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10 Reasons Why NCAA Basketball is More Exciting Than the NBA

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Submitted by copaantl98 on Fri, 04/08/2005 - 04:02.

By Antony Lin
Sports Editor 

Okay so this will be my first non-soccer column ever. Believe it or not, I sadly follow other sports as well. March is over and millions missed some of the more entertaining quality of basketball. Instead of watching the NCAA, the masses are caught up with the NBA. The fundamentals of the game are clearly gone. Instead of focusing on winning, it has become all about show time. The referees in the NBA get worse and worse in terms of helping out the star players, giving them the benefit of the doubt. In no particular order I have compiled the top ten reasons why the NCAA is of more entertainment than the soap operas of the NBA.


1. The NCAA has the 5-second violation during play.

It’s a whole lot better than watching an NBA player hold the ball and post up for ages. Remember the Barkley days?


2. No restricted area.

Of course, when Kobe is driving to the basket, the defender should just step out of the way or else it’s an offensive foul. It’s also a free license for Shaq to go out of his way and bulldoze any defender down and have a foul called on that defender.


3. Strictness of hanging on the rim.

For those who don’t know, this also exists in the NBA. When was the last time it was called? In the recent Vermont vs. Syracuse match, a Syracuse player received a technical for hanging on the rim in a crucial moment late in the game.


4. Smaller amount of drawing a “wuss” foul.

How many times does McGrady have to pump fake for a 3-pointer and then intentionally have the defender fall right into him? Who can forget the days when Reggie Miller used to do that?


5. No excessive shot clock problems.

Quite hilarious how a great run is stopped numerous times with these so-called “shot-clock problems”. Compared to the rich NBA, who would have thought the shot clocks in the NCAA work better .


6. The fans.

A lot better than seeing fans that look like they are waiting for a dentist appointment. A perfect example of passionate fans, the Cameron Crazies at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Enough said.


7. The double dribble is actually enforced.

I seriously doubt Kobe or Francis can get away with what they do nowadays, on the college level.


8. Timeouts called in the backcourt=inbounding the ball in the backcourt.

NBA apparently has their own desperate way of creating more spectacular buzzer beating endings by allowing options to inbound at half court.


9. Gutsy refs. 

In the college game, I can actually see two straight offensive fouls on a team in two straight possessions even against the home side.


10. LACK OF PATRIOTISM in the NBA

I can’t even begin to count the number of NBA players that declined invitations to last summer’s Olympic Games. The same happened in the World Championships in 2002. It should be an honor to represent your nation. Heck, country should come before club if anything.

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I have to agree with you on a

Submitted by MikeN on Fri, 04/08/2005 - 18:01.

I have to agree with you on all points. As someone that has followed basketball on all levels since 1992, it seems that each season, the NBA degenerates more and more. Let me add a couple of more reasons before tackling what you wrote.


a) Television coverage sucks: ever since the switch from NBC to ABC, we've seen a sharp reduction in the amount of games on free TV (including much of the playoffs up to the Conference Finals, and the NBA All-Star Game). The announcers are boring too (gone are the days of Marv Albert and the Czar of the Telestrator, and Bill Walton's inane comments), and it seems that ABC shows one of four teams every single week: Houston (McGrady), Lakers (Kobe), Cleveland (LeBron James), and Miami (Shaq). So boring. NBC did its own share of ass-kissing, mind you (remember Ahmad Rashad?), but the coverage was top-notch. ABC doesn't hold water against that.


b) Long season: That, coupled with a watered-down league thanks to endless expansion, has led to many boring, insignificant games, and more and more players entering the league who wouldn't have even been able to make a training camp roster in the NBA 20 years ago. Quality of play has diminished as a result.


c) Awful officiating: You touched on it, but allow me to expand. The rules in the NBA are awfly inconsistent. The NBA refuses to ever admit it has made officiating mistakes, even with instant replay, even when it is clear that a mistake was made. That and the game stoppages are insane. Breathe on Kobe or LeBron and you get a foul. Cough, and you'll probably get a technical foul as well. Not only is this favortism, it slows the game down to a crawl. College refs seem more content to just let 'em play, without forgetting the rules.


d) Ticket prices: Astronomical. That's why teams that traditionally sold out their buildings night in and night out (Utah, Portland, Phoenix, Orlando, Minnesota, Milwaukee, Charlotte, and our very own Knicks come to mind) cannot sell out on a consistent basis anymore. That probably also contributes to the absolutely BORING NBA fans, who, as you said, seem to be in a dentist's office reception area rather than a professional sporting event. But then again, in a warped sort of way, the NBA seems to be encouraging this. In a recent Knicks game, Jerome Williams of the Knicks was given a technical foul because he was waving his arms in the air to spur on the home crowd. Incredible.


e) Overmarketing: Honestly I'm getting sick of the retro jerseys. The Air Jordans. Seeing Kobe and LeBron James and Kevin Garnett in every single NBA ad. Seeing 18 year olds fresh out of their high school proms with $100 million shoe deals and Hummers. Watching basketball on ABC and seeing, for whatever odd reason, Destiny's Child sing the worst pop song ever made, "Lose my Breath", as if that has anything to do with the NBA. Even all-star weekend now sucks. Bring back the Legends Game! The real Dunk contest, with 6 contestants and 3 rounds (and players you've actually heard of before!).


That being said, all of the above points feed in to what you were saying. There is a lack of patriotism in the NBA, but only among American players. Look around at the internationals in the NBA, and most of them have, or still do, play for their national sides...Peja Stojakovic of Serbia, Dirk Nowitski of Germany, Hedo Turkoglu of Turkey, Steve Nash of Canada, Tony Parker of France, Andrei Kirilenko of Russia, and so many others. I was at the Olympic Games in Athens this summer, and quite frankly, the "Dream Team" was awful. All of Team USA's games were sold out, as people were expecting to see a show. Instead they saw 25% three point shooting with a *shorter* three point line, and the likes of Carlos Boozer on the national team.


I don't think the double dribble is ever enforced in the NBA anymore, and I don't remember watching a game where that has actually been called in a few seasons. But what do you expect? Stars like Kobe, Shaq and T-Mac, and before them, Michael Jordan, got away with murder.


That's all I can think of for now. Over the years I've found myself watching less and less pro ball, and more college ball, for precisely these reasons. Even global basketball is more exciting, even if the quality of play isn't always as good, because of the enthusiasm that the fans show, first of all (which is why it's wildly more entertaining to watch a team like Duke playing at home, than to watch the Suns or Mavericks even if they're putting 120 points on the board). The NBA has made so many desperate moves in the past 10 years to stem the tide of lowered ratings and attendance at its games, but it thinks that retro jerseys, Destiny's Child, and letting stars get away with murder is the way to win over the public. Pathetic.

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