Caseloads
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http://www.browndailyherald.com/stories.cfm?S=0&ID=5652
NBA must keep up with the times, stick with youth
Sports Column
By Jared Jagdeo: Herald Sports Columnist
The NBA season is only two weeks in, and a new truth has been established. The NBA is a young man’s league. A certain Michael (Jordan) has returned as a player, hoping that with his veteran leadership and his newfound game as a point forward that nobody can beat his Wiz. However, he and the rest of the league are quickly realizing that the NBA has changed since he last set foot on the court as a player. He is not even the best player on his team – Richard Hamilton is.
The drastic change in the NBA is not due to the minute rule changes implemented this season, but because of the influx of young, talented players hooping it up. Veteran players are getting schooled regularly by rookies. These highlight reel performances are translating into numerous big wins for teams with the reputation of being the NBA doormats (their GMs have condos in Secaucus, where the annual draft lotto is held). Teams such as Boston, Clippers, New Jersey, Indiana, Detroit, Minnesota, Houston and Golden State are loaded with quality young players and this has impacted positively in their win-loss columns.
Powerhouse teams of the 90’s that have opted to ignore young talent (once viewed as an unnecessary gamble for perennial playoff squads) are finding themselves slow getting out of the gate this season. Teams usually atop their respective divisions such as New York, Miami, Utah, and Portland are finding themselves in an inescapable quagmire that can not be resolved with the personnel they possess. Young players looking to establish themselves in the league are simply posterizing these teams. These four teams in particular have chosen to ignore the draft and the evolving player climate that the rest of the NBA has adopted.
The reins of the offense have been handed over to numerous men that are still carded when purchasing cigarettes. The general managers that are taking these risks have reaped huge dividends, all of them except Jerry Krause of the Chicago Bulls whose franchise seems to be hexed since Jordan left. This influx of athletic players has reached a crescendo, and teams that have been “upcoming” for years have begun to actualize their potential. The GMs of these four teams need to realize that they need to trade away some veterans for youth, and mortgage their present for the sake of their future.
This appeared in The Brown Daily Herald on Monday, November 12, 2001
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