Lack of skill in the NCAA limits NBA opportunities
With March comes the NCAA tournament madness, and true college basketball fans are tuned in to watch their favorite teams dance. Many comments were made after the most recent tournament, criticizing the difference in quality and skill between NCAA and NBA basketball.
Personally, I feel that the beauty in NCAA basketball comes from amateurism. The last-minute buzzer beaters, the usual upset of blue blood, and the overall emotion make March Madness one of my favorite times of the year. However, with that being said, I am starting to fault college basketball as a development league for the NBA.
This article does not advocate for more players to skip college and go to the G League or overseas. No one wants college basketball to be more like the NBA. As I said earlier, the beauty is in the amateurism. This article points out how the NBA has reduced its use of college basketball as a talent pool for league players.
Before the turn of the century, players stayed three to four years in college before going to the league. College championships brought more than a feeling of pride, and the competition brought great college players who turned out to be even greater NBA players. For example, after being drafted, future Hall of Famer Larry Bird returned to college to compete for a national championship. Nowadays, the best college players are far from the best NBA players, and sometimes they do not even make final NBA rosters. As we discussed earlier, the NBA has evolved, but college basketball has been left behind.
All plays still go through the center in college basketball. We see dominant players like Luka Garza and Jahlil Okafor playing like traditional NBA back-to-the-basket bigs. Unfortunately, the NBA operates with stretch bigs, with power forwards and centers shooting threes. Similarly, the size of NBA players has dramatically increased. You have 6-6 to 6-7 point guards and 6-10 wings. However, the biggest difference between college basketball and the NBA is defense.
Great college guards like Tyler Ulis and Cassius Winston have struggled to stay in the NBA because of their inability to defend other guards. As I said earlier, these guards are now 6-6, 6-7. A 5-8 point guard will not be able to stay in front of them, which makes them a huge liability on NBA teams. So, although we love supporting our favorite college basketball teams, we cannot deny the talent difference between them and the NBA has reduced the interest from NBA teams.
