andyhop wrote:Duke4life831 wrote:
Is it? At a blue blood school no doubt it is. More people tuned in to watch Zion at Duke then they have to watch Zion with the Pels. I 100% agree that the exposure at the blue bloods in college basketball is far greater than what the G League can ever dream of. But Memphis aint a blue blood. Hell he didnt just not choose a blue blood, he didnt even choose to go to a power conference school.
People dont tune in to watch Memphis, every Memphis game isn't on ESPN or ESPN2 like it is for Duke/UK/UNC and so on. Memphis basketball and big TV exposure dont go together.
Sure it isn't the same as going to Duke or Kentucky but it still beats the G League. Last season Memphis were on ESPN or ESPN2 21 time and CBS once so it isn't like nobody can ever watch their games if they want to.
I mean I agree with your basic point in that I never understand why players go to strange schools rather than sticking to the big boys but they do for whatever their reasons are.
I wonder how long the G League is going to persist with trying to attract prospects given it is likely to become a lot more expensive if they want the top guys or they are going to get guys who don't move the needle for the league if they keep the pay as it is now
Ya but what were the ratings for those Memphis games? College basketball tends to struggle with ratings during the early season if they arent dealing with UK/Duke/Kansas games. Then later in the season come the end of conference play and conference tournaments people tune in, but again they only tune in for the power conference schools.
The G League can go on for a long time doing this. So far they're giving out what 3-4 500k contracts a year. That is change found under the couch for the NBA. And if push comes to shove, they can always do what Ive always said they should do and allow teams to draft players straight out of high school and they dont have to lower the age to play. Just have a draft and G League stash system set up until the player is age eligible. And have the franchise pay the 500k contract until they call them up once they become age eligible. 500k that doesnt hit the cap is nothing to these teams.