Is this a good reason to enjoy college basketball as opposed to the NBA?

I enjoy watching college basketball more, but I grew up in Kentucky, so that seems fairly obvious.

That said, the NBA is much better if you enjoy watching actual basketball. Watching Kentucky in 2009-10 was brutal, and not because of Kentucky. The teams they played, with few exceptions, used the zone defense and the 35-second shot clock to grind games to an absolute crawl. And while I credit them for doing what it takes to keep the game close, it's brutal to watch.

The college game could be made better by adopting or modifying several NBA rules, chief among them defensive 3-seconds and a shorter shot clock. In addition, the NCAA needs to do away with four TV timeouts per half (which will never happen because of money). Watching from home, the TV timeouts aren't a bother. But when you're at the arena and the game comes to a halt nine or 10 times each half because of timeouts, it makes for a pretty shitty experience.

 

And they had those weird, short nets on the hoops at Madison Square Garden that took the ball about 2 seconds to drop out of. I hated those.

 

Not to hijack this thread, but NFL timeouts can be just as brutal in a stadium. Know what you mean, though, about college basketball timeouts...

 

I actually consider myself something of a net aficionado and know exactly what you're talking about. Hate those short ones.

I always thought the Boston Garden from like '84 on had the best shooting nets. Longer, seemed thicker, more inviting. The ones at Mecca in the '80s might have actually been too long.

End net nerd talk.

 

As a kid I loved the ones that would get wrapped around the rim when you swished a shot from the baseline. They were a little impractical, though. Thus, netmakers eventually went to the thicker nylon nets that wouldn't wrap around the rim.

My brothers and I got our first hoop for Christmas of 1970, and it had one of those nets. When we were able to finally get the thing put on the garage in spring I was 10 and I spent hours and hours in the alley shooting. Wore that net out in a couple of months and could never find one that good again.

 

I've said it before, but for full disclosure, I hate everything about basketball. I don't see any basketball game that I'm not being paid to be at. The only good basketball game is the last one of the year I have to cover.

That being said ....

I think most of the country outside of NBA cities prefers college to NBA. If you ask most folks, basketball season ends with March Madness. They don't care for basketball in June. I don't think it's got anything to do with the differences in the game. It's just where your allegances rest.

I'd lay money most folks in North Carolina follow the Tobacco Road schools far more than Charlotte. I'd say most fans in Michigan prefer the Wolverines and Spartans to the Pistons, again, outside of the immeditate Detroit area. I woulnd't be surprised if most people in Indiana follow IU and Indiana State to the Pacers.

The same can't be said, I think, for places like New York, Boston or L.A., but for most of the country.

 

Reasons why the NBA is better than college:

1) Defensive three seconds. Zone defense sucks. Plain and simple.
2) Officiating. NBA officials are far from great, but they're much better than college officials, who too often think they should either call a foul on every single play or not call any at all.
3) Mid-range play. I watched the Wizards/Bobcats game last night (hardly indicative of quality basketball), and it's astounding how much more of the game takes place 12-18 feet from the basket than in college, where offensive strategy is basically limited to a lay-in, a three-pointer, or trying to draw a foul around the basket.
4) Shorter shot clock. The game actually has a flow to it.

Of course, the quality of play in the NBA benefits from the same thing that makes it awful to average fans: the talent of the players. With few exceptions, you have to play man-to-man defense and you can't leave a guy standing in the corner, because there are almost always five guys on the floor who can hurt you. Most college teams have two or three capable offensive players and two or three who make one shot a game.

I'm still partial to college because I grew up watching college ball and I love the atmosphere of it. But in terms of what basketball is supposed to look like, the NBA is much closer than college. And because of that, I love watching the NBA too.

 

And of course, any net is better than no net.

 

I know, all the baseline jumpers over fresh-faced youngsters that should be swishes just don't have the same impact when they fall to the ground like an airball.

 

If the Charlotte Bobcats were to play Duke tomorrow night, I am guessing the Bobcats would win by 30-40 points. Maybe more if it was a 48-minute game. The NBA players are men (well most of them) and the college players are still maturing physically. Only a handful of players can play at the NBA level when they are 19 or 20, and even then, they usually don't hit their stride as an NBA player until a year or two in the league.

So the NBA has superior players. No arguing that.

The college game also has the five-foul rule which I hate. Having a player sit for 15 minutes because they got two touch fouls in the first five minutes of a game to me just destroys the quality of the game.

But...

In college I would say about 100 teams have a realistic chance right now to make the Sweet 16. Maybe more. About 50 teams have a realistic shot at the Elite Eight and 25 or so have a shot at the Final Four or to win it all.

In the NBA, how many teams right now have a legit shot of being one of the four remaining teams? Eight? Six? Who has a legit shot at winning it all? Four?

What makes the college game so great is how unpredictable it is.

 

I know the Pacers have had some image troubles locally in the last few years, but to say Indiana State is more popular? Ouch.

 

Is that Sarah Palin's Real America that you're talking about? "Most of the country outside NBA cities" can't be more than 30-40 percent of the U.S. population.