Inhabiting new niches

He was recruited as a 3 after playing the 1 as a senior in high school, he then went on to play the 4 for 2 years at KU before the experience of the previous 3 years yielded to the reality of his absurdly whole-some game- Julian Wright, SF NOLA Hornets.

There are many out there who look on with chagrin at a player leaving his alma mater short of earning a degree (read: playing out his eligibility) to test his fortunes in the draft. This supreme selfishness by ‘fans’ denies both the evolution of the team and the genesis of individual greatness. In Julian’s case, the very fans who called him out for leaving are the ones who complained endlessly during the season of his inconsistency. What slides by the foggy perception of those who called for his return was that the college game had become nothing more than a prison holding as captive the endless skills of JW.



To wit: KU won the title this year as a result of precisely defined roles, and outstanding players inhabiting them. But in the NBA Magic Johnson wins game 6 by starting at center, Duncan consistently whines about being called a 5 and Jordan started winning titles by taking his game down to the post or out into the perimeter as the matchup dictated. Well, JWs skill yearn for that flexibility. Consider him in these playoffs: In the deciding game against Dallas he got his points inside and at the line and came away with three steals, while he came back in game two against the Spurs by draining threes to keep the game within reach before yielding to the starters.

Although it would be hard to argue that KU would’ve been worse with Julian, I think the reality that he was too free for the college game makes precisely that claim.