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Early NBA entries should consider All-Pine Team

SPECIAL TO ESPN.COM

Let's have a little fun and pick an All-Pine Team. That's right, here are six guys who left college early for the NBA only to sit on the pine, day after day.

If they had stayed in school, they could have had super, scintillating and sensational collegiate careers. Perhaps they would have been All-America candidates. But they went for the quick buck and have disappeared.

Donnell Harvey
Donnell Harvey helped Florida to the title game in 2000 but hasn't played in many NBA games this season.
Believe me, on the NBA level, where you don't have the intense practice sessions like you do on the college scene, it is very difficult to develop your game if you don't get enough minutes on the hardwood.

Here are my All-Pine Team members:

William Avery: He's averaged eight minutes per game this season for Minnesota.

Joel Przybilla: The former Golden Gophers big man has scored less than a point per game while averaging eight minutes an outing.

Michael Redd: He would have been special with Jim O'Brien and the Buckeyes. Instead he's scored 13 points in six games.

Donnell Harvey: Imagine what the Gators would have been like if he stayed and worked on his game? He's averaged less than four minutes per game, playing in a mere 17 all season.

Erick Barkley: Portland is loaded in the backcourt, so he's appeared in eight games all season, averaging under five minutes a pop.

Jerome Moiso: He has averaged less than six minutes a game in 24 outings this season.

A word to the wise for all of those players declaring early for the NBA draft: There is always talk about the money, but is it short-term success or long-term promise?

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