<div class="quote_poster">phunDamentalz Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">1. There are too many teams.</div> There's only so many teams that matter, sure there's tons but only the top 25 and some mid-major sleepers are teams to watch. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">2. Zone is boring.</div> It shows the coaches IQ, using what works. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">3. The athletes aren't as good.</div> Andre Iguodala, Nate Robinson, Hassan "Hot Sauce" Adams, Rudy Gay, Vince Carter, and many others were just about the same athletiscm wise were the same in college practically, you see more guys that have insane athelticsm like Ishma'il Muhammad or Jameel Pugh (Ranked as best dunker in world by Dime) <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">4. Less stylish players.</div> Did you see guys like Ronnie Brewer, DW Jr., Hassan "Hot Sauce" Adams, or Rashad McCants in recent years? They were really flashy with some moves they did. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">5. It's hard to know where all these colleges are. nba teams identify with a city. these college teams identify with a college, which if you're not in that college, doesn't mean much. it's hard to get behind some college team for a school that you didn't attend</div> Most teams either have a name after a state, or their conference tells you the area their in. Like Creighton is in the Missouri Valley Conference, now you know they're in the Missouri area. Does somewhere like Golden St. tell you they're in Oakland? <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">6. NBA players have more love for the game</div> Are you serious, this is plain out ridiculous. How many players in the NBA do you see cry when they lose like Morrison did last year? None, most of these guys play like it's the last game they'll ever play, look at guys like Patrick Sparks, Beulein (SPL? West Virginia's coach's son), or Tim Coverdale (Indiana PG during runner-up year) those guys play with all heart, they're undersized, unathletic, and really have no reason to be playing basketball, but they play with heart & all effort, they are guys people will forget about even though they will always be legends to their colleges IMO. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">7. Manu, AI and Kobe don't play in college.</div> Kobe would of gone to Duke, AI was @ Georgetown, and Manu was a unknown from Argentina until the Spurs picked him. Guys like Melo went to college, but people forget about that. It's funny you bring this up, now that they put in the age rule, you'll see more talented guys that would of skipped college in college. Something you usually wouldn't see, guys like Greg Oden, Kevin Durant, or Thad Young playing in college. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Are those enough reasons?</div> You better get some more better reasons because they were pretty sorry excuses. Like my teacher, Mr. Wilkins, says "Excuses are like buttholes, everyone has them and they all stink" Like VC said, you guys should watch more college Basketball, it has to be the best sport there is IMO. The crowds get into it the whole game, the coaches are just as dedicated as the players and sweat like they're actually playing (Bruce Pearl), once you make the tourney the season restarts for you leaving 65 teams with a chance for the title instead of 16, team efforts is more important than just 1 person, you can see future NBA stars before people even know about them, and the game is more about fundamentals than physical attributes.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting J_Ray:</div><div class="quote_post">How many players in the NBA do you see cry when they lose like Morrison did last year?</div> You probably miss them, because they wait until after the game has ended. lol.
I like College Ball, I just find it too hard to keep up with, so many teams, and so many of them a crap, I only really get into it once it gets down to the final 16 or what ever it is.
<div class="quote_poster">NTC187 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I like College Ball, I just find it too hard to keep up with, so many teams, and so many of them a crap, I only really get into it once it gets down to the final 16 or what ever it is.</div> Same here. There are just way too many teams. I have to know like who the star is on each team.
You guys should pick a team and follow them through the season. Get to know their coach and their players well, and you'll learn the rest without having to make an effort to really look anything up. To know who the 'stars' are, just read a preseason article. There are plenty of opinionated writers out there who have come up with preseason All-American lists, preseason top 25's, etc. The great thing is that the stars are never the same in college basketball every year... or at least, that's usually the case. Last year was all about Redick and Morrison, but this year will be all about center Tyler Hansbrough (North Carolina), shooting guard Brandon Rush (Kansas), center Joakim Noah (Florida), and center Greg Oden (Ohio State), when he comes back from his injury. It should be a year mostly dominated by bigs. Here is the official A.P. Preseason All-American team by the way - G - Ron Steele (Alabama, PG) G - Brandon Rush (Kansas, SG) F - Glen Davis (LSU, PF/C) F - Joakim Noah (Florida, PF/C) C - Tyler Hansbrough (North Carolina, C) Runner-ups: Arron Afflalo (UCLA, SG), Aaron Gray (Pittsburgh, C), Josh McRoberts (Duke, C), Jeff Green (Georgetown, F), Alando Tucker (Wisconsin, SF), Jared Dudley (Boston College, SF)
I'm in the loop with most of the big names, mainly the guys you mentioned, just dont keep up with the actual games.
The reason I prefer NBA is because college is sloppy as hell, very slow, talent level is very low and diluted, a ton of teams to follow but limited coverage and they play alot when I'm busy. I watch alot of March Madness and big games with elite teams competing as well as gamed with a star that just dominates and is fun to watch. Games like Maryland vs. Vermont are literally unwatchable to me, they're so boring, slow, sloppy. One thing I do like is that the refs in the NCAA are generally very good (sans Duke games) while in the NBA they are absolutely horrible and by far the worst officials in any major sport.
<div class="quote_poster">Chutney Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">You probably miss them, because they wait until after the game has ended. lol.</div> BS, the players don't even play with emotion in the NBA. The game would be more exciting if it was. <div class="quote_poster">Run BJM Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">The reason I prefer NBA is because college is sloppy as hell, very slow, talent level is very low and diluted, a ton of teams to follow but limited coverage and they play alot when I'm busy. I watch alot of March Madness and big games with elite teams competing as well as gamed with a star that just dominates and is fun to watch. Games like Maryland vs. Vermont are literally unwatchable to me, they're so boring, slow, sloppy. One thing I do like is that the refs in the NCAA are generally very good (sans Duke games) while in the NBA they are absolutely horrible and by far the worst officials in any major sport.</div> College is sloppy as hell? Very Slow? Talent Level very low? What you talking about, the Warriors are more sloppier than a team like Duke. The college game isn't very slow, have you've watched teams like Zona, Tennessee, or UW-Milwaukee? Full court press speeds up the game, doesn't slows it down. The very low talent level comment was very stupid, I bet I could put together a team of each conference and they could beat the Warriors probably. I keep hearing there is too many teams or you can't watch games across the U.S. but you simply don't need to. Like me I usually just watch the games on ESPN then the ones on my local channels. I mostly get to know teams like Zona, UCLA, Stanford, Cal, and I get on channel that carries random games from different conferences, mostly Nevada. Sure, I usually don't know much about these mid-major until before the tourney, but you get to know a few by just keeping track of what has happened on the other side of the the U.S. Like last year I knew NW St. was an ok team because they beat some good teams like Ok St. It doesn't matter if you get the games or not, you get games from teams in your area. Follow them, like for you, you get fox bay area right? That's the channel I watch for Pac-10 B-Ball. You should get a double header Pac-10 every Thursday, Saturday, and on Sunday they show an ACC matchup. It's on tons of channels, people just don't notice it, hell on CBS and ABC there's always games on Saturdays until about 5 EST.
If you live in the US there is an abundance of college basketball coverage. ESPN has various packages you can order, and there's plenty of local coverage. Fox sports shows most of the Pac-10 games and ESPN also has games on ESPN and ESPN2, plus games on the weekend. I keep reading "there's too many teams to follow." You don't have to follow all the teams, most people just follow the teams in their conference or conferences. I like following the Pac-10 conference, because there's a lot of teams from California who play in it, and the conference has some of the best coaches, talent, and a rich history of basketball.
<div class="quote_poster">J_Ray Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">College is sloppy as hell? Very Slow? Talent Level very low? What you talking about, the Warriors are more sloppier than a team like Duke. The college game isn't very slow, have you've watched teams like Zona, Tennessee, or UW-Milwaukee? Full court press speeds up the game, doesn't slows it down. The very low talent level comment was very stupid, I bet I could put together a team of each conference and they could beat the Warriors probably.</div> That's a joke, you're kidding yourself if you think the NCAA is in general less sloppy than the NBA. An all-star team in the NCAA couldn't beat any team in the NBA, it wouldn't even be close. The talent level is lower in the NCAA, its a fact, the best of the best go to the NBA while the NCAA has alot of talent but its so spread out that most teams are lucky to have one good player and the rest are scrubs who couldn't make the D-League. Obviously there's some loaded teams who are fun to watch and easy to watch but its rare that I get to see a close, clean game between 2 loaded teams. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I keep hearing there is too many teams or you can't watch games across the U.S. but you simply don't need to. Like me I usually just watch the games on ESPN then the ones on my local channels. I mostly get to know teams like Zona, UCLA, Stanford, Cal, and I get on channel that carries random games from different conferences, mostly Nevada. Sure, I usually don't know much about these mid-major until before the tourney, but you get to know a few by just keeping track of what has happened on the other side of the the U.S. Like last year I knew NW St. was an ok team because they beat some good teams like Ok St. It doesn't matter if you get the games or not, you get games from teams in your area. Follow them, like for you, you get fox bay area right? That's the channel I watch for Pac-10 B-Ball. You should get a double header Pac-10 every Thursday, Saturday, and on Sunday they show an ACC matchup. It's on tons of channels, people just don't notice it, hell on CBS and ABC there's always games on Saturdays until about 5 EST.</div> I can't even follow my favorite team, Cal, because alot of the games aren't shown and the games come on at bad times. Sometimes I watch the ACC games on Sunday mornings and they're fairly entertaining because that conference is rather saturated with talent. Don't get me wrong, there's alot of good games in college bball but alot of the games I see aren't that great because my favorite team isn't an Arizona, Duke, UConn, LSU, etc. who is stacked with NBA talent level guys. The NCAA tourney is unlike any other tournament or playoff in any sport because you can follow the storylines of the cinderella teams or the powerhouse teams consistently while in the regular season you get a ton of decent teams thrown at you and you can't even keep track of one team (unless its a Duke, UConn, Gonzaga w/ Morrison because of all the coverage those teams get). JMO, you don't have to like it or agree with it but I like NBA more.
<div class="quote_poster">shapecity Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">If you live in the US there is an abundance of college basketball coverage. ESPN has various packages you can order, and there's plenty of local coverage. Fox sports shows most of the Pac-10 games and ESPN also has games on ESPN and ESPN2, plus games on the weekend. I keep reading "there's too many teams to follow." You don't have to follow all the teams, most people just follow the teams in their conference or conferences. I like following the Pac-10 conference, because there's a lot of teams from California who play in it, and the conference has some of the best coaches, talent, and a rich history of basketball.</div> Like I said above there's alot of games shown but I'm in the Bay Area I can't follow a Boston College or LSU because even though they are very good bball schools they only get a few games that I can see during the regular season (and I'm not spending money to get more TV channels, I don't even know if thats possible with basic cable). There's some good games in the Pac-10 but I just can't get excited watching Stanford vs. ASU or something like that. Cal games are watchable for me and UCLA and Arizona have alot of good players that are fun to watch but I;m not a fan of watching the Washingtons, ASUs, Stanfords, etc. unless they've got a dominating superstar or are playing in a close game and even so I'll change the channel if theres a semi interesting TV show or other sport event on.
RUN BJM, are you a fan of watching the Hawks vs. Knicks? There's always going to be some meaningless games along the way in any sport. However, I'd argue there are more meaningless games in the NBA because it's a longer season. When teams with a record under .500 can make the post season, there's something not right about the NBA. I'll admit I prefer watching the Lakers ahead of any college matchup, but besides the Lakers, I prefer watching college ahead of other pro teams. The learning curve is phenomenal for a lot of these players and it's entertaining to see how certain teams elevated their games to justify their March Madness seedings. For example, last two seasons I watched both Cal and UCLA really make strides in their basketball programs. They played lockdown defense and were very efficient on offense. Cal vs. Stanford in the Pac-10 tournament was probably one of the best fundamentally sound games I watched all year long from pro or college. When UCLA made their run in the tournament last year, I wasn't surprised like the rest of the basketball analysts. If they had paid attention, UCLA was one of the marquee teams in the country, because they could get defensive stops whenever the needed. And watching Luc Richard come out nowhere was the icing on top. Also watching Indiana with Marco Killingsworth own Shelden Williams was another highlight game. It showed me first hand Shelden was going to struggle at the NBA level. Why aren't you a fan of Washington? They've been producing solid teams the last few seasons. Nate Robinson was dynamic to watch, and last year the duo of Bobby Jones and Brandon Roy were great. I guess I'm just not a big fan of one on one basketball, which the NBA has become. I prefer ball movement and watching players thrive in specific roles on the court. At the NBA level, individual talent is usually placed ahead of team achievement, and it's a reason why you see the same type of teams win the NBA title every year. If you don't like ASU, I'm guessing you weren't thrilled about the Warriors drafting Ike Diogu? Because for his last two seasons at ASU, he was ASU basketball.
<div class="quote_poster">shapecity Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">RUN BJM, are you a fan of watching the Hawks vs. Knicks?</div> No but they don't show those games nationally on TNT, ESPN, ABC, etc. I probably wouldn't have much problem watching that game either since both teams aren't too bad this year and have alot of young talent and pl ay with high energy and fast pace. I'd watch that before I watched two mid-major college teams in a game thats on ESPN 2. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">There's always going to be some meaningless games along the way in any sport. However, I'd argue there are more meaningless games in the NBA because it's a longer season. When teams with a record under .500 can make the post season, there's something not right about the NBA.</div> Agree that theres always meaningless games but theres more seemingly irrelevant games shown on FSN, ESPN 2, etc. from college bball than are shown for NBA ball. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I'll admit I prefer watching the Lakers ahead of any college matchup, but besides the Lakers, I prefer watching college ahead of other pro teams. The learning curve is phenomenal for a lot of these players and it's entertaining to see how certain teams elevated their games to justify their March Madness seedings. For example, last two seasons I watched both Cal and UCLA really make strides in their basketball programs. They played lockdown defense and were very efficient on offense. Cal vs. Stanford in the Pac-10 tournament was probably one of the best fundamentally sound games I watched all year long from pro or college.</div> I prefer to watch other (non-Warriors) NBA teams in a game than to see two random college teams, its just my preference. Agree that Cal and UCLA have been fun to watch the last few years due to the talent, growth, and success of each team. Like I said its fun to watch the conference tourneys, NCAA tourney but theres something about regular season games that just doesn't do it for me. I think its more fun to be able to follow a team than to see a few games of each team. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">When UCLA made their run in the tournament last year, I wasn't surprised like the rest of the basketball analysts. If they had paid attention, UCLA was one of the marquee teams in the country, because they could get defensive stops whenever the needed. And watching Luc Richard come out nowhere was the icing on top. Also watching Indiana with Marco Killingsworth own Shelden Williams was another highlight game. It showed me first hand Shelden was going to struggle at the NBA level.</div> Agree, I didn't follow college basketball that closely but any un-biased half tard could realize that UCLA was a top team in the NCAA. Massive east coast bias among analysts but thats nothing new of the major media. You get these idiots talking about how great Duke, UConn, etc. and Redick, Shelden Williams are so great. Makes me sick to be honest they're probably worse than the NFL analysts on ESPN . <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Why aren't you a fan of Washington? They've been producing solid teams the last few seasons. Nate Robinson was dynamic to watch, and last year the duo of Bobby Jones and Brandon Roy were great. I guess I'm just not a big fan of one on one basketball, which the NBA has become. I prefer ball movement and watching players thrive in specific roles on the court. At the NBA level, individual talent is usually placed ahead of team achievement, and it's a reason why you see the same type of teams win the NBA title every year.</div> I don't think I'm a fan of Washington because I'm a big fan of Cal and its hard to enjoy rooting for a team in the same conference (it'd be like me rooting for the Lakers in the NBA, lol). I Agree with enjoying the team play, which is why I love the NBA playoffs with LAC, Phoenix, etc. and finals with teams like SA and Detroit rather than teams like Miami and Dallas who run most of their plays to a few players and run Iso plays for alot of the game. I'm finally getting to see my Warriors play like a team a la the Suns so I'm really excited about this season whether we make POs or not. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">If you don't like ASU, I'm guessing you weren't thrilled about the Warriors drafting Ike Diogu? Because for his last two seasons at ASU, he was ASU basketball.</div> I don't really have anything against ASU, they're just generally boring to watch. Of course when they had Ike for a short period they had something to be excited about but other than that period they're a notch below alot of other teams they play in the Pac 10. I don't really mind that Ike came from ASU, if anything it makes me a bigger fan of ASU. Just My Opinion.
<div class="quote_poster">J_Ray Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">How many players in the NBA do you see cry when they lose like Morrison did last year?</div> These days, with LeBron walking off the floor with seconds left on the clock, you don't even get to see players at the end of the game. I don't feel like re-highlighting the points that Shape and VC made, but... NCAA >>>> NBA
OKAY, here's another reason for you green-afro wearing NCAA heads: Ever noticed how the most important person in an NCAA game is the COACH? I'm trying to watch some gifted young kids drive to the lane, catch alley-oop passes, find their guy in the post, drop critical free throws, and I have to listen to some commentator talking about: [COACH] has been so great for this school's program. [COACH] has really turned things around. [COACH] was devastated after losing to [OTHER TEAM] last year. [COACH]'s wife just gave birth to their second daughter. Congrats! [COACH] made a smart move by pulling such and such player. [COACH]'s father was a HALL OF FAME coach, just a swell guy. [COACH] is really impressed by this newcomer [Insert player name] and he's going to give him more minutes If I wanted to know the inner personal life of a bunch of 40-something guys in ugly suits, I'd go to my office Christmas party.
I am more a fan of College ball. More passion and love, the pros play for their paycheck and the college players play for the win. The pros are about themselves and college players are a TEAM. I know not all pro players are not like that. Also the recruiting purpose for college is fun to watch.
<div class="quote_poster">phunDamentalz Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">OKAY, here's another reason for you green-afro wearing NCAA heads: Ever noticed how the most important person in an NCAA game is the COACH? I'm trying to watch some gifted young kids drive to the lane, catch alley-oop passes, find their guy in the post, drop critical free throws, and I have to listen to some commentator talking about: [COACH] has been so great for this school's program. [COACH] has really turned things around. [COACH] was devastated after losing to [OTHER TEAM] last year. [COACH]'s wife just gave birth to their second daughter. Congrats! [COACH] made a smart move by pulling such and such player. [COACH]'s father was a HALL OF FAME coach, just a swell guy. [COACH] is really impressed by this newcomer [Insert player name] and he's going to give him more minutes If I wanted to know the inner personal life of a bunch of 40-something guys in ugly suits, I'd go to my office Christmas party.</div> I don't know what game you watched but most of the time you watch an entertaining game and listen to stories of how the kids got there, and what they've been through. Like Adam Morrison was the 300 ranked recruit and Gonzaga stumbled upon him when they were scouting Pendergraph I think. They watched the first half and the assistant at half said to Mark Few " You want to start recruiting #(w/e it was)?" Mark few then said " Why, he looks uncoodinated, shoots funny, doesn't have much athletiscm, and can't play D.....how many points does he even have?" Assistant "30" It's ridiculous to listen to all these lame excuses why NBA is better or why you can't watch or follow NCAA. You only need to pay attention to one team, not all 300+ like your saying. Sure there will be this team that come out of nowhere like George Mason, but that happens all the time even to the great college analysis, just ask Shape, VC, or C.K. I bet none of them even thought NW St. could have a chance against Iowa or even when George Mason played UNC, no one would of ever thought anything like that would happen. It's fun to see upsets, I love to see when fans storm the court after below .500 team just upset a top 25 team. I guess you guys just don't know what your missing.....
<div class="quote_poster">phunDamentalz Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">1. There are too many teams. 2. Zone is boring. 3. The athletes aren't as good. 4. Less stylish players. 5. It's hard to know where all these colleges are. nba teams identify with a city. these college teams identify with a college, which if you're not in that college, doesn't mean much. it's hard to get behind some college team for a school that you didn't attend 6. NBA players have more love for the game 7. Manu, AI and Kobe don't play in college. Are those enough reasons?</div> I know everyone else already ripped this post to shreds, but I just have to comment on point #6. The fact that an NBA fan is going to sit here and try to convince me that college players lack the intensity and heart of NBA players makes me quite honestly never want to watch an NBA game again. The biggest reason that the NBA isn't more popular than the NFL or other major sports, at least to me, is that CONSISTENTLY I see star players who don't give a flying **** about the game. They are <u>ALL</u> about making money, shoe contracts, self-promotion, etc etc. I am offended that it even enters a person's brain that the NBA players have more passion than college players. I guess that is a fundamental reason why more people don't watch college ball; they simply don't know anything AT ALL about it. If you don't like college hoops, that's perfectly fine. I don't think everyone should watch it, because there were some good points in your post, phunDamentalz. Is the talent level better in the NBA than in the NCAA? Absolutely. There's no question. There are more international players, there are players who bypassed college, etc. The Badgers have probably only had 10 players in their history with NBA athleticism. I won't dispute that. But that's not why I watch. I could type up a list of about 25 legit reasons why I think the NBA is the worst professional sports league, which is 100% what I believe. But that doesn't mean I'm going to hate on it by saying things like "LeBron isn't that good of an athlete" which is about the magnitude of what you said when you inferred that college players have less passion than NBA players. Another thing that college basketball has in spades over the NBA is passionate fans. I'm not saying that there aren't the occasional NBA fans who are more involved in their teams than some college fans are, but overall, it's not even close. That in itself is something that I love about college ball. To each his own, but at least give college ball its due. It's probably the most exciting non-pro sports exhibition. There are a ton of teams, and as we've seen, on any given day the worst team could beat the best. I don't know how it gets any better than college sports, but if you don't share that opinion, I don't mind. Just understand why people love college sports and respect them.
<div class="quote_poster">Schaddy Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I know everyone else already ripped this post to shreds, but I just have to comment on point #6. The fact that an NBA fan is going to sit here and try to convince me that college players lack the intensity and heart of NBA players makes me quite honestly never want to watch an NBA game again. The biggest reason that the NBA isn't more popular than the NFL or other major sports, at least to me, is that CONSISTENTLY I see star players who don't give a flying **** about the game. They are <u>ALL</u> about making money, shoe contracts, self-promotion, etc etc. I am offended that it even enters a person's brain that the NBA players have more passion than college players. I guess that is a fundamental reason why more people don't watch college ball; they simply don't know anything AT ALL about it. If you don't like college hoops, that's perfectly fine. I don't think everyone should watch it, because there were some good points in your post, phunDamentalz. Is the talent level better in the NBA than in the NCAA? Absolutely. There's no question. There are more international players, there are players who bypassed college, etc. The Badgers have probably only had 10 players in their history with NBA athleticism. I won't dispute that. But that's not why I watch. I could type up a list of about 25 legit reasons why I think the NBA is the worst professional sports league, which is 100% what I believe. But that doesn't mean I'm going to hate on it by saying things like "LeBron isn't that good of an athlete" which is about the magnitude of what you said when you inferred that college players have less passion than NBA players. Another thing that college basketball has in spades over the NBA is passionate fans. I'm not saying that there aren't the occasional NBA fans who are more involved in their teams than some college fans are, but overall, it's not even close. That in itself is something that I love about college ball. To each his own, but at least give college ball its due. It's probably the most exciting non-pro sports exhibition. There are a ton of teams, and as we've seen, on any given day the worst team could beat the best. I don't know how it gets any better than college sports, but if you don't share that opinion, I don't mind. Just understand why people love college sports and respect them.</div> okay read this for anyone who continues to spout this NBA players have no love for the game b.s.: when i say more love for the game, there is a DIFFERENCE between watching kids, and that's what college players are, play with passion, many of whom will not play in the NBA and have lots of energy because who doesn't have lots of energy at 20 and hey "it would be fun to see if we can make some noise in the tournament", and 30-year old MEN who have already made their millions, have tried year after year AFTER YEAR to reach the top, and are striving to push past being jaded, pushing past failures in recent years, searching for that elusive glory. just because you're running around diving for loose balls doesn't mean you have more love for the game. it probably means your coach is on to you if you DON'T do that. ANd it's very cynical to say there are lots of players in the NBA who ONLY care about money and sneaker contracts. How do YOU know this is true? Has there ever been a study about this? No. Your statment "CONSISTENTLY I see star players who don't give a flying **** about the game" is crazy - think about - how can you literally see a player not give a flying ****? can you give me one incident that PROVES a player doesn't care about the game? I can't think of one. Also you really think if someone ONLY cared about money they would keep coming back to the league every year just to get a few more million???? That's probably not a fun job if you don't want to be there, let's face it. If you had say $30 million in the bank, would you go and play 82 games on a gruelling schedule, flying everywhere, not being able to party or chill out, listening to your coach screaming at you, being scrutinized in the media for a game you didn't give a flying **** about just so you could make an extra four or five million? Most people would take their $30 and retire..... that's real. At some point for even the dumbest athlete the penny drops and they realize they can only drive ONE Bentley at any one time. if you're still not convinced, i think you should check out Maslow's pyramid of needs. The basic theory is that we all have needs starting with basic needs like food and shelter, then progressing up to success and self-actualization. once one level of needs is satisfied, we no longer need that item, and we move to the next step on the pyramid. People who HAVE financial success do not have the psychological NEED for financial success, instead their new need becomes SELF-ACTUALIZATION. in other words reaching your highest potential. This becomes a human NEED once all other needs are taken care of. This is the kind of need you see in NBA players, the need of self-actualization when money has been made, this is something you will never see in NCAA. THAT'S love for the game...... ONE OTHER THING: you might mention say Joe Johnson as an example of a guy who goes for MONEY over WINNING because he went from a 60-win team to a garbage team - and a FAT contract. WRONG. In fact this serves as a clear example of how intense self-actualization is. People say basketball is a team sport. It is ALSO an individual sport, if you don't believe that you are KIDDING YOURSELF. ANd guess what it always been.... When people talk about basketball history, they talk about individual stars more than the teams they were on. Yes, there is talk of the Celtics and Lakers dynasties, but there's more talk of individuals. Joe Johnson is aware of this fact and went to Atlanta to try and put HIMSELF in the history books. Steve Nash is also trying to put HIMSELF in the history books - yes, as an INDVIDUAL. And he's considered a team-first player. But make no mistake - in his head it's all about him. He's just smart enough to realize that HIS legacy will be much better if he plays a team-first game.
Well on unrelated point, I've decided to pick a random team to follow this college basketball season, just because I've tried to watch a new sport every year so far. Also, I learnt that RaptorsNBATV (which I just ordered a month ago) will show a lot more NCAA games. I haven't decided yet, though. It will be a noticeable team, but not a powerhouse/overexposed team like UNC or Duke. And it will have a cool logo.
