Brandon Wood to play on an aircraft carrier?

[vuweathernerd]

knowing Brandon a little and knowing his dad, I would venture an opinion that he was drinking apple juice that night.  Brandon is on a mission, whether anyone thinks he can or not.  That mssion is to make it to the NBA and a night of partying isn't in the plan...

So it was all about ego and libido?

not entirely. gotta build up that stamina.

[valpo64]

Enough on Brandon Wood!

[BK]

 Some of his colleagues may be be jumpers, but Tom Izzo is not, and not because there haven't been opportunities.

Of course he has been given 3,200,000 reasons not to jump. 

[Valpo89]

Oh man, Brandon Wood isn't the big story at (hopefully) the end of this thread that started in November.
It's BK registering to post!

[vu72]

knowing Brandon a little and knowing his dad, I would venture an opinion that he was drinking apple juice that night.  Brandon is on a mission, whether anyone thinks he can or not.  That mssion is to make it to the NBA and a night of partying isn't in the plan...

So it was all about ego and libido?

Probably yes.  Being 20 whatever does have its drawbacks!   

[BK]

Oh man, Brandon Wood isn't the big story at (hopefully) the end of this thread that started in November. It's BK registering to post!

I just couldn't help myself.  Saw the post on Brandon Wood and it reminded me of some Scott Drew thread circa 2006, so I had to read the whole thing from aircraft carrier to the Belmont District Station.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

http://www.freep.com/article/20120605/SPORTS07/120605056/michigan-state-brandon-wood-delvon-roe-twitter?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CSports

the headline makes this seem like a dispute, but it's not really.

heck, the headline makes it seem like news.

oh well, read if you've nothing else.

who is this mysterious BK fellow?  i'm n00bish...

[Valpo89]

BK is a proud, local VU alum who has a high-powered job in Chicago and has probably been lurking for a long time but finally caved to register on this "new" board.
He actually used to post a lot on the older VU boards, but I would imagine real life has gotten in his way of important things like posting here.

[EddieCabot]

http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20120601/GW0201/306010072/Former-Spartan-Wood-accepts-plea-deal-threatens-lawsuit?nclick_check=1

Can't say that I blame him for threatening litigation ... it stinks to get accused of stuff when you've done nothing wrong.  Unfortunately, that's par for the course when you are a "public figure", and it's pretty hard to argue defamation of character against media outlets who are merely reporting contents of a police report.  Not sure what the "police misconduct" might relate to, but I guess we'll see what happens.

[valpotx]

Unless I am reading it incorrectly, it doesn't 100% state he didn't do what he was accused of, just merely that he accepted one count to get rid of another.  The incident could very well have happened the way it was laid out, but the prosecution maybe didn't want a lengthy trial, and Brandon's side maybe didn't want to risk getting convicted of both accusations...

[BK]

has a high-powered job in Chicago and has probably been lurking for a long time but finally caved to register on this "new" board. He actually used to post a lot on the older VU boards, but I would imagine real life has gotten in his way of important things like posting here.

I do lurk on occasion, but high-powered is a very very relative term.  Good to be back though. 

[bbtds]

Brandon is frustrated that NBA teams did not give him more workouts so he could showcase his talent. Imagine that!


http://www.nwitimes.com/sports/college/valparaiso-university/brandon-wood-frustrated-by-lack-of-workouts-as-nba-draft/article_1d65b534-8b62-544d-8009-8a68f1879642.html

"I thought I showed enough to deserve more workouts than I got," Wood said. "Everything happens for a reason and I'm blessed to be in a position that I am. I just feel like in my case, I don't know what more I could've done to have a chance to work out for teams."

The Milwaukee Bucks were the only team to have Wood back for a second workout, with the most recent being on Tuesday morning when the Bucks were auditioning potential first-round picks Terrance Ross (Washington) and Jeremy Lamb (UConn).

"When Thursday comes and if I don't hear my name, I'll be disappointed," Wood said. "It's the day I've been waiting for my whole life. Whatever happens, I just know that I'm a success story."


Maybe the fact that Brandon was out at 2:00/3:00 a.m. when he should have been concentrating on his basketball career had something to do with it too.

Part of the politics could stem from Wood's arrest earlier this year for allegedly assaulting an 18-year-old woman in Chicago on April 29. Charges of assault and battery were dismissed by Judge Ann O'Donnell of the Circuit Court of Cook County on June 1, but Wood plead guilty to criminal trespassing. Wood was in Chicago working out with personal trainers for the draft.

"I can't get into too many details, but what was said was not how it happened," Wood said. "I learned a lot from that experience. I feel like no matter what happened in the court, people still probably judged me. The people that really know me, know what type of person I am, they know it wasn't true. The people that talked bad about me probably didn't like me before the incident. I'm assuming that this incident probably had something to do with not getting the workouts that I deserved."

[sectionee]

Humble fella isn't he. I still think his best shot would've been staying at Valpo and scoring more then 20ppg and winning the HL POY, but I'm pretty happy with how things have turned out!

[cmack]

BWood is that rare commodity of a 6'3 decent shooter with no real ability to play point or slide down to the 3.  So hard to find, I cannot believe NBA teams are not knocking down his door.  Damn the politics!!

[valpotx]

It is very rare that a third leading scorer of a team gets drafted.  That is usually reserved for the national champion at most due to talent.  He definitely would have gotten more individual attention at a smaller school his last year.  He had to be first or second on his MSU team in scoring to get a shot at being drafted...

[valpopal]

It is very rare that a third leading scorer of a team gets drafted.  That is usually reserved for the national champion at most due to talent.  He definitely would have gotten more individual attention at a smaller school his last year.  He had to be first or second on his MSU team in scoring to get a shot at being drafted...

I agree. I wrote the following on the board in April of 2011: "I have noticed that various projections for the NBA Draft place Norris Cole among the second round selections. I think Brandon could easily be the outstanding player in the Horizon League next year, as Cole was this past year, and that would be the best path for him to follow if he wishes to gain attention by NBA scouts. As a newcomer on a top Big Ten team, Wood most likely would not get the number of touches and achieve the kind of statistics he certainly will with Valpo."

Brandon had a wonderful experience at MSU this past year with lots of good memories he can cherish, but I believe he sacrificed any remote chance of being picked by an NBA team the way Cole was chosen last year.

[covufan]

His best shot at the NBA is either the CBA (or whatever it is after Isiah Thomas) or a top Euro league, and tear them up.  He'll need to show scoring, dishing, and defense.

[EddieCabot]

Given the success of Horizon League players in the NBA, you would think that someone will give Wood a look.  In '10-'11, Wood earned 1st team all-Horizon (with Norris Cole), ahead of Mack who was picked 34th in the 2011 draft.  As he pointed out, Wood basically did everything who could to be recognized.

I don't fully understand his comment about politics, but it does seem like something funny is going on.  Izzo is very respected by NBA guys, so you would think he would have done more to get Wood some workout opportunities. 

[covufan]

I don't fully understand his comment about politics, but it does seem like something funny is going on.  Izzo is very respected by NBA guys, so you would think he would have done more to get Wood some workout opportunities. 

I don't get the politics angle as well.  Almost sounded like he was upset that he didn't get more scoring opportunities.  What did he think was going to happen going from the HL to the Big Ten?  That his scoring would increase?  That Izzo would just keep giving him the ball because he scored well in the HL?

[valpotx]

Given the success of Horizon League players in the NBA, you would think that someone will give Wood a look.  In '10-'11, Wood earned 1st team all-Horizon (with Norris Cole), ahead of Mack who was picked 34th in the 2011 draft.  As he pointed out, Wood basically did everything who could to be recognized.

I don't fully understand his comment about politics, but it does seem like something funny is going on.  Izzo is very respected by NBA guys, so you would think he would have done more to get Wood some workout opportunities. 

He did everything he could have done...except be a dominant figure on the team and league.  I believe only 60 people get drafted each year?  That includes all top D-1 players and international.  Brandon is not there.  He will do well in Europe

[valpo95]

In looking at other players who didn't get drafted, Jordan Taylor, a 6-1 guard from Wisconsin, did not get drafted.  While Taylor is more of a point guard, he still has very good numbers.

Taylor  14.8 ppg   4.1 apg  1.6 to  3.8 rpg
Wood     8.8 ppg  1.9 apg  1.0 to  2.8 rpg

Taylor's production was down a bit, as in 2010-11 he averaged 18.1 ppg.

If I'm an NBA GM, I'd be taking Taylor over Wood every day of the week. 

[sectionee]

Taylor was also really good at creating his own shot where Brandon relied more on coming off screens or getting the ball kicked out to him. Maybe he gets a look by some teams, but I think Brandon will be a nice player in Europe somewhere.

[EddieCabot]

Taylor was also really good at creating his own shot where Brandon relied more on coming off screens or getting the ball kicked out to him. Maybe he gets a look by some teams, but I think Brandon will be a nice player in Europe somewhere.

I saw that Taylor got picked up for Atlanta's summer league team.  I haven't seen Wood's name show up anywhere yet ... was sort of surprised he wasn't on the Bucks' summer league roster because I heard his workouts there went pretty well.  Anyone hear what Brandon's planning to do next?

[vuweathernerd]

Taylor was also really good at creating his own shot where Brandon relied more on coming off screens or getting the ball kicked out to him. Maybe he gets a look by some teams, but I think Brandon will be a nice player in Europe somewhere.

I saw that Taylor got picked up for Atlanta's summer league team.  I haven't seen Wood's name show up anywhere yet ... was sort of surprised he wasn't on the Bucks' summer league roster because I heard his workouts there went pretty well.  Anyone hear what Brandon's planning to do next?

take over the twitter-verse, it seems

[valpopal]

Brandon will be playing professional ball in Macedonia:

http://www.freep.com/article/20120726/SPORTS07/120726083/michigan-state-brandon-wood-macedonia