Rant Meme Public Response #2: College Baskeball

[dlgood]

Another entry based upon the Rant Meme - feel free to put additional topics up for me to follow on, or ignore, BTW.

For the benefit of stars91: College Basketball - the Good the Bad and the Ugly

The Good

- Selection Sunday, and the Opening Weekend of the NCAA Tourney
- The Women's Final Four
- Championship Week
- The Students Section
- Conference Rivalry Games on Tobacco Road
------Insert: A full double round-robin conference schedule.
- Intimate, on Campus Arenas
- The Princeton-style Offense
- Traveling and Three Seconds calls
- The Syracuse Zone
- Coaches that stay in the same place for decades
- Buzzer beaters
- Mascots
------ Mid-major upset specials, except when they happen to my team
------ Alums returning to coach the Alma-Mater
------ Son of the coach serving as assistant, or eventual replacement (John Thompson III)

The Bad

- The impossibility of tracking every team
- Too many teams to track
- Crappy free throw shooting
- Dick Bennett, low-scoring basketball games that finish in the forties
- Dick Vitale look-a-likes, sound-a-likes
- Jim Nantz doesn't tell Billy Packer to cram it
- Bill Raftery, trying too hard
- Alumni who sit quietly on their hands instead of cheering.
- Off-Campus arenas
------ The Big East, ever since they tried the "6 Fouls" experiment
------ Mega conferences with divisions, and unbalanced regular season schedules
------ Son of the coach serving as assistant, or eventual replacement (Joey Meyer)

The Ugly

- The NCAA Rules Manual
- Jim Harrick Jr.'s "Principals of Basketball" class
- Dave Bliss at Baylor
- Big Doofy White Guys who can't move
- Lou Carnesecca's sweaters
- Bob Knight's Temper
- Gary Williams' schvitzing like a pig on the sideline
- John Chaney and Jerry Tarkanian
------ Son of the coach serving as assistant, or eventual replacement (Jim Harrick Jr.)
- Fans that throw stuff at the court
- Gene Keady's hair

Comments

[ludditerobot.livejournal.com]

Purdue guy here, and I'm with you about Gene Keady's hair. 100%.

There's one thing I noticed when watching Thanksgiving college ball a year ago was the vast and clear difference in quality between a college team and a pro team. A college football team runs a lot rather than passing because the QBs aren't that good and the receivers aren't that good. Far better than I could dream to be, for sure, but not good enough to consistantly and reliably pick up yardage. I could see this and I'm a "that's enough football for this decade" kind of guy, so I'm sure that this is obvious to people who actually watch and care about this sort of thing. Is there that clear of a distinction between college and pro hoops, too? What are some of the things you'd expect out of an NBA team that even Div 1 NCAA teams just can't pull off?

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

A college football team runs a lot rather than passing because the QBs aren't that good and the receivers aren't that good.

That's part of it, but the differences are a bit more sophisticated than that - after all - the defenders aren't as good on the College Level either. The truer difference lie in the nature of the running and passing games. Option, Spread, and Run-and-Shoot offenses can be moderately successful in college, whereas they doesn't work with bigger, faster, stronger pro players. And as bad as pro kickers are, college kickers are worse. The end result is that College is a Coaches game whereas the Pros are a players game.

Is there that clear of a distinction between college and pro hoops, too? What are some of the things you'd expect out of an NBA team that even Div 1 NCAA teams just can't pull off?

In a general sense, Pro Athletes will have better size, strength and athletecism. Pro-players are generally going to shoot more accurately, and they're going to have deeper range.

Rule changes play a big role too. The NBA doesn't call "traveling" violations very often, so you will see players drive the lane and dunk far more frequently, as they can get a few free steps without a dribble. The play is far more physical. The shot clock is shorter. Rules changes (The NBA de-emphasizes the zone defense) tend to emphasize a "two man game" where two guys basically pass between each other to get a shot, while everybody else spreads out and stands around.

[hjcallipygian.livejournal.com]

The end result is that College is a Coaches game whereas the Pros are a players game.

Really? I'd say it's the opposite. In college, if you have this one outstanding athlete, he can completely dominate a game -- think Peter Warrick when he was at FSU, Desmond Howard at Michigan, Hines Ward at Georgia, Deion Sanders at FSU, that sort of thing. The college game is predicated upon finding these types of players and putting them in position to touch the ball -- or be near the ball, on defense -- as much as possible.

On the professional level, though, this is far less of the case. One great player on a team can easily be neutralized. Teams need to have several good players to get by, and adaptation and discipline and planning and preparation -- all things good coaches teach their players to do -- are far more important.

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

I see what you're suggesting, but I mean it quite differently.

FSU was never Charlie Ward, Peter Warrick, or Deion Sanders. FSU is Bobby Bowden. Players are only going to be there for a few years, and you can kick a Laveranues Coles off your team knowing full well you have other players lying around.

It's even more the case with Pro Basketball, because players have guaranteed contracts - something they don't have in the NFL. How often does an NBA coach stay in the same place for ten years. As opposed to a college basketball coach.

And in college football, Jack Pardee could get a ten win season with disposable quarterbacks throwing sixty times a game at Houston, yet that offense did nothing in the NFL. Paul Johnson can win ten games at Navy with no discernable talent because he's ressurected a fifty year-old offensive system.

[stars91.livejournal.com]

I read these yesterday, but got busy and didn't have a chance to say thanks!

So....THANK YOU!!!

You did a great job and picked out some things that I hadn't really thought about! Nothing like seeing someone else's opinion on topics to make you appreciate everything that much more!

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

You're welcome. My friend Jesse used to come up with a yearly "All Doofy White Guys With Bad Hair" team... perenially coached by Gene Keady.

[ludditerobot.livejournal.com]

You won't have him to kick around much longer, though.

[stars91.livejournal.com]

That's too funny! Especially as I've been subjected to 31 years of bad Gene Keady hair! But if you want to see something even worse looking, you should see his wife! OMG!

[ladyoneill.livejournal.com]

I'd have to add to the Good: Conference Rivalries between the old Big 8. *g*

But, otherwise, excellent! Love my intimate on-campus arena, and can't wait for tourney time.

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

I'd have to add to the Good: Conference Rivalries between the old Big 8. *g*

Naturally, being a Kansan, you'd feel that way. I think I'll amend my list to reflect joy of old round-robin conferences. The Giant Big East and Expanded ACC are much less fun now.