Why College Hoops is Better Than Pro

Friday night, nothing was on. Not a hockey game, not a high school football game, nothing. Unless you count the highly-anticipated matchup between the Sixers and Bulls as something, which I don't.

The NBA might as well not even exist as far as I am concerned. Who can watch this nonsense? Does anyone hit a jumper? Not that it matters, but at least act like you care if you miss. That's what the kids at Oklahoma State and Syracuse did when they missed. In fact, they missed lots of shots, all night, and the game was still a great watch, even though both are virtually assured of making the postseason even with a loss.

So why is college basketball so much better than the NBA? Ten reasons for you:

10. Safety

There is 75% less of a chance you will be assaulted in a college arena by a player than a professional one. That number would have been significantly higher, but Ron Artest is sitting out the year promoting his awesome music albums. The bigger problem is that most of the players said Artest was justified ... were they joking? No, they're just that delusional.

9. Rooting Factor

Does anyone root for the players in the NBA? You might root for your team, but I don't think you have a favorite out there. In college, there are genuine people to root for, people that actually battle adversity instead of say, ask their coach for a month off to promote a rap album. Or whine about not being able to feed their family on a salary of millions of dollars. You might as well not even get up in the morning, know what I'm saying? There are a few whiners on the collegiate level, but to be fair to the BYU team, no you don't get paid to play in college, but you still have to feed your kids.

8. 30-Second Timeouts

Is there anything more obtrusive than the last minute of a close NBA game? There's like seven timeouts, and each one takes two minutes. College did the right thing, and made them all 30 seconds. One commercial, and we're back. The flow is hardly interrupted. What I want to know is, what in god's name are they talking about in that two-minute timeout in the NBA? Does anyone think Slava Medvedenko is the go-to guy in crunch time?

7. The Zone

The NBA did incorporate one, but it barely registers thanks to the defensive three-second rule. They don't want big guys camping out down there basically forcing teams to, say ... make a jump shot. The end result is still eight guys standing around watching two guys play one-on-one. But if you like that kind of thing, the NBA is for you. Although I don't know why you just don't play NBA Jams instead.

6. Atmosphere

Is this debatable? Even if you've never been to a college game, just observe the aura from the TV. Sure, the NBA does have the whole "this game is fantastic" ad campaign, and I bet Richard Lewis is as the top of rowdy B-list celebrities, but does he even begin to compare to the Cameron Crazies? Or the lunatics at Allen Field House? Or what about Rupp Arena? I don't think they need an organ to get any defense chants in the college arenas.

5. Announcers

There are certainly the Dick Vitale detractors, but would you rather watch Dickie V. yelling, or Stephen A. Smith yelling at you? And what was with John Saunders trying to equate throwing a cup of beer with assault? No, assault is when you attack someone, like Artest, Stephen Jackson, Jermaine O'Neal, and David Harrison all did.

Were they provoked? Yes. Was it self-defense? No. It was retaliation, and Bill Walton was the only one who seemed to hold the players at least partially accountable. College announcers might not all be Vin Scully, but at least they don't sound as ridiculous as Agent Scully.

4. The Atlantic Coast Conference

Is there one conference in the NBA that will be as competitive as the ACC? Between Duke, North Carolina, Wake Forest, and Georgia Tech you have four legitimate Final Four schools. Now throw in Maryland, NC State, and Virginia, and you have three more teams knocking on the top 10 door! Add a better than expected Miami and Florida State, and suddenly, the ACC looks as if they can compete with the Atlantic Conference ... of the NBA.

3. It's a Coaches Game

In the pros, everyone runs the same offense -- give the ball to your best player, let him beat his man one-on-one, or draw the double-team and pass until the open guy has a shot. In college, there is actual strategy to your offensive game plan. Sometimes you have to deal with a variety of zone defenses, or heaven forbid, a full-court press before there is two minutes to go in the game. And often there are times when the team that is less talented, but more prepared is victorious.

2. Rivalries

The NBA used to have them ... as recently as the former century. Remember when the Knicks/Heat was big? Or before that the Lakers/Blazers? Or Bulls/Knicks? Or Lakers/Celtics? Now name one current rivalry today that exists in the NBA ... while you're trying to come up with one, consider this.

Duke and North Carolina can hit each other's schools with bottle rockets, and they happen to be two of the best programs year in and year out. Syracuse and Connecticut, while not as close in proximity, also share a nice healthy rivalry. Arizona and Stanford do battle quite contentiously every season, as well. Plus in the ACC, every game might as well be a rivalry. Just look at Gary Williams after a road game. He might kill somebody, real soon!

1. March Madness

How about how lame the NBA playoffs are compared to how unbelievably dramatic the tourney is? How about one-and-done compared to the logic of we can take a night off because we can get them tomorrow night?

I could make other observations, but as an NBA scout in Sports Illustrated put it quite nicely "Sure, the college game has us beat when it comes to playoff drama, but..." Yes, that plus you can bet on it with brackets. Man, I love those things.

I don't care if the NBA playoffs are longer, tougher, etc. Hockey playoffs are the most grueling, and we see the ratings those guys get. All I want is to see competitive team basketball with the attitude of if we don't win tonight, it's over, so let's lay it all on the line right now. And I never get that feeling, ever, from the NBA.

Not when the Lakers were on their deathbed, not when the Kings bow out of another playoffs, not when the Knicks get in with a sub-.500 record. You might as well try, Knickerbockers, you shouldn't really be there anyway, so make the most of your chance!

So those are my ten reasons, all unbiased and sound in every bit of their logic to abandon the pro game for the collegiate one. But if you really want to hang around the pro game, Stephen A. will be more than happy to yell at you.