Is Jeremy Tyler Being Set Up For Failure?

Pete Thamel of the New York Times moved ahead with the intriguing Jeremy Tyler story, investigating the European recruitment process for the amateur star who will skip his senior year of high school to spend two years playing professionally aboard before entering the 2011 NBA draft.

Tyler advisor Sonny Vaccaro -- the man behind Brandon Jennings' Italian foray and a former high-powered sneaker exec -- is attempting to place the prospect with Olympiacos or Panathinaikos. Those squads happen to be among the best in all of Europe. And that poses a problem, according to draft expert Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com.

Givony uses the example of Jennings to explain why landing Tyler with a great team will work to the player's detriment. Jennings went to Lottomatica Roma, a really solid club. Jennings didn't play a single minute in Roma's most important game last week. His playing time has been limited because Roma simply can't afford to lose ground in order to develop a player who is leaving at the end of the season regardless.

There are differences, though: Jennings has been seen as mature enough to handle the struggle, and he's only mortgaging one year's time. One of the knocks on Tyler is his mental strength ... and he's consigning himself to two years overseas. Givony thinks going to a great team in particular will cause problems for Tyler.

Two extremely mature, professional and well-established NBA rotation players in Josh Childress and Jannero Pargo were unable to live up to expectations this season with Olympiacos-so how would Jeremy Tyler fare there? Just the thought is downright preposterous. [...]

If things don't work out for Tyler with one of these ultra-rich clubs, they'll gladly toss him to the side and write if off as a business expense that provided them with plenty of global exposure. For Tyler, though, the damage will be much greater.

Of course -- and this isn't an accusation, just relevant common sense -- Tyler stands to make more money if Olympiacos or Panathinaikos signs him versus, say, a Turkish or French league team. I have no idea what the financial relationship between Tyler and Vaccaro entails, but it's hard to completely discount the role of the dollar sign.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

5-11-2009 @ 7:21PM

mrali05 said...

How was Pargo and Childress considered a failure, you have to remember leading scorers over there often averaged 15 ppg, they are asked to play less minutes and asked to play a team game, so childress is considered a success and great asset to their team, too bad in america all we consider is highlights and top scorers as the great success...

5-11-2009 @ 7:22PM

an add on, would it be better for him to goto a big time college program, where he is asked for a year to get the minimum requirement, 2 D's, and could not show up for another class, get money illegally under the table, and then be babied throughout the program and get your exposure...yea thats a great substitute to being roughed up and tested by real pros and emphasized on team play nad let your ego down in europe and get money legally...yea the other option is so much better...

5-11-2009 @ 7:31PM

acyxz said...

mrali: Frankly you're argument is completely irrelevant. The problem is that Tyler won't develop as a player due to reduced playing time if he joins a good team like the Olympiacos or Panathinaikos even though he will make more money. Did you even read the article?

5-11-2009 @ 11:16PM

grover said...

So practicing with a PRO squad, every single day, will have no effect on his basketball development? It will be worse than a year in high school and a year in college ball?

Mrali's argument is perfectly legit. Tyler can focus on his chosen career 100%.

5-12-2009 @ 3:42AM

First of all I don't see what Pargo and Childress have to do with this because both played college ball and in the NBA before going overseas. Second, there is nothing wrong with Tyler going pro. It's the fact that those two teams mentioned are too good. The fact is that he may end up not getting as much experience from playtime in actual games. Even players in the NBA like Jerryd Bayless have there growth stunted sitting on the bench as opposed to someone like Russel Westbrook who gets significant playing time.

5-12-2009 @ 5:25PM

drmjack06 said...

Taj McDavid
Korleone Young
Ellis Richardson
Leon Smith
Ousmane Cisse
Tony Key
DeAngelo Collins
Lenny Cooke
James Lang
Jackie Butler

5-12-2009 @ 5:27PM

Taj McDavid
Korleone Young
Ellis Richardson
Leon Smith
Ousmane Cisse
Tony Key
DeAngelo Collins
Lenny Cooke
James Lang
Jackie Butler
Any of these names ring a bell?
All were HS players who everyone said would be the next Mike, Magic, or Kobe who never made it to the NBA. Where are they today?