Points in the Paint

» March 17, 2009 8:04 PM | By Brandon Hoffman

Longtime readers know that I oppose the NBA’s age limit. I cringe every time I hear someone argue that high school players need to receive a college education before turning pro. I firmly believe that education is priceless, but let’s not delude ourselves into thinking that the NCAA cares whether athletes graduate. NCAA basketball graduation rates indicate otherwise. Derrick Z. Jackson of The Boston Globe reports that in 1999 “graduation rates of the basketball teams in the NCAA Division I tournament, 41 of the 64 teams had a team graduation rate below 50 percent, the standard the Knight Commission on athletic reform recommended for a team to be eligible for post-season play. In the 2009 tournament, 41 of the 65 teams are at 50 percent or higher. In the last six years, the graduation average of the entire field has grown from 42 percent to 61 percent.” Jackson credits the NCAA for the improvement but adds that the “statistics remain one of feast or famine, or rather, diploma or defacto dropout,” especially for African-American players.

Speaking of college hoops, Mark Kriegel reported on another NCAA scandal at FOXSports.com: “In the midst of USC’s thrilling, if unexpected run to the NCAA tournament, I directed my gaze toward the bench, acknowledging the men who made it happen. Not just the coach, Tim Floyd — whose reputation as a fine defensive strategist is well-earned — but the members of his supporting staff. They include strength and conditioning coach, Rudy Hackett, whose point guard son, Daniel, played all 120 minutes in the conference tournament, and Dwayne Polee Sr., who accepted a position as “Director of Basketball Operations” shortly after his phenom progeny gave Floyd a verbal commitment to attend the university. So now that you’ve filled out your brackets, let’s talk some real March Madness. The NCAA won’t let a coach buy a kid an illicit hamburger, but it’s OK to give his daddy a job. This isn’t merely unseemly. At best, it gives the appearance of a conflict. At worst — and a big leap of faith isn’t required here — it’s a form of payment, a way of compensating a player’s family for services rendered.”

Milwaukee Bucks Coach Scott Skiles was none too pleased to learn Charlie Villanueva posted a twitter message from his cell phone during halftime of Milwaukee’s win over the Celtics. “We made a point to Charlie and the team that it’s nothing we ever want to happen again,” Skiles said after practice Tuesday. “You know, (we) don’t want to blow it out of proportion. But anything that gives the impression that we’re not serious and focused at all times is not the correct way we want to go about our business.” To which Villanueva replied: “We talkin’ bout twitter? Not a game, not a game, not a game, we talkin’ bout twitter.” I kid, I kid. Ken Berger of CBSSports.com has a suggestion that just might make this NBA on twitter craze worthwile.

UCLA law student and aspiring sports agent Nate Jones thinks the NBA players association “should try to create an objective means to measure the success of agents and the pros and cons of signing with each particular agent.” Jones proposes an anonymous evaluation system. Check out Jones’ plan here.

Dwight Howard launched a new website. Subscribe to his blog’s RSS feed here. Here’s Howard’s take on defending LeBron James: “I’ve played against LeBron James enough and with him this summer on the Olympic team to know that when he comes down the lane you’ve got to be ready to go up and make a play or you will get embarrassed. And I don’t like getting embarrassed. I’m almost 7-foot tall, so I’m not taking a charge in the lane. Seven-footers are in the game to block shots and that’s what I’m going to try to do. Even with LeBron, who weighs almost as much as I do, I’ve got to keep him away from the basket. When the L-Train is coming down the lane you try to make him change tracks before he gets up too much steam. The main thing with LeBron is you have to meet him early in the lane and make him take tough shots. I have to contest his shot when he gets in the lane and make sure not give him anything easy.” (Via Hightower)

You’ve got to love Derrick Rose’s humility. When asked whether he might get his own shoe line one day, the #1 draft pick replied: “Man, how great would that be? Some day…”

Kyle Hightower of the Orlando Sentinel: “With the exception of Boston’s trade-constructed 42-game turnaround last season, three of the remaining four top-five one-season turnarounds in NBA history were set in motion by the draft. In 1996-97 San Antonio was an abysmal 21-61 before the arrival of 1997 No. pick Tim Duncan. The Spurs went 56-26 the next season, improving by 36 games. The Spurs also enjoyed a 35-game turnaround from the 1988-89 season to the 1989-90 after David Robinson (1987 top pick) finally joined the team following his two years of required service in the U.S. Navy. Ten seasons before that, legendary Celtics Coach Red Auerbach used a now-defunct junior-eligible rule to pluck Larry Bird out of Indiana State. Though Bird wound up deciding to go back to the Sycamores for his senior season following his initial 1978 selection (No. 6 pick), when he finally arrived for the 1979-80 season he not only won the Rookie of the Year award, but along with Dave Cowens, Nate Archibald, Chris Ford and Cedric Maxwell led Boston to the Eastern Conference finals.”