Well, it was nice to dream that he might stay for another year. Good luck and farewell.

grrrah76;842679706 said:

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darn

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Yep, was holding out a sliver of hope that he would pull a surprise.

[video=youtube;hW3U8SVhw5E][/video]

Awwwooo. 18-0.

Look forward to seeing you back at Haas.

Great to watch you as a Golden Bear for one season. You and Ivan will help pave the way for other academically adventurous NBA talents to represent Cal.

I don't blame the kid(s) at all, but I do blame the system. College basketball AND the NBA would be better off with giving kids at least two years of college and development.

My first time hearing him - amazing maturity and eloquence for a 19 years old! Love everything he said, especially the line "I'm going to represent California Berkeley ..." Proud of you JB. Good luck and Go Bears.

grrrah76;842679881 said:

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I don't blame the kid(s) at all, but I do blame the system. College basketball AND the NBA would be better off with giving kids at least two years of college and development.

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The NBA and NFL really should get their own minor leagues. OTOH, college revenue sports are making BILLIONS collectively and these kids are still amateurs. The system is totally f*cked up.

It's absurd that the AP article about his announcement referred to him as making "a prepared statement" as if he was reading from a script. While he may have rehearsed it, it had the appearance of being essentially off the cuff and without any notes at all. Beyond impressive. A great Cal man and I'm excited to watch him grow in the future.

He was a man the moment he stepped foot on campus. He's an even better man now that he's stepping off, even though he time at Berkeley was brief. Go Bears!

balls!

parentswerebears;842679807 said:

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+20000000

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+30000000000

Reminds me of Shareef

I have to wonder if Wallace's two freak injuries affected JB's decision. Anyway hope they both make their mark in the pros.

beelzebear;842679898 said:

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The NBA and NFL really should get their own minor leagues. OTOH, college revenue sports are making BILLIONS collectively and these kids are still amateurs. The system is totally f*cked up.

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Totally!

beelzebear;842679898 said:

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The NBA and NFL really should get their own minor leagues. OTOH, college revenue sports are making BILLIONS collectively and these kids are still amateurs. The system is totally f*cked up.

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Spot on.

OdontoBear66;842680097 said:

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Spot on.

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If so, college hoops and college football may go the way of college baseball, which like 5 people care about. It's never been about "fairness" for the "amateur" athlete. It's about money and will always be.

Minor League baseball has 5 levels and decades of history. The logistics of minor leagues in basketball and football are complex and difficult to execute. It's like trying to build a good subway system in Los Angeles--very expensive and decades too late.

College Football is a huge moneymaker in part because they keep the best players for up to 3 years after their HS graduation. The NFL benefits greatly from the current structure and there is unlikely to be a change in it.

Keeping players in school longer would benefit both college hoops and the NBA. Both products would be higher quality (good veterans wouldn't be pushed out by younger players unlikely to contribute early) and the NBA wouldn't have to worry about the costs to expand their "minor league" even further. Adam Silver has been pointing to raising the age limit by a year and it'll be interesting to see how much of a factor it plays in the next CBA negotiation between the League and the Players Union.

College baseball never enjoyed a fan base anything like that of football or basketball.

College baseball never enjoyed a fan base anything like that of football or basketball.

59bear;842680270 said:

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College baseball never enjoyed a fan base anything like that of football or basketball.

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+1 Just a very different animal. Baseball was around for a while before college athletics and very popular. It has the deepest roots in the U.S. and use to have the most participants due to Little League, HS, work leagues, semi-pro, etc. Pro baseball was king much earlier (20s?), so it always has over-shadowed college baseball.

Conversely, college FB was more popular than professional football until the post-war era. The Four Horsemen, the Gipper, etc. were the first FB heroes, not NFL players. The NFL is really a post-war sport and if you heard George Carlin's famous monologue on Baseball vs. Football, it makes more sense. While it was popular in the 50s/60s, it wasn't until the Super Bowl got traction that it took off. Now it's the 800 lb gorilla in the room.

College hoops also has a longer tradition than the NBA, which didn't really take off until 70s/80s, specifically with Magic and Bird, then Jordan. It also has March Madness which is unique with real spectacle with amazing competition. This year's championship game showed it.

Football supposedly came about as the educated man's answer to the immigrant game.

tsubamoto2001;842680108 said:

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If so, college hoops and college football may go the way of college baseball, which like 5 people care about. It's never been about "fairness" for the "amateur" athlete. It's about money and will always be.

Minor League baseball has 5 levels and decades of history. The logistics of minor leagues in basketball and football are complex and difficult to execute. It's like trying to build a good subway system in Los Angeles--very expensive and decades too late.

College Football is a huge moneymaker in part because they keep the best players for up to 3 years after their HS graduation. The NFL benefits greatly from the current structure and there is unlikely to be a change in it.

Keeping players in school longer would benefit both college hoops and the NBA. Both products would be higher quality (good veterans wouldn't be pushed out by younger players unlikely to contribute early) and the NBA wouldn't have to worry about the costs to expand their "minor league" even further. Adam Silver has been pointing to raising the age limit by a year and it'll be interesting to see how much of a factor it plays in the next CBA negotiation between the League and the Players Union.

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One point: Keeping football players 3 years makes a lot of medical sense.

It is hard to say it was not good for Cal the have JB for one year, but there is a down size. Almost all one and dones, with the exception of Kentucky who can reload each year, keeps other programs from building a consistent program. JB is a classic example. His arrival prompted the Coaching staff to build the team around a raw freshmen who had great physical ability, but almost no refinement at playing at a D1 level. He was able in HS to just out physical everyone, and he soon found he could not do that consistently at the College level. If he, and hopefully Rabb, spent at least one more year, they would hopefully learn the game, and develop both physically, but more importantly mentally. It was clear JB was not ready for the mental adjustment. I'm afraid JB will languish for some time trying to grow his body, and basketball acumen. So CAl missed out on a 3-4 year good player in the program, and now with major recruiting over they will scramble to fill a scholarship spot, and sort of start over again. If Rabb goes you just set the program back several years. I love college basketball, but it has gotten so bad to watch, due in part to the early outs. A two year commitment would help, and a properly funded and supported D league sponsored collectively by the NCAA and NBA, could improve both venues.

NewYorkCityBear;842679805 said:

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Even though it was only one year, I'm glad JB was a Golden Bear.

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beelzebear;842680279 said:

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College hoops also has a longer tradition than the NBA, which didn't really take off until 70s/80s, specifically with Magic and Bird, then Jordan. It also has March Madness which is unique with real spectacle with amazing competition. This year's championship game showed it.

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March Madness didn't really explode nationally until the Magic/Bird final in 1979. As noted, they, along with Jordan, saved the NBA in the '80s. America first noticed Jordan when he hit the game winner in 1982, but even then it still wasn't clear yet that he'd be an NBA superstar.

Baseball's my favorite pro sport partially because it isn't as harmful to college baseball as the NBA is to college hoops. Is amazing to watch an NBA game live since the players are so much better than college players, but it's also clear that guys like Ingram and Jaylen will be high picks and eventually good pros, but aren't remotely ready yet. Do partially agree with Barkley that NBA expanded too much and there aren't many great teams which benefits teams like the Dubs and Spurs. Global players help, but NCAA hoops and the NBA would be improved if players stayed in college longer.

Bisonbob;842680378 said:

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It is hard to say it was not good for Cal the have JB for one year, but there is a down size. Almost all one and dones, with the exception of Kentucky who can reload each year, keeps other programs from building a consistent program. JB is a classic example. His arrival prompted the Coaching staff to build the team around a raw freshmen who had great physical ability, but almost no refinement at playing at a D1 level. He was able in HS to just out physical everyone, and he soon found he could not do that consistently at the College level. If he, and hopefully Rabb, spent at least one more year, they would hopefully learn the game, and develop both physically, but more importantly mentally. It was clear JB was not ready for the mental adjustment. I'm afraid JB will languish for some time trying to grow his body, and basketball acumen. So CAl missed out on a 3-4 year good player in the program, and now with major recruiting over they will scramble to fill a scholarship spot, and sort of start over again. If Rabb goes you just set the program back several years. I love college basketball, but it has gotten so bad to watch, due in part to the early outs. A two year commitment would help, and a properly funded and supported D league sponsored collectively by the NCAA and NBA, could improve both venues.

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I agree with you that a better team is one where the kids play together and in the same system/coach for longer stretch. I get what you're saying about the team being not as well an oiled machine as we'd have liked. I've said the same, arguing that next year's team (should Rabb return) will be even better after everyone else matures another year (and if Coleman plays well).

But I'll disagree with you in that I'd take a one and done freshman like JB every year, year after year. And I'd take as many JB's as Cal could get, indefinitely. 'Cause he was still way better than the average recruit we've been landing these past 10 years. Thus, the upside way outweighs the recognized downside.

59bear;842680270 said:

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College baseball never enjoyed a fan base anything like that of football or basketball.

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Do you believe that "fan base" would remain with a vastly inferior product on the field or court? I don't.

Think Bears basically broke even with Jaylen as a OAD. 18-0 at home and a four seed is a very good result. Jaylen was a lottery pick coming in and projects as a lottery pick coming out. Would be tough to replace both Jaylen and Rabb and next season would be rough.

Cuonzo built the roster properly: 2 OADs surrounded by a solid core of upperclassmen. Cuonzo's core needs to be Bird/Ty/Mathews talent occasionally supplemented with OADs. Curious to see what the 2018 team looks like.

Careful what you wish for. One mock has Jaylen to the Kings.....ouch.

GBMARIN;842680540 said:

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Careful what you wish for. One mock has Jaylen to the Kings.....ouch.

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Depending on who the new coach is