Report: Hamilton and Thompson to declare for NBA

@BusterBrown

You're hitting the schizo range. If (as you have said) you don't want consistency (and don't mind going to the NIT), then Barnes should hit the one and dones more often on the assumption that the fanbase will take 1 great season and 3 average seasons over 4 above average seasons. That's what Calipari is sort of doing--but he's pulling in SO much talent in each class (ridiculously so) that Kentucky won't fall off.

Frankly, you're complaining about the state of the game (and not about Barnes). No one knows who will be a one and done. Sullinger is coming back to OSU but Kyrie is leaving Duke. Has Harrison Barnes' announced? TT had a breakout year and is leaving (could any of us have projected that). All these coaches are going with luck of the draw and just bringing in as much talent as possible.

Arizona got lucky with Derrick Williams (ranked 78th in his class). That's Wangmene/Chapman range. We had Damion James/Gary Johnson stay 4 years and I had them projected as 3 year guys based on their rankings. Coaches just don't know--that's why Howland's UCLA program hit the skids for a time.

And Barnes can't be in the business of giving bad advice to his players about not going if they're 1st round material, that'll ruin your recruiting right there.
 
Now we are circling back to the arguments at the beginning. Should I just cut and paste from my previous postings. You have undoubtedly presented the argument that Barnes has an impressive record of making tournaments and even made some sweet 16s and beyond. But he has not sniffed a championship in 8 years now (and some would argue that the Final 4 was the best we were going to do in 2003 and a NC wasn't really in the cards).

And like I have mentioned before, it is impossible argument to prove either way. That is why it is an opinion. I cannot prove that a coach could do better with Barnes's talent and I cannot prove Barnes could do any better or worse with any other talent.

This argument has officially come full circle.
 
I responded to your post, but I guess it got lost so I'll respond again. Basically, I think our argument has officially gone full circle. My opinion on Barnes is just that, my opinion. It is impossible for me or anyone else to prove that any other coach could do more with the talent that Barnes has had and it is impossible for me or anyone else to prove that Barnes could have done better with different talent.

All I can do is look at other coaches who I believe have had less talented teams and I feel they have done better with less talent. They may not have gone to the tournament 13 straight times or made several meaningless trips to the sweet 16 (not to say trips to the sweet 16 are meaningless, but you never get the feeling that Texas teams are going to go much further in any given year), but many of them have won championships. And when you are in the business of winning championships, that is how you should be graded. And Rick Barnes has none, and one could argue that he has not really sniffed one since he has been in Texas.
 
buster, I understand, it's your opinion.

But there are some teams that recruit better than anyone -- Duke and UNC routinely have about half the scholarships or more going to McDonald's A-As, and while they have won titles, I can easily construct a similar argument that they have underachieved as well. But they've won.

I've not broken it down, but I'd say Barnes has recruited roughly about the same as many top schools. He has not won a title, while the others have. I realize this is an important distinction to you, but I also know that tournament championships are fragile things. Even the best coaches have struggled to win them, and some -- Dean Smith and Bill Self off the top of my head -- have been downright fortunate. In regard to Self, he'd be in a world of hurt right now if he hadn't won that one game. So I suppose you can relate.

That's why I suppose the one disagreement we have is that Barnes somehow could do a better job with his talent, when it's nearly impossible to predict that a team will win the championship. Everybody knows the usual suspects. I think Barnes believes this is the way to be among the suspects.
 
In my humble opinion, based on the tea leaves I am reading, I believe Thompson and Joseph will be playing in Burnt Orange next fall. Jordan should be playing alongside them as well. We'll see.

bow.gif
 
Hearing Joseph, Hamilton and Thompson are all deciding but none of them seem like they were strongly leaning towards coming back to Texas, there is a decent chance they are NBA bound. I think since Texas will be making more money than any school in America they should be winning more championships in football and basketball but it seems Kansas wins Big 12 basketball and OU wins Big 12 football almost every year. All the extra money does Increase the Pressure for Texas to win Big 12 championships.
 
I will gladly eat crow if TT comes back. This team could do something really special if it has a second year TT with CJ and Myck. Hamilton would be icing on the cake, but I still think he goes.

As I have said before, TT really needs to come back and learn how to deal with the difficult defenses that will be thrown at him when he is seen as our main scoring threat. He obviously could not deal with it in the Arizona game (not that Barnes put him in a position to succeed in the game or anything).
 
My gut feeling:
J.Hamilton - 90% gone to the NBA
T.Thompson - 60% gone to the NBA
C.Joseph - 10% gone to the NBA

Deadline to declare is 4/24 (Easter Sunday).
 
Nothing would surprise me, not even Corey Joseph leaving. I think he had a better freshman year than Avery Bradley, and Avery was drafted in the first round. And, this is reportedly a weaker draft class.
 
i agree with c. joseph being down on the list of point guards/combo guards. you also have to consider kemba walker, shelvin mack, nolan smith, possibly even jimmer fredette being ahead of him on most boards. if brandon knight from UK comes out, then i'm sure he would also rate ahead of cory.

skc
 
"North Carolina's Big 3 will be coming back as a complete set, with freshman forward Harrison Barnes announcing Monday he would also return.

"As a team, we're preparing for a special season," Barnes said in a news release. "My offseason plans are to diligently work on honing my basketball skills in all areas with one team-goal in mind -- to bring the 2012 national championship home to UNC."

It would be nice to hear Tristan/Jordan say that...
 
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