Jason Collier, Terrence Morris, and Tierre Brown show their stuff in NBDL. Collier is one of the top scorers and leads the league in rebounding. The other guys are in the top five in many catagories. http://www.nba.com/nbdl/nbdl/leaders.html Maybe these guys can make it back in the league next seson?
If that's the same George Williams... it's the one from UH and the Rockets' summer league camp. I think the fact these guys are at the top of the NBDL in categories tells you more about the NBDL than it does about them.
http://www.clutchfans.net/news.cfm?NewsID=1097 Can't really blame him for anything he says, but he just flat out sucks.
What happened to Thomas Hamilton? He was doing okay in that league last year... Erick Barkley anyone?
Exactly what I was thinking. If they are the best of the NBDL...then there doesn't appear to be much in that league.
Why do these guys play in NBDL anyway? Even if they get a second chance for the league, they are not likely to stick around for more than a year. Just go to Europe. You make a lot more money that way.
Damn, you say that as if Europe is just a bunch of YMCA scrubs. There is some extremely high quality basketball in Europe. The top NBDL players could probably get on a Euro League team, but the middle and lower tier players would probably have to go to Asia or one of the lower tier American leagues like the USBL or the ABA... I think the CBA is still around, also. That used to be the second best league in the United States talent wise, though it had some financial troubles, so I'm not sure how good the competition is...
The NBDL is IMO a close equivalent to some of the currently elite college teams. The NBDL played some of their pre-season games against college teams and fared rather well. Current Rocket Mike Wilks came through the NBDL as well as Denver's Chris Andersen who is the type of player the Rox could use (tall, mobile, athletic). I can see the NBDL as a short path for young players seeking to quickly get back into the NBA...they have the advantage of being in this country AND the don't have to deal with contract buyouts that Euro's do. I'm not a Collier-hater like the majority of this board. At the time of the 2000 draft, the Rockets needed a big more than they needed a guard or small forward. The list of 1st round bigs after Collier included such notables as Dalibar Bagaric, Jake Tsakalides, Mamadou N'diaye, Primoz Brezec and Mark Madsen. Collier was a RT type player...tall with shooting range. Without the Collier trade, no Griffin. Perhaps if the Griffin pick would have turned out differently or the Rox would have kept Jefferson et al, there'd be less hate. Certainly Pryzbilla isn't tearing up the league and that was who MIL wanted. Hindsight is 20-20 and I'm not sure "the best available athlete" approach was the right one...was Hedo, Desmond Mason, Q Richardson, Jamaal Magloire, Speedy, or Mo Pete a #9 pick? Remember...there's no guarantee that the teams ultimately picking those players wanted to trade for anyone above them. And it appears MIL thought Pryz was a better fit than anyone in that list, too.
Are you talking about college? He played, what, maybe three seasons in the NBA? He's a great leader type, but he has no shot, and isn't quick enough to guard most PG's and penetrate the lane like he did in college.
Honestly, I think a NBDL team would have no problems with "elite" college teams. The talent level in college is down. Who are the superstars? They'll be gone in a year. The NBDL is probably like a mid-level foreign team.
