Boy is Pac 10 hoops going to suck next year

[Russ Smith]

Unreal, all the kids that went pro this last year really watered it down and it's happening again.

Arizona is losing Budinger and Hill and Wise is supposed to declare without an agent(I assume he'll stay in school).

ASU is losing Pendergraph to graduation and Harden to the NBA.

Cal has everyone back but 2 key guys are having major offseason surgeries, Roberton another hip surgery(the good hip not the bad one), and Harper Kamp just had major surgery(paper didn't say on what) and is hopeful to be back by the opener next year. Wilkes is forgoing his final year just like his brother did.

WSU lost Rochestie.

UW loses Brockman and Dentmon and it sounds like Pondexter might file.

UCLA loses Collison, Shipp and Aboya and might lose Jrue.

And now the LA Times is reporting that USC will see Hackett, Derozan and Gibson all declare. Hackett will hire an agent and if he doesn't get picked he'll play in Italy. Derozan's mom has lupus and the family needs the money for medical expenses so he's expected to stay in the draft although he won't immediately hire an agent. Gibson graduates in May and will be 24 by the draft so he's expected to stay in the draft.

Man is this conference going to be down next year.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Awful. Pondexter and Wise will come back unless they're anxious to get to Europe. Cal and UW will be head and shoulders above everyone else in the Pac-10 and neither of them will be all that great. Abdul Gaddy's coming and as well as Sideny if he doesn't bolt for Europe but after those guys there's no sure thing.

I hope Arizona can land Solomon Hill, he could almost assuredly make an impact in a conference where the four best returning players will consist of Jerome Randle, Isiaih Thomas, Nic Wise, and Klay Thompson.

 

[Gaddabout]

Is there a returning all-conference player at all?

 

[DWKB]

2010 PAC-10 == 2009 SEC?? Nobody will care about basketball next year west of Kansas.

 

[Russ Smith]

Times is now reporting that Gibson will hire an agent too so USC is going to lose their top 3 players(I consider Hackett better than Lewis I guess that's debatable).

I'm also hearing that Sidney is not expected to qualify. Apparently at the McDonald's game practices he was openly shopping himself to other coaches thinking Floyd was taking the UA job. And apparently the response was pretty cold, coaches were essentially telling him we can't touch you with your transcripts. He supposedly took the SAT in mid March and should have got his score this week so I guess we'll be hearing soon if he qualified on the SAT,but the claim is his grades are going to be the problem and it might be too far gone for even the famous USC Byu online program to save him.

 

[Russ Smith]

Jrue declared today without an agent. Brian Dohn of the Daily News said his mom was "very excited." I have to say it sounds like a kid is about to make a HUGE mistake if his mom is excited, that doesn't mean he's testing the waters that means he's planning to stay in the draft. The claim is GM's have told the Holiday's Jrue has fallen from a top 6 pick before the season to somewhere in the 8-16 range now. If that's true he'll go, I think anywhere under 20 and he's planned to leave all along.

What a huge mistake though if he came back to school, played PG, and proved he's anywhere near as good as he thinks he is, he'll go much higher and make a lot more money. The key in the NBA is the 2nd contract not the first because if you're ready to play at that point you make a lot more money, but the difference in rookie contracts can be huge from top 5 to say #20, a million a year different.

I don't know who is advising this kid but I hope they're smart enough to tell him don't hire an agent. When he starts working out they're going to ask him to do shooting drills and nobody is going to say well the form looks good the shot just wasn't going in, they want to see shots made. Great passer but you can't show that in workouts for NBA scouts.

If he stays in the draft he may be the most disappointing player UCLA has had in my lifetime, even though he actually had a decent freshman year.

 

[Mulli]

Jrue declared today without an agent. Brian Dohn of the Daily News said his mom was "very excited." I have to say it sounds like a kid is about to make a HUGE mistake if his mom is excited, that doesn't mean he's testing the waters that means he's planning to stay in the draft. The claim is GM's have told the Holiday's Jrue has fallen from a top 6 pick before the season to somewhere in the 8-16 range now. If that's true he'll go, I think anywhere under 20 and he's planned to leave all along.

What a huge mistake though if he came back to school, played PG, and proved he's anywhere near as good as he thinks he is, he'll go much higher and make a lot more money. The key in the NBA is the 2nd contract not the first because if you're ready to play at that point you make a lot more money, but the difference in rookie contracts can be huge from top 5 to say #20, a million a year different.

I don't know who is advising this kid but I hope they're smart enough to tell him don't hire an agent. When he starts working out they're going to ask him to do shooting drills and nobody is going to say well the form looks good the shot just wasn't going in, they want to see shots made. Great passer but you can't show that in workouts for NBA scouts.

If he stays in the draft he may be the most disappointing player UCLA has had in my lifetime, even though he actually had a decent freshman year.

whoa. Big mistake.

 

[HooverDam]

Ty Abbott and Zane Johnson to battle it out for 2009 Pac 10 POY!

 

[Russ Smith]

whoa. Big mistake.

He officially declares at 5 today. he was quoted as saying if he's a lottery pick he'll stay in.

Tough situation UCLA definitely will miss him, having to play Jerime Anderson at PG next year is scary. But if Holiday is for real blaming his subpar year on the "system" and playing out of position then he's just not being honest and he probably lacks the mental makeup necessary. I think he will struggle in the workouts and be told to return, the question is will he or will he just jump at the quick money?

If he leaves this year to me it's fear of being further exposed.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Tough situation UCLA definitely will miss him, having to play Jerime Anderson at PG next year is scary. But if Holiday is for real blaming his subpar year on the "system" and playing out of position then he's just not being honest and he probably lacks the mental makeup necessary.

No offense Russ, but every UCLA fan accuses any kid who doesn't like to play in Howland's micro-managed system where offensive development takes a backseat to hedging and clutching of mental weakness.

Maybe Jrue is taking a hint from Darren Collison whose willingness to hang around Westwood cost him millions of dollars.

 

[Russ Smith]

No offense Russ, but every UCLA fan accuses any kid who doesn't like to play in Howland's micro-managed system where offensive development takes a backseat to hedging and clutching of mental weakness.

Maybe Jrue is taking a hint from Darren Collison whose willingness to hang around Westwood cost him millions of dollars.

Collison didn't declare either year so all he had was preworkout reports which had him in the late first to early 2nd round. Without a guarantee he'd go higher he decided to stay, he's currently projected as late first to early 2nd. So he delayed it but I don't know that he lost money, he should go higher this draft than he would have last draft it's a much weaker draft.

That's the same as UCLA fans saying Budinger lost millions by staying at Arizona, he would have never been a lottery pick as a freshman and when he tested as a soph he was told the same thing. Workouts find the flaws.

The problem with Jrue had nothing to do with the system, he thinks he was played out of position. The problem is, who in their right mind would move a preseason all american senior PG in Collison to SG to make room for Jrue Holiday as an 18 year old freshman? If Jrue could make a jumpshot he would have scored more, the last 10-15 games of the season teams were daring him to shoot. UCLA was running plays at the start of both halves to get him open looks and they were letting him play PG in some halfcourt sets. howland did everything he could but he can't make the shot for Jrue.

In the end he'd be a lot better off returning to UCLA and continuing to work as a player on his weaknesses. That same system got Farmar, Afflalo, Westbrook and Mbah A Moute drafted and despite claims to the contrary it's pretty clear none of them were "held back." Farmar is what he is a solid backup who might be a starter. Afflalo is an 8th or 9th man. Mbah A Moute is a draft steal because he defends and rebounds, but he can't score. and Westbrook is a very exciting athletic kid with a high ceiling who's very inconsistent, exactly what he showed at UCLA.

 

[Skkorpion]

Players leaving school too early really only means school wasn't important to them anyway or they are in situations they don't like. Either way, they should go pro, in my opinion. Quit the charade and move on in life.

Other good players will quickly fill their gaps. UA has already snatched up some gems.

2009-2010 an off year for the PAC? Probably. It happens to other conferences too from time to time.

 

[Russ Smith]

Players leaving school too early really only means school wasn't important to them anyway or they are in situations they don't like. Either way, they should go pro, in my opinion. Quit the charade and move on in life.

Other good players will quickly fill their gaps. UA has already snatched up some gems.

2009-2010 an off year for the PAC? Probably. It happens to other conferences too from time to time.

That's one argument with Jrue, UCLA is better off without him because if he comes back he'll just be auditioning for nBA scouts. He's so unselfish I don't actually buy that, with a scorer yes, with a kid like him probably not.

The claim is he wanted to play PG and wasn't getting along great with Shipp and Collison. Well they're gone, and he can play PG this year. So to me, if he stays in the draft he's either afraid to get further exposed and lose even more draft value, or he just doesn't want to be at UCLA.

I expect the scouts will tell him to go back to school and learn to shoot and run a team, but whether he listens or not is anybody's guess.

I've seen mock drafts having him anywhere from 9th overall to 23rd(the Suns).

 

[Renz]

UCLA's Holiday not returning for sophomore season
Associated Press
Updated: June 13, 2009, 8:25 PM EDT

UCLA guard Jrue Holiday has decided to remain in the NBA draft and will hire an agent, which makes him ineligible to return to the Bruins.

"I'm sure Jrue will be a great NBA player and have a long career," Howland said. "We are very happy for him and wish him well. He will always be a part of the Bruin family."

As a freshman, Holiday started all 35 games last season while helping the Bruins to a 26-9 record and a second-place finish in the Pac-10. He was selected to the conference's all-freshman team.

Holiday averaged 8.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists.

 

[Russ Smith]

I gave up on Jrue coming back after his first workout in Sac.

One of the Bee writers told me they personally heard a Kings coach talking to Jrue and telling him you're definitely a first rounder but you really need another year in college so we can play your real position and show scouts how good you are.

When she talked to that same coach he told her well I advised him to go back to school but for whatever reason he's dead set on staying in the draft so we're evaluating him on the assumption he will.

I've heard the Warriors are considering him at 7 but I don't think he actually worked out for them. Friday Jennings, Flynn and Jrue were all in Sac(Jrue's 2nd time). I was told Jennings got the best of them, and Flynn was better than jrue but that the interest in Jrue is based on long term, size and defensive potential, so the Kings may not care that he came up 3rd in that battle.

talk about much ado about nothing, 8.5 PPG, one game all year of 20 or more points. Seems to be a good kid getting questionable advice, but it's easier to blame Howland instead of looking in the mirror, he averaged under 8 PPG in conference games with teams daring him to shoot, that's not the system that is the player.

UCLA will survive, it sucks and I'm a bit leery on Jerime Anderson, but everything I hear is that Lee looks like he'll have a breakout year(and then probably go pro).