Coach Bobby Knight Doesn't Like NBA Age Rule
Texas Tech head basketball coach and winningest coach in NCAA history Bob Knight voiced his opinion yesterday about the new NBA rule that prevents high school seniors from entering the NBA Draft, thus forcing them to play at least one year elsewhere, mainly in college.
I like Bob Knight. I think that he is one of the best coaches to ever coach the game. He runs clean programs and preaches discipline and teamwork. Some people may say that he is to hard or old school on his players. I say there should be more coaches like him. I would love to see more coaches that are tough on their superstars (Knight kicked Texas Techs best player Jarrius Jackson off the team this fall until his academics were in order) and force discipline and hard work in what is becoming a show-boaters game. The one thing I don’t get about Coach Knight is the comments he made yesterday. He said that the new NBA rule is, “the worst thing that's happened to college basketball since I've been coaching.” He followed that up by saying, “I think, has a tremendous effect on the integrity of college sports.”
I just don’t get why he would say such a thing. With the young, talented freshman in Division 1 basketball this season it has created a whole new buzz about the sport. This year there is talk for a freshman to win National Player of the Year. Imagine, LeBron, or Kobe or Kevin Garnett playing in college, imagine the buzz that would have been with those guys. Now we finally get to see it happen. True, maybe these players aren’t LeBron or Kobe or Garnett, but now when those types of players DO come along college basketball fans around the country will get the pleasure of seeing them play. Now, to be fair to Coach Knight, I should point out that he made those comments focusing on the academics that come in hand with these freshman, stating, “Now you can have a kid come to school for a year and play basketball and he doesn't even have to go to class. He certainly doesn't have to go to class the second semester. I'm not exactly positive about the first semester. But he would not have to attend a single class the second semester to play through the whole second semester of basketball."
I can see that argument, but I think it is more than that. I think it is the fact that due to his strict rules and hard practices that many top-notch players, the ones that are mostly affected by this rule, don’t want to play for him. I think he is mad that he can’t get a Kevin Durant on his team. Oh yeah, did I mention that these comments came on the eve of the second Texas-Texas Tech game of the season? Texas won that first game 76-64, and freshman star Kevin Durant scored 37 points, including five 3-pointers and grabbed 23 rebounds. Do you think that, just maybe, Coach Knight just doesn’t like losing to the teams that CAN get these superstars, and that is why he is a little upset?
Like I said, I like Coach Knight, but I think he might be a little off with this one.
UPDATE:
After hearing Coach Knights comments it looks like Kevin Durant decided to take it easy on the Red Raiders tonight, maybe in hope to get some love back from Knight. Durant did not lead the team in rebounds or points, scoring 17 points and grabbing eight rebounds. By the way, the Longhorns STILL pounded Coach Knight and the Red Raiders, 80-51.
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7 comments:
Dude, you are way off on this issue. If a kid makes a deal to play for a University in turn for a) an education or b) exposure, he has a responsibilty to provide the University with some sort of return on its investment. To go to school for one year then to the NBA gets nothing for the program and wastes a sholarship for a kid that could 1) really use it for an education or 2)provide the school with a long term return on its invesment in the basketball program.
Then again.... it gets rid of some unneeded Walt Harris recruits in the football program! What ever happened to Greg Lee anyhow?
Wow, Scab is right! Too bad I got knocked up by Tom Brady!
Scab-
The universities are getting something in return. $$$$MONEY$$$$!! You don't think they make money off these kids? You don't think they love that ESPN hypes their school and team every single time those kids walk on the court. It is great exposure for the schools, and deep down all they care about is money and national exposure.
Not according to coach Knight.
You are right, the rule is great for college basketball. But it is not good for COLLEGE basketball players. Bobby Knight was right on when he said there are soooo many loop holes in the system theses kids will get very little education in a classroom.
A college degree is not the end all be all. But the Universities should do more to have these kids be more students and less athletes.
This is a very philosphical stand and somewhat unrealistic, but it is what the schools should be working toward.
I agree with that Reitmeyer. I was exploited, I was hyped up as the premier white PITT player. Then just as I am about to go pro the University makes a big deal about me trying to pull a Najeh Daevnport and shit in my former girlfriends closet. I just wanted to give her the gift that every girl wants........ MY DICK IN A BOX.
You write very well.
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