Brandon Rush on Gary Roberts Wedneday

Straight from theondeckcircle.net - by Stu Wilkinson

A few years ago, the North Carolina Tar Heels won an NCAA National Championship in Men’s Basketball.  Four of the Tar Heels—Marvin Williams, Sean May, Ray Felton, and Rashad McCants—left school early after winning a championship.  All four of them were drafted in the lottery.

Some of them haven’t exactly lit it up in the NBA, but nobody can say that on draft day they thought the four Tar Heels didn’t belong in the lottery.  Well, maybe Sean May didn’t belong, but just go with me on this one—I’m on an NBA Draft roll.

Fast-forward to the present day.  Kansas has just won a National Championship, and three of its key players have left Lawrence early and declared for the NBA Draft.  Darrell Arthur, Super Mario Intendent Chalmers, and Brandon Rush have all left school after beating Memphis to win it all in March Madness.

Will they be greeted with the same enthusiasm as the Tar Heels were in 2005?  Not exactly.

You could say that the NBA’s reaction, or at least the typical NBA outsider’s reaction, to the three gentlemen from Kansas has been quite tepid.  Darrell Arthur has been plagued by questions about his work ethic, Mario Chalmers has been lost in a sea of point guards, and Brandon Rush’s hair is too goofy to get into the Green Room at MSG.

Sorry, but that’s the only legitimate excuse for the lack of love for the swingman from Kansas City.

So where will the Jayhawks go?  According to DraftExpress.com as I write this, Arthur will go first at 14th, Rush will go out of the lottery at 16th, and Chalmers will go deep in the first round at 27th.

I can see Chalmers dropping (although not that far) because of this year’s deep point guard class, but Brandon Rush 16th?  I know there are a lot of good players in this draft, but excuse me?  NBA GMs are going to let this guy go to a playoff team?

Brandon Rush was absolutely critical to Kansas this year.  He led them in scoring, shot 40% from behind the arc, and played perfectly within himself at all times.  I hate to go all Dick Vitale here, but how could a team possibly draft a 7’1” Frenchman averaging five points per game over the most important player on a National Championship team?

I’m praying on Bryan Colangelo’s behalf that teams will be dumb enough to take guys like the Frenchman, Kosta Koufos, JaVale McGee, and Anthony Randolph over Rush.

If Rush somehow drops to My Toronto Raptors thanks to some prototypical NBA stupidity, I will be overjoyed.  Heck, I’d be happy with Chris Douglas-Roberts at 17th, and you’re telling me there’s a chance we could get the man who will bring the high fade back to Canada?

This year Rush was rated the number one small forward in the nation by Rivals.com, selected as a Wooden All-American for the second time, given the MVP award for the Big 12 Tournament, and crowned an NCAA Champion!  Not too shabby.

He possesses great athleticism (don’t forget that his knee surgery from last summer may have held him back this past season), along with the unselfishness necessary to fit in with an NBA team.  He’s a consistent scorer that can step up in big games, as he proved by scoring 25 against UNC in the Final Four.  He’s everything you want in a pick outside of the top five!  He’s awesome, baby!

Inside the Numbers

3 different times entering the draft

13.6 career points per game

43.5 percent career three-point FG% at Kansas

1 brother named Kareem Rush

15.8 points per game in this year’s NCAA Tournament

Straight from theondeckcircle.net - by Stu Wilkinson