College Bball is in a steep decline

[Scooch]

I feel like we would all be pretty much OK with the state of college basketball if we were actually good.

Maybe.

Despite SU football's 20 years in the wilderness, I never felt that college football writ large was a bad product. And even with all the roster churn due to the portal, and the NIL imbalance between schools, it's still a great game to watch each Saturday in the fall.

College hoops is different, IMHO. The quality of play is pretty bad most games. The tourney is fun because there are stakes. But the regular season? Not great.

 

[Millhouse]

I haven't done any formal research but based on watching a significant amount of games it obvious to me that college basketball is not doing well. I'm not sure if it's related to the revolving rosters, a lack of good coaching, declining interest from younger fans, or the fact that product on the floor is really poor.
Regardless, the sport is in a serious downturn.

I have very limited experience with youth basketball and it just might be my son's experience

But there is way too little practice and way too many games and idiotic point guard play is not punished because teams don't have enough players get the ball up the floor. So everyone is just at the mercy of kids dribbling into four people over and over.

Once guys get to the NBA, the game is so smart and efficient but it's so dumb at lower levels

 

[XC Cuse]

It's basketball as a whole. Steph Curry style basketball has infected the sport. Now everyone just wants to jack up threes. The three has become the go to play by analytics and it's not very entertaining. I think they need to consider moving the line back, to make mid range more valuable.

 

[Willy75]

Every CBB player is on a 1 year contract, with a player option to return the following season.

Zero roster continuity from year-to-year.

Eventually, everyone ends up playing for the LA Dodgers.

Aka Duke.

 

[Col. Bleep]

But there is way too little practice and way too many games and idiotic point guard play is not punished because teams don't have enough players get the ball up the floor. So everyone is just at the mercy of kids dribbling into four people over and over.

Yes and it's even worse.
So many players travel when they first start moving with the ball and it's almost never called.
Same with palming the dribble.
It's so bad...players might as well pick up the ball and carry it like a football running back.
These "innovations" in play have cheapened the game.

 

[baggerbob]

It's basketball as a whole. Steph Curry style basketball has infected the sport. Now everyone just wants to jack up threes. The three has become the go to play by analytics and it's not very entertaining. I think they need to consider moving the line back, to make mid range more valuable.

Move the line back to 30 feet, it should be very difficult to make to add an extra point.
Plus that would open up the floor more for medium range shots, and playmaking.

 

[tptcuse]

NIL is fine (players getting paid) but it does need to be restructured and regulated. Fan/booster collectives should be banned. There needs to be some kind of cap. It really should be structured as revenue sharing through the school along with advertising deals not a free for all driven by deep pocketed boosters.

The portal has been a disaster.

I post this every few months, but it's the combination of NIL and the transfer rules being basically non-existent that is the problem.

 

[cusefan88]

AAU basketball is absolute garbage and you can see it with so many freshmen unable to play defense or have a decent awareness.

Not trying to pick on Choppa and Donnie but they both fall into this. Weak and scared on defense but always looking to get shots up on offense


Not their fault, a product of horrendous youth basketball.

 

[Sherman20]

I haven't done any formal research but based on watching a significant amount of games it obvious to me that college basketball is not doing well. I'm not sure if it's related to the revolving rosters, a lack of good coaching, declining interest from younger fans, or the fact that product on the floor is really poor.
Regardless, the sport is in a serious downturn.

The players need to unionize and a collective bargaining agreement needs to be reached with them. There needs to be a salary cap and a level playing field. Booster collectives need to be banned, but players can make money off legit NIL deals.

 

[CA Monk]

College Bball is in a steep decline​

Well so am I, so I hardly notice.

 

[CardiacCuse]

Hello, class-action lawsuit!

why does it work in baseball then?

 

[djcon57]

why does it work in baseball then?

The MLB players union agrees to it.

The basketball players union doesn’t even want 1 and done.

How do you guys not know this?

 

[djcon57]

The players need to unionize and a collective bargaining agreement needs to be reached with them. There needs to be a salary cap and a level playing field. Booster collectives need to be banned, but players can make money off legit NIL deals.

Why would the players unionize?

 

[JustPherU]

It's basketball as a whole. Steph Curry style basketball has infected the sport. Now everyone just wants to jack up threes. The three has become the go to play by analytics and it's not very entertaining. I think they need to consider moving the line back, to make mid range more valuable.

How about only having the 3 point shot in the 4th quarter or last 10 minutes of game time.Never happened but that’s my suggestion.

 

[XC Cuse]

How about only having the 3 point shot in the 4th quarter or last 10 minutes of game time.Never happened but that’s my suggestion.

Having it is fine, but shooters have gotten too good. There should be a readjustment.

 

[CardiacCuse]

The MLB players union agrees to it.

The basketball players union doesn’t even want 1 and done.

How do you guys not know this?

i used to watch american sports ut 1 by 1 ive stopped

used to watch MLB, NFL, NBA, MLS...now none...and its been years

I forgot

 

[Scooch]

It's basketball as a whole. Steph Curry style basketball has infected the sport. Now everyone just wants to jack up threes. The three has become the go to play by analytics and it's not very entertaining. I think they need to consider moving the line back, to make mid range more valuable.

Analytics have ruined baseball and basketball. What once were sports full of diverse approaches to the game have now been reduced to vast seas of groupthink and sameness.

Every GM is trying to build the same team. Every coach is employing the same strategies.

To me it’s not *just* the obsessive focus on the 3 pointer. It’s that the data dictates that everyone have the exact same obsessive focus on the 3 pointer. Just like in baseball everyone has the same obsessive focus on 3 true outcomes and pitchers throwing at max velocity with every pitch.

It’s all so homogenous and boring.

 

[phil77]

I think basketball in general is down.

 

[phil77]

Analytics have ruined baseball and basketball. What once were sports full of diverse approaches to the game have now been reduced to vast seas of groupthink and sameness.

Every GM is trying to build the same team. Every coach is employing the same strategies.

To me it’s not *just* the obsessive focus on the 3 pointer. It’s that the data dictates that everyone have the exact same obsessive focus on the 3 pointer. Just like in baseball everyone has the same obsessive focus on 3 true outcomes and pitchers throwing at max velocity with every pitch.

It’s all so homogenous and boring.

Yup and if you don't do it you really don't have a chance unless you have a super dominate big man like Eddy or something like that.

 

[M2MPrinciples]

It's not the only thing or even the biggest thing separating this era of CBB from previous ones, but I hate that so many of the best players and coaches are media-trained to the hilt and neutered to never say or do anything interesting for fear of messing up their money.

 

[djcon57]

Analytics have ruined baseball and basketball. What once were sports full of diverse approaches to the game have now been reduced to vast seas of groupthink and sameness.

Every GM is trying to build the same team. Every coach is employing the same strategies.

To me it’s not *just* the obsessive focus on the 3 pointer. It’s that the data dictates that everyone have the exact same obsessive focus on the 3 pointer. Just like in baseball everyone has the same obsessive focus on 3 true outcomes and pitchers throwing at max velocity with every pitch.

It’s all so homogenous and boring.

I thought we were going to see a switch up when the Suns looked good for that run a couple years ago with the mid range game. But quickly went back to 3s. Theres just so few that can pull it off like Paul was able to that year

I think an actual idea that can be implemented is getting rid of the corner 3. It’s just too easy for nba players. End the 3 pt line into the side line.

 

[phil77]

I thought we were going to see a switch up when the Suns looked good for that run a couple years ago with the mid range game. But quickly went back to 3s. Theres just so few that can pull it off like Paul was able to that year

I think an actual idea that can be implemented is getting rid of the corner 3. It’s just too easy for nba players. End the 3 pt line into the side line.

They really need to do something to bring back some sort of defense. Maybe allow hand-checking again or something. Really tighten up on moving screens. Fix the 3-point line as you mentioned. I think the fans or at least me miss the physical aspect of the game and the defense at least at the pro level.

 

[djcon57]

They really need to do something to bring back some sort of defense. Maybe allow hand-checking again or something. Really tighten up on moving screens. Fix the 3-point line as you mentioned. I think the fans or at least me miss the physical aspect of the game and the defense at least at the pro level.

They are so scared of bringing back those Ben Wallace Pistons teams they went too far the other way

 

[Eric15]

I think basketball in general is down.

I know the NBA regular season can feel a bit stale and drawn out at times, but the skill level in the NBA right now is off the charts. Shooting, ball handling, versatility especially amongst big men is otherworldly.

The best comparison is free throw shooting. A foul shot is an apples to apples thing whether it's 1950 or 1980 or 2025. The five best years of free throw shooting in the NBA's history were the past five seasons. Around 78%. In the mid-90s it was closer to 73 or 74%.

 

[baggerbob]

I thought we were going to see a switch up when the Suns looked good for that run a couple years ago with the mid range game. But quickly went back to 3s. Theres just so few that can pull it off like Paul was able to that year

I think an actual idea that can be implemented is getting rid of the corner 3. It’s just too easy for nba players. End the 3 pt line into the side line.

That's why 30 feet would be a good distance there are no corner 3's. The court is only 50 ft wide, shuts the corner down, it also makes various zones possible again.