March Madness is well underway and it’s a good thing because I was beginning to wonder if the game of basketball could still be fun to watch.
For the past two seasons, I’ve been asking myself the question ‘What the heck is wrong with the NBA?’ And apparently if recent ratings are any indicator, I’m not alone in wondering this.
As a kid, I was a huge NBA fan. It probably didn’t hurt that I followed the Knicks at the height of their rivalry with the Bulls and then later on with the Heat and Pacers. But when I try to watch an NBA game now, even if it involves two powerhouse teams like Dallas and Sacramento, I find myself bored to the point where I contemplate switching over to reruns of the Golden Girls.
NCAA basketball, however, resides at the complete opposite end of the spectrum and the postseason tournament, which kicked off last Thursday afternoon, may just be the most perfect event in all of sports. Alongside the Ryder Cup, it is the only sporting event I clear my schedule in order to see as much action as possible.
So how are these two entities, seemingly so similar, so far away from each other in terms of entertainment value?
It’s not even the slow, plodding style of play that annoys me the most, although that too has become more unbearable over the years with a decrease in points scored per game and the passing two years ago of a rule to eliminate the illegal defense. There were two incidents in the past week that have reinforced my hatred for the NBA.
The first took place in Cleveland last Tuesday night. As the game between Utah and Cleveland neared its end with the lowly Cavs well ahead, fourth-year guard Ricky Davis, one rebound shy of a triple double, took the inbounds pass and intentionally missed a shot toward his own team’s basket in effort to pad his stat line and grab his 10th rebound. Utah coach Jerry Sloan spoke after the game saying, ‘He was trying to embarrass us, and that’s not how the game should be played … This is not schoolyard basketball.’
Davis fired back when told about Sloan’s remarks. ‘They should be mad … Any team that gets beat that bad shouldn’t be happy. I’d probably be mad, too, losing by 20.’ Davis seems to have forgotten that his Cavs have the worst record in the NBA this season and have taken more beatings than a <<<<
Davis’ action exemplifies the type of egotistical behavior that runs rampant throughout the NBA. As long as they continue to get paid, it makes no difference if their team wins or loses. With 70 players making seven million dollars or more this year, players like Davis place personal performance before the outcome of the game because good play translates into dollars.
In college, the difference between a win and a loss still means something. While the Cavs season has long been over, every year at least one college team with a sub-.500 record rips through championship week and wins their conference tournament, sending them to the Big Dance. There’s always something to play for.
The second incident took place in Indiana the night following Davis-gate. Five seconds into the game against the Celtics, troubled Pacer Ron Artest committed his eighth flagrant foul of the season, a total most players would be hard-pressed to accumulate in a career, unless you’re Rasheed Wallace. League rules mandate an automatic two-game suspension for Artest’s latest display of machismo. Following the game, Artest said, ‘as long as I don’t hurt nobody, I’m happy.’
Artest’s actions are just downright greedy. As one of the key cogs in a machine that has needed some oiling lately, Artest is killing his team through his selfish actions. He continues to play the game the way he wants to, yet how the league deems he can not, and, as a result, the Pacers continue their post-All Star Game slip down the standings of the Eastern Conference.
March Madness is the perfect stage if you want to see basketball devoid of all the junk surrounding the egomaniacal player. If you had watched any of the coverage on CBS or ESPN this week, you would have seen example on top of example of why the NCAA Tournament and college basketball has taken over as the best display of round ball in the country.
There was Gonzaga coach Mark Few applauding his players as they walked off the court for the effort they showed in a one-point, double overtime loss to No. 1 seed Arizona. There was Holy Cross senior Tim Szatko pounding the floor in frustration as his last chance at an NCAA Tournament upset vanished in the final minute. And there was UNC-Wilmington coach Brad Brownell collapsing to the floor following Maryland’s Drew Nicholas nailing a fall away 3-pointer, snatching victory away from another Cinderella wannabe and giving it to the defending National Champs. And that’s just scratching the surface.
The continuous action of March Madness not only blows away anything the NBA has to offer, but just about anything else in sports. The NCAA presents the fans with 63 different matchups in just over two weeks time, which display the perfect mix of small conference teams which are there to enjoy their days in the sun, the mid-majors who are hoping to dethrone storied franchises and the big guns for which anything less than perfection is a disappointment. One loss and the dream is over.
The NBA never has and never will display anything as emotional and riveting as what the NCAA offers up every single March. Where names like Bryce Drew and Tyus Edney go down in history and players in victory and defeat alike weep at what they’ve accomplished or opportunities they’ve let slip away.
It’s March my friends, and this is what basketball should be all about.
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