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SF LaQuinton Ross (Memphis Hustle - NBA G-League)

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DZ83CK said:
No, I'm not making your argument. I said by your logic guys should go to Europe right out of high school, that by your reasoning there isn't much of anything they can gain in a year of college that they can't get overseas.

I don't like guys leaving college early to go to Europe. If what you really want to do is earn a quick buck and don't care about getting a degree, go ahead and do it out of high school instead of going to college and taking classes you don't have any interest in.

But Q lacked the polish to his game that Deshaun had, and had only one year while being a 10+ ppg scorer in college. He was new to the leading scorer role at this level and I think Q could've taken his game to a higher level with an extra year in college.
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I said there isn't much of anything to gain after his 3 years of college. There is plenty to gain in just one year of college (See: Davis, Anthony).

US College Basketball gives you exposure. Does the European playoffs have a 10 billion dollar deal to broadcast the games on Nationally Televised US TV Channels? I didn't think so...

And don't short change the numbers he put up last year. He averaged 15 pts and 6 reb a game. His percentages took a dip but he also took on more possessions, cut down turnovers, and actually improved his PER. The only thing that might have changed with another year of college coaching would have been his consistency.

These guys aren't just earning a "quick buck". They're making what they deem as the best decision from their careers and their livelihoods. Now whether you feel like that's a smart decision or not is your opinion.
 
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Obviously, some of us will agree to disagree about Q. He was not a polished player in his junior year at OSU, struggled with his shot, and made many avoidable turnovers. Maybe he wouldn't have improved much but there were a lot of things he could've improved upon skill-wise.

And how exactly is college exposure helping a borderline NBA prospect like Q? It isn't going to help him get endorsement deals or get drafted really - in fact, in the second round teams will often take gambles on fairly obscure foreign players as opposed to picking college guys that are more well known or measured. So I don't see how you would believe going to college helped him at all ultimately, as the exposure wasn't worth a year and his development could've been done overseas just as well.

Knowing it can't be proven what another year could have done for him now that he is gone makes it very easy to argue a player has peaked. Very easy.
 
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What could he have improved upon skill wise? Being skilled was his strength, things like physical and mental strength were his problems (leading to inconsistent games and turnovers in the paint). His turnovers went down while getting more possessions last year. As a matter of fact look at this:

2009-2010 Evan Turner's TOV%: 20.0
2013-2014 Aaron Craft's TOV%: 22.9
2012-2013 LaQuinton Ross' TOV%: 18.6
2013-2014 LaQuinton Ross' TOV%: 10.9

TOV% is amount of turnovers per 100 possessions.

Now if you want to argue that the difference is that those two guys are PG's and Q is just a SF, check out their corresponding usage percentages (percentage of team play's used by a player while they were on the floor) and minutes played:

2009-2010 Evan Turner's USG%: 33.1, MP: 1108
2013-2014 Aaron Craft's USG%: 17.4, MP: 1204
2012-2013 LaQuinton Ross' USG%: 27.9, MP: 626
2013-2014 LaQuinton Ross' USG%: 29.0, MP: 1015

So what do we see here? Well for one we see that Aaron Craft was quite inefficient offensively last year. We see that 2009-2010 Evan Turner was similar enough to 2013-2014 LaQuinton Ross (slightly more minutes and usage). But LaQuinton's TOV% for that season is half of what Evan's was in 2009-2010. I wish I had the possession count to put this into better perspective, but basically LaQuinton would have to double the amount of turnovers he had per possession for the entire season, in 2.3 more games to match Evan Turner.

And just for the record, Q's TOV% dropped by nearly half between his sophomore and junior seasons while his minutes almost doubled!

Wasn't trying to write that much but oh well. I won't argue you on the difference in exposure between NCAA and Europe because that's hard to quantify. I would dive into the argument for Q having more or less peaked in the college game at this point but that's a whole other rabbit hole.

EDIT: Numbers are from basketball-reference.com
 
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I really do not care what he improves on but I would like for him to marry the woman that fathered his child and support the family with the money that he makes from playing over in Europe. I guess the same goes for Thomas and other star athletes.
 
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Q has gone undrafted. His chances of making an NBA roster next year are practically zero. Just not NBA material at this time due to his relative lack of athleticism and clearly had rough spots to his game offensively. I hope he wasn't planning on playing in the NBA because it's not in the cards. Personally I hope the disturbing trend of OSU players leaving early to go to Europe doesn't continue.

Frustrating to watch a talented player turn pro to go to Europe, but hey the Bucks wouldn't have Anthony Lee if he had stayed, and Lee actually wants to play for OSU in this upcoming season.
 
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One big shot at the Staples Center doesn't make you a pro.

Q got some bad advice. Problem is he's likely been getting bad advice for years. You don't slip from camp-dominating top high school prospect to can't pass NCAA Clearinghouse in two years unless ...
 
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Right after he announced he was not returning most mocks had him in the mid to late second round. He must not have shown very well at the draft workouts and such to not even get drafted.

Looks a case of bad advice got the better of him. Hopefully he learns from it and makes better decisions going forward. I hope he does well in whatever he is trying to accomplish.
 
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These kids need to get objective opinions on their draft prospects before declaring. Your family and friends are always going to believe you're the next Jordan. :bonk:

I didn't think Thomas leaving was a good idea and I really didn't think Ross leaving was the right move. I'm not the least bit surprised LaQ went undrafted. I hope he can make a career for himself overseas, and maybe even play his way to the NBA someday. Good luck to him.
 
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Jake said:
I didn't think Thomas leaving was a good idea and I really didn't think Ross leaving was the right move. I'm not the least bit surprised LaQ went undrafted. I hope he can make a career for himself overseas, and maybe even play his way to the NBA someday. Good luck to him.
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To me, Thomas and Ross were different situations. I really don't think Thomas had much room to improve had he returned for his senior season--his weaknesses (mainly centering around limited athleticism) weren't going to get better with another year in school. Ross, though, had weaknesses (working on his shooting, ball handling, general decision-making, and hitting the weight room a bit more) that could've been addressed with another year at OSU.
 
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buckeyesin07 said:
Ross, though, had weaknesses (working on his shooting, ball handling, general decision-making, and hitting the weight room a bit more) that could've been addressed with another year at OSU.
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Ross was good physically up until he left school. Remember he put on like 12 lbs in between declaring and the draft combine.

shiznit7 said:
I think we will see a noticeable improvement with ball distribution and a better shot selection from this year's team. Dude had one foot out the door before he even stepped on campus.
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This. He did carry us offensively when we needed it last year, but with the incoming class and no Aaron Craft I think the offense should be a lot more fluid. The second sentence is very true too. He came in with that mentality and you know it affected his relationships with the other players on the team.
 
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osubballinsider said:
Ross was good physically up until he left school. Remember he put on like 12 lbs in between declaring and the draft combine.
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If you take another look at my post, you'll see I wasn't talking about being out of shape. I'm talking about adding muscle. He was a good, but not great, finisher when getting into the lane. Another year in the weight room would've helped with that.
 
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