Sorry for no post yesterday, hopefully this one will make up for it...
No, silly t-shirt!
I am here to say just the opposite:
The NBA is the best basketball league on the planet. Period. It is made up of the best players throughout the world, spread out among 30 professional teams in major cities across the USA (and Toronto). Just like the MLB for baseball and NFL for football, making it to the NBA is the mecca of the sport. So why, then, is basketball so much more exciting in the NCAA than it is in the NBA?
Last night the Lakers played the Cavaliers, and Cleveland won 93-87. These are the two best teams in the NBA and have, arguably, the two best basketball players (Kobe and LeBron) in the world. I, for one, could not have cared less. It was not a playoff game, so the outcome of this game was next to nothing; Cleveland is still #1 in the East and Los Angeles is still #1 in the West. The only reason anyone hyped it up is because that was the most interesting matchup of the entire season, and it probably will be until the two meet again in the NBA Finals.
How do I know that those two teams will meet again in the finals? Cleveland and Boston are the only two teams who have a shot at winning the East and once Los Angeles gets healthy by the end of the season, they will be the best team in the West. Sure, Oklahoma City and Memphis are surprises in the West, but once the playoffs come around they will not be able to get close to the finals, even if they do pull an upset in the first round.
"What's that coach? Oklahoma has a city?"
Meanwhile in the NCAA, there have been upsets, surprises and disappointments; just like there always are. There are three teams (Syracuse, Kansas St. and Pitt) who were not in the preseason top 25 poll but, as of 1/18/10, are now among the top 10 ranked teams in the country. North Carolina won the championship this past April and was ranked #6 in the preseason poll. Right now they are out of the top 25 and struggling after losing four of its past five games including a loss at College of Charleston(?!) two weeks ago. Syracuse lost a preseason game vs. the Le Moyne Dolphins, a Division-II team in Syracuse (no idea why they are called the Dolphins). Since then, Syracuse has gone 18-1 against Division-I foes, while Le Moyne is 10-7 in Division-II play.
Gross.
Bizarre? That kind of stuff happens every year in the NCAA! In comparison, if the New Jersey Nets, who are 3-38, beat Boston, who is 27-13, it would be an upset, but it would mean nothing because the Nets would still be 2,000 games out of a playoff spot. A win for Le Moyne over Big East power Syracuse gives the team some pride and bragging rights for an entire year until the two teams play again and the Orange wipe the floor with the Dolphins. Upsets create stories and excitement in the NCAA, while upsets create frustration and confusion in the NBA.
Le Moyne College official mascot and slogan.
There is an headline today on Yahoo! Sports that states "Frustration Mounts" for the Lakers after going 0-2 against the Cavaliers this season... BIG EFFING DEAL! Hey LA, be quiet, you are still 32-8 against the rest of the NBA. And so what if you can't beat Cleveland now? All that matters is that you take care of business in June (or whenever the hell the NBA Finals is played nowadays) when you play them in a seven-game series.
These are all observations someone could make by not even seeing one basketball game. Without seeing the actual players play the game, college basketball is light years ahead of the pros. But if you would see Carmelo Anthony dunk from the Rocky Mountains (figuratively speaking) or Steve Nash make a behind the back pass that makes your neck sore, then you will see why the NBA showcases the best talent in the world on the hardcourt. In my next NBA/NCAA post I will go into game action, and how the two leagues compare.
In the meantime... GO CLIPPERS(!?)
"Awe man! We suck, don't we?"
There's more spirit in the college game. The "old college try" is a reality--- the "old pro try" doesn't have the same ring to it. And the spirit is basically the will and guts of lesser-talented players (individually and as a team) to get a victory as the underdog vs a favorite. That doesn't happen too often in the pros--- as you say only around playoff time. By then they've lost me.
ReplyDelete