What BJ Mullens is as a basketball player is a young guy, with size, some skills, and a lot of potential. What he's not is the Georgetown version of Patrick Ewing. Whether Mullens plays (1) year for the Buckeyes or (10), he'll never develop into that type of player.
Out of high school BJ Mullens' draft stock couldn't get any higher, this year it dropped; he had to play this year. The next three he doesn't. Every year from here on out will serve to do the same thing his freshmen campaign did; expose one aspect or another of his game as being less than perfect, and the unknown potential that made him a number one prospect, will turn into a known commodity, and his draft stock will suffer because of it.
I don't blame the kid for leaving early. He probably won't be an All Star, but who's to say he ever would have? In this economy, jobs are hard to come by for anybody, and if you can cash in on the 'unknown potential' that the NBA pays big dollars for I say you do it before you can't. The longer he stays, the longer the book on him gets, the more telling the tape on him becomes, and the quicker the notion of 'untapped, superstar, potential' disappears.
As a Buckeye Fan, of course you'd like to see Mullens play at least his Sophomore season. But you'd have liked to Kosta Koufas do that, Mike Conely, and Daquean Cook too. The fact is, you wouldn't have gotten Mullens for (1) year if David Stern didn't mandate it, and you wouldn't have gotten Oden, or maybe even Cook too. Its about money, as it always is, and I say get that money and run, just like Darius Miles and Kwame Brown did before him. Scoonie Penn came back to school after going to the Final Four as a Junior, how'd that work out for him?
Out of high school BJ Mullens' draft stock couldn't get any higher, this year it dropped; he had to play this year. The next three he doesn't. Every year from here on out will serve to do the same thing his freshmen campaign did; expose one aspect or another of his game as being less than perfect, and the unknown potential that made him a number one prospect, will turn into a known commodity, and his draft stock will suffer because of it.
I don't blame the kid for leaving early. He probably won't be an All Star, but who's to say he ever would have? In this economy, jobs are hard to come by for anybody, and if you can cash in on the 'unknown potential' that the NBA pays big dollars for I say you do it before you can't. The longer he stays, the longer the book on him gets, the more telling the tape on him becomes, and the quicker the notion of 'untapped, superstar, potential' disappears.
"B.J. Mullens was expected to turn pro and on Thursday he made it official. The 7-foot freshman center will forego his final three seasons of eligibility at Ohio State and will enter the NBA Draft. Mullens is expected to be a first-round pick, but there is a debate in terms of how high he will go. Once projected as a high lottery pick -- perhaps the top overall selection of the draft --Mullens' stock has dropped."
As a Buckeye Fan, of course you'd like to see Mullens play at least his Sophomore season. But you'd have liked to Kosta Koufas do that, Mike Conely, and Daquean Cook too. The fact is, you wouldn't have gotten Mullens for (1) year if David Stern didn't mandate it, and you wouldn't have gotten Oden, or maybe even Cook too. Its about money, as it always is, and I say get that money and run, just like Darius Miles and Kwame Brown did before him. Scoonie Penn came back to school after going to the Final Four as a Junior, how'd that work out for him?
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2 comments:
I can't wait until he is drying my car at the local car wash. Hey BJ- you missed a spot by the bumper...
Poor decision
I am by no means a BJ Mullens fan. I also don't think that leaving a Thad Matta Coached team as an underdeveloped Freshman is the way to go if you are looking to maximaize your talent. I just think that BJ is not ever going to be an All American type college player. That said, it is the best decision for him to cash in on what he can now, before there is nothing left for him. Understand that he probably willl play in the D-League for a stretch, and may be done in 6 years. But during his career, being a 1st round pick which he will be, he will bank more money than you you will in your life during his NBA career. He might wash your car one day. But you will be driving a Topaz, and he will one the chain of car washes, as long as he is not a moron with the millions he will be sure to make.
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