February 2005

That's "not equal" for those of you who aren't giant flaming computer dorks. Spath drops a hint on the Wolverine's public board that new '06 goalie commit Steve Jakiel may not be a designated backup in the Ruden/Mayhew mold. "Could he end the four year run of goalies?" is the exact quote if you're too lazy to click the link.

(And think about that if you are. You're sitting in front of your computer, surfing the internet, and something you can do in this situation is too much effort. You have a problem, hypothetical person.)

He's been traded (yes, HIM) to the Sixers for... Brian Skinner, Kenny Thomas, and Corliss Williamson? What? Did I read that wrong? Even a gimpy HWMNBN, and he'll always be gimpy now, is worth far more than two scrubs and Corliss. And Kenny Thomas' contract isn't much worse than HWMNBN.

Does this make the Sixers a contender? Maaaaybe. This is the East we're talking about and the combo of AI and HWMNBN plus the deadly shooting of Kyle "Steve Kerr 2005" Korver... well, they'll be a playoff team now and one I'd like to avoid in the first round, but they do not have this Pistons fan quaking in my proverbial boots.

Michigan's picked up another goalie for '06 says tbarr. He's probably destined to play Ruden '06, but has nice stats, 13-4-1 with a .923 save percentage for Lincoln of the USHL.

Also, in other goalie news, Minnesota's Kellen Briggs is out "indefinitely". Their version of Ruden may have to carry them into the playoffs.

At least according to this Rocky Mountain News article. About 70% of NBA players are against moving the minimum age to 20. 10% are undecided, and 20% are in favor. I don't think a straight limit is the way to go, though. Having Lebron in college would be pretty farcical. My solution? Glad you asked.

I think the correct idea is to let anyone 18+ enter the draft but to only allow them to be drafted by a certain point. If you're 18 you have to go in the top 5. If you're 19 you have to go in the lottery. If you're 20 you have to be a first rounder. Past that it's open season. This would require the NCAA to alter its eligibility rules a little bit, but they already allow high schoolers who are passsed over in the draft to retain eligibility, so it wouldn't be a huge philosophical leap.

Another thing I think would help would be revamping the draft status to something similar to what hockey has. Almost every forward on Michigan's hockey team has been drafted by the NHL but since they haven't employed agents or signed contracts, they retain their eligiblity. If you're drafted by the NBA you can't play college basketball any more, even if you didn't retain an agent. The NCAA used to justify this by claiming that hockey players were automatically entered in the draft when they hit a certain age and weren't opting in. This caused most NCAA hockey players to be drafted a year later than their CHL and European counterparts. Recently, however the NCAA allowed college players to opt-in early and retain their eligibility, so the NCAA's rationale for not applying a similar scheme to basketball has disappeared.

Though the NBA players seem opposed to it, since it doesn't really affect anyone already in the league, if the owners dangle a carrot, any carrot, in front of the players in exchange for some age concession, look for them to abandon their principles faster than Bill Self at a Luther Head court hearing.

None of this helps the Pistons with Darko, but they're NBA Champions, so shut up, Bill Simmons.