I’m not saying it’s because he is unhappy with college. But if there’s uncertainty about the start of next season, why wouldn’t he consider going to Germany (if they are able to play)?
If he signed in Germany, he would then have a contract that an NBA team would have to buy out. It is unlikely that a German team that he turned down 9 months ago would want to then sign him just for a year. Overall, just doesn’t seem like an option that makes sense for anyone.
2 Likes
Wonder how it will even work with players testing the waters when there’s no way to know for sure when the draft will be or if there will even be a combine or individual workouts.
It’s possible the NBA season (if there is one) won’t end till the late August so will they do the draft after the season like normal. But, then when would players have to decide by if they want to stay in the draft or not?
1 Like
You will give up on college basketball because of players leaving early? That doesn’t seem logical to me since players are now required one year removed from high school to make that decision. Did you watch college basketball before the one and done era which started the year after King James?
2 Likes
Was watching M/OSU last night, and Jawun Evans – man, what a talent. Say what you will about how precisely young talent is distributed between the NBA and NCAA; there’s still a ton of very impressive players to watch, coached into great offenses and defenses and playing in highly contested rivalry games that mean a lot to them. It may not be the ideal setup but it’s still pretty damn awesome.
2 Likes
I wonder how the pandemic impacts their decisions. For Wagner, you assume he originally intended to be here for more than a year, but there’s no guarantee there will be basketball in the fall. One big question is whether, if they are drafted and sign contracts with NBA teams, they’ll get paid regardless of what happens. When you have a 10-15 year period in which to make money playing basketball, you might figure to just get it started already. Franz specifically may feel like being home until further notice, although he’s stayed here and his parents flew back to Germany, according to BQ’s story. Seems logical to assume he could sign a one-year deal with Alba Berlin?
Edit – their mom is still in DC with them, I guess.
Great piece by BQ there, with so many little useful little bits of knowledge. Sure is tempting to read between the lines there about sentiment from the Wagner camp, Livers, DDJ, etc.
Sucks that Franz may not get the full Camp Sanderson experience, which would clearly benefit his game and stock.
4 Likes
I stopped watching the NBA at the exact same time and haven’t missed it one bit. I really hope I never get to that level with college hoops
1 Like
The NBA is way better now than the late 90s.
2 Likes
I liked it better five years ago.
Oddly enough in the early 90s they said the same about the 70s. It’s something that can’t be proven, only opinion based statements can be made.
It’s actually a straight up fact to say the players of today are more skilled and athletic than 90s players.
2 Likes
Where are the facts you speak of?
I don’t have a “dog in this fight” because I don’t watch the NBA anymore, either, but having more skilled and athletic players doesn’t necessarily make the GAME better unless all one cares about is skill and athleticism. Now, that COULD make the game better if they all played together as a team, and maybe they do. Since I don’t watch anymore, I don’t know, and I guess that makes this comment (my comment) pretty worthless! What else is there to do on a rainy Saturday morning bored and stuck in the house! 
4 Likes
Here are some facts you can read that supports athletes actually being more athletic in earlier years. Wilt the Stilt would dominate today’s NBA players. If we are strictly speaking being athletes certainly vertical leap has to be considered as a main criteria.
1 Like
Well the late 90s objectively played at a painfully slow pace. And scoring efficiency reached a low since the 70s in that era. They were probably right in the early 90s to say its much better than the 70s as well. Bird and Magic brought the NBA back. Then the NBA had to make a lot of changes to their reputation again to bounce back from the post-MJ era. Yes its impossible to prove the entire statement because some of it is subjective, but there are some objective parts as well.
As for Wilt “dominating” todays NBA players: It’s silly to think todays players aren’t better overall. Society as a whole is always improving, makes sense sport would as well. That doesn’t take away from their accomplishments since prior era players could only be as good as their era would allow them.
And that 48" vertical claim is laughable.
3 Likes
Wilt had a 48 inch very just like Nolan Ryan threw 108 MPH lol.
3 Likes
Tell my why a new world record is being set in every Olympic sports every few years. You have to be intentionally ignorant to not recognize that the athletes of today are superior to those of 20 years ago.
3 Likes