Westbrook, Love, Collison: Should I Stay or Should I Go?
As usual in the new era of college basketball, players leave college before they graduate. In most cases, this is stupid. One, because they need a degree, and two, because almost everyone leaves before they are ready. Westbrook, Love and Collison all should have stayed at UCLA and all for different reasons.
Russell Westbrook is a phenomenal athlete, but he is only a sophomore. He only averaged 12 points, 4 assists and 1.6 steal. Granted, he was Pac- 10 Defensive POY but his draft stock is low right now, and if he stayed just one more year, he would have had better numbers and had higher draft stock. He would have been the star of UCLA program that was rebuilding and would have beasted. It was the wrong move.
Kevin Love, Pac-10 Player of the Year, one and done, also left UCLA. Personally, I don’t think it matters when Love leaves for the NBA, because I predict that he will be an NBA bust. He is the latest in the line of left-too-earlies: Joakim Noah, Andrew Bogut, Sean May, and so many others. He will be a 7th or 8th pick and a waste of one in my opinion. He is a college player; he is not a NBA player. UCLA will miss him, and he will miss UCLA, because he will flounder in the NBA.
Darren Collison, is a great on-ball defender and is as quick as lighting. He has a great NBA career ahead of him, but he just should have stayed one more year. This year Darren was a preseason All-American. Then injuries struck and he was limited this year. HIS DRAFT STOCK WOULD BE SO MUCH HIGER IF HE HAD STAYED! However, he didn’t and he probably lost $5 million dollars in the process.
In conclusion, UCLA is dead, the talent has been sucked out of them, unless Jrue Holiday comes in and is the next MJ. Westbrook should’ve stayed, Collison should’ve stayed, and while it makes no difference with Kevin Love in terms of NBA, his presence would have mattered to UCLA.
About Me
- JSO
- n/a, n/a
- I am 14 years old and I love sports. Basketball is my favorite sport, and college basketball especially. My favorie college team is UCLA. My favorite athlete Chris Paul
4 comments:
I disagree on some of these guys. If Collison will be a quick as lightning player in the NBA, the scouting staff of all of the NBA teams will see his potential and I think will draft him higher. I gotta believe this money-making NBA franchisess must have formulas for calculating NBA success and the qualities that make them successful, and they will recognize that in Collison.
On Love, he is a big guy. He might never be lightning quick like Collison, but he probably can handle the tough game under the basket. He will need a lot of preseason conditioning, but he has a lot of raw talent and he might make it, though I agree it is harder for big slow guys in the NBA.
I sort of agree on Westbrook, but it would be a bit of a gamble for him, to depend on UCLA getting in enough new talent to keep the Bruins in the spotlight enough to raise his draft stock for another year.
It's hard to imagine the lure for these guys when someone is telling them they can make millions and make it to the big leagues. That would be hard to turn down when basketball is your life. It doesn't look like any of these guys has signed with an agent yet, though, so maybe one or more of them wil be back. The real tragedy, aside from missing out on having a college degree if the NBA doesn't bring success for each of them, is for UCLA fans. UCLA might need a couple years to climb back within reach.
Anybody know who UCLA is getting besides Jru Holiday?
I agree with the fact that Collison should have stayed, but I disagree with the fact that he will have a great NBA career. I think he will be a solid role player on a good team because he doesn't have the ball handling ability to bring the ball down the court every time. He is also very small, probably only about 5'11" and not his listed height of 6'1", making it hard for teams to utilize fully his great shooting touch. I think K Love will be a solid starter on a good team by kind of being a poor man's Rasheed Wallace with his great shot and excellent rebounding. His passes are also incredible, and he has amazing court vision. I also disagree with your statements on Russell Westbrook. I think that NBA teams actually have his draft stock very high, somewhere in the 8-15 overall range. Westbrook is an amazing athelete, the best from UCLA, and plays great Defense. He also can really jump, and has a solid jump shot. I think UCLA will have the sort of year that USC had this year, with one star player and not much else. Expect USC, with DeMarr DeRosen to dominate.
John-
Not as familiar with College hoops as football, but I do think Love is making a HUUGE mistake. If he were to stay in school for 2 more years, I think he couuld become a pretty serviceable big man in the NBA. But by leaving now, I think he becomes lost at the end of an NBA bench and never makes much of himself. I think it is much easier for a very young shooting guard/small forward to transition to the NBA than it is for a point guard / big man, history. The speed and strength of the NBA big men is something you just can't prepare for. There is a reason the NFL doesn't allow freshmen and soph to enter the draft, there bodies just aren't ready.
And now Shipp--what is going to happen to ucla next year if all of these guy go?
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