King of Creation said:
NBA is unbelievably terrible. I haven't seen a game worth watching in a long time. The longer players are in the NBA, the more commericial and more of a sell-out they become.
How does a basketball player sell out?
Talent in college hoops is also a lot better, as is the skill evident in teams.
College teams have less and less of a talent pool to draw upon these days as more and more of the top players in the country jump straight to the NBA. I'm sure you can give examples of talented players, but then again, your team is the #1 team of in the country.
NBA hoops is just plain boring. There's no excitement watching the action in the NBA. Its just watching the scoreboard. Its so stupid. In college hoops, the focus is so much more on the action. Not to mention that NBA players are so damn stupid. Coaches in the NBA friggin micromanage EVERYTHING. The players don't do anything except what the coaches tell them to.
I see just as much micromanagement in college as in the NBA. And in most NCAA games, on every possession, the first half of the long shot clock is spent swinging the ball way outside on the perimeter before starting the actual play.
Not to mention the lack of fundamentals in NBA players. The NBA is full of way too many kids who never went to college to create a solid fundamental foundation. Their lack of skills in this area is downright embarassing.
Sure I can give you examples of players lacking fundamentals (Darius Miles), but many more have excellent skills. Especially with so many talented foreign players these days, and talented US players like Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Baron Davis- even Lebron James (at least offensively, though his defense will improve gradually)
And you wanna talk about defense? There's absolutely no defense in NBA hoops. Scoring is out of control. The NBA focuses way to much of creating showboat offensive players.
Here's where I know that you don't follow the NBA enough to criticize it to this extent. The big issue this year is that scoring has come way down, and that the league has seen some of its lowest scoring games in recent history. This is because there has been a huge focus on defense by both the players and coaches, and not because of myths of 'less talent'. It simply is harder to score when you have near-7 foot players who can cover the floor as fast as a college point guard. Want less scoring? Get less talented players and a 35 second shot clock and you'll get college ball.
College basketball has made a point to focus on defense. Emeka Okafor is a perfect example of this. He is a force on defense. 9 blocks against Oklahoma yesterday. He was one short of his second triple double this season. And the score wasn't bloated, and it is in most NBA games.
You're talking about the number one player in the country here. I guarantee he won't be nearly as effective in the NBA (but I still think he'll be a great player). Look at Kenyon Martin. He dominated college defensively to a greater degree than Okafor. But it still took early struggles and a learning process for him to succeed in the NBA. Bottom line- it's much easier to block slower shorter younger weaker kids.
The fact is that college basketball focuses more on skill, talent, and teamplay. The games are far more exciting and worthwhile to watch.
But when many college stars, whether coaches or players, make the jump from college to the pros, they are initially outmatched and overwhelmed. Jay Williams, the NCAA's best player before he went pro, was consistently dominated in the NBA. Rick Pitino and John Calipari were both sent packing. I like college ball too. It's especially exciting when you're going to or have gone to the school that you're rooting for. Most of the excitement comes from the energy of your fellow fan classmates, the fact that points are harder to come by, and that each game is more significant (because there are fewer games and they impact the rankings). But to claim that there is more talent, skill, and strategy there is just wrong.
