NBA is more entertaining
Does anyone ever wonder why the Jackson 5 and Marvin Gaye performed at Amateur night at the Apollo for free then went on to charge thousands of dollars for a single ticket to their concerts? No, because of one simple word: amateur. College athletes are by definition amateurs, which means they are inherently not as good as professionals. The rules are set to that of amateurism and so is the officiating. While watching college basketball, all of these things become all too clear to see.
The details of the game often turn into failing displays of incompetence. Free-throw shooting is a perfect example of this. According to a 2009 New York Times article, “The [free-throw shooting] average is about 75 percent in the NBA and 69 percent in college basketball.” If that isn’t enough, the turnovers per possession stat should be more telling of the difference in overall quality.
Turnovers per possession says the percent of a team’s offensive positions that end with a turnover instead of a shot attempt. UNC-Wilmington leads the nation with a rating of 13.4 percent. That would be good enough to tie for 10th in the NBA. At State, the rate is 18 percent, which would be below the worst in the NBA.
The rules make the game slow, clunky and rife with errors. The fact that there is no defensive three in the key allows mobility challenged bigs who wouldn’t last a day in the league to be dominant forces. The perfect example is Hasheem Thabeet. He was a 7-foot, 3-inch force in the middle of UConn’s 2-3 zone. All he had to do was stand in the front of the rim and stay vertical to avoid foul trouble. Watching him play wasn’t entertaining, but the Huskies went 55-9 over his last two years, so they kept doing it.
Players also leave college very quickly. Marquee players that generate the major storylines are typically one and done. The turnover rate is so high we never get enough of our favorite team’s star players. Whenever LeBron James is on TV, people watch. Whenever Steph Curry plays, people watch. These players will be professionals for as long as their bodies allow. College basketball has new stars every year, making it difficult to keep up.
Long story short, college basketball has little to no argument as to why it’s as entertaining as the NBA. The NBA is for professionals, so leave the entertaining to them.
College basketball is more entertaining
Cutting nets, age-old traditions and March Madness are all things that come to mind when thinking of NCAA basketball. The remembrance of the past, coupled with the passion of the players and fan bases is simply unmatched by the NBA. The NBA is a business, filled with businessmen. The vast majority of professional athletes chase the money, and this is evident as every offseason, a handful players switch teams to sign more lucrative contracts. Although college basketball is also a colossal business, players are not necessarily playing for a check.
NCAA basketball players play for pride, glory, their schools and the love of the game. This can be seen in the amount of hustle plays in a college basketball game and the lack of them in an NBA contest. The main killer of this hustle is the guaranteed contracts professional basketball players sign starting on draft night. It is almost uncommon to see an NBA player dive for a loose ball or crash into the fans while trying to save a possession. At the end of the day, professional athletes will still get paid, no matter their efforts.
NBA teams play in arenas named after airlines, banks and cell phone companies. College basketball teams, on the other hand, play in historic venues such as Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium or Kansas’ Allen Fieldhouse. Many of the arenas and stadiums in collegiate basketball are beloved like national monuments and are bucket-list locations for die-hard basketball fans.
As for the people who fill the stands at NCAA basketball games? They are not corporate business owners, celebrities and multi-millionaires like at NBA games. The bleachers are filled with rambunctious students, alumni and passionate locals who love the program. All of this combined helps to create fantastic home court advantages and makes life miserable for even the toughest of opponents.
A prime example of an insane home-court advantage can be seen in the history of the program right here at NC State. The Wolfpack played in Reynolds Coliseum from 1949-1999. During that tenure, Reynolds was considered to be one of the most daunting places to play for visiting teams. Former Duke basketball player and current ESPN analyst Jay Bilas made plenty of trips to Reynolds during his time as a Blue Devil.
“Reynolds was loud, edgy and intense,” Bilas said on ESPN. “The Wolfpack under Jim Valvano was a tough out and the games were always fistfights, but the thing I remember most is coming back to a huddle and seeing lips move, but not being able to hear what was said. It was so hot and loud that your head would spin.”
This kind of energy and vibe is unseen at even the loudest of NBA arenas. College basketball players and coaches feed of the energy of the crowd. The louder the crowd, the higher energy of play and vice-versa.
College basketball players are trying to make a name for themselves while also leaving their mark in school history. NBA players are busy trying to build their “brands” and searching for the next innovative way to make more money. NCAA basketball players leave all they’ve got on the floor and receive the adoration of students and fans in return, making it utterly more exciting to watch than the NBA.
