Rockets Legend Bobby Brown Evaluation of teammates Jalen Green & Kuminga

He had about 500,000+ reasons to not go to college.

 

Top tier talent exists in the G League too. Jalen Green faced many of the rookie class there and some sophomores too, including our own KPJ and KMJ. And EVERY player in the G League is borderline NBA level. With the exception of a few of the power house schools, there are seldom more than a couple players who are borderline NBA talent on one team in the NCAA. There are 68 teams in the NCAA and only 60 guys even get drafted every year. And guess what? A great many of those guys then go live in the G League. In fact, it's not uncommon for teams to send their rookies to the G League for a stint or two. Meaning, that with the exceptions of your superstar level rookies, you can face many of the top rookies at some point in the G League. And those are those top tier players you're talking about.

And the guys Jalen played with? Guys like Jarrett Jack, Bobby Brown and Amir Johnson? They are old pros and if we were able to defy all NCAA regulations for some reason and let those guys loose on a college team they would absolutely WRECK SHOP in the NCAA. You're kidding yourself if you think the NCAA is a higher level of competition.

TLDR: The G League is comprised of all of the best players from the last 4-5 seasons of NCAA basketball minus a handful of stars. It is also home to a bunch of ex-pros. The competition overall is stiffer and they have to play against grown ass men just like in the NBA.

 

Exactly. Some ppl forget that the majority of college players are future accountants and IT guys, while G league players are professional basketball players. The competition level isn’t even close.

 

You could have just said Hartenstein would have been 1st Team All-NCAA in his MVP yr of the GLeauge.

 

Very true. I don't get why there are so many people out there trying to argue that G-League is on the level of college basketball, it just doesn't make any logical sense.

G-League is compromised of:

• College players that didn't make the draft, and so are training hard to get a spot in the NBA. Many of these players are in their 20s, and are much more developed physically and practice basketball for a living.
• Drafted rookies/sophomores/young players that are thrown in the G-League to develop NBA skill sets.
• Older ex NBA pros that probably have little to no shot of going back to the NBA, but are probably just looking to keep playing the sport.

Many people playing college basketball probably aren't even trying to go pro, and many more are just playing college ball because they were encourage to due to their physical gifts and size.

 

Its better competition as GLeague is full of grown ass men with a chance to get called up to NBA.

College is full of boys their age+out of like 15 kids 12 are seniors with 0 chance to go to NBA. Sure you got the other superstar draftees but those guys are gone after 1 yr. Some 27 yr old random big man bruiser toiling in GLeague would prob push Mobley around and dunk all over him, for example.

Honestly the more I think about it the more Green's stock rises in my eyes. His stats gaudy as they are still depressed cuz he played in GLeague vs 20+ yr old NBA hopefuls. If he played in NCAA vs scrawny ass white boys he mightve have scored over 30 a night. And Cade and Mobley might've had worse stats playing against Gleague than college kids.

 

The G league to me is better than the NCAA, with the + of time to work on your game, + time work on your body, + time to play. The NCAA might give you that. It does give you the college experience which has value, but not much compared to playing everyday. I'd rather have the G-league. But that doesn't mean the g-league doesn't have flaws. But it gives you time. And time is the one thing you can't buy. It allows you to develop mentally and physically if you take it.

 

And on top of that it looks like Green played fewer MPG than Cade:
Green 32 mpg
Cade 35 mpg

 

Tbh I think going to the G League or Australia for me shows intelligence over those guys getting taken advantage of by college sports teams.

 

It was definitely the smarter development choice in a Pandemic. Working out in a professional bubble is the smart path.

btw: do you also ponder “grades/qualifications/possible red flags” when you hear a HS pitcher from Nebraska choosing to development in Class A minor leagues over college?

just saying …

Or I guess you didnt know the NBA picked a very few players for their trial path to develop HS players vs NCAA, so thought NCAA was blocking him​

 

I’m not taking your bait - I’ll opt for the high road. Have a nice day.

 

Like others said its mostly about the money. College has unfair rules about monetization for athletes the schools are allowed to sell and market athletes but the sthletes themselves cant have endorsements or even get high "allowance". The coaches can get paid ridiculous amounts of money but the students cant make a dime legally.

At least in Gleague they can get paid 500k usd which is a lot of money straight up for these people and their families. Although big picture tbh I think it hurts their stock cuz they up against tougher comp and can get exposed. Kuminga for example got exposed to only be 6'6 (lol) same height as Jalen Green. And then he showed 0 defense and shot like trash vs the GLeaguers. Maybe playing in college wouldve helped hide his flaws for that big draft pay day.

 

miss me with this. g-league has a ton of vets and last hope guys who have been playing professionally in leagues all around the world trying to scratch and claw their way onto a roster.

college has a bunch of 18-22 year old boys partying in frats all week and people who will be talking about their "glory days" in the bar across town after they graduate.

and i've said it before but Jalen Green making 500k this year is a huge advantage to hire a great trainer, diet, and less stress to focus on basketball than sitting in college going to BS freshmen year classes and living on the shitty athletic stipend.

 

The G League is dominated by scrubs who struggled in college that aren't good enough for the NBA like 3 time G League scoring champ and one time G League MVP Vander Blue.

I don't know why all of a sudden people are propping up the G League, but it's weird.

 

High road wrt how much a clusterfick NCAA sports was for superstar development in a pandemic, or my Nebraska comment

Yes, but I’m actually saying you’re right. Having to go overseas or take the juco route in bball or football (or going to minor leagues since baseball allows it) bc you had HS problems can be a red flag concerning development. But that gets flushed out at juco level and minor leagues wrt turning a new leaf.

This was the 1st yr NBA implemented a MLB-like minor league path for select HS players. I’m pretty confident Green demonstrated he had no red flags for choosing a minor league path over college. No?

 

I disagree on that. Either route is fine. The $500k or whatever they make is going to be a drop in the bucket for career earnings if someone really is a top 10 type selection and the college hoops experience is something that can't be replicated. You think Jalen Suggs is going to look back in 20 years and wish he had that extra $500k instead of the experience he had last year? John Wall supposedly really didn't want to go into the draft after his freshman year at UK because he was enjoying it so much, but putting off being the #1 pick is a different animal.

Also, for some guys like Zion, the amount of brand value he built in his year at Duke was worth dramatically more than $500k.

 

But i think guys like Vander Blue are the whole point for the other side of debate.

As a Junior, Vander Blue was 2nd Team All-Big East along with MCW (nba ROY), and 5 total 1st rounders on 1st/2nd teams

if you think Vander Blue wouldnt be a 1st Team Big East candidate now, i guess we cant have a useful conversation.

i do agree that GLeague isnt about winning games, so NCAA and Europe/Aussie leagues is better for pressure/game situations … (albeit many bluestar recruits are babied or held down in their roles by coach and school for selfish ncaa reasons) but GLeague is the better development system now for actual NBA coaching/systems/training.

and it most certaining was better with a pandemic … NCAA was not a good training/development envirnment this past yr. VS the gleague bubble

 

Any scrub that is dominating in the G-league would absolutely rip those kids in College a new one. Anyone who thinks otherwise is delusional about the level of NCAA basketball.
Those are professional players - not some future lawyers or doctors.

 

One can talk about highlights and stats, but at the end of the day, the stuff in between the ears, the brain, the IQ and work ethic and competitiveness is so huge. It is that intangible coupled with elite skills that makes great players. We saw first hand with Harden what that looked like.

I very much like what I hear about Green in terms of those things.

 

Because it's evolving and it's the first year there is a G League development team called Ignite where you get access to veteran mentors and NBA-employed coaches. Weird coincidence?

Counterpoint to your Vander Blue, I'll raise you Adam Morrison, Jimmer Fredette, Rashad McCants, Jonny Flynn, Hasheem Thabeet, Tyler Hansbrough, etc.

On average NCAA competition is not as high as G League.

And in the end it doesn't matter what we think, it matters what Pro Scouts think.