Farmar gave team big break; return it

None of us should be surprised that Jordan Farmar is leaving
school early to go to the NBA. No UCLA fan should be mad at him for
his decision or hold a grudge against him.

Even with Farmar gone, UCLA will still be strong next year. Most
of the team that went to the championship game will be back.
It’s unrealistic to expect the Bruins to return to the
championship game next season. But then again, in this modern age
of college basketball where players leave early, it’s
unrealistic to expect any team to go to the championship game in
back-to-back seasons.

Come November, key players from last season like Arron Afflalo,
Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Darren Collison, Lorenzo Mata and Michael
Roll will all be one year older, wiser, stronger and better. Also,
Josh Shipp comes back. Remember him? One of the key players on that
2004-2005 tournament team missed most of this past season, and
he’ll be back. The Bruins will still be talented this season,
very likely enough to make it to the NCAA Tournament again.

I’m glad Afflalo came back, not only because it makes UCLA
better, but for his own sake as well. He wasn’t projected to
go in the first round by many NBA draft experts, and being drafted
in the second round often spells disaster for basketball players.
First-round draft picks are guaranteed contracts. Second-round
picks are not and often don’t make it on to an NBA roster.
Every year, dozens of players leave school early and are either
selected as second-round picks or not drafted at all. Afflalo was
smart to come back and it’s good to know he won’t have
the same fate as those players.

Farmar, meanwhile, will likely be drafted in the first round.
The latest mock draft at nbadraft.net has Farmar at 17th overall to
the Indiana Pacers. This would be great ““ a mid-level
first-round pick as opposed to a late first-round pick. Other
experts aren’t as generous, having Farmar later in the first
round.

Either way, UCLA fans should remember Farmar as the great player
who helped lead the Bruins back to national prominence, not as the
player who left school early. Across the country, when a star
player leaves an elite program early, fans have the tendency to
hold a grudge against that player.

I’m asking Bruin fans not to do that. In two years, he
helped the program immensely. And Farmar’s just doing
what’s best for him. It’s highly unlikely that his
value could be higher than it is now, after he just led a team to
the championship game. And even if the Bruins go all the way next
year, the experts say that the 2007 NBA Draft will be stocked with
much more talent than this year’s draft, meaning that even if
he improved at UCLA, he might have been in a worse position next
year.

Besides, having a star player leave for the draft can be
considered a good thing. It means a team was not only good, it
means that the team has a strong coach and recruiter in Ben Howland
““ who will likely bring more great players to UCLA ““
many of whom will leave school early for the NBA. That’s what
happens to elite programs, and UCLA is an elite program again.

UCLA fans should hope more great players like Farmar leave
Westwood early. That means that they were great at UCLA, probably
leading the Bruins to some great seasons.

E-mail Quiñonez at gquinonez@media.ucla.edu.

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