basketball

Zach Travis over at MnB penned a lovely narrative surrounding Trey and friends. Also, another well-formatted story that I'm getting so used to seeing with all of the Vox sites.

Go Blue

This NCAA tournament run has brought my level of distaste over schadenfreude to new heights. Do we really need to mock VCU, Kansas, Florida, and Syracuse fans at their moment of despondency? I thought the Kansas fans in particular came off as good people and good sports, while M fans came off a RCMB wannabees, and very poor winners. I hope this board trends away from laughing at the misery of every opponent we beat. Schadenfreude is pretty trendy but I dislike it immensely coming from Michigan fans in general, and this board in particular. I'm somewhat ok with it directed at MSU, or Ohio State, or Notre Dame, though I could easily do without it. but see no reason to start a thread, laughing at the misfortune of every team we defeat. Overall, from what I've seen, I would rate Kansas basketball fans, and Nebraska football fans as much classier in defeat or victory than what Michigan has to offer.

While not quite on the level of Dewey defeats Truman, this is pretty bad by the Freep & Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Heaven--Maize-Ing-Wolverines-Glory--/dp/16007...

They are selling a book titled "Blue Heaven: The A-Maize-Ing Story of the Michigan Wolverines' Return to Glory--and Their Second NCAA Title!" which would be funny if it didn't hurt so damn bad.

There has not been much talk about the upcoming NBA draft, which is surprising given the huge effect it will have on the constitution of our team next year.  There have been 30 threads created on the NBA draft during the time I got pulled away from writing this.  Correct me if I’m wrong, but April 16^th is the declaration date, so we will know who is staying and who is gone by then, right?

There hasn’t been much stated about who is packing up their rooms and who is entrenching themselves for another long March.  I’ve referenced a few mock drafts to get a range on our potential pro prospects.  McGary's range is odd, as most sites don't have him in the top 60.  Maybe he was omitted from a few mock drafts due to saying he's 100% on returning to the team.

Trey Burke – (6, 6, 7, 7, 9, 9, 13, 17)

Possible teams have included: Kings, Hornets, Pistons, Thunder, Mavs, Bucks

Glenn Robinson III – (10, 10, 10, 10, 11, 16, 22)

Possible teams have included: Timberwolves, Nets, Bullets, 76ers, Hawks

Mitch McGary – (18, 24)

Possible teams have included: Knicks, Hawks

Tim Hardaway Jr. – (19, 28, 30, 32, 32, 47, 51)

Possible teams have included: Heat, Magic, Cavaliers, Bulls, Thunder

I figured after coming down from my anger over the loss and not wanting to punch a random stranger, I wanted to share some pictures from the game.  Everyone who went to the game please feel free to upload your pictures in this thread.

If you don't want to read this thread or don't care, then don't click on it.

FYI, I ran into Denard and he's the nicest person I've ever met and actually a lot thicker (muscular wise) than I would have thought.  Also ran into McGary's dad and McGary's g/f.  I also met Braylon and Mike Hart in the D for opening day.  

I'm wearing the yellow shades and Go Blue!!

Denard!!!

Not sure which show this guy is on ESPN, but my buddy recognized him.

John Belein's God Daughter with my brother and I.

From Opening Day in Detroit.

[ed-S: bumped to diary]

Every year we see the "talent-drain" occur in college basketball where the best players make themselves eligible for the NBA draft. With the <grimace> thought that there is the possibility of losing Burke, Hardaway, Robinson, and McGary I did a search (albeit a quick one) of the data regarding entering the NBA after 1 or 2 seasons. Is it worth the risk? Well here's what I've come up with.

* The majority of this information comes from "Weakside Awareness" and "Basketball-Reference.com"

http://weaksideawareness.wordpress.com/

http://www.basketball-reference.com/

How many players are in the NBA? ~360-450 (max).

30 teams in the NBA. Each roster can have a maximum of 15 players with a usual minimum of 12 (teams are allowed to have as few as 8 players). So, at any given time there are between 360-450 players in the NBA.

How many players retire/go unsigned/or otherwise leave the NBA yearly?

Very difficult to identify, but math tells us it should be roughly equal to the number of draftees that are signed.

How many players enter the draft?

Roughly 60 players. Of course, a draft only gives a team the OPTION of signing that particular player. However, they still tryout for the team and may go UNsigned prior to the season starting if they don't make the grade. I could not find data to show me the average number of draftees who were NOT signed by their drafting franchise.

What is the average length of career for an NBA player? (Weakside did a great eval on this at http://weaksideawareness.wordpress.com/2011/11/22/average-nba-career-length-for-players-details/)

If averaged from the start - 1947, it comes out to 4.86 seasons per player. However, in the last decade, this has increased (due in part to more positions due to expansion). Either way, it's not a long-term career.

Interestingly, Weakside broke this down by number of minutes played and height. Obviously, the more minutes you play, the longer you are kept around. The taller you are, the longer your career.

Minutes - < 12min a game: 2 seasons, > 30min a game: 10.88 seasons.

Height - > 7 feet: 5.78 season, < 6'2": 4.12 seasons.

What financial impact do we see?

(Good article from Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/aliciajessop/2012/06/28/the-structure-of-nba-rookie-contracts/)

The initial term of an NBA rookie contract is 2 years with a 3rd year option. Agents don't have much leverage in negotiating a rookie's contract as the NBA has a "rookie salary scale." For players from the 2012 Draft, this scales from the #1 pick to the #30 pick as follows (Col 1:Draft pick, Col 2: 2012-13 Season, Col 3: 2013-14, Col 4: 2014-15):

The collective bargaining agreement states that a player may make between 80%-120% of this scaled salary amount based on their lottery pick. This variable is where the agent is important, particularly for the mid-range draft picks to get closer to the 120% rather than the 80%.

Despite this large up front amount, the data post-career is alarming. According to a report in 2008 from the NBA Player's Association, 60% of players are broke by 5 years post-retirement. This usually stems from having to pay for things you bought/made while you were still making the dough (ie houses, kids, divorces).

BOTTOM LINE

So, is it worth it? Does a college degree prevent the financial collapse? Is the upfront signing guarantee worth it? Does the answer even exist? Tim Duncan stuck around for 4 years, but would he have had the same longevity if he left after year 2?

I think a diary by the Mathlete is in order. Let's discuss!