College basketball and professional basketball might be the same sport, but they offer completely different experiences for fans. While all the basics and the rules remain the same, the teams play completely different types of basketball. The NBA is focused on star players putting up ridiculous numbers. Teams will feed them the ball constantly and let them go crazy scoring 20 points a game. Partially because of the rules for fouls, it is essentially impossible to stop them. Blocking them the least bit incorrectly can be called a foul. Also, these guys are good enough that they can score from most places on the court and quick enough that they can shoot accurately after one step.
There are definitely stars in college basketball. However, they do not play anywhere near the role that stars do in the NBA. Last year the Chicago Bulls were the No. 1 seed, but once they lost Derrick Rose, they couldn’t even win their first playoff series.
In college, and in Northeastern basketball, the offense is more equally spread among players. There is also more defense as games normally end around 60 points instead of around 80 or 90 points per team. Players aren’t on the team just to put up high stat lines that the NBA stars are forced to put up. No one college player routinely takes control of the game, and constantly drives to the net by himself. Instead, they use the full shot clock to pass the ball around and find the person who has the best shot. Although there are still obvious leaders, the point distribution is much more equitable in the NCAA.
But what really sets college ball apart might be good old March Madness, where almost any team can make a surprisingly deep run. When people try to fill out their brackets, even the most knowledgeable fans have trouble getting it right. Any team has a legitimate chance of winning the NCAA tournament.
If the Huskies win the Colonial Athletic Association conference this year, they would have a fair chance at making it into March Madness. In the NBA, there are far fewer underdog stories and upsets, but NCAA basketball is where these surprise teams thrive. There are some teams or players in the NBA that can come out of nowhere, but most people know which teams are contenders before the season starts. The same few teams can repeatedly make the playoffs and championships because they have the same star players who control the game. College teams have constant turnovers on their rosters, changing the landscape of a program every four years as classes come and go, leaving the opportunity for smaller programs to compete with established powerhouses.
The NBA might have more slam dunks, tricks and long passes, but over the course of a season, there aren’t that many twists and turns. In college, there are a lot of potential upsets or surprises, and isn’t that the best part about sports? The endless possibilities?
March Madness is coming up soon and once again people will begin trying to predict the bracket and which teams have the potential to make deep runs. It’s the most anticipated college playoff system, and there will be more surprises. It’s possible that the ultimate winner will be one who no one expects. It could even be your Huskies.
– Chris Judd can be reached at [email protected]
