I realized this week my blog has been pretty tame
from a controversy perspective. Very few
argumentative pieces and lots of re-hashing over certain topics. I worry some of you may be bored or, heaven
forbid, reading somebody else’s blog.
Bouncing off these thoughts, I will address a rather
contentious question in the sports world: does college or professional boast
the “better” basketball? By “better”, I
refer to more than just the quality of play but the general atmosphere,
tradition, and excitement surrounding one or the other. I will address six main elements and whether
the NCAA or NBA can claim dominion over a given aspect of basketball. It’s difficult to compare stats since
professional and college sports by definition embody totally different
incentive structures. Hence, much of my
opinion will be based on watching both leagues and less on stats, making this a
full-fledged opinion piece.
Quality
of Play
Seems like a very broad topic but for the majority
of fans and pundits out there, “quality of play” refers to the skill of players
as a whole. In this area, undoubtedly
the NBA has a stranglehold. Players
continue to only get better as teams speed up and the scheme of high-flying
offense (like one so recently thrown out the door in New York) gains
prominence. I would belabor the point,
but I feel as an eye-test makes the point for me.
Advantage:
NBA
Defenses
Conventional wisdom seems to think the NBA plays
less defense than college as a whole.
For a rare instance, that wisdom is right. But many also think the lack of defense
originates from an inherent laziness in NBA players. To them I ask, if your long term career
prospects required constant physical health, wouldn’t you be careful about
jeopardizing that. Certain NBA players
will always play hard, but there is reason not to give 100% on defense every
play, especially given the incredible length of an NBA season (82 games + playoffs). In college, on the other hand, players play
for fewer years and can afford to take a few extra charges since they likely
will not play professional basketball.
So, college defenses are better as a whole but for good reason.
Advantage:
College
Style
of Play/Rules
A bit of a mixed bag here, but for the most part the
rules in the NBA certainly create more excitement on every night. For starters, I know few people who like the “dog
running around the pole” play in college basketball. You know…when the point guard passes to the
other guard, who passes back and the point passes to the small forward, who
then passes back. I should mention, all
these guys are behind the 3-point line.
Such a play epitomizes the worst rule in college basketball: the 35
second shot clock. Longer possessions might
make the game quicker, but it is easy to lose interest when the ball never
enters the paint during a possession.
The NBA presents a completely different model of
basketball. Who doesn’t like dunks above
the rim? Sure, there’s lots of crab-dribbling , but really amazing dunks more than make up for that. In addition, the deeper 3-point line continues
to accentuate the incredible talent in the NBA.
Advantage:
NBA
Postseason
Perhaps I’m picking the wrong time to write this
post, but I feel March Madness trumps every other postseason structure in
sports for two main reasons.
First, the NCAA bases its postseason on the “win or
go home” model which always adds drama and intrigue. We as fans thirst for such situations where
your team’s backed against a wall, fighting to play again in two days. Certainly the NBA format adds drama, but the
same effect can only be felt during a Game 7.
The NCAA Tournament, at least in attitude, acts like approximately
sixty-five Game 7s. Need I say more?
Secondly, the Tournament allows the smaller teams to
beat the better, more prestigious programs and, better yet, the little guys win. What makes this so remarkable, in my mind, is
the wide talent disparity between schools that meet in the NCAA but we can
guarantee some upsets every year in the Tournament. The NBA already can be predicted before
season’s start for the most part (as I said in my Jeremy Lin post) and, more
importantly, very few lower seeds in their playoff system do well. Only four 8th seeded teams have
won a playoff series at all since 1984, for example, and as a whole upsets
happen with infinitely less frequency than in the NCAA.
I will grant that the NBA system almost guarantees the
best team will advance given four games to win, but where’s the fun in that eh? At least upsets are common enough for folks
to bet on the NCAA brackets, an automatic plus regardless.
Advantage: College
Rivalries
This presents an interesting question, since the
rivalries in the NBA and NCAA are both very intense. But, the rivalries are different in
nature. In the NBA, the individual
personalities at play drive most rivalries.
Often, these are the best players.
For example, the Celtics-Lakers rivalry remained in full force when
Russell, Chamberlain, Bird, and Magic all played, but since those guys retired
and the Celtics began tanking for a while, the rivalry ebbed. Same with the Bulls-Pistons of the 80s and
Knicks-Pacers of the 90s.
I can guarantee college does not work that way and
never will. Kansas players will always
hate Mizzou players, mainly because the schools and states haven’t liked one
another for 100 years. Duke-UNC evokes similar emotions and, even when one team
isn’t that good, everyone in North Carolina pays attention to the game. The same could be said of rivalries like
Louisville-Kentucky. These schools have
long histories playing each other and since universities grow out of respective
cultural climates, might have un-athletic reasoning for disagreeing with another
institution of learning, as in the Border War.
While the NBA’s rivalries can flow and ebb, many in college won’t just
go away.
Advantage:
College
Motivation
Yes I’m going there.
To start, obviously some in the NBA play for pride no doubt. But, the big money involved explains why
those players wanted to be professional in the first place. NCAA players receive no plainly financial
compensation for their services (or they shouldn’t at least), definitely making
them a little bit more “pure” than NBA players from a motivation
standpoint. Yes, there are one-and-done
players in the NCAA, but think about the hundreds of others for whom the
Tournament this week will be the pinnacle of their basketball career. Many such kids pour their hearts and souls
into their teams, not to mention school pride, knowing full well they will move
onto another profession after graduation.
Those guys deserve our respect, and the college game is better for it.
Advantage: College
Not an exhaustive list, but overall I think it safe
to say college basketball provides the drama and heart needed to make a sport
great. Again, the NBA can provide those
things, but NCAA hoops provides more than the NBA in both categories.
Bit
#1: Intelligent free agency in DC….tough to believe right?
Given past performance, the Redskins aren’t the first
team you’d pick to do well in free agency.
But, the Skins did well this week, adding Pierre Garcon as a deep threat
and Josh Morgan as another receiver to provide depth, most likely moving
Santana Moss to the slot position. On
defense, looks like LaRon Landry will be replaced as Brandon Meriweather will
play in DC next season, flanked by Cedric Griffin who replaces O.J.
Atogwe. I like both acquisitions, for no
other reason than the front office clearly didn’t look for the big name guys. One remaining issue will be the status of
linebacker London Fletcher, who needs to be re-signed soon.
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