JA Adande: Time for NBA and NCAA to break up?

[scher215]

From dwindling draft stock to diminished dynasties, the NBA was omnipresent throughout the first week of the NCAA tournament, looming like the evil eye of Sauron in "The Lord Of The Rings." That's the analogy that springs to mind because the NBA gets blamed for so many wicked things, including the lack of program-building patience in the NCAA that leads to events such as Mercer 78, Duke 71. If the NBA is only going to catch flack it might as well make the logical move and disassociate itself from college basketball completely.

It's already an uneasy alliance, one that the NBA has only encouraged because it provides evaluation and promotion opportunities for players before they enter the league. While there are slight conveniences, they're blurred by the facts there are different agendas and vastly different business models at work. College coaches are best served by attracting and using players in a manner that suits them, not the NBA. And the college game's longer shot clock, shorter 3-point distance and prevalence of zones that both hinder individuals' offensive impact and mask their defensive deficiencies do not help prepare players for the next level. There's also little incentive for the best players to stick around for more classes and books when guaranteed millions await them at the next level.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/10666387/nba-ncaa-part-ways

 

[SuperSenior13]

I've always enjoyed JA Adande. Thanks for sharing. No matter what decision is ultimately made, one side will make major concessions in some way: either the NCAA, the NBA, or the kids.

 

[OSUfan]

The prevalence of early departures has seriously damaged the quality of the top teams in college basketball in many years within the past decade. I think the NBA has more talent than they have ever had, so I don't think the rules as they are now truly diminish the quality of the NBA. But college basketball keeps losing a large segment of its most talented players every year and so there tends to be more parity in college basketball now than there was even 15 years ago. Players, I don't feel like they are hurt significantly by the current arrangement - they are allowed to turn pro in the NBDL or another pro league whenever they want (just not the NBA).

 

[scher215]

I think the biggest downfall to players right now is AAU. They miss out on learning so many fundamentals. That has always been my biggest "beef" with the current system.

 

[disco]

I think the biggest downfall to players right now is AAU. They miss out on learning so many fundamentals. That has always been my biggest "beef" with the current system.

Beat me to it. AAU ball is so focused on individual stats to get noticed, it kills the concept of playing as a team.