Bummer: Jerel kicked off Belgian team.

[downtown85]

here's a link in French.  My google toolbar has done a nice translation.

http://www.rtbf.be/sport/basket-ball/ligue-ethias/jerel-mc-neal-prie-de-quitter-mons-hainaut-72158


Here is the google toolbar translation:

Jerel Mc Neal asked to leave Mons-Hainaut
29.03.10 - 12:43 Mons-Hainaut, has decided to dispose of its American leader, Jerel Mc Neal, for disciplinary reasons. In fact he tested positive for cannabis by AWBB.
Contacted by us, the French wing of basketball has confirmed the information. Dismissed for 15 days already, Mc Neal, 22, went back to Chicago this weekend.
He joined Mons-Hainaut in November 2009 and will not be replaced. Mons leaders wanted to continue with the current group trusting Alex Libert point guard for the last 9 games of the regular season. Mons-Hainaut occupies the 6th place in the provisional standings.
Jerel McNeal had his penalty extended across the International Basketball Federation (FIBA World). It is the second player to have tested positive in Belgium and suspended by FIBA World in March after Jonathan Habsch (RBC Aywaille/D3).

Habsch had tested positive for norandrosterone. The player did not ask for expert-cons, but said it had taken dietary supplements. It was initially banned for two years with one year suspended by AWBB June 11, 2009. FIBA World imposed a firm suspension of two years on March 4 last. Habsch Jonathan, 25, is suspended until April 21, 2011.

[nyg]

What a shame and frankly I am suprised.  Hopefully the story doesn't get picked up by US press and reflects poorly on Jerel.  Who would ever think?

[willie warrior]

Head to california Jerel. They are about to legalize it there. It will help the economy also.

[chapman]

This is encouraging.  NBA teams have to be taking a serious look at him now that he's proven he would fit right in.

[esotericmindguy]

What a shame and frankly I am suprised.  Hopefully the story doesn't get picked up by US press and reflects poorly on Jerel.  Who would ever think?

Was that supposed to be in teal?

Real shocker, a basketball player smokes weed! Hey Jerel, move on, good grief.

[GGGG]

We can dismiss this all we want, but it clearly speaks to his judgment.  He knew (or should have known) that this was against the FIBA rules and he did it anyway.  NBA rosters want guys deep on their bench who don't get in trouble and show good judgment.  Given his limited skill set, *that* was what was going to get him in the NBA...and now that is pretty much gone for the time being.  The question is will a European team pick him up next year.

Here are his stats from this year...nothing spectacular...more turnovers than assists.

http://www.basketleague.be/player/?code=A47007&lea=bel

[Spaniel with a Short Tail]

He put another obstacle in his own way to his stated goal.  Not very smart.  Hope he can overcome this and use better judgment in the future.

[StillWarriors]

He put another obstacle in his own way to his stated goal.  Not very smart.  Hope he can overcome this and use better judgment in the future.

Put this on top of some questions about attitude/coachability, this is not good.

[damuts222]

 Lets just hope this serves as a wake-up call of sorts for Jerel.

[NCMUFan]

A bump in life's road.

[The Lens]

Just so I'm clear, we shouldn't hang a banner for this, right?

[Chili]

He put another obstacle in his own way to his stated goal.  Not very smart.  Hope he can overcome this and use better judgment in the future.

Pot is not a banned substance by the NBA.

[cheebs09]

Too bad. Hopefully he can latch on to a team in the D-League. I believe I read Butch was the 9th player this year to make it. Hopefully he can go there and play well and maybe achieve his dream. I'm sure Wesley is a good source of advice on what it takes to get to that level.

[MarquetteDano]

I remember someone posting an interview he did early in the season in Belguim.   My interpretation reading between the lines was that McNeal was not happy.  Not that suprising... not saying he purposely got caught but throwing caution to the wind is something you do when you are not happy with your current situation.

Like some had mentioned however, this is a mark against him for future teams.  Hope he can find a situation where he is happy.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

Too bad. Hopefully he can latch on to a team in the D-League. I believe I read Butch was the 9th player this year to make it. Hopefully he can go there and play well and maybe achieve his dream. I'm sure Wesley is a good source of advice on what it takes to get to that level.

Yes, because the D-League is dying to sign undersized two guards who just got bounced from the Belgian league for smoking pot.

This is not a good thing for Jerel's career.

[DawsonCreekFillanderer]

Atrocious judgment. I would not minimize this, as I am certain NBA GM's will not.

[Skatastrophy]

Atrocious judgment. I would not minimize this, as I am certain NBA GM's will not.

It depends.  Weed is arbitrarily illegal in some countries.  It's a banned substance in FIBA but not in the NBA.  I'm sure that some GM's wouldn't really care what someone's doing in the privacy of their own home as long as it's not something that can ruin their bodies.  Unless he came to practice or a game high this would get a big ol "meh" from me if I were the hiring manager.

[Dawson Rental]

Evidently, the team was not happy with Jerel either.  I just went to the team's website, and not only is off the 2009-2010 roster, but they posted a new team picture without Jerel in it.  (I assume that there was an original picture that included Jerel).

[Aughnanure]

Seems like the NFL is also having the same issue. One-third? Wow. Maybe we can start growing up and not automatically connecting marijuana use to having character issues.

Funny that a country so close to the Netherlands cares about this enough to kick a player off the team (we all know that wouldn't happen in the U.S., just a warning or suspension maybe). Weed is just very easy to test for and get caught. Most ACTUAL hard drugs run through your system to quickly for routine screening.


http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/don_banks/03/23/nfl.draft.marijuana/index.html

[Golden Avalanche]

Impressive.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

He would have been better off playing on an Amsterdam Club team.

[T-Bone]

...they posted a new team picture without Jerel in it.  (I assume that there was an original picture that included Jerel).

He joined the team late, right - nearly two months after they started play?  So they might have had a picture prior to then.  He might not have made it to the team picture at all.

Do NBA teams do team pictures anymore?
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f1/kevlahnota/9697TeamPortrait.jpg

[GGGG]

Seems like the NFL is also having the same issue. One-third? Wow. Maybe we can start growing up and not automatically connecting marijuana use to having character issues.

It's not the smoking of the pot that is the character issue.  It is the smoking of the pot when it was clearly banned by FIBA that's the character issue.  

[NavinRJohnson]

Considering I and many other here were already well aware of his affinity for smoking weed, I assure you NBA scouts/GMs are/would be as well. This is obviously not a good thing, but it is not some lightning bolt that is going to derail his NBA chances (whatever those were).

[MikeyT42]

I agree with Navin,

Weed is not some new found substance by professional athletes. (Like someone mentioned before) Pot is not tested for in the NBA and it is not tested for in the MLB (Minors are a different story.)

Is it a shame that this young man got removed from a basketball team because of this? Yes. But it is certainly not the end of his professional hoops career.