Ben Simmons NBA Career is a Tragedy

It was announced this morning that Ben Simmons is out for the rest of the season. That is a bummer for him and the Nets. Simmons was a big acquisition. He was the prize for the Nets in the James Harden deal.

Simmons has a rookie of the year to his name, he was an all defensive player, a borderline all NBA player and was the face of the unicorn 6'10 point guard. He was the first big man since Magic Johnson to truly run an offense. He was up and coming, a guy to possibly build around, then the pass against the Hawks happened.

For people that may not know about this pass, Simmons had a wide open dunk that would've put the 76ers up in a possible closeout game, but he passed it off to Tobias Harris, who was fouled. Harris shot free throws, but the dye was cast with Simmons at that moment. He became the guy scared to get fouled and didn't want the ball in critical moments. He passed up a wide open dunk. I cannot state how wide open this dunk was. He is 6'10. He had zero defenders in front of him. All he had to do was put the ball in the hoop and he chose to pass. After that it has all been downhill for him.

He came into 76ers camp that season after the pass and he could not have been more disinterested. He publicly asked for a trade. The 76ers did not do it during the offseason, and with the threat of not getting paid, he reported to camp. But he didn't have to practice hard while he was there. He wore sweatpants. He didn't participate in any drills. He had his phone in his pocket during practice. He was disengaged when Doc Rivers would speak to the team. He was there physically, but not mentally. Then the season started and the 76ers did just fine without him. They won enough games. Joel Embiid took on the role of focal point and he thrived. He was becoming the MVP player we all knew he could become. Tyrese Maxey started to show signs of growth. Tobias Harris was putting up steady numbers. The 76ers were fine. They eventually got a deal they deemed worthy, and sent Simmons to the Nets. In return the 76ers got James Harden and Paul Milsap. The 76ers seemed happy to move on and Simmons was going to be able to start over. Brooklyn was excited about being somewhere new.

Yet Simmons did not play much his first season with the Nets. He played 42 games, averaged 26 minutes in those games and scored 7 points a game and had 6 assists and 6 boards. Those numbers are all well and good, but compared to his time with the 76ers, it was chump change. For example, the prior season with Philly he averaged 14 ppg, 7 boards and 7 assists. The year before he was a 16, 7 and 8. He had very good numbers with Philly, but he wanted the change and he got it. While the numbers may have not been in his favor, he seemed happier. He openly talked about his mental health struggles. Now, I do believe him when he says he has mental health stuff, but not all of it is causing his game to suffer. He's brought on a bunch of that himself. He always seems to post offseason videos of him shooting threes and playing pickup games. He has talked a bunch in the past two years about how excited he is to play. He seemed very ready to go when this season started. But then he missed a ton of time to start the season. And when he came back, he was a sideline to sideline player. He stayed away from attacking the rim. He would not set up in the dunker spot. He did not want to shoot. He was terrified to get fouled. And he was putting up pedestrian numbers. He was averaging barely over 6 points this season. He was averaging less than 6 assists, which is rough for a lead ball handler. And he was only playing 23 minutes a game. He also only appeared in 15 games before shutting it down this year. His team says it is due to a back issue, and while that may be true, he has other issues to deal with.

I don't know that I've seen a player of Simmons caliber fall as hard as he has to this moment. He was a top tier recruit. He was a solid one and done college player. He was the number one overall pick in his draft. He achieved very high highs in the NBA. And now he is an afterthought. That bums me out. He had the potential to be a modern day Magic. He could have truly changed the game. But he let one play shape him into the player he has become to this day. That is a shame. Ben Simmons could have done great things if he could've moved past one stupid decision in a meaningful game. He couldn't and now he is a player that up and coming kids will not want to be compared to. He has really fallen off. I hope he finds his way back, a la Markelle Fultz. But I don't see that happening anytime soon.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

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I'm Done with Ben Simmons

The Nets are struggling. They look bad. Durant is playing as bad as he ever has since returning from injury. The Celtics own them right now. They are getting whatever they want on offense and totally shutting the Nets down on defense.

Fact is that I do not like either team, especially the Celtics, but they look like the best team in the playoffs right now. They are impenetrable. They are getting switches and scoring at will. They should be the favorites.

Also, I could not have been more wrong on the Nets coming into this season. They have been a total mess. They were clear paper tigers. Kyrie is a selfish asshole. KD cannot stay healthy. Steve Nash is not a good coach. They have never gelled. And they traded James Harden away for Ben Simmons. That looked like a big time deal at the time. But I think we are now seeing who Ben Simmons really, truly is as a basketball player. All the talk before game three was that Simmons was going to be back for game four. He was going to be the defensive lynchpin and run the show getting the ball to all those shooters with wide open looks. It was all going to come together for the Nets when Simmons came back. Sure, they were not going to win this series, but they would put up a fight and be the true contender they should have been this season next season. Well, Simmons is now listed out for game four. After the Celtics cruised to a game three win, it seemed all but decided, both the series and Simmons not playing. In all reality I think it is the right move. I told my son that I would have sat him out for game four. The Nets have no chance, so why risk it?. But then the news came out that it was Simmons' decision. That his back was tightening up. That he just could not go out there and further hurt himself.

This is not a very good look. This is exactly what people have been saying about him all season. He is a diva. He is afraid. His nerves are shot. He does not want to go on the floor in a meaningful game and make a mistake. All of it, all of it is true. He is scared. Look, I get being nervous and not wanting to screw up. I live my life every day with anxiety, but Ben Simmons is a professional basketball player. He is paid to play a game. He cannot live in fear of messing up. He will mess up. It is going to happen. But if he continues to live in fear of playing basketball, his career is going to be over before he can even have a chance to redeem himself. This makes all that stuff he did in the offseason and when he returned to the 76ers look even worse. He did not want to show up to practice unless he was traded. That never happened. He was willing to give up his salary to "prove a point". Then he lost hundreds of thousands of dollars a day. He was happy to stare at his phone and sit out drills during practice. He was called out by teammates and coaches. And then he finally got traded and said all these things about seeing him succeed when he got back on the floor. And now he has decided to sit yet again. It is all too much.

I have tried with Simmons. I genuinely like his game. I like a big point guard that plays excellent defense and can find open players everywhere. I rooted for him in college and fully supported him leaving school early to get ready for the pros. I even took time to process him talking about the anxiety and stress he was dealing with while still in Philly. But this is too much. He has said and done too many things for me to root or care about him anymore. He is a liar. He is afraid. He is skittish. He is a child. He is selfish. He only cares about himself. He will never be happy on a basketball court. That is the player I see now. I'm done looking at his jump shots online. I'm sick of hearing about his "progression as an all around player". I'm sick of the media and talking heads telling everyone to give him time. He has had enough time. He got everything he wanted, acting as childish as he did. He got his way. And this is how he repays the league and team that pays him millions upon millions of dollars. Ben Simmons wasted an entire year of his prime trying to prove a point. The only point he proved to me is how afraid and selfish he is.

This is a mess and a Brooklyn Nets team being led by an under qualified Steve Nash is not the place to fix it. Ben Simmons is officially, to me, the most overrated player in the NBA. Well, should I say the most overrated wannabe player in the NBA.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

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Ben Simmons is Soft

I was really hoping that I was going to get to see the debut of Ben Simmons this season tonight when the Nets play the 76ers. Unfortunately, he has been ruled out with a "back injury". Earlier this week he also filed a grievance against the 76ers organization. And, as of this morning, he was apparently harassed outside of his hotel room in Philadelphia. There is a ton of stuff to unpack here, but the one thing this truly screams to me, Ben Simmons is soft.

First off, Philly fans need to chill the hell out. Without Simmons this team would not have risen as fast as they did. Sure he is a very bad shooter, but what he does on the defensive end of the floor is amazing. He is one of the premiere defenders in the league. He can guard all five positions. He helped push that team to the one seed last season and he was crucial to them going down in the bubble when he got hurt. Simmons did some good things while in Philly. I know the fans are mad at him, or whatever, but they have to admit that he was a crucial player up until this season.

This offseason, and where we are now has really shown me a lot, mainly the fact that he is, as I said before, soft. Something went haywire in his brain during the conference finals last season, and instead of owning up to it and making a real effort to get better, he went on the defensive and blamed everyone but himself. I don't blame Doc Rivers for saying he did not know if Simmons could be the point guard of a title contender. He was asked a question in the heat of the moment and he answered truthfully. Rivers messed up by saying he never said that, but, again, I do not disagree with his original statement. I also do not blame Joel Embiid for questioning Simmons' heart and effort. Embiid, when healthy, is a legit MVP candidate. I'd vote for him this season for sure. He has more than proved that this is his team, especially this season with Simmons not playing. The 76ers are the two or three seed in the East, Embiid has kept them afloat, and now that he has Harden as a willing and capable teammate, he looks so much better. Embiid is the 76ers guy. Simmons was never going to be the 76ers guy. I think he knew that, and so did his agency, and that was why, instead of just taking the much deserved heat, he went on the defensive and refused to play until he was traded.

Then we had the video of him reporting to practice, but not paying any attention. He was on his phone, he was not doing drills and he looked like he quit. Then he said he had mental issues to work out. I will never question anyone who says they have mental stuff to work out. I have lived every day of my life with real bad OCD and anxiety. I have been taking medication for 20 plus years now because of my mental stuff. But Simmons seems to be using it as a crutch. Philly's front office offered to get him help, and he refused. He would then go out and do things that people with real mental issues just do not do. I hope he is seeing someone now to get real help, but I also think this was another way to deflect the attention off of his selfishness.

When he was finally traded, he never did what a lot of players do now by saying goodbye to the city that drafted him. He did the opposite. He filed a grievance against the team. He is making it all about him yet again. He is acting like a selfish, spoiled, soft little baby. He has always been coddled, and now that he is a professional, and that stuff doesn't fly as well, he is reverting back to tendencies you see from spoiled little kids. He got his way. He got what he wanted. The Nets are even letting him sit out the game in Philly tonight because we all know Simmons is deathly afraid to go out there and make a mistake. They can say it is injury related all they want, but he is scared. Go and watch what Stephen A Smith had to say about him. I'm not a Smith guy, but he knows Philly sports from covering them for years, and he was right on the money in his assessment of Simmons at the moment. He has wasted a year of his prime to "prove a point". Yet we do not know what type of player we will see when he comes back. Will he still be an incredible defensive player? Can he run the fast break? How will he play with sharp shooters surrounding him? What is going to happen in the playoffs when teams start daring him to shoot, or start intentionally fouling him to put him at the line? How is his mentality going to hold up to that much pressure? There are far, far too many questions right now.

I used to like Simmons. I thought it was rad to see a 6'10 guy run the point. But I have lost any respect I used to have for him after seeing his attitude and reaction to the dreadful playoff performance last season. It is never his fault, he puts the blame on everyone else. He is soft. He is coddled. And he may be done as a prime time NBA player. I guess we will have to wait until he is less scared to see if he can still play this game at the highest level. That is a real shame.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

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Is Philly the Right Spot for Doc Rivers?

Doc Rivers wasn't unemployed very long. Last week he took the head coach opening in Philly, and will try and right the ship for the 76ers.

I am kind of on the fence about this hire. Rivers is an okay coach, a great person, and has won with a super star team. But, he couldn't get the job done in Orlando, he struggled in Boston until they acquired Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, and we all saw both meltdowns in LA while he was coaching the Clippers. He does have the one ring, and I fully agree with his political and emotional statements he has made recently, but he is, for the most part, when it comes to strictly basketball, an underachieving head coach. Orlando was not going to work for him. They never had guys that were going to lead that team any further than the first round of the playoffs. Boston was a mess until they got two stars. They were the first of the new era "super teams", and they only won one Finals, while going to two. Then he just could not get the Clippers over the edge. He has had some very talented rosters, except Orlando, but he only has one championship. Guys like Phil Jackson have had more star power, at least at the top, but never the bench players that Rivers had, and Jackson won two handfuls of rings. Greg Poppovich has built a culture in San Antonio, had stars, had role players and has coached them to five titles, while appearing in, I think, seven Finals. Erik Spoelstra is proving right now that he is a top tier head coach. He had the super team, with Wade, LeBron and Chris Bosh, and went to four Finals and won two. Now he has a team led by Jimmy Butler and a cast of dudes, old and young, and they have a chance to make this Finals a real series on Tuesday. Mike Brown was coach of the Cavs, and yes he had LeBron, but the rest of that team was very blah, and he led them to a Finals. Ty Lue had a super team, not as well rounded as what Rivers had in Boston, but he has as many rings as Rivers. Rivers is a solid manager of stars, and he will get you to the playoffs, and even make the team seem like a threat, but nothing more. His teams have, more often than not, stumbled in the playoffs.

Now Rivers is going to take over a 76ers team that has a load of talent at the top, but they have flamed out of the playoffs, especially being swept out of the first round this year. They also have two stars that, if you listen to reputable NBA journalists, don't like one another. They also have a great, great big man, who has modernized his game, but doesn't always seem to give one hundred percent. And their other star gets hurt far too often, and is terrified to shoot jumpers. I'm curious to see how Rivers handles these two guys, Embiid and Simmons, and how he deals with the rest of the roster. He has, alongside Embiid and Simmons, Tobias Harris, Matisse Thybulle, Jason Richardson, Al Horford and some other dudes. So, Rivers does have stars, but not the level star that Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett were, and are currently. He also has guys that should be good defenders, at least on paper. They are big and long and mean and stingy. But, will he get them to buy in? Will Embiid be the Kawhi or KG type that gets these guys to buy into playing defense? I don't know, and I don't know if Embiid truly wants to be a top tier defender, and I love Embiid. He just doesn't always give it his all. And as far as going East, it seems good, but that was until I watched the playoffs this year. The East isn't nearly as tough as the West, but the top is solid. If Milwaukee keeps Giannis, they will still be the top team. Boston has shown that they are up and coming and just about there. I think Toronto has one more year in them with this group, and I do think that Pascal Siakim can be the next star to lead a team. Miami is currently in the Finals, and outside Butler, that team is young and in sync. The East is getting better, and Philly looks a bit slow compared to the other teams.

I knew Rivers would get a job, and I assumed it would be during the off season. I am a little surprised he took the 76ers job, but maybe they gave him the best offer. I know Chicago already filled their vacancy, but I would have liked to see him there instead of Billy Donovan. I also think he could have fit in well in Houston. They have the offense, and he would have brought the defensive mentality that the team needs to get to the next level. Even New Orleans seemed like a better fit to me because he could have molded that roster in his image. But, in Philly all he has to do is coach. No front office stuff to deal with, no draft to deal with, just coach. But, he has to get this team to do some things their young stars have been reluctant to do, or have just decided they won't do it. I hope Rivers does well because I truly like him, but I feel like the 76ers were the toughest roster for him to work with. We will see it come next season. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

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A Few Thoughts on the Jimmy Butler Trade

Jimmy Butler finally got what he wanted. He is no longer on the Timberwolves. He got out. All his whining and griping and bitching and moaning and poor attitude and disgusting behavior paid off. He is not on the team that he seemed like he would finish his career with after leaving the Bulls. Now, he has destroyed 2 locker rooms and he is on to his third.

First things first, I do not think Jimmy Butler is the type of player that can act like this. While I do think he is one of the better 2 way players in the league, he is not the type of player that can yell and demean his teammates and demand a trade and expect a big time contract. He is 29. I know that is not old, but in basketball years, with the amount of time he plays in games, and the playoff games he has been too, that is pretty old. He also has a history of lower body injuries. He seems to get hurt quite a bit. He also complains when teammates don't play or practice to his "level". He is also a mediocre shooter. Yes, he can create shots and get to the rim, but as a floor spacer, I don't buy it.

Second, the way he has conducted himself for the past 2 years is loathsome. As I said, while he is a great player, he is not as good as he thinks. He is not LeBron James, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, James Harden, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis or Giannis Antentokoumpo, just to name a few. Those guys are upper echelon players. Those dudes can come to a team and easily make them a contender. Those guys can demand trades and find a way out if they see that the current team they are on is not going anywhere. Jimmy Butler, to me, lands more in the Blake Griffin, Carmelo Anthony, Andrew Wiggins, Rajon Rondo category. While great, he isn't a top tier player, although he acts like it. Jimmy Butler, as a basketball player, I like. That's it, just like. As a person, I cannot stand what he has become. He is entitled. He thinks too highly of himself. He is more about money than titles. It is obvious.

Now, for how I see this as simply a basketball trade, I am not convinced. I liked the young core the 76ers had. I actually thought that "The Process" was working out. They seemed ahead of schedule. With this trade, they got to keep the important components, but they traded away 2 great locker room guys. Everyone seemed to like Robert Covington's work ethic and his fit on the team. From what I have heard, Dario Saric was the funniest guy on the team and he cheered everyone up when he showed up to practice. The other 2 guys in the trade, Jerryd Bayless and a 2022 second round pick are of no consequence to me. The 76ers got a young big man, Justin Patton and, of course, Jimmy Butler. Patton won't play much. Butler is going to be a starter. He is going to be a focal point of that offense and the go to defensive guy. He will guard the other team's best player every night he plays. He will also be the creator on the offense for the team. He does make the 76ers a top 3 team in the East right away. But, does this trade make the 76ers better than the Bucks, Raptors or Celtics? Maybe just the Celtics. The Raptors have a much better version of Jimmy Butler in Kawhi and the Bucks have Giannis.

As far as being a teammate, this is going to be a disaster for a 76ers franchise that was on the come up. Jimmy Butler will think he runs the team, but this is Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid's team. That is not even up for debate. I'd go so far as to say that this is Embiid's team, and Simmons is the second most important player. They are the 76ers. They have built this team around those 2 guys strengths. They have added the players they deem best to suit Embiid and Simmons games. Guys like JJ Redick give them the shooting they need. He is the only shooter they have, but he is a solid shooter and a bad defender. They have some young talent, specifically Landry Shamet, that will grow into his role as the future point guard of the team. TJ McConnell is the energy guy they need. And then we have Markelle Fultz. This trade is going to destroy Fultz's already shaky game. He has been an absolute disaster as a NBA player. While I had hope that he could get out of this funk, he has seemingly gotten worse. Take his free throw shot from last night, where he pumped faked. I fully, fully believe that he was thinking about Jimmy Butler during that shot. He knows that Butler is going to give him the business if he shoots like that in practice. We have all seen what Butler is capable of doing when he is mad at players on his current team. He will demean and yell at them, and then make it public knowledge. He will make sure he dominates them as well. Fultz is not going to be able to handle this. Guys like Simmons and Embiid will be able to, not only take his shit, they will be able to give it back ten fold, especially Embiid. Redick won't stand for his nonsense, he is a veteran, and he has played with Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. Shamet has his head on straight, and anything Butler says will just roll off of him. But Fultz is going to crack. He looks so out of sorts, the last thing he needs is a guy like Butler publicly calling him out in practice and games. It would be in his and the 76ers best intentions to trade him immediately, but I don't think anyone else wants him. Again, look at his free throw attempt from the other night. This dude has issues, and Jimmy Butler will only make it worse for him.

While this trade makes the 76ers better right now, I am not a fan of it. And just when I was started to get into this team they do this. The Timberwolves, the other team in this trade, if they fire Tom Thibodeau, this may benefit them. Wiggins and KAT don't have to worry about Butler's bull shit. The guards will get to play freely. Saric and Covington are solid NBA players that can play. And Josh Okogie looks like a real point guard. When/if they get a new coach, the Timberwolves could be the West's version of the Pacers.

In the end Jimmy Butler got his wish, but it comes at a big time cost. For the 76ers case, I hope they win or are able to resign him. Also, I hope they trade Fultz for his case. I'm not a fan of this trade because I do not think Jimmy Butler is top notch, build your team around style player. The 76ers should have stuck with what they were doing. That is my take.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet. 

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The Utah Jazz's Donovan Mitchell Does Not Look Like a Rookie

I know that I have talked about my 2 favorite football teams the past 2 days, but today I'm going to talk basketball. And no, I am not going to talk about a team, I'm going to talk about a player.

What Donovan Mitchell has done in his first 2 NBA playoff games is beyond impressive. I was already a fan of this kid, but man has he won me aboard with his last 2 games. He has, pretty much all season, been the Jazz only hope on offense. For a team to give the keys over to a rookie, and trust him like they have is very impressive. And, the way Mitchell has responded is incredible.

Mitchell will not win Rookie of the Year, Ben Simmons sewed that up, but he has been, by far, the best rookie in the first 2 playoff games, and his year end stretch is second to none, literally. With his 28 point performance last night, he officially surpassed Michael Jordan, the GOAT, for most points in a player's first 2 playoff games ever. He single handily won that game last night. Hell, if not for Paul George going bonkers in game one, and if he didn't hurt his foot, Mitchell could have won game one too. He did put up 27 in that game. He is doing it all on offense for the Jazz, and he is doing it at as high a level as anyone playing right now, with LeBron being the lone exception.

Along with Mitchell, the Jazz have a very, very good defense. Rudy Gobert is awesome. Ricky Rubio is a thorn in opponent point guards side. Derrick Favors can do some stuff. Jae Crowder, while not as good as he once was, can still pressure players. But, their offense would be dreadful if not for Mitchell. I love Gobert, but he is an old school center. His 2 main objectives when he is on the floor is to block shots and rebound. Every now and then he will throw down an alley oop or get a put back dunk, but he is most known for defense. Ricky Rubio may be shooting more this year, but he has never been an offensive threat his entire career. He may be trying to get better, but he is what he is, a wonderful passer and a headache. Joe Ingles can shoot the three, but that is it. He is not great for pretty much anything else. Derrick Favors was, at one time, a good offensive player, but he is getting older and his game is not what it once was.

This all means that the Jazz have to lean on Mitchell, and he is answering the bell. He is being guarded by all of the Thunder's best defensive players, except Andre Roberson since he is hurt, and he is doing things that a 9 year All Star does, not a rookie. He is making shots. He is getting to the rim. He is getting to the foul line. He is making life miserable for the Thunder, and he is a rookie. That is insane. I don't think people realize that what he is doing is truly impressive. The Thunder have the 2 best guys on the floor at any time in this series, Russ and PG, but Mitchell is outplaying them both right now if you ask me. He is also being talked about much more than either of those guys too. If George didn't have that 36 point game in game 1, the story would have all been all about Mitchell. He crushed it in game 1, then came out and played even better in game 2.

I looked around at the other rookies in the playoffs, and the only one that even comes close is Simmons. Jayson Tatum has been fine for the Celtics, but he is just doing what he has to do for them. That is what has made him so good in his rookie campaign. Simmons is going off, almost getting a triple double in their game one win, but he was kind of neutralized in game 2. Then as you go down the line, the rookies getting real time gets real thin. Semi Ojeley is doing some things for Boston, but nothing to write home about. OG Anounoby has been good, but much like Tatum, he is doing what is asked of him, nothing more. Jordan Bell, who was playing a ton early in the season, has seen his minutes drop in the playoffs.

When you really break it down, Mitchell is outplaying all of his rookie peers, and dare I say, he may be the second best player in all of the playoffs right now, behind only LeBron James. He is killing it out on the floor. He is the reason the Jazz were picked by many to win this series, and he is living up to the hype. I'm sure the awards have already been decided, but he is doing some things that would have made it more difficult to pick between him and Simmons.

The Jazz go as Donovan Mitchell goes, and right now, that is a good thing. Right now, they don't miss Gordon Hayward, Rodney Hood or George Hill because they have Mitchell to lean on. I'm so excited to watch this kid play, and I cannot wait to see him rise to superstardom very soon. He is going to be a multiple All Star, and I wouldn't be shocked if he starts getting mentioned as the future of the NBA right along with Joel Embiid, Lonzo Ball and Ben Simmons.

Donovan Mitchell is awesome, and he makes me excited for the future of the NBA. This kid is amazing. Watch him if you haven't yet. It is so worth it.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on all the internet.

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Ty Predicts the 2018 NBA Award Winners

As I promised yesterday, today I will be giving out my 2017-18 NBA regular season awards.

Now, for starters I am not going to do All NBA, All Rookie and All Defensive teams. That would be too much, and to be quite frank, I don't care about those teams. I know the players do, because of contract stuff, but I honestly could care less about it.

Also, I need to give a quick congratulations to Russell Westbrook for doing the unthinkable again. The fact that he went out and averaged a triple double for a second straight season is truly amazing. I know people call him a stat chaser and what not, but come on, 2 seasons averaging a triple double is something that will never, ever happen again. He is an otherworldly athlete and basketball player, and instead of always shitting on this guy, people need to start respecting what he is doing. He is an amazing talent that we are taking for granted right now. He will be so much more appreciated when he retires, but right now, respect what this man has done because it is wonderful. I only say this because he won't be winning any of my awards, but I had to shout him out because he is awesome. All kinds of props to Russell Westbrook. He is great.

Okay, now to the awards for the regular season. I'll start with the "lower" level awards and work my way up to MVP. So, the first award that I will be giving away is Sixth Man of the Year. There are not too many candidates for this award this year. Guys I thought about at first were Eric Gordon and Cavalier Rodney Hood. But, Gordon isn't doing what he did last year this year, and Hood has started more games than coming off the bench. I also tried to find a way to get Manu Ginobli in the conversation, but he just doesn't put up the numbers like he used to. When I actually thought about it though, the Sixth Man of the Year is Lou Williams. This dude is instant offense off the bench and every team he has been on, he does good things on offense when he comes in. Lou Williams is a shooter and nothing more, but the dude can fill it up. He is easily the winner of this award for the year. Hopefully next year he is on a team that he can help in the playoffs.

Lets move to Defensive Player of the Year next. When the season was at the midway point, I might have picked Kevin Durant. He was playing out of his mind on that end, but he got hurt and he was out of the race. Draymond Green was another possibility, what with him still being able to guard all 5 positions, and guard them well, but he also missed a myriad of games, thus pulling him out of the race for me. Anthony Davis was another possibility, but he has had to take some plays off on defense because he has done so much on offense since Boogie went out. No, when I actually got down to it, Rudy Gobert is the Defensive Player of the Year. You may say, he missed games too, but not as much as KD and Draymond. Also, when Gobert is out there, he is, by far, the best rim protector in the game. He is the key to what the Jazz want to do, and he is awesome. Gobert wins this award by a mile. We have three awards left to give out.

Next, Coach of the Year. This category is stacked. There are so many candidates. Guys like Gregg Poppovich come to mind. He has the Spurs back in the playoffs, and Kawhi Leonard only played 9 games all year. Nate McMillan has done a wonderful job of turning the Pacers into a legit threat. Brad Stevens is quickly climbing up the ladder as one of the best minds in basketball, and boy have the Celtics suffered crucial injuries too. Dwayne Casey finally got his team into the modern game, and the Raptors are the number one seed in the East. Hell, even Erik Spoelstra, with a garbage roster, has his team in the playoffs. But, when I really pored over it, how does Quinn Snyder not win this award? He lost his best player, he lost George Hill, Gobert missed time and he turned the keys to the offense over to a rookie. And, the Jazz won 45 plus games and are the 5 seed in the West. Snyder has bypassed any expectations I had when he became an NBA coach, and he has done a wonderful job. He is my Coach of the Year.

Rookie of the Year was a contest until recently. It was really down to 2 guys, Donovan Mitchell and Ben Simmons. I know that Dennis Smith Jr had some highlight dunks, Jayson Tatum is a key cog for the Celtics, Frank Ntilikina has been amazing on defense and Lonzo Ball has really come into his own. But, Mitchell and Simmons are clearly better than all these guys by a mile. I was pulling hard for Mitchell because of all the things he has done all year with the Jazz, but Ben Simmons, in this 16 game win streak for the 76ers, has grabbed this award and he is not letting it go. He has been, not just the best rookie, but one of the ten best players in the league right now. And for all the people who say he isn't a rookie, stop. This is his first year playing pro basketball. Sure, he was drafted last year, but he played zero minutes. This is, for all intents and purposes, his rookie year, and he will walk away, easily I might add, with the Rookie of the Year award.

Finally, we have MVP. Much like Rookie of the Year, this is a 2 man race. There were times during the year that guys like LaMarcus Aldridge, DeMar DeRozan, Damian Lillard and even Russ got some love. But, all that petered out due to various reasons. And for the people that want to float out Joel Embiid, or any Warrior player, nope. Embiid will be one of the best players soon, but he is not an MVP yet, and the Warriors guys have all missed too much time throughout the year. The MVP is between LeBron James and James Harden. And, James Harden will finally take home his first MVP award. He has been absolutely amazing this year. The things he is doing on offense are so wonderful. He has worked so well with Chris Paul. The pick and roll with him and Clint Capela is nearly unstoppable. Harden has had a great year and he will get his much deserved MVP. James has put in a hell of a season though. He has put up amazing numbers too. He played all 82 games, something he has never done. He has carried a bad team with a bad coach all year long. He has taken over games against better competition recently. But, what separates him and Harden is the fact that the Cavs are the 4 seed in the East and the Rockets are the 1 in the West, and number one overall seed in all of the NBA. That is due, mainly, to

Harden. There you have it, my 2017-18 NBA regular season award winners.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on all the internet.

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Don't Believe the Ball Hype. Simmons, Embiid, and the 76'ers are the Future of the NBA

Last night I stayed up to watch some basketball. The college season is in full swing, and so is the NBA. I watched the end of the Cavs-Hornets game on ESPN while also checking in on some Big Ten basketball and some other games I could find on cable.

The real reason I stayed up because I wanted to see the 76ers play. I haven't gotten to see Ben Simmons play yet, and I was curious. I have heard so many good things about him, but I wanted to see for myself. Unfortunately they were playing the Lakers, and all the talk on ESPN was about the "big" rookie matchup between Simmons and Lonzo Ball. ESPN seemed to solely focus on Ball, with a few mentions here and there of Simmons. The love for the Ball family has got to stop from ESPN. It is becoming disturbing how much they cover this kid, his father and brothers, I'm sick of it.

To make matters worse for the Ball family, and ESPN as well, Ball continued his awful play so far this year last night. Sure, he has had 2 good games, both against Phoenix, and we are only about 15 games in, but he has STRUGGLED mightily so far. When he gets pressured he gets rid of the ball in a flash. He cannot play defense, and his shooting has been atrocious. I'm sure he will get this all figured out, he is a good basketball player. But, when he isn't even the best rookie on his team, that goes to Kyle Kuzma, the hype needs to stop, at least for now.

The best rookie, and probably second best player on the floor last night, was Ben Simmons. He is as advertised. He is a 6'10 point guard, that sometimes plays power forward. He, like Ball, cannot shoot outside, and his free throw shooting is pretty bad too, but he controls the game in other ways. He can get to the basket with relative ease. I found it hilarious that the Lakers thought they could put Ball on him on defense to start the game. Every time down the floor, Simmons either backed him down and kicked it out to a wide open shooter, or he slashed to the basket for an easy dunk. It was obvious who was the better "first" year player from the opening tap. Besides getting to the hoop, Simmons just seemed to carry himself in a way that Ball hasn't, and may never, get to. Simmons was out there to win the game by any means necessary. He knows his role on the 76ers, and he is determined to show that he can ball out on any given night. Ball seemed a little lost, or maybe disinterested is the right word. Any time Simmons put pressure on him, he got rid of the ball immediately. Any time he had a look at a jumper he passed. He only took shots when he was wide open, and those clanked off the rim. Hell, even when Simmons switched to the 4, and TJ McConnell played the point, Ball couldn't handle him on either end of the floor. McConnell would drive by him for easy layups, and force Ball to either pass it too early, or turn it over. Simmons looked confident too. Like I said, he doesn't have a jumper, but that didn't stop him from attacking, or shooting a hook shot, which he is quite adept at already. He knows his limitations, and he knows what he does really well already. He had no problem setting up teammates, grabbing rebounds or playing defense. He is a Swiss Army knife player at only 20 years old.

Both of these guys paled in comparison to the night that Joel Embiid had. My god was he dominant. He ended the night with 46 points, 15 rebound and 7 blocks. That's some Hakeen Olajuwon type shit right there. I know it was only against the lowly and hapless Lakers, but damn, what a stat line. Embiid is so much fun to watch. I wanted to go to bed, but I just couldn't look away when he was on the floor. If he can stay healthy, which may be the biggest if in all of professional sports, this guy could very well be on his way to the Hall of Fame. He is so big, but graceful. He is dominant, but has a soft touch. He kills you in he post, but he can take you out to the three point line. I beg the NBA gods to not let this kid get hurt. He is the next big time star. He is who the league should look to make the new face of when LeBron James retires. He oozes star quality. And, he is on the same team with the heavy, heavy favorite for Rookie of the Year, Ben Simmons.

I still think it will take at least another year before the 76ers are a playoff team, and these 2 have got to show me that they can play, at the very least, 60 games in the regular season. But damn, Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid can play some great basketball. I have adopted the Timberwolves and Spurs as my 2 new favorite teams, but I very much enjoyed watching the 76ers play last night. I did not think I would be saying that for some time, due to the tanking, but it's true. Do yourselves a favor and watch this team, but more importantly, watch Embiid and Simmons. They could very well be the future of this league.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet. 

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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Ty Tells You How each NBA Team Can Win the Title: Nets, 76ers, and Lakers

In what will become a yearly tradition, I will count down all 30 NBA teams, from worst to best, prior to the start of the season. The regular season kicks off on October 25th, so I figured there was no better time than 2 weeks before to give you guys and girls my rankings and predictions. This will span the next 10 days, but I will sprinkle in some of my other stuff, i.e. "Ty Watches", and other pop culture things, but the NBA will be my main focus for the rest of this week, and most of next week.

Okay, enough foreplay, let's get to it.

Coming in at number 30, the worst team in the NBA in the 2016-17 season will be...the Brooklyn Nets. You thought I would pick the 76ers, they'll be on this list very soon, but I think the Nets will be slightly worse. The Nets are a dumpster fire. They have a few quality players, well, maybe only Brook Lopez, but other than him, this team is either too young, too overrated, or just plain bad. But wait you say, they signed Jeremy Lin and Luis Scola this offseason. I say, so what. Why Jeremy Lin worked in Charlotte was because he wasn't the first option. He was instant offense off the bench. In Brooklyn, he will be the guy, and that does not bode well for the Nets. Scola is old, slow, can't score anymore and is a liability on defense. Brook Lopez is a very good throwback center, but he is oft injured, but he will do his thing, but it won't matter because he has little to no help. He will probably miss some games too, as he always does. The fact that he didn't miss a game last year was a total outlier. That won't happen again. The rest of the roster is filled with guys like Randy Foye, Bojan Bogdanovic, Anthony Bennett and Grevies Vasquez. Does that sound like any kind of good NBA team? I didn't think so. The rookies they picked are so so. Caris Levert, who I root for because he played at Michigan, cannot stay healthy. Yogi Ferrell is smart, but slow and small. The NBA is going to be a grind for him. The Nets will be lucky to win 20 games this year. Bill Simmons should be thrilled because the Celtics are going to be picking in the lottery once again, the Nets owe their pick to them, because the Nets stink. This team is a mess and they will be a mess all year. I feel bad for Brook Lopez because he is legitimately good, he just has no help.

So Ty, how will the Nets win the title? The only way the Nets will win the title is if every other team decides to tank, and that is still a total longshot.

Coming in at number 29, the Philadelphia 76ers. I have been harder on the 76ers than most, but they finally rid themselves of the mess that was Sam Hinkie and "trusting the process". That was a complete waste of 4 years, the 76ers became a joke and I felt that I could play for that team. They are still a terrible team, but they have the look of a team that may, at the very least, try to win some games this year. I mean, they only won 10 all of last year, so there is nowhere to go but up. I know that their first pick, and the top overall pick in the draft, Ben Simmons, is out with a foot injury, but they should still be slightly better than 10 wins. The bummer with the Simmons injury, if you are a 76ers fan, that kid needs to play NBA games. He has no jumper and looks a tad slow right now. He needs that game experience because he is the type of player that will get better when he plays top level competition. But, the 76ers do get to finally see Joel Embiid, after 2 lost years. He has played in a preseason game, so I'm going to assume he will be playing when the season starts. He looked good during the preseason game too. He has great feet and is a decent low post scorer. He could be a decent defender too. Time will tell, but I'd be optimistic that Embiid could be a good NBA player. Nerlens Noel, who is forever on the trading block, is a very good defender and rebounder, but he has no offensive game whatsoever. He is a skinny version of DeAndre Jordan, but I think Noel is a better defender. He will probably be traded though. Jahlil Okafor is a good scorer, but he is an average rebounder and a terrible defender. He is also a hothead, so who knows how many games he'll play. Dario Saric is supposed to finally come over to the NBA, and he looks pretty good. He is a lot like Simmons, just 4 inches shorter. A lot of people have been waiting to see this guy play, me included, and he is supposed to be pretty good. But, who knows. Other than these guys, the 76ers roster stinks. Elton Brand is a million years old. Nik Stauskas is a bust. Jerami Grant cannot slow himself down and is always out of control. Jerryd Bayless is a poor three point shooter, which is his "specialty". This team is lousy. I do like the young guys, but they have too many big men, and Simmons is going to miss a lot of time. They 76ers will win more than 10 games, but they won't get to 20. They are, as I said before, only marginally better than the Nets, but both teams stink.

So Ty, how will the 76ers win the title? The same goes with the 76ers title chances as goes with the Nets title chances. They need every other team to have massive injuries and they still won't win anything close to a title.

Coming in at number 28, I have the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers finally got the Kobe Bryant problem off their books with his retirement. He was the main reason this historic franchise has been a gutter team for the past 4 years. I'm thrilled that he is done in the NBA. This roster is young, and could be good in about 3 or 4 years, but they do not have the players to compete right now. I do like the hiring of Luke Walton, but only for the Lakers. I thought Walton could have gotten a better job, but I'm sure he wanted to go back to the franchise that he played for. I get it, I just think it was a poor choice from Walton. Like I said, they have a good young nucleus, they just aren't ready to compete for anything important. Julius Randle is a very good low post scorer, and he could turn into a decent defender. Brandon Ingram was one of the few young guys I liked in the draft, but he needs to gain weight and start to look like he cares about basketball. He is a little too lax looking when he is on the court, and veterans will exploit that. Jordan Clarkson is a star in the making and he will thrive now that Bryant is gone. He can score anywhere on the court, and he can be a good defender, if he commits himself. The jury is still out on D'Angelo Russell. Will he learn from mistakes last year, or will he continue to be a locker room pariah? Can he score at an elite level? Can he defend the better point guards in the league? Can he play a whole season? Can he become a leader? These are all questions that have no answers right now. Russell will show this season if he is going to be worth the number 2 pick, or if he is going to be a bust. Then, their free agent class is a joke. Loul Deng, old and slow, Timofey Mozgov, couldn't see the court after the all star break for the Cavs last season, Yi Jianlian, who hasn't been in the NBA for years and was crushed by NBA players in the Olympics and Metta World Peace, didn't he retire a few years ago, just terrible. This team is going to be at the bottom of the league until the young players develop. The Lakers have proven to not be a free agent destiny in the past few years for star free agents, so they have had to build via the draft. They may be the first team to crack 20 wins, but that is it, 20 wins. The Lakers stink, and they will continue to stink until they land a big time free agent, or the young players develop.

So Ty, how will the Lakers win the title? The only chance the Lakers have to win the title is if they trade for Russell Westbrook, just re upped with OKC, Kevin Love, is he even elite anymore and one more big time player, and that is not happening.

That's it for day one. come back tomorrow for numbers 27, 26 and 25.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He was on the draft board for the 76ers, they just wanted him to sit for 15 years first. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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In the Barren Landscape of Summer Sports, the NBA Summer League is No Oasis

Not much to look at.

I've been watching summer league basketball because there is, basically, nothing else sports related that I can get into. Sure, baseball is fun and all, and they have hit the 90 game mark, but that means there are still, at least, 70 games left to play. I mean, the Cardinals, my team, are barely over .500, but they still have a chance at the wild card spot if they finish barely over .500. Baseball is only fun, for me, when it gets down to the very end of the regular season, and the post season is great. I don't watch car racing, golf, soccer, tennis, all of that does not interest me.

But, basketball, and more specifically, NBA basketball, I enjoy quite a bit. Summer league seemed like a cool thing that I could watch to get me over my sports blues this summer. I had never really paid much attention to it until now. But I figured, better late than never. Well, I'm here today to tell you fine people that summer league is an absolute waste of time.

This doesn't mean that I will stop watching. I plan on watching one of the summer league's championship games tonight when the Bulls face the Timberwolves. But, after watching it for about 2 weeks straight now, it is so much worse than the D League or any other "pro" basketball that I have watched. I get that this is a good starting point for the rookies. They need to get their feet wet, and what better way than to play some games in the summer. I don't think any of the top rookies played more than 5 or 6 games, which is a nice start for them.

The competition these players are facing in the summer league is nowhere near what they will face when the regular season tips off. I watched a 76ers-Lakers game earlier this summer because I wanted to see Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram play. Besides the two of them, the only players I recognized where Larry Nance Jr and D'Angelo Russell of the Lakers and Nik Stauskas of the 76ers. Those are not big time NBA players by any stretch of anyone's imagination. Russell has the ability to be a star, but he hasn't proven it yet, and most of the top picks from last years draft, Karl Anthony Towns, Kristaps Porzingis and Jahlil Okafor weren't playing in summer league. I think it's a little telling that Russell was playing. Maybe the Lakers aren't as high on him as some thought. But, the rest of the players that filled up the Lakers and 76ers rosters were guys that are on their last shot, undrafted rookies or guys just trying to make, at the very least, a D League team. I love the NBA and college basketball, but I hadn't heard of 65 to 70 percent of these other players. And, their games were not that good anyway.

One of the main problems I have with summer league is the fact that some of these guys are trying to get a full contract, so they play hero ball and shoot every time they touch the ball. It's no fun to watch players I've never heard of constantly go one on one and miss shot after shot. Then, the rookies, Ingram and Simmons, didn't really impress. I don't think Simmons was going full speed. I'm pretty sure he is saving himself for the regular season. But, he still does not have any jump shot, and until he finds one, he will be just an average NBA player. Possibly, a fringe starter. Ingram looked good at times, but he also looked really passive and tense at times as well. He passed on open threes, he didn't attack the rim and he got beat a lot on defense. He was probably going half speed as well, but still, he was getting beat by no names. That never looks good. Then, the other day, I watched a Pelicans summer league game to watch Buddy Hield. He looked fine, but his jumper seemed rushed, he seemed rushed and he didn't play much defense. His passing was fine, but it's summer league, and as I have already stated, the competition is not so good. The Suns were on the other day and I watched them because Devin Booker was playing, but so was Dragan Bender and Tyler Ulis. Booker looked great, but he should. He proved during his rookie year that he can score against NBA competition, so I expected him to dominate. Tyler Ulis looked decent, but competition, once again, is poor. He was fast and darted around the court, but what about when he has to go up against Chris Paul or Russell Westbrook? They will eat him up because he is very short and isn't much of a threat on offense. Then there's Bender. He is supposed to be like Porzingis, but he is not. He looked lost, got beat consistently by Jake Layman in a game, couldn't score and seemed more interested in his personal look than his game. Bender was disappointing. Other than those guys, nothing really important or mind changing happened. We have the players I mentioned, but guys like Denzel Valentine looked fine. Kris Dunn was up and down. Jaylen Brown has all the athleticism in the world, but he can't finish. Jamal Murray was non existent. The Greek center the Kings drafted looked awful. It was everything I expected, which was a bummer.

I was excited to give the summer league a chance, but it is very, very mediocre basketball at best. I'm just aching for the NBA and college football to come back, so this was a nice, albeit very garbage way, to watch a sport I love. I wouldn't read too far into anything other sports and pop culture writers are saying about the "winners and losers" from summer league. No one knows how good these guys will be until they play real competition in a real NBA game. The summer league is a tease. I won't stop watching it, but I won't stop complaining about it either.

At least I get to watch Olympic basketball in a few weeks, if that is any real consolation.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Who does Ty think are the 10 Greatest Athletes of the 21st? Download the latest X Millennial Man Podcast to find out. When you are done listening, follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

A Bunch of the Wrong Kids will be Picked at the Top of the NBA Draft

We do not think the future of the NBA is the kind of bad kid sneaking smokes.

With the NBA draft one week from today, I have a few thoughts I'd like to float about this draft.

First off, publications like Deadspin, ESPN and Fox Sports need to stop giving Ben Simmons a free pass on everything. Simmons came out the other day and said that he did not want to work out for the 76ers. I'm sorry, but when did every single draft eligible player become so entitled that they get to choose which team they want to lay for? You should be extremely excited that you are about to be paid millions of dollars to play a game. Sure, the 76ers are really, really, really bad, but so are the Lakers, Nets, Timberwolves and Suns. Why do these guys want to be playing for some other moribound franchise. Sure, The Lakers are in LA, but the Lakers are just as bad as the 76ers, and they have a much worse team chemistry. The Nets are in Brooklyn, but they are horrific, and unless they trade some of their ancient "assets", they don't have a pick in the next couple of drafts. the Timberwolves are kind of looking like they may turn it around, but Thibodeau wants to trade that pick to bring in a veteran leader, maybe Jimmy Butler. The Suns have no one else besides Devin Booker, so why do these young guys want to play in the desert? It's extremely hot in Phoenix, all the time. So, especially Deadspin, whose owners filed for bankruptcy protection, need to stop giving this kid a pass and saying it is his right. Sure, he can say who he wants to play for, but if he gets picked by the 76ers, that's his team. I despise guys like John Elway and Eli Manning because they did this exact same thing. They bitched and moaned and griped until they got their way, like spoiled, rotten, bratty little children. It's so childish. If I was the GM or owner of the 76ers, I'd pick Simmons out of spite.

Next, why are Simmons, Brandon Ingram and Jamal Murray the only "top" prospects. the three of them are all 19 or 20 year old that didn't get past the round of 16 in the tournament. Jamal Murray's team, Kentucky, was bounced in the round of 32. Brandon Ingram and Duke lost to Oregon in the round of 16. And Ben Simmons, they didn't even play in the NIT, so none of that sounds desirable to me. Of these three players, I think Ingram has the most upside, but he is a ways away from being a big time NBA player. I don't care how many jump shots, with no defense being played, that they make in individual workouts, for the guys that workout. I don't care about their vertical or their cone drill speed, all this combine stuff is as useless as the NFL combine results. What I care about is the in game stuff. I watch a tone of NBA and college basketball, so I have seen these three guys play. Murray was lost among the loaded Kentucky team. When you have 5,6 or even 7 players that can be picked, it is hard to stand out, unless you are an Anthony Davis or Karl Anthony-Towns. Brandon Ingram was good to great at times for Duke, but he is rail thin and he tends to settle for way more jumpers than he should be taking. He also takes possessions off sometimes on defense, and I don't like that. Ingram can, and probably will, get bigger, but he has to fully engage before I deem him a star.

Then there is Simmons. While he looks like an NBA player, he is big, can handle the ball and has great court vision, he also did not lead LSU to any tournament and as the season wore on, he looked tired and not as aggressive as he was at the start of the season. Everyone told me that I had to watch this kid play, so I started with his game against Oklahoma, and I came away very unimpressed. A lot of that is coaching, but if Simmons is the superstar that people are making him out to be, he should have willed that LSU team to, at the very least, 20 wins and an NCAA tournament bid. Simmons doesn't look like he will live up to the hype, at least in my opinion.

Finally, why aren't more people talking about Buddy Hield and Denzel Valentine as top 3 to 5 picks. Both guys had illustrious college careers. Both guys are gunners from the three, which is where the NBA is trending. Both guys play formidable defense, Valentine more so than Hield, but when they engage, they are close to lock down. Both have led their respective teams to a final four bid. Both scored 20 plus points per game. Both ran their teams offense at the most crucial times during their college careers. But the main thing, both are 22 years old. They have matured over 4 years of college. They may not be as good, who am I kidding, there is no way they'll be as good, but Tim Duncan, Patrick Ewing and Magic Johnson all spent four years in college. Did that hinder their careers? Did they miss out on their prime of basketball by staying in school for four years? No and no. They all had great, hall of fame careers. This new era of the NBA drafting 18, 19 and 20 year old kids is watering down the NBA. The only one and done player from last years draft worth his salt in the NBA is Karl Anthony-Towns. Ever other freshman drafted last year, who knows.

If I had a team with a lottery pick, I'd definitely take Hield, but I'd also consider Valentine before I consider Simmons, Murray or Ingram. I prefer seasoned basketball players that are mature to teenagers that may or may not be ready for a big boy job. Basketball is a year round job and these young kids, who have never been pushed, are going to have a tough time adjusting. Take Hield or Valentine, not the freshman, your team will be better off in the long run.

Also, the draft is a waste of time and nobody should watch it, it's boring and ridiculous.

Ty 

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is available to be the gm for any NBA team, he knows most of the league could use a new GM. Reach Ty by following him on twitter @tykulik.

The 76ers are the Best at Being the Worst Basketball Franchise

Let me know when the 76ers are good and then I will fly away.

This week will be all basketball talk from me, specifically NBA talk. I love basketball and this is the time of year where things are beginning to happen, or at least, people are talking about things that may happen. This time of year is basically basketball fans favorite time of year. Coaching changes, players being moved either via free agency or trades, talk of players being traded and the ramp up to the finals, which start tonight.

What I want to focus my time on today is the talk of players being moved. More specifically, I want to address the talk that the 76ers, the moribound, useless, once proud, but are now a joke 76ers, have made it known publicly that they would be willing to part ways with either Nerlens Noel or Jahlil Okafor. I mean, WTF Philadelphia. How do they ever expect to put a team that is competitive out there if they continue to trade away all this young talent that they tanked so hard to get. A few years back they had the rookie of the year winner in Michael Carter-Williams. Sure, that rookie class wasn't that great and Carter-Williams did most of his damage on a terrible team and when he played against real defenders he got locked down, but he still did enough to win the rookie of the year. One year later, they traded him to the Bucks for some more draft picks.

This was all Sam Hinkie's doing. He told all the 76ers fans to "trust the process", he assured them that what he was doing was the right thing and they would soon be highly competitive again. With the pick he got from Milwaukee, he took Joel Embiid. Who can guess how many professional basketball games Embiid has played in his first two seasons? Anyone? He has played 0, and I'm including preseason and summer league games. He may even miss the beginning of this season and the front office has already stated that he will not play summer league as they are "taking every precaution imaginary". So, you trade away the reigning rookie of the year, in hopes of landing the next great big man, but you take a player that had known foot issues during his one season at Kansas, and he still hasn't played one single second in the NBA. What a joke. Also, the year before they drafted Embiid, they took Noel, who is now apparently on the trading block, and he tore his ACL during his one year at Kentucky. Two years in a row and the 76ers drafted injured players that had to sit out at least one full season before even stepping foot on a court. Yeesh, that is brutal.

Last year they took Okafor. Okafor "fell" to them at number 3. This pick perplexed me because they already had Noel and Embiid who play the same position and, I don't know if the front office watches modern basketball, but big men aren't the commodity they once were. But, I was willing to look past it because, you take the best available player, that's what teams do in the draft. And, to give Okafor a little credit, he played in about 60 games his rookie season and he was not terrible. Well, he was terrible defensively, but offensively, he was okay. He scored in double figures and was an average offensive rebounder and has some decent low post moves. But, he is also a 19 year old hot head that may not be ready for the responsibility of being a professional. Just look at the incidents he got involved in, at bars, during his rookie year. He may be a loose cannon. I guess not to worry 76ers fans because he may be gone as well.

This is what bugs me. Yes, I know that they won the draft lottery and that they plan to take either Ben Simmons or Brandon Ingram, but why are they making two of their young, half way decent players available for trades? Nerlens Noel has shown flashes of being an elite defender and, if he works on his low post game, he could be an all star. And yeah, Okafor plays no defense, but if he becomes, at the very least, a capable defender, he could also be an all star. He has the offense, he just needs to put it together on defense. Who knows with Embiid, but they seem to be putting all their eggs into his basket and they expect him to be immediately better than Noel or Okafor. I don't think that I would take that bet. I want to see Embiid play 30 or 40 games before I would even consider getting rid of any big men I have on my roster. Other people will tell me that Simmons and Okafor's game don't mesh or that Noel would clog the lane for a guy like Ingram. I say, who cares. At least Nerlens Noel has proven to be a decent enough defender and Okafor has shown that he can score double figures night after night.

The 76ers sound like they want to blow it up again, and that is not fair to the fans. They will not be able to attract any star players there because, whenever someone does something good on a basketball floor, the 76ers want to trade them for draft picks. Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, DeMar DeRozan or Kyle Lowry aren't going to want to go play for this franchise. Why would they want to waste the prime of their careers playing for this terribly run team. I naturally assumed that when Sam Hinkie stepped down that the 76ers would start to resemble a real basketball franchise, but the new people in charge are just doing the exact same thing. They want the fans to, once again, "trust the process". That's bull shit. That's unfair. Does the GM and the other higher ups making decisions realize how brutal it must be to be a 76ers fan right now? This team is an absolute joke. They are barely better than some of the D League teams. Hell, they may not even win the D League if they were relegated to play there because they are such an embarrassment to the NBA.

Which brings me to my final point and why I think this nonsense of making Noel and Okafor available is so stupid. First off, they want to take another 19 year old to be the face of the franchise. Well, its been reported that Ben Simmons would much rather be a Laker, and me personally, I don't think this kid will live up to the hype. He is an over privileged, spoiled brat that has never been pushed or told no by any coach and he carries himself with an arrogance he hasn't even come close to earning. He already acts like a Laker. Then there's Brandon Ingram. I think he will be a good pro, he could be a poor mans Kevin Durant, but it is going to take a few seasons, maybe even 4 before he is an all star caliber player. He has to put on weight, put in tons of time in the gym and become a much better defender before he is any kind of threat to the real stars in the NBA. I think Ingram will be a much better pro than Simmons, but I also think it will take much longer before he gets to that elite level. Just look at Durant's first few years in the league. It wasn't until James Harden and Russell Westbrook were drafted that Durant elevated his game and became the dominant player he is today.

If I were running the 76ers, I would either trade the top pick, not Noel or Okafor, for some established, semi decent pros, or I would take Buddy Hield. Hield would fit kind of perfectly with guys like Noel, Okafor and Embiid. He could come in and score points right away and his defensive game is underrated. But, since the 76ers only value assets, they will trade one of both of the guys I mentioned, draft either Ingram or Simmons, and be terrible for the next decade or so. The 76ers are the worst run team in any professional sport that I have ever seen. They are an embarrassment to the NBA and their fans.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He desperately wants to focus on good basketball and not bad management. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

D'Angelo Russell, Nick Young, and the Disaster that is the LA Lakers

Current state of the LA Lakers

I was going to write about one of my favorite TV characters today, but that will take a backseat until next week because I have to talk about this insane LA Lakers story that broke yesterday. If you don't already know, rookie D'Angelo Russell released a recording of him talking to teammate Nick Young, I refuse to call him by his stupid nickname, of Young basically saying that he cheated on his fiancée.

Now, where to start with this whole can of worms? First of all, what Young may or may not have done or been accused of doing or joking about what he said he did, it was wrong. Don't cheat on people that you have promised to spend the rest of your life with. Only scumbags do this and it makes you a terrible, gross person. Cheaters are some of the worst people on Earth. I HATE everything when it comes to cheating. It's gross and causes a distrust you can never earn back, no matter what you do and say.

With that being said, let's get to part two. What D'Angelo Russell did was one hundred percent unethical and is every bit as wrong and as bad as cheating on your significant other. You want to talk about losing trust and faith from people, go out and secretly record a conversation with a friend and a colleague. See how much trust you can get back when you do something this shady. This is so wrong on every level. Why would Russell record this conversation? What did he stand to gain from this? Does he want to be with Young's fiancée? Does he not really like Nick Young and did he think if he leaked this conversation people would think he was a saint and a hero? There are so many questions that I would love to personally ask Russell. Let's look at each of these questions I posed here.

Number one, why record this? The only reason I can really think of, he wants Young off the team because Russell was the number two pick in the last draft and was told that the future of the Lakers would be built around him. Well, I don't know how many free agents the Lakers will attract now, when the "future" of this team is secretly recording contracts. If I was a big time free agent next year, like Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Andre Drummond, DeMar DeRozan, Al Horford or Harrison Barnes, I would stay away from the Lakers with a very wide breach. I wouldn't even give them a meeting, as long as Russell is still on that team. Now, these guys most likely wouldn't say stupid shit like Nick Young did, but I wouldn't want to walk into that locker room everyday fearing that someone was secretly recording me. No way.

Question two, what did he think he'd gain from this? This one, I have no idea. I don't know if he thought he'd be looked at like a good guy or a guy that catches cheaters in the act, like that host from the show "Cheaters". Side note, that show is entertaining as hell. This one question, I believe, only Russell knows the real and true answer and he will never reveal it to the public.

Question three, does he want to be with Young's fiancée? I'd say, sure, why not. She is a famous rapper with a lot of money. She is also an attractive young lady. She has a lot going for her, so why wouldn't he want to be with her. But, how many girls that were cheated on go out and be with the guy who told her that her old boyfriend was cheating? As I said before, Russell recording this conversation is as bad as what Young said he did. Why would she trust Russell when her fiancée and his teammates can't even trust him. It's a no win situation.

The fourth question seems, at least to me, was the main reason he released and recorded this conversation. He wants Young off the team. Young is a ball hog that plays no defense and has shown no signs of turning his game or attitude around. He plays with a swagger that he doesn't have. Young thinks he is a star, but he is one of the worst players in the league. He is supposed to be a shooter, but he is not very good at that. He should be in the D League, but he is a starter in the NBA for some unknown reason. Young isn't good, but neither is Russell. One, he's a rookie. Two, he also shows no sign of wanting to play defense or share the ball and he's a point guard. He'd rather drive to score than drive to pass. He is a very, very poor man's version of James Harden. Russell has shown flashes, but he has a very long way to go before he is any kind of threat in the NBA. He is not very good right now and he will need a lot of time to develop his game. He is not on other rookies from his draft class level like Karl Anthony-Towns, Kristaps Porzingis, Devin Booker or even a Trey Lyles. Those guys are so much better and have improved so much more over the year. Russell needs a lot of work, a lot more than the guys I just mentioned.

All this brings me to my main point and main problem with the current and future state of the NBA. D'Angelo Russell is 20 years old. He is still a kid, but he was given the keys to this historic franchise at way too young an age. He has also been surrounded by the Kobe Bryant retirement circus. How is any young player on that team going to develop when Bryant still wants to be the main star and story of the franchise? It's impossible and that's the way Bryant likes it. He doesn't care how bad or how much of a hole he has put the Lakers in, as long as everyone tells him how much they love and adore him. But, aside from Bryant, the only other players that are any good on this team are Julius Randle, Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. Young stinks, as I have mentioned a couple times, Roy Hibbert stinks and is a billion years old, Brandon Bass best days are behind him, Lou Williams doesn't want to be there and hogs the ball too much and the rest of the roster is filled with guys that should be in the D League. And, the front office gave the keys to a lying, sneaky and conniving 20 year old when they drafted Russell number two overall last year. This was a HUGE misstep from a front office that has made misstep after misstep for the past three or four years. The Lakers have been a joke for a couple of years now, but they are becoming a dumpster fire. They seem to be worse off than the much maligned and much ripped apart 76ers right now. If I were a big time player, I'd rather go to the 76ers than the Lakers right now. At least on the 76ers I know my teammates won't be secretly recording me. If I were a player in the upcoming draft, I would hope and pray that the Lakers passed on me. I can't think of a worse situation for a player like Buddy Hield or Ben Simmons than to be drafted by the Lakers and have to be on the same team as D'Angelo Russell.

If I've said it once on this site, I've said it one thousand times, don't draft teenagers to be your franchise player. Teenagers and early 20 year olds do stupid shit like secretly recording conversations with their teammates because they think they can gain something from it. The whole NBA is guilty of this new trend of drafting based on potential, but with potential comes childish behavior. Like I said before, if I were a big time free agent I'd be very wary of signing with the Lakers this summer because I would not trust or want to play with Russell. He has lost any credibility that he had, if he had any at all. These established players don't want or need to worry about what a child does and this story will make it very tough for the Lakers to become relevant again. No big named free agents will sign there because of this and, as long as Russell is still there, it will be tough for the Lakers to compete again. I don't buy his "apology" that he gave yesterday, and when you get me siding with Nick Young, you've clearly done something horribly wrong and horribly shady. I'm not a Lakers fan and this story makes it that much easier for me to dislike this team. They are interrible, big time hole that may take years for them to dig out of. They stink and their players are shady people.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He will be very happy when Kobe and is 9% shooting nights are gone from the NBA. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Oklahoma's Buddy Hield has Earned the Top Pick in the NBA Draft

This is the number Buddy Hield has worked for

I've done enough previews and predictions recently about the men's tournament and I was on and off with my predictions. The Big 12 and the ACC both made me look stupid. Syracuse made us all look dumb. Gonzaga really crapped the bed. Kansas blew their most recent, best shot at a title. And on and on and on. But, we have our final four of Villanova, UNC, Syracuse and Oklahoma. Today though, I'm not going to do a prediction, I'm going to talk about one player that has looked absolutely incredible and why he should be the number one overall pick in the upcoming draft. That player is Oklahoma's Buddy Hield.

I love everything that this kid has done throughout this whole tournament. I'm not an Oklahoma fan, but I'm sure as hell a Buddy Hield fan. In an era of "one and done", I couldn't be more happy that a senior, who came back to school to better his game and himself, is dominating this tournament. In fact, if you look at the final four, most of the teams important players are all upperclassmen. That's awesome. But, the best upper classmen, by a very wide margin, has been Hield. He simply cannot be stopped on the offensive end of the court. Just look back at his 8 threes and 37 point performance this past weekend against Oregon. Everything he did, be it getting open, driving to the basket, cutting to the basket, moving without the ball to get open, everything was exceptional. He looked like a man among boys, and Oregon has an older team. He played a wonderful game against Oregon. Heild also came up huge against VCU. He had a slow first half, but without him in the second half, Oklahoma would not have made the final four. He wasn't shooting well from the outside, so he drove to the basket more to score, but he also drove to pass. He did what was needed to help his team win that game. Then, when his shots started to fall, it was over for VCU. He was outstanding, especially in the second half of that game. When they played Texas A&M in the round of 32, he took total advantage of a young, inexperienced team. He scored when he wanted, he passed when he wanted and they won with ease. He was easily the smartest player on the court for, not only that game, but all of their games. And in their first round game, against CSU Bakersfield, he scored the most nonchalant 20 plus point game I'd seen. At one point, he had 4 or 5 points, I looked up ten minutes later and he had already surpassed 20 points and he did it with relative ease. He toyed with CSU Bakersfield.

Now Buddy Hield will he get to go up against a pretty good Villanova team. The Wildcats play good defense and they just beat a team that Oklahoma could not beat in Kansas. Now, Oklahoma did not beat KU this year, but Buddy Hield went off all three times they played. Nothing compared to the first showdown, the double overtime, 40 plus point performance he put up, but he still played pretty great all 3 times against a very good team. I'm very curious to see how he comes out against Villanova, but I can almost guarantee, he will get 20 plus points. This kid is just a flat out scorer.

Now, before I continue to go on about Buddy Hield's offense, he plays formidable defense, but no one knows that because his offensive prowess is phenomenal. But, he can more than hold his own on defense. He made a great block in the VCU game, perfectly timing his jump and swatting an easy layup. He is a good defender. But, he is a once in a lifetime scorer. This kid fills it up and then some. He also does well against top competition. I mentioned the KU games earlier, but he put up big games against Texas, Texas A&M and LSU among many others. He scored against everyone, no matter how they defended them.

This, among many other reasons is why I think Buddy Hield should be the number one overall pick in the draft. First of all, it's so stupid that the league has gone towards this "one and done" culture, drafting based on potential, rather than what they've shown over four years. The GM and owners all want teenagers that they can mold. But, what about guys like Tim Duncan, Shaquille O'Neal, Draymond Green and Steph Curry. All these guys spent, at least, 3 years in college and they are all great pros. In Hield's matchup against LSU, and the preconceived number one pick, Ben Simmons, Hield absolutely torched him, and he looked like the best player on the floor by a wide margin. Hield led his team to a victory, and when things got close, Hield was the one that came up big and scored the big baskets when they were needed. Hield was in control of that game and never looked flustered. Simmons, he was scared to shoot at the end of that game. He looked intimidated by Hield and his confidence. Hield looked light years ahead of Simmons, but it won't matter come draft time.

The very sad thing about this draft, Hield has had to play lights out all year just to be considered a possible lottery pick. When you look at guys "big boards" or "top draft prospects", it's filled with unproven talent like Ben Simmons, Brandon Ingram, Skal Labiessere, Jamal Murray, Amile Jefferson, Damantos Sabaonis and on and on. Buddy Hield has finally made his way into the top 20, but why isn't he number one? He has clearly proven that he is the best player in men's college basketball, but to the "experts" that talk about the draft, his name almost never comes up. What the hell? Why aren't Hield or Perry Ellis or Denzel Valentine on the top of draft boards? All three have had very successful careers that span four years of college. They are all more ready to play in the NBA than any of these 19 year old kids. I don't care what Bill Simmons or Chad Ford has to say, I'd much rather have a 22 year old that has proven himself than a 19 year old that has only 20 or 30 games under their belt. They've gotten better against better competition and have very much improved their overall games. If I were the 76ers or the Lakers or the Nets, I'd take Buddy Hield in a heart beat before I'd take Ben Simmons, especially if I wanted to win sooner, rather than later. He can help turn a team around in his first season because he has a lot more experience than a teenager and he has been through harder and tougher times. These teenagers have never been told no or been criticized by a coach because they are prized recruits and you only get them for one year, so they have to treat them with kid gloves. Buddy Hield had to go through rough patches with his team and coach, making him a much tougher and a much better prepared player than a spoiled five star, blue chip recruit.

Take a look at last years draft. Some of the "one and done" players are decent, Karl Anthony-Towns and Justise Winslow come to mind, but some of the others still need four or five more years before they even sniff an all star team. Guys like D'Angelo Russell, Jahlil Okafor and Tyus Jones could have all benefited from, at the very least, one more year of college basketball. Basically, for me, I prefer players that have experience and maturity. They make for very good NBA players much quicker than a 19 or 20 year old does. Just look at recent 3 or four year college guys like Ray Macallum and Damien Lillard. They are the two main cogs to a Trailblazers team fighting for a playoff spot when they shouldn't be even close to a playoff bound team. Then, look at the 76ers, a team that only drafts based on potential. They are historically bad because the majority of their team is immature and has very little experience. They can't or don't know how to compete with grown men in a grown man sport. So yeah, if I had the number one pick in the 2016 draft, I wouldn't even flinch. I'd grab Buddy Hield and I'd be happy and comfortable to know that my team will be better much sooner since I have a more seasoned college player that has been through thick and thin and knows how to handle himself as opposed to a teenager that has never been told no. Experience is so much more important than potential, especially in basketball.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. If any NBA scouts are looking for an early thirties well seasoned rec league player, Ty is available to help your team. Make sure you are one of Ty's followers on twitter @tykulik.

Ben Simmons Represents Everything that is Wrong with Men's College Basketball

The one thing the NCAA seems to be forgetting.

I know that I bag on men's college basketball a lot and today will be no exception. The game has become way too watered down. The talent level isn't nearly as good as it was, as little as 6 or 7 years ago. The "one and done" culture has ruined the game. You can't ever really figure out which players are on which big time team because the majority of that team leaves after one, or if you're lucky, two years. Kentucky, who was in the Final Four last year, lost 7 players to the pros. You read that right, 7 players left with at least 2 years of eligibility left. They're ranked in the top 25 again, and will make the tournament again, but the only player I can name that's still on the team from last year off the top of my head is point guard Tyler Ullis. He's good, but if you are a top 25 team, I should be able to name 3 of 5 starters I think. I know they had a great recruiting class, but they always do and they are always changing the roster.

This is so frustrating to me, a big time basketball fan. I love all basketball, especially the NBA, but I used to love college basketball, not anymore though. I hate the "one and done" culture and this season has been a huge reason why. All these "studs" that were going to come in and turn the top teams around have not really lived up to the task. The two best teams in college basketball, Kansas and Michigan State, have mainly upperclassmen. They're led by guys that have been there before and know how to play. Oklahoma is also a really good team, led by a senior, Buddy Hield. Those three teams I have faith in to go far in the tournament.

These teams led by freshman, teams like Duke, Kentucky and LSU, I have no faith in to make deep tourney runs, or even make the tournament. Duke will be there, but Grayson Allen(sophomore) and Brandon Ingram(freshman), will not guide them to back to back titles, they'll be lucky to make it to the first weekend. Kentucky will bow out very early because their freshman class has been a humongous disappointment and they have no upperclassmen leader, except for the oft injured Alex Poythress. And then there's LSU, the team that is the reason for this blog today.

Louisiana State University had the cream of the crop sign there, Ben Simmons. This kid was a can't miss prospect out of Australia. He was a once in a lifetime player. He could pass like Magic, shoot like Durant and run the floor like Chris Paul. He was going to bring LSU back to its glory days, when Shaq was patrolling the paint. He was compared, by every journalist no matter what publication, to all those players I mentioned above. He was supposed to be the best freshman since Kevin Durant was at Texas for one year, said Bill Simmons. This kid was going to make this season a must watch for college basketball fans. Now, with all that being said, he is a very good basketball player and he will almost certainly be the first pick in the NBA draft, but there is also some problems that have come along with this kid.

First of all, LSU has a slim, and I mean very slim, like winning the SEC tournament may be their only chance to make the NCAA tournament slim, chance at getting in. Some of this is coaching and some is the kid's fault. The coach at LSU clearly doesn't know how to use Simmons properly. He'll use him as a decoy way too often and he doesn't have the ball in his hands at critical times, even though it's clear he is the best player on the floor. But Ben Simmons sometimes seems gun shy at the end of critical games and he passes on the final shot way too much. I know he wants to be unselfish, but if you are supposed to be the best player in over a decade, you have to be selfish and take those final shots, you're team is expecting that out of you.

Then there is the fact that LSU has almost no chance of making the NCAA tournament. Most teams that have had a big time recruit like this have made the tournament and most have made very deep runs. Duke won the title with three freshman as their top guys. When Durant was at Texas I believe they made the sweet sixteen. Kentucky last year made the final four and won with an Anthony Davis led team a few years before that. Arizona, with Stanley Johnson and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson made the elite eight last year. So yeah, most of these freshman led teams make at least some noise in the NCAA tournament. Even though the NCAA doesn't recognize it, Michigan and the Fab Five made the title game in their first and second seasons. LSU though, they look like your prototypical NIT team. Good enough to be over .500, but barely. They are 18-13 as we speak, with little to no quality wins. They do not have a resume that screams at large bid, not even close. If they don't win the SEC tournament, I don't see them getting into the NCAA tournament. There are a lot of better teams that have better resumes that are more deserving of an at large bid.

Which brings me to my last and most crucial point of today. Ben Simmons was not eligible for the Wooden Award, given to the best player in men's college basketball, for "academic reasons". Some reporters, mainly ESPN and Bleacher Report, came out and said what a travesty it is that this kid won't even be considered for the award, that it was an injustice to a great player. I say, what the hell is the matter with you morons that think basketball is more important that getting good grades? I know that most of these "one and done" players don't go to go to school, but at least the ones there make the grades, or it's made to seem that they have made the grades, keeping them eligible to play. Ben Simmons has clearly not been up to snuff in the classroom which is the most important thing. It's called student athlete for a reason. There is a reason student comes first. That is the main thing you should be focused on when entering college, being a student first and an athlete second. I know, he's going to be a multi millionaire in less than 2 moths, but Jesus Christ, go to class. I guarantee that the professors will just pass you for showing up. Also, I don't think he'd even have a 10 percent chance to win the award. I'd give it to Denzel Valentine, Buddy Hield, Perry Ellis or Georges Niang before I'd even consider Ben Simmons. Those guys are all leaders on top 25 teams that should make deep tourney runs.

People in the major media, I'm looking at you Bleacher Report and ESPN, need to stop coddling this kid and make him own up to his faults. He will be the first pick in the upcoming draft, but what if he is a bust? What if he is Sam Bowie? Will the same reporters still be there for him? I doubt it. This kid is good, possibly great, but he needs to get his head on his shoulders and grow up fast if he wants to earn the money that is about to be showered upon him. He is not Steph Curry or LeBron James or Kevin Durant yet. Hell, he's not even at DeMar DeRozan or Kyle Lowry's level yet, at least those guys have proven they're real NBA players.

Screw the NCAA and screw the NBA for this stupid "one and done" culture that they've created. It's a menace and it will cheapen the NBA is 5 or 6 years. Enjoy great basketball now because the "one and done's" are coming to ruin professional basketball.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He often wonders why these kids even bother with college, play overseas and then come to the draft. It seems so simple. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

The Chaos of the College Basketball Season will Extend Well into March

This season has even our ancestors confused

As I've done with the NBA, NFL and MLB seasons, I want to check up on my preseason preview for men's college basketball and see how I did and what I think will happen now that the regular is just about done.

First of all, this season of men's college basketball has been very, very ugly. There is no clear cut best team out there. The talent pool has been incredibly watered down by this new "one and done" culture. These kids don't go to college to learn how to play team basketball anymore, they go to increase their draft position. No one plays team basketball anymore. It's all one on one and let me show you my skills to prove that I can play at the next level. Adam Silver needs to focus more on changing the age limit rule for early entry in the draft and less on the "hack a whoever" problem. Men's college basketball is becoming a joke, and until they do something to remedy the "one and done", it will remain a big, big problem.

I really dislike college basketball at the moment.

With all that being said, I still watch because it is basketball and I love basketball. As I said before, there is no clear cut top five teams. Last year it was almost a foregone conclusion that Duke, Kentucky and Wisconsin would be three fourths of the final four. Michigan State making it was a surprise, but they are also a traditional powerhouse, so was it really that surprising? Nope. This year though, it's a total crapshoot. I bet gamblers hate how wide open it is this season. There is, at least, 10 teams that have a legitimate shot at making the final four and winning the title.

I'll start with the ACC. The ACC has the team that most consider the "best" team in North Carolina, but they just lost to an unranked Duke team at home. Sometimes UNC looks like world beaters, other days they look average. Duke has been wildly inconsistent this year. They were in the top ten, fell out of the rankings completely, then beat Virginia and UNC. They are a team that relies on streaky shooters and freshman and sophomores and their underclassmen are nowhere near as good as their underclassmen last year. Virginia has experience, but they play ugly offensive basketball. Notre Dame is okay, but they will lose an early round game in the tournament. Louisville gave themselves a bogus postseason ban, due to all their sex parties and their sex depraved head coach, but I don't think they would have made much noise in the tournament anyway. Miami may be the second best team in the ACC, but they are classic tournament chokers. everyone else is mediocre. UNC should be the cream of the crop, but I have no faith in them after what happened against Duke.

The Big East has two good teams and that's it. No disrespect to Georgetown, but they peaked early. The Big East is Villanova and Xavier. They played last night and number 5 Xavier knocked off number 1 Villanova. It was a good game, but the problem with these two teams, they always get seeded very high in the tournament and they always lose way earlier than they should. They both have experience, but like I said, that experience is used to getting knocked out of the tournament early. I'd love if they proved me and everyone else wrong and made a deep tournament run because I like both these teams, but I don't think that will happen.

The SEC has been very average this year. Kentucky was supposed to be great, signing another excellent class, but they have been one of, if no the, most inconsistent team in all of men's basketball. They have no go to scorer and their stud freshman have not lived up to the preseason hype. Texas A&M is ranked, but I couldn't tell you the name of one player on that team. LSU was supposed to be awesome since they signed Ben Simmons, the overall number one high school recruit, but they might not even make the NCAA tournament. Arkansas is mediocre, Ole Miss and Mississippi State both stink and so does the rest of the conference. Kentucky will still win the SEC, but they are not the same team that they were last year.

The Big Ten, my conference that I watch, has been very unpredictable. Michigan State is supposed to be the cream of the crop, but they've had to deal with multiple injuries and very inconsistent play. They are still really good, but not as good as I thought they would be. Iowa has come out of nowhere and put themselves into the top ten, but they have lost three straight and one of those losses was to a very bad Penn State team. Maryland, my preseason pick to win the title, has been as inconsistent as Michigan State. They started out on fire this season, climbing all the way up to the number 2 ranking, but they recently lost to a Minnesota team that was winless in Big Ten play. Michigan, my team, has been without Caris Levert for most of the season but, they've beaten the teams they are supposed to beat. But, when they played quality competition, they've been absolutely run out of the gym. Michigan State, Indiana, Iowa and Xavier all beat them by double figures and made it look easy. Indiana, the current leader of the conference, has looked good, but when they have to play on the road, they are not the same team. They get every call at home, but the road, where it's called fairly, they look average. Wisconsin has come on strong lately, but I have zero faith in them and their former coach, Bo Ryan, is a world class scumbag. Even with Indiana sitting atop the conference, Michigan State and Maryland are the two best teams in the Big Ten.

The Big 12 may be the best conference in college basketball this year. Oklahoma, Kansas, West Virginia, Texas and Baylor have spent the majority of the season in the top 25. Oklahoma and Kansas look really good. They are the two teams that may be the only "sure thing" in college basketball this year. The issue is that KU has a tendency to choke, and who knows with Oklahoma, especially since Buddy Hield has been in a mini slump. West Virginia plays suffocating defense, but very poor offense. Baylor seems to be good only when playing at home and Texas is still learning Shaka Smart's system.  KU has proven twice, beating Oklahoma at home and on the road, that they are still the best team in the Big 12.

The mid majors I mentioned in my preseason preview, Witchita State and Gonzaga have been major disappointments. Witchita State had everyone back from a team that almost made the final four last year, but they have been pretty mediocre this year. And Gonzaga has fallen off a cliff. I believe I had them in my preseason final four, but they have been pretty terrible this year. The mid majors are not going to crash the final four at all this year.

Even though it's been a rough year to watch, the major conferences will be well represented in the tournament and make the final four. Like I said, this season is wide open, but I will take a crack at the final four anyway. I guess, and I cannot stress how much of this is literally a guess, UNC, Michigan State, Kansas and Oklahoma will be in the final four and Oklahoma will win it all. Once again, total guess. So, there is my almost end of the regular season wrap up for men's college basketball. The one thing that will be fun, while it will still be a rough watch, at least the tournament will be exciting and all 68 teams that make it will have a shot at the title. Hell, maybe we will finally see a 16 seed beat a 1 seed.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. This college basketball season may provide another big upset, like the Princeton UCLA game that the head editor will not shut up about. It is your duty to follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.