If you can pronounce the names of the first 7 picks in the 2011 NBA Draft you either (a) cheated or (b) should take up something more productive, like croqueting or Frisbee golf, to do with your time.
The first heptad went a little like this:
#1- Kyrie Irving (DUKE)
#2- Derrick Williams (ARIZONA)
#3- Enes Kanter (TURKEY)
#4- Tristan Thompson (TEXAS)
#5- Jonas Valanciunas (LITHUANIA)
#6- Jan Vesley (CZECH RUPUBLIC)
#7- Bismack Biyombo (DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO)
This is a whose-who of who knows. And the fact that 4 of these top 7 are from outside the continent is rather disturbing.
Is American college basketball down as a whole? Not really; Harrison Barnes, Jared Sullinger will be bidding to hit the #1 spot in 2012. Or are NBA General Managers losing it upstairs?
I point heavily toward the latter.
Lottery teams don’t pick player to fill holes. They don’t find the long term athletes that can mesh with a well-defined team. They pick the best athletes, All-Star hopefuls; the ones that the people in the front office think can turn the franchise around.
In the last 4 All-Star games, only 5 different International players have made the team. Yao Ming, Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, Pau Gasol and Mehmet Okur make up the grisly handful. And on the other side there have been a strong contingent of notable International busts.
We see the difference in numerous Worldwide competitions; the American basketballer is far the superior.
The NBA just won’t buy American made. They should.
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