Bad news for Texas sports
Bad news for Texas sports fans: T.J. might be leaving. (Thanks to Bob for the link.)
"When you get to where you can't improve your position, you almost have to go,'' said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "His stock can't get any higher than it is now. You have to support that.''Well, undoubtedly, this is the prevailing conventional wisdom as regards these young sports guys.
It's interesting to see the short-sightedness implicit in this point-of-view: note the assumption that Ford's position (his value) won't be any higher, ever, than at this moment, just after the Longhorns were defeated in the Final Four, Ford coming off a mediocre game against the overwhelming Carmelo Anthony. There's no hope of Ford ever being any better, any more highly valued than at this moment in his career. There are no future wins in the Final Four in his future, no more chances of outstanding performances like his Orangeman adversary had, no more years to hype his talent and build a name for himself as Jordan and Magic Johnson did. No, the game is over at this point for T.J. Ford; the star can't rise any higher for this young sophomore.
I wonder if this sudden announcement has anything to do with the incident two weeks ago, where Ford had to be rushed to the hospital after suffering an injury in a pick-up game at Gregory Gym. I wonder if Ford, escaping major injury, thought to himself -- "You know, I could get seriously injured playing here at Texas, and I would never get a dollar for playing pro ball." Better to get a contract and then get injured, and then there's the possibility of coming back -- but get injured in college? That's the death knell to a career just out of the incubator.
At any rate, when guys like Ford leave their teams midway through their four-year college careers (if you can call them careers), it's damaging. There isn't time to develop a tradition within the players. By the time Ford was a senior, that Longhorn basketball team could have been solid as a rock under his leadership. And those juniors and sophomores would have been far better as players and would have learned from him. Better basketball would have been the end result.
Even if Ford is drafted, and even if he gets to start -- which, no doubt, will be for the Clippers or the Cavs -- what will be the net effect? (No pun intended.) There's very little hope of Ford being part of a solid team with any hope of reaching any level of greatness -- at least not this early in his career. Wouldn't it be better to stick with a team that has a real chance of winning two straight NCAA tournaments in the coming years? That's an opportunity Ford can't get back if he goes pro now, and that kind of accomplishment can only increase his value to the NBA.
It just seems to me that he has so much to gain by staying at Texas -- short of an actual paycheck. It just seems to me that this is a case where patience could pay greater dividends over the long haul. You gotta look out for number one, of course; it's just sad that he won't be around to build up something that we all had hoped would turn out to be a new basketball legacy at Texas.
Posted by Matt at April 30, 2003 2:05 PM
