , they didn’t generate much offense and took too many penalties.
”It makes for a pretty easy night for the opposition and a pretty hard night for us,” he said.
This rivalry game was over early.
Zajac started the roll by carrying the puck from his own end into the Rangers’ zone and dropping a pass to Blake Coleman. The forward flubbed his shot, but the puck deflected off the Kreider’s stick to Zajac who tucked it into an open net.
Hall got his 38th after the Rangers failed to clear a puck in front of stick-less Lundqvist.
Butcher scored from the right point 70 seconds after Rangers defenseman John Gilmour was penalized for shooting the puck into the crowd.
Spooner deflected Jimmy Vesey’s pass into the top of the net with 2:13 left in the period, and he hit the post before the period ended.
Butcher extended the lead to 4-1 just under seven minutes into the second period with a shot from the left point, and Hall beat Lundqvist over his glove after Brady Skjei prevented his shot on a breakaway. It marked the second time this season Hall has had four points in a game, one less than his career high.
Hayes scored on a giveaway in the third period.
NOTES: The Rangers played without forwards Mats Zuccarello (lower body) and Jesper Fast (groin). The two important penalty killer were hurt in the win in Carolina on Saturday. Coach Alain Vigneault said Fast would probably not play again this season … Zuccarello is day to day for the last two games. … Hall has had 27 multipoint games in what has been a career season. He has 93 points, three off the Devils’ single-season record set by Patrik Elias. … Butcher’s 44 points are the most by a Devils’ rookie defenseman in a season. Slava Fetisov had 42 in 1989-90.
UP NEXT
Rangers: At Islanders on Thursday night.
Devils: Play regular-season home finale against Toronto on Thursday night.
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