It’s about that time of year again. After an unbelievable March that included not just one, but TWO “mid-majors” reaching the Final Four, some people have decided that in order to celebrate the greatness of college basketball they must start belittling the NBA game.
In response, the NBA lovers have come out in full-force to defend their league.
You know how I feel. For the longest time, my stance has been, “if you want to watch unathletic players who can’t shoot, dribble, or pass, and who leave their college team after one season even if they aren’t good enough, go ahead and enjoy NCAA Basketball.”
I’ve always thought that the reasons people gave for enjoying the NCAA game more were biased at best and usually altogether bogus.
Here are three reasons I have heard often, with my easy rebuttal to each one.
“The college game is just more fun to watch.”
Just not true.
Now if you want to say that THE ATMOSPHERE of a college basketball game is better than THE ATMOSPHERE of an NBA game, then sure…I’ll listen to you. Nothing beats the atmosphere of a mid-season Big Ten battle at Assembly Hall or Mackey Arena.
But personally, I don’t watch sports because of the atmosphere…and neither do you. If we did, the EPL (English Premier League for you poor guys out there that don’t enjoy soccer) would be the most popular sport in America. Most of us watch sports because of the game that is being played.
I challenge you with this: watch ANY college basketball game on mute. You will find that the level of play is surprisingly awful, and it’s really not ANY more fun to watch than its NBA counterpart.
“The college players just play harder.”
Even less true.
In my mind, this is usually a reason that is dripping with racism and ignorance. I have had people tell me that they watch the college game because of guys like Greg Paulus, Wojo, and Bobby Hurley. They then tell me that nobody hustles like that in the NBA anymore. I even heard someone once say that “Bobby Hurley would have only been mediocre if he was black…but because he was white, he had to work harder and that’s what made him so good.”
There are so many things wrong with this reason, but let me just point out that if you have watched ANY of the NBA Playoffs over the past week and a half, you will likely agree that the NBA guys are playing JUST as hard as anyone in college.
Maybe they do “cruise through” the regular season a little bit, but so would you…it’s SIX MONTHS LONG.
“I enjoy watching good basketball.”
This one makes me the angriest.
If you have watched the NBA at all this year, you have seen good basketball. Even if you have watched “THE WRETCHED MIAMI HEAT AND ALL THAT IS WRONG WITH THE NBA,” you have seen beautiful passing, pedal to the metal defense, and spectacular athleticism.
The same guys that will rave over Kemba Walker and Kyrie Irving’s speed on the floor in college will claim that the NBA isn’t as fun to watch because it’s just a bunch of one-on-one athletes. Please. Most likely, you last watched the NBA in 2004 when the Pacers and Pistons were making the game as ugly as possible, and you drew your conclusions then. Give yourself and the NBA another chance this spring, and enjoy the NBA Playoffs.
Anyways, I used to go crazy whenever anyone would bash the NBA, but in the past month I have had an epiphany.
It’s pointless to compare the NBA with the NCAA because they are two completely different games. I realized that even though I happen to like the NBA more than any other sport, there is no use in trying to compare it with college basketball.
Really, you might as well try and compare men’s Lacrosse with women’s hockey. Sure, both sports have goals, goalies, and players wearing pads…but after that, the similarities end.
In this case, the NCAA and NBA really only have one thing in common: they are both making kajillions of dollars. Past that, the games couldn’t be more different.
Difference #1 – The Point Guard Conundrum
While talking to a friend the other day, I realized that the “prototypical point guard” no longer exists in the NBA.
I thought through every single team, and I came to the conclusion that there were only four “old-school point guards” starting in the league: Jason Kidd, Steve Nash, Jose Calderon, and Chris Paul.
Ever since the rule changes that prohibited defensive wings from hand-checking their opponent and disallowed defensive post players from planting themselves in the lane, the NBA has gone in a different direction. You don’t really need your point guard to read the defense, set up the right play, or find the hot guy. Coaches do all of that now. The most important thing a PG can do is put pressure on the opposing defense.
You can accomplish this in one of three ways: shooting, scoring, or quickness.
Steve Nash, Stephen Curry, Jason Kidd, Jose Calderon, Mike Bibby, and Chauncey Billups would be your shooters. Guys you can’t leave to double team anyone else because they will make you pay from outside.
Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul, Brandon Jennings, Jameer Nelson, and Deron Williams would be your scorers. They constantly keep the defense on their heels and if you don’t take the ball out of their hands down the stretch, they will kill you. Just ask the Indiana Pacers.
Your final group contains guys like Rajon Rondo, John Wall, Raymond Felton, Ty Lawson, and Aaron Brooks. Rondo doesn’t beat you by getting into the lane and scoring. He kills you by breaking down your defense and dumping it off to KG, Big Baby, Jermaine O’Neal, or a three-point shooter.
Obviously, a few of these guys like Chris Paul fit into multiple groups, but the fact remains: there aren’t many John Stocktons running around the floor leading teams anymore.
AND THIS ISN’T A BAD THING.
I loved watching Ronald Nored lead the Butler Bulldogs to back-to-back National Championship games. He was their worst shooter, and he could barely dribble. But he played great defense, and always recognized where to start the offense. That was fantastic to watch.
But when Derrick Rose knifes through my favorite team time and time again and finishes at the rack…that’s breathtaking as well.
The NBA. It truly is amazing.
So which would you rather see? It really depends on you. But you can’t compare Ronald Nored to Derrick Rose. If you do, you are taking something away from one of them that is unfair.
So stop trying to compare them. They are both great. And they are both different.
Difference #2 – The Defensive Conundrum
The NBA lends itself to a more individual and isolation-type style of play. But contrary to popular belief, it’s not just because “those thugs are more selfish.” I will always refuse to believe that John Wall was a perfect angel of a basketball player at Kentucky and turned into a selfish punk when he got drafted by the Wizards.
First of all, the NBA three point line is almost three-feet further away from the basket, thus opening up the floor. Secondly, defenders can’t put their hands on the ball-handler, giving the offensive player more space. And finally, there are no “Syracuse Zones” to force a team into taking a lot of deep shots. You can’t grab, pull, and push every player on the floor like Butler, Duke, and the old-school Bobby Knight teams did on defense.
Add those things together and what do you get? LOTS OF EMPTY SPACE.
Now tell me this: if John Wall had that kind of space in college, would he have exploited it? Of course he would have. And if he didn’t, we would have criticized him for it.
Now, add the fact that most players in the NBA are MORE physically gifted, quicker, more explosive, etc., and you get a game that is built for a style of play that is more individual in nature.
THIS ISN’T A BAD THING.
Before you jump to the conclusion and spout off something like, “that’s why I love college…because you have to have a complete team.” let me just remind you of which team won the National Championship this past season.
That’s right, Kemba Walker…er, excuse me, the UConn Huskies.
Even on great “teams” like Butler, what play do they draw up down the stretch? Last year, it was an isolation for Gordon Hayward at the top of the key. This year, they gave the ball to Shelvin Mack and let him create.
Eventually, at EVERY level of basketball, there comes a point where you just get the ball to your best player in a good position. If anything, we should be celebrating the NBA for doing this every play, instead of just in crunch time.
Difference #3 – The Level of Play Conundrum
This is the most stark reason you can’t compare the NBA to college.
There MAY have been three players in the national championship game who could have made an NBA roster this year. Out of those three, only one of them has been predicted to have a decent level of success at the next level.
But even if you were stuck watching the Minnesota Timberwolves, you got to see one of the best rebounders of the past 20 years (Kevin Love), one of the scariest scorers in the league even though he’s certifiably crazy (Michael Beasley), and an up-and-comer who just dominated college basketball the year before (Wesley Johnson).
I’m not saying that college basketball isn’t fun to watch. It is. But the difference in the levels of play is just laughable.
It’s impossible to compare Ronald Nored to Luke Ridnour…they are just nothing alike.
So let’s stop trying. Let’s appreciate the NBA and college for what they really are: two great games, that happen to be the same sport, but that are really nothing alike.
If you are an NBA fan that cringes when you see short, slow, uncoordinated guys run around the court and shoot 18% from the field during the National Championship game, press the reset button and start enjoying the finer parts of basketball: the great defensive rotation; the fantastic coaching matchups; kids with limited talent getting hot and playing out of their minds. These are all fantastic elements of basketball that should be enjoyed by all.
If you like the college game, give the NBA a chance. Don’t dismiss it for being more athletic, and embrace the beauty and grace with which these guys play the game. Remember, last year, you LOVED John Wall. The year before, you LOVED Tyler Hansbrough. Before that? You were raving about Derrick Rose, and Michael Beasley, and Kevin Durant, and Greg Oden.
Just because these players now wear different uniforms and make more money doesn’t mean they have crossed over “to the dark side.”
So let’s stop comparing apples to oranges. Rather, let’s just appreciate two distinct but enjoyable versions of the greatest game on earth.
About Jon Washburn
