DJ Steward declares for NBA draft

[flyingdutchdevil]

That is already the model in top tier college basketball.

Unless there is a pandemic...

[Music man55]

With everything that is going on now, I am kinda getting a little nervous about what Mark Williams might decide to do. As bad as it hurts to lose DJ, losing Williams also would be just flat out depressing. Here’s to hoping he plans to be a Bluedevil next season🤞

[freshmanjs]

Unless there is a pandemic...

Not following. The pandemic hasn't stopped the shoe companies from influencing where the talent flows.

[flyingdutchdevil]

With everything that is going on now, I am kinda getting a little nervous about what Mark Williams might decide to do. As bad as it hurts to lose DJ, losing Williams also would be just flat out depressing. Here’s to hoping he plans to be a Bluedevil next season🤞

Here's to hoping we don't lose Roach, Moore, or Williams! Hurt played amazingly and not sure he can increase his draft stock, especially with a lot more offensive talent around him next year.

But I agree, I too am getting nervous about the roster.

[uh_no]

And this is bad because...

you know how we have women's basketball where teams go undefeated in conference every year and the same teams make the final four and everyone says its bad for the sport, and it gets super old even for fans of one of those teams (raises hand)? that's why it's bad. Outside a few select games, the women's basketball regular season stinks. It's like never-ending november.

[flyingdutchdevil]

you know how we have women's basketball where teams go undefeated in conference every year and the same teams make the final four and everyone says its bad for the sport, and it gets super old even for fans of one of those teams (raises hand)? that's why it's bad. Outside a few select games, the women's basketball regular season stinks. It's like never-ending november.

I get it, I get it. Hence the smiley face (tough to express sarcasm on the interwebs)

Parity is a very good thing

[uh_no]

I get it, I get it. Hence the smiley face (tough to express sarcasm on the interwebs)

Parity is a very good thing

I'm sure there are fans of those teams who would be okay with it, though, and to many others it may seem good at face value, until we see the actual outcome.

It's hard to know whether the solution WOULD be that bad, but as some sports without caps on the flow of money show, we see dominant teams on the scale of decades. most european soccer leagues and F1 stick out. great for the "winning" players that can get on those teams, awful for every other player and fans.

[flyingdutchdevil]

I'm sure there are fans of those teams who would be okay with it, though, and to many others it may seem good at face value, until we see the actual outcome.

It's hard to know whether the solution WOULD be that bad, but as some sports without caps on the flow of money show, we see dominant teams on the scale of decades. most european soccer leagues and F1 stick out. great for the "winning" players that can get on those teams, awful for every other player and fans.

Not really true, especially in the Premier League, La Liga, and Serie A, where multiple teams often fight for the title.

Furthermore, the concept of relegation makes the whole table interesting moreso than just the winner. Throw in Pan-European soccer leagues, like the Champions League and it's ugly step-sister the Europa League, and contenting for a top 3 or top 4 spot in the league becomes exciting. Plus the Champions League is what makes European soccer so great and brings a lot of parity to European soccer.

Sure, the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 are fairly predictable, but there is enough pressure from other good teams to make it interesting.

Side note: what if the Final Four in college basketball, the 2 best teams in Europe, and the 2 best teams in the G-League created their own "Champions League"?

[Phredd3]

How can it be "countless" if you can literally easily count them? It's the exact opposite of "countless"

I think “uncountable” would be the opposite. Maybe a lot of people just don’t want to count them so they are counted less than other countable things?

Since this is DBR, and this is otherwise an incredibly depressing thread, I have to correct the correction. "Uncountable" is the opposite of "countable". Uncountable is when integers can't keep up, ever. "Countless" just means the number is so big you don't want to bother to count them. "Counted" means someone already did the counting, so the group can no longer be countless. So the opposite of "countless" is "counted".

Meanwhile, I loved watching DJ play, and Coach K was spot on with his comments about DJ's attitude. I'll miss watching him play for Duke, and I hope he does well with whatever comes his way next. However, I don't intend to follow his progress closely, the way I do with, say, Zion. Zion would have been stupid to stay. DJ was stupid to go (at least, as far as I can tell). That makes a big difference in how I perceive them going forward. If DJ's subsequent career proves that he was right and I was wrong, I reserve the right to change my mind about his decision. Frankly, I hope that happens.

Until then, however, I don't like it because it puts Duke in a worse position. And that's all there is to be said about that.

[duke74]

Not really true, especially in the Premier League, La Liga, and Serie A, where multiple teams often fight for the title.

Not so much, where Juventus has won the past nine Scudetti (prob. not this year though). Inter's year it seems.

Forza Juve.

[uh_no]

Not really true, especially in the Premier League, La Liga, and Serie A, where multiple teams often fight for the title.

Don't make me laugh.

La Liga competitive? hahahaha Quick question: in the past 15 years, how many titles have been won by anyone other than real or barca? 1. (and it's not like teams other than atletico are champing at the bit and getting unlucky). And this is parity in the grand scheme of european football...
Bundesliga? bayern is on 8 straight
Ligue 1? PSG is on 7 of the last 8
Ligue A? Juv is on 9 straight.

PL is one of the exceptions (and you'll note the top couple of teams keep trying to break away...)

So yeah, you might get some competition at the final four as you do in the UCL, but most of the season is going to be crap.

[CDu]

Not really true, especially in the Premier League, La Liga, and Serie A, where multiple teams often fight for the title.

Yeah, I'm gonna have to disagree here. In La Liga, it's the same 2-3 teams every year (Real and Barca, with Atletico occasionally sneaking in). In Serie A, it's Juve at the top every year, with Inter and Milan sprinkled in, and occasionally a team like Lazio or Napoli or (more recently) Atalanta gets somewhat close.

[75Crazie]

And in the Premier League, all but 2 champions since 1992 have been one of the "Big 6".

[Dukehk]

Crazy decision.

DJ nowhere near ready for the pros. Probably not even G League.

The only legit reason is if he really needs the money for his family. Not sure what his situtation is.

I just don't understand the kids these days.

Is it really that bad to stay in college for a few years to develop and get drafted in the first round? Surely your chances are higher at making the NBA staying in Duke rather than bouncing around in Europe or worse.

[plimnko]

such following his dream, go if your family needs the money and the rest, but shouldn't the headline have been, " DJ Steward declares for the G League draft"? I just can't picture him ready for the NBA. I hope I'm wrong, but just my 2 cents.

[Edouble]

I highly doubt that DJ will play a single minute in the NBA.

It is great to chase a dream, but having a backup plan is good too.

I am operating under the assumption that when his playing career is over, DJ will not have made enough money playing basketball to live off of for the rest of his life. It would be prudent to have a Duke degree at that time. This will open many doors that would otherwise be closed: certain coaching jobs, a white collar job, et al.

Even without the piece of paper, there is much to be learned on a college campus, about life, people, and the world at large. Now DJ has to take what he's learned to this point and make it in the world, which can be a cruel place.

Regardless of his impact on the Duke basketball team next year or beyond, it seems really unwise, from a big picture/life standpoint to make this move. There is a lot of life to be lived after basketball.

[uh_no]

And in the Premier League, all but 2 champions since 1992 have been one of the "Big 6".

this kind of thing is the reason why professional sports have anti-trust exemptions in the US. Free market sports kind of stink, as there is always someone who will pay as much as it takes to win all the time.

[flyingdutchdevil]

Clearly, folks around here don't like my soccer claims. But I'm not backing down!

Parity in European soccer is kinda easy to measure. Because there are no playoffs in the league, you have to look at the point differential between teams. Lots of ways to do this: between 1 and 2, between 1 and 5 (delta between Champions League qualifiers and non-qualifiers), between 25th percentile and 75th percentile, etc. I chose between 1 and 2. Below is data for the last 10 years looking at delta in points between the champion and the runner up:

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Avg
Serie A 6 4 9 17 17 9 4 4 11 1 8.2
Premier League 9 0 11 2 8 10 7 19 1 18 8.5
Ligue 1 8 3 12 9 8 31 8 13 16 12 12
Bundesliga 7 8 25 19 10 10 15 21 2 13 13
La Liga 4 9 15 3 2 1 3 14 9 5 6.5
La Liga BAR/RM 21 30 9 -3 14 2 12 -3 -8 12 8.6

For La Liga, I also showed the delta between the lower of Barcelona/Real Madrid and the next team (negative value implies the team is ranked above either Barcelona/Real Madrid).

Sooooo...my statement of "Sure, the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 are fairly predictable", but that's probably underselling it. PSG and Bayern have been unstoppable, with the teams basically winning their respective leagues by 12-13 points. Also, Bayern in 2013 and PSG in 2016 were something else.

My statement of "Not really true, especially in the Premier League, La Liga, and Serie A, where multiple teams often fight for the title" doesn't hold as much water as I would have thought. I'm surprised Juventus was so dominant between 2013-2016 and they have clearly lost some of their mojo since then (they aren't winning Serie A this year, for instance). In the Premier League, it's been close, but Liverpool's dominance last year and MC's dominance in 2018 really skews the results. And for La Liga? The most interesting thing has been how it's not really a 2 man race, especially since 2013. In 2014, 2018, and 2019, Barca/RM didn't finish 1/2. And this year, Athletico is the lead, although I suspect Barcelona will edge out given their recent form.

Bottomline, there is less parity in the Bundesliga and Ligue 1, but I overestimated the competitiveness of the Premier League and Serie A.

Sorry for hijacking this thread (and for making people laugh).

Back to DJ

[Bluedog]

Crazy decision.

DJ nowhere near ready for the pros. Probably not even G League.

The only legit reason is if he really needs the money for his family. Not sure what his situtation is.

I just don't understand the kids these days.

Is it really that bad to stay in college for a few years to develop and get drafted in the first round? Surely your chances are higher at making the NBA staying in Duke rather than bouncing around in Europe or worse.

Don't know, but he did go to the same private Catholic High School as Corey Maggette just outside Chicago (Fenwick).

[kako]

Steward is now listed as #85 for draft prospects according to Sam Vecenzie at the Athletic.

https://theathletic.com/2491159/2021...ce-breakdowns/

Pay site.

He has Steward ahead of guys like Ron Harper Jr from Rutgers, Aamir Simms from Clemson, and Isaiah Mobley from USC.

9F