Earth to DJ...

[LastWarrior]

First Hibbert and now Rush... they're both better pro prospects than you and yet both decided to come back.

Kansas' leading scorer Rush will return for junior season
Updated: May 25, 2007, 5:34 PM ET
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2007/news/story?id=2882935

LAWRENCE, Kan. - Kansas junior guard Brandon Rush withdrew his name from the NBA draft on Friday, citing he wasn't quite ready to jump to the pros.

Brandon Rush is returning to Kansas after testing out the NBA draft waters.

Jayhawks coach Bill Self said that Rush's decision to declare for the draft allowed him to see what NBA teams thought of him.

"Brandon has handled the process exactly the way the system was designed and has followed through with everything he said he would do," Self said. "It has always been my goal that Brandon make the best decision for his future. I believe that Brandon will prepare harder than ever to put himself into a position that he will be a very high NBA draft pick after his junior season."

Rush, a two-time All-Big 12 first team member and Naismith Award finalist last season, has led Kansas in scoring each of his first two seasons. Rush averaged 13.8 ppg and 5.6 rpg last season.

He suffered a knee injury recently, but said that incident had little bearing on his decision to withdraw.

"People will think the reason I am returning is because I injured my knee playing in a pickup game," Rush said. "That is not true, but it did re-enforce to me that the time was not right to go to the NBA.

"We have a great team returning and I love my teammates. The people at Kansas and the fans have treated me so well. It is hard to pass up the opportunity to experience another year of that."

[77ncaachamps]

Question: If more top college prospects pull out, won't that just allow DJ to sneak into the second round?

Interesting situation...

[jutaw22mu]

Yeah but i thought he'd only stay if guaranteed 1st round.  I REALLY hope we get to see DJ in a MU uniform again next season.  I think he has that will and fire to want to get better and he will have a much stronger season next year. 

[mviale]

Hibbert is still a dark horse - NBA thinks he might be the 2nd coming of Olden Polynice

Rush - I think the NBA knows too much about this family

[ozmetal71]

Honestly, if DJ is that set on the NBA, then I hope he's getting the right advice.

Right now, it looks like he will be lucky to be a second round pick.

I have a feeling that he will not get drafted and will end up playing in Europe.

I think he has a much higher opinion of himself as a basketball player than NBA personnel staff do.  I hope that if he stays in the draft that someone picks him up so that he doesn't end up making a lifetime mistake.

[SoCalwarrior]

LAWRENCE, Kan. - Brandon Rush, who led Kansas in scoring last year, has withdrawn from the NBA draft and will play his junior season at the school.

Brandon Rush is returning to Kansas after testing out the NBA draft waters.
Jayhawks coach Bill Self said that Rush's decision to declare for the draft allowed him to see what NBA teams thought of him.

"Brandon has handled the process exactly the way the system was designed and has followed through with everything he said he would do," Self said. "It has always been my goal that Brandon make the best decision for his future. I believe that Brandon will prepare harder than ever to put himself into a position that he will be a very high NBA draft pick after his junior season."

Rush, a two-time all-conference selection and Naismith Award finalist last season, has led Kansas in scoring each of his first two seasons. Rush averaged 13.8 ppg and 5.6 rpg last season.

Sophomore Julian Wright, another starter, has committed to the draft. But with Rush returning, Kansas will have all but one of the 14 players who went 33-5 and captured the Jayhawks' third straight conference title.

Rush suffered a knee injury recently, but said that incident had little to do with his decision.

"People will think the reason I am returning is because I injured my knee playing in a pickup game," Rush said in a statement released by the school. "That is not true, but it did re-enforce to me that the time was not right to go to the NBA.

"We have a great team returning and I love my teammates. The people at Kansas and the fans have treated me so well. It is hard to pass up the opportunity to experience another year of that."

[ecompt]

I would hope DJ would read Rush's last quote and take it to heart. I know it's hard to pass up the money (and he can't, if he's going first round) but in the NBA he will spend at least two years either on IR or watching helplessly as the 12th man.

[Murffieus]

DJ will face normal man to man defenses for the most part in the NBA----was frustrated against all those zones and collapsing defenses this past year that were designed to force him into a perimeter game----it worked as DJ became more of an east/west dribbler than a vertical dribbler as the year before-----then became frustrated as he saw his NBA dream fading and ended up forcing bad shots!

In the NBA his ability to take his guy to the hoop against normal man defenses, his strength, his athleticim, and his ability to see the floor and hit the open guy will allow him to do better than most people now think!

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

DJ will face normal man to man defenses for the most part in the NBA----was frustrated against all those zones and collapsing defenses this past year that were designed to force him into a perimeter game----it worked as DJ became more of an east/west dribbler than a vertical dribbler as the year before-----then became frustrated as he saw his NBA dream fading and ended up forcing bad shots!

In the NBA his ability to take his guy to the hoop against normal man defenses, his strength, his athleticim, and his ability to see the floor and hit the open guy will allow him to do better than most people now think!

I agree with you, but you also have to keep in mind that very few players under 6' or even 6' 4 have the ability to successfully drive in the NBA. The power forwards and centers are so quick and so long that even when you get past the first man, it is difficult to get up quality shots in the lane for smaller players.

I'm not saying he won't be able to do it, I'm just saying that playing against man to man will be andvatagous to D (no doubt), but he will also be playing against very long and very quick players that will make it tough for him to deal in traffic.

 

[Murffieus]

Because of his athleticism and strength, DJ plays a lot taller than 5' 11" .

[ecompt]

Murff, every point guard in the NBA has DJ's athleticism and most have his strength. And most if not all are two to four inches taller then he is. And all can shoot better than he can.

[Murffieus]

You mean to say "all can shoot better than DJ DID LAST YEAR"-----DJ can shoot better than that-----zone defenses frustrated him----he saw his NBA draft status getting away from him and stated forcing the shot----futhermore his trey shooting form was horrible----he was throwing the ball rather than pushing it-----a correction of that alone will propel him to at least average perimeter shooting!

But he's more of a distributing PG-----and stellar PGs like Kidd, Nash, Parker aren't anywhere near as athletic as DJ is!

[SoCalwarrior]

Vitale gives his two cents....


Writes Vitale: "A message to Marquette's Dominic James ... please pull out of the NBA draft and go back to school. You can learn so much under the tutelage of Tom Crean. If it was meant to be you will be drafted after next season. Right now, the best bet is to return to Marquette where you can improve and be a difference-maker."

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

Because of his athleticism and strength, DJ plays a lot taller than 5' 11" .

I agree, I'm just saying that EVERYBODY in the NBA has strength, athleticism AND length. The court is just smaller when you add in the length of the average NBA forward. Working in traffic is still possible, but just tougher because of the sheer size of the NBA players.

DJ would/will have an advantage against man to man defenses, but other parts of the NBA game will cause him some problems.