I've always been curious about the production of players who skip college basketball to play in the NBA. This chart shows the career averages for the 45 players who have made that leap. For active players, the years played and average numbers are accurate as of March 5, 2007.

I wanted to put this list together now, but it'll be even more interesting to look back on it in a few years, when some of the slower developers (check out Jermaine O'Neal's career arc for a prime example) have improved their games.

(Aaron Gleeman did a great study on this several years ago. It's a two-parter called "Straight into the pros" that breaks down high school draftees from Garnett through LeBron.)

To see the table, visit One More Dying Quail.

I don't watch a ton of college basketball, but I happened to catch the last few minutes of regulation and both overtime periods of tonight's Texas A&M-Texas slugfest.

It was my first exposure to Kevin Durant and Acie Law, and I have to admit to being impressed with both players. In addition to being exceptional basketball players, each proved himself to be in possession of incredible guts - Durant by hitting some big free throws down the stretch and Earl by draining threes to tie the game at the end of regulation and the first overtime. As a Celtic fan, I wouldn't mind seeing either guy in Boston next season (although really, the last thing that team needs is another guard).

One thing about the game struck me as odd, however: the antics of Longhorn freshman Damion James. Maybe he was happy about having a career night with 22 points, or maybe he was excited that the Longhorns came away with the hard fought win, or maybe he's just strange, but the camera picked up James doing two things down the stretch - neither of them really offensive in any way, just weird - that caught my attention.

First, as the second overtime was winding down, the camera cut to a shot of the court just in time to see James smack teammate A.J. Abrams on the ass. This wasn't a love tap, a "Let's make a play here and win this thing" type of deal, the sort of thing you see from baseball players all the time - it was an "If you mess up, I OWN this ass" slap. He hit the dude hard.

Abrams at first appeared understandably upset by the incident, snapping to attention and whirling around to confront the transgressor. When he saw that it was James, he backed off, presumably because

a) they still had a game to win
b) he's come to expect this sort of thing after playing with James all season
c) he knew James was merely perfecting some post-game moves

Still, for a second there, I thought I was going to see my first ever basketball fight between two teammates.

Then, of course, there was the second incident. After A&M missed the last shot and the game ended, one of the Texas players came away with the ball and began walking toward the bench, at which time James ran up to him and wrestled the ball from his grasp.

"Okay," I thought to myself. "Not exactly the best way to go about it, but this was a huge win and he had a great game. He probably wants the ball as a keepsake, something to remember the night by. Certainly better than proposing marriage to one of the cheerleaders."

That's when he threw the ball into the crowd.

I was too surprised by this sudden turn of events to pay close attention, but I'm fairly certain the reaction of the teammate was, "Dude, what the fuck?"

Dude, what the fuck, indeed. All of this struck me, as I mentioned earlier, as kind of odd. Maybe there were reasons for the way James acted. Maybe he was getting loopy after logging 43 minutes in a tough game. Maybe he likes the way A.J. Abrams' ass looks in those shorts. Maybe he believed that the fans deserved a game ball after the win. Or maybe he's just a little on the nutty side.

All things considered, he might be my new favorite player.

Quarterfinal Results

Louisville (5) 55, Arizona State (57) 53 (4 OT)

• Arizona State scored a touchdown in the final overtime, but missed the required two-point conversion on an incomplete pass.
• Rudy Carpenter threw for 486 yards and five touchdowns for the Sun Devils, but also had four interceptions.

Auburn (10) 24, Oregon State (25) 10

• Auburn's Kenny Irons ran for 129 yards on nine carries, including a 95-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

LSU (11) 27, Houston (23) 17

• Strange score of the tournament: Houston led 3-2 at the end of the first quarter.

Notre Dame (21) 30, Oklahoma (15) 17

• Notre Dame's Brady Quinn was 19-23 for 301 yards and three touchdowns.

Semifinal Matchups

Louisville (5) vs. Notre Dame (21)

Auburn (10) vs. LSU (11)

(This post was originally written for and posted at If I Ran.)

(Hi, I'm Brian from One More Dying Quail. I have absolutely no connection with the Marlins outside of the fact that I once used them for a video game's season mode and my favorite team handed them the 2006 Rookie of the Year and a kid who pitched a no-hitter in a trade last year. No, I'm not bitter.)

When the Florida Marlins won the World Series four years ago, they did so with a team that was "stupid enough to win this thing", according to pitcher Josh Beckett. The Marlins were an interesting blend of brash youngsters (Beckett, Juan Pierre and Brad Penny, among others) and staid veterans (Jeff Conine, Ivan Rodriguez, Rick Helling) who, under the leadership of crotchety old manager Jack McKeon, provided its southern Florida fan base with the hope that sustained baseball excellence was just around the corner.

The threat of quality baseball didn't translate to immediate box office success (more on that in a minute), however, and following back-to-back third place finishes in 2004 and 2005, management decided to start over again. Of the ten position players who played 100 or more games in 2005, only one (outfielder Miguel Cabrera) was with the team in 2006; five were traded (Paul Lo Duca, Carlos Delgado, Luis Castillo, Mike Lowell, and Juan Pierre) and four others were allowed to leave via free agency (Alex Gonzalez, Juan Encarnacion, Conine, and Damion Easley). The hit to the pitching staff wasn't as devastating, but it still hurt, with two of the top three starters departing (A.J. Burnett to Toronto as a free agent, Beckett to Boston with Lowell).

Florida wasn't supposed to contend in 2006, but they went ahead and did it anyway, staying close to the division leaders for much of the season before fading down the stretch. Even more so than in 2003, the roster was comprised heavily of young players (both position players and pitchers were the youngest in the majors, on average), with six of the top twelve vote getters in the Rookie of the Year balloting.

The future is bright for the Marlins, but there is still room for team management to screw things up. Don't worry, Mr. Loria. I've got your back, Mr. Samson. Turn that frown upside down, Mr. Beinfest. I'm about to give you all the advice you will ever need to run your team.

1) Resolve the team's awkward stadium situation as soon as possible.

Long story short: after drawing a franchise record low of 813,118 fans in 2002, Florida's attendance improved steadily over the next three seasons, eventually climbing to 1.85 million in 2005. That number was cause for optimism, the highest mark they had achieved since its first World Series season of 1997.

Then came the stadium issue. Following the 2005 season, as the Marlins were beginning to streamline their roster for both on-field and financial success (translation: they sold off anyone who was making any sort of reasonable money), team officials mentioned that talks for a new stadium in south Florida had fallen through and the team was planning to explore its relocation options. They shopped around for several months, with San Antonio the leading suitor, before Miami-Dade County found some land and put the potential move on hold.

According to the Miami Herald, there are concerns regarding the limited size of the land and the fact that a juvenile courthouse is already planned for the same site, but the biggest issue is financial. Early plans call for a retractable roof stadium that would cost about $420 million, of which the team would contribute $210 million and the county $120 million. That leaves a gap of about $90 million that nobody can seem to close. Somehow, that needs to happen, either by Jeffrey Loria ponying up the cash himself (an SI.com article from 2002 suggested that Loria's net worth was only in the $400 million range; if that number is still accurate, Option A is probably out) or working out some sort of loan through Major League Baseball. Either way, my first step in running the Marlins would be to resolve this issue immediately so the team's fans can stop worrying about the ballpark/potential move and start focusing on its good young players.

2) Lock up Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis with long-term deals.

By retaining Cabrera and Willis in the Great Fire Sale of 2005, the Marlins made it clear that these are the two players around whom they plan to build their team (unless somebody knocks them over with an offer for Willis. If I'm running the team, however, Dontrelle is off-limits). Both are young - Willis turned 25 last month and Cabrera won't be 24 until mid-April - veterans with affordable contracts: the pair will cost the Marlins a combined $14 million in 2007 and aren't eligible for free agency until after the 2009 season.

It doesn't matter when these two become free agents - I would immediately contact the agents for both players and begin preliminary talks for lucrative long-term contracts. The reasoning is the same as with the stadium situation: when you're trying to bring fans out to the ballpark and get them excited about your team, you need to make some sort of move to show that you're serious about winning. The Marlins took the first step when they stopped short of dealing Cabrera and Willis; now they have to show their fan base that these two stars will be around to form the foundation of the team for the long run.

(The only thing that would give me pause: the idea that this winter's overaggressive market will correct itself within a year or two, meaning I run the risk of signing Cabrera and Willis to deals that will be well above market value and potentially crippling to payroll within three to four years, a la Manny Ramirez. If it settles the fans, however, I think it's worth the risk).

3) Be careful in handling the young starting rotation.

The Marlins had five starting pitchers under the age of 24 last season, including a former Rookie of the Year and Cy Young runner-up (Dontrelle Willis) and three of the top twelve vote-getters in the 2006 Rookie of the Year voting. The future is bright, right? Not entirely. According to The Hardball Times, two of those three rookies - righthanders Anibal Sanchez and Josh Johnson (both of whom turned 23 within the last month) have had injury scares recently: Sanchez has been hit with shoulder discomfort in each of the last two springs and Johnson has had problems with his right elbow and biceps muscle dating back to last season.

The common adage in baseball is that pitching wins championships. Well, the Marlins have enough young pitching to compete for the next five to ten years...if they can keep those guys healthy. The temptation might be to rush Sanchez and Johnson back and ride the Big Five (which also includes lefthander Scott Olsen and right-hander Ricky Nolasco) to victory this season. Don't do that. Instead, carry an extra pitcher or two (either a sixth starter who can eat innings or an additional bullpen arm) to take the pressure off the kids.

4) Don't allow all those youngsters to run wild in Miami.

Miami is a happenin' place. The Marlins are likely to have the youngest team in the major leagues. I wouldn't set severe limits on the team (that might lead them to act out against the authority), but let them know from the start that they can't run wild in the city and expect to win, unless their names are Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford.

Oh, and given the resources at my disposal, every visiting team gets the Lawrence Taylor treatment.

5) Give Fredi Gonzalez room to breathe.

Finally, the poor relationship between Loria and manager Joe Girardi was well-documented last season (Loria tried to fire Girardi in the middle of a game, but eventually relented and was gracious enough to let him finish out the season). He needs to give new hire Fredi Gonzalez more space to do what he wants with the team if he wants them to be successful.

Time to toss out a few of the best stories that have passed through my Google Reader in the past few days...

Manny Reports! (Drunken Bleachers Blog) - How come the Boston media failed to mention that Manny Ramirez was late-ish reporting to training camp? Oh, wait - they did. Most of us just didn't care.

An Intervention (Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician) - The mascots of the Big East conference stage an intervention for the St. John's Red Storm. Brilliant!

Oh, I Get It: Bloggers Are Homeless People (Fire Joe Morgan) - A newspaperman from Minnesota compares bloggers to homeless people. FJM's Junior respectfully disagrees.

O'Neal reaches 25,000 point mark (Yahoo! Sports) - For some reason, this headline took me completely by surprise. Kinda like when I looked Shaq's stats up and realized he's been in the league for fifteen years. Where DOES the time go?

Summitt plans special appearance for Vols men's game (ESPN.com) - One of the commenters on ESPN said it best: "As long as Pat wears a top, it's all good." One shirtless Tennessee coach was difficult enough to deal with, thank you very much.

Olympian Gardner survives plane crash (Yahoo! Sports) - By my count, Gardner has used up at least five of his nine lives. God either loves or hates this man.

A Look Back at 1988 (Royals Retrospective) - Author Max and I have something in common: the summer of 1988 was a turning point for each of us in our lives as fans of our favorite teams.

It's not about the money, to Deluca, the experience was most important (Nashua Telegraph) - A good story about a kid from New Hampshire who is enjoying tremendous success as a member of the Brandeis University basketball team.

'Corey made his basket and everything changed' (New Hampshire Union Leader) - Corey Porembski may not be as good at basketball as Jason McElwain, but he is every bit as inspirational.

Interpreters in Baseball Making Sure Nothing Is Lost in Translation (New York Times) - Ever wonder how interpreters get their jobs, or what other responsibilities they have? Me too. This answers a lot of those questions.

The Ratings Game (The Wizard of Odds) - It's over a week old, but Dawizofodds tracked down this top-notch chart showing the television ratings for every 2006-2007 bowl game. Games I live-blogged at AwfulAnnouncing had an average rating of about 1.8, if you care about that sort of thing.