......I thought MU had a very important nationally televised basketball game to play tomorrow evening against perhaps the Big East's best team. A game that could move MU to 10-6 in league play and perhaps rachet the squad up a seed or two when it comes to Selection Sunday.
James says all the right things in this ill-timed article -
...and admits that he's thought about going to the NBA"Right now, I'm just focusing on taking it one game at a time," James said. "And of course I'm trying to get my team as far as I can in the NCAAs because that will have an impact on what my decision is....but right now I plan on staying all four years."
"Any player that's in the position to do that can be vulnerable to thinking about that," he said. "Possibly one year away your dream could come true, so it's impossible not to think about it. Right now that's not my concern. If that comes, then it comes."I guess that's human nature. That talk kinda burns me jus a bit -- especially realizing that James played his best ball in November and December.
While Rosiak notes DJ's overall stats in the article, he fails to address the point guard's profound struggles in conference play where his production and effectiveness have been disappointing. James is averaging just 13.3 ppg on 34% shooting from the field (25% from deep) and 62% from the line in Big East games.
When the competition improved and the season became a grind, James became less productive. Given that MU lacks a consistent outside shooter in its starting backcourt and an intimidating presence on the baseline this is not really a surprise. Unlike during his banner freshman season, teams game plan for James this year -- and that's tough to overcome, particularly for a sophomore who is still rounding out his game.
But as we know, the NBA drafts on potential rather than production, so who knows what will happen in the next 90 days.
Still -- this would have been a better off-season story.
I thought MU had a big game tomorrow.
I completely disagree with your opinion that this is not a relevant subject at this time. Rosiak is a journalist -- not somebody affiliated with the Marquette basketball team. Those that follow the Warriors are interested in the rumors that James is considering going pro, despite his poor play of late. It's a story!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Todd will have plenty on the game on Saturday.
Yes, Rosiak is a journalist, but I think from a MU standpoint this was ill timed. Let the kid concentrate on his game. Maybe that's what he needs right now.
ReplyDelete...and to be real, this was a BS story anyway. Does Rosiak really think he would get an honest answer from DJ at this point. He isn't going to come out and say, "Yeah, I'm going to the NBA after this year." That is something for him (and maybe his coach to know) and for us to think about after the tourney!
The article was pretty even-handed but I thought the photo of James reverse-jamming the ball and the caption "Will James turn his back on MU and head for the NBA?" was totally inappropriate. This is not NY media, there's no reason to try to paint this as a conflict.
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