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driveway · 03-29-2011, 05:09 PM

What makes the single biggest difference between the NCAA game and the NBA game is the skill level of the players.

This may seem obvious, but it's what has the most impact on the game. Because of the rules of Basketball, a highly-skilled offensive player will, more often than not, score - regardless of how talented or complex the defence is that's being played against that player.

At the NBA level what this means is that skilled players can 'take over the game' in a way that's simply not possible in any other sport. Kobe, playing slightly above his average level of play, can drop 35 points on ANY player, ANY team in the league. This has a huge impact on how defences are set up. For example, the zone is a legal defence in the NBA, but no one plays it consistently because the shooters in the league are too good, and the big men too good at running the pick-and-roll. A zone defence would be cut to ribbons. So you see almost exclusively man-to-man coverage. This promotes one-on-one matchups of skilled players. Team-defense does not have the same ability to control the pace and outcome of a game as it does in the NCAA, unless you're dealing with a very talented and deep defensive team. See 96-98 Chicago Bulls.

In the NCAA the players aren't skilled enough to dominate defences the way they are in the NBA so you find a much greater emphasis on team-play. You'll see way more zone defence in college ball and significantly more passing plays. Players swinging the ball around the court trying to penetrate an effective defence. Florida State, for example, plays an extremely strong defence which carried them to the Sweet Sixteen and within a point of the Elite Eight, despite being a #10 seed.

From this ability for defence to stand-up to the skill-set of the players you find most of the other things that people love about NCAA ball flowing out of. Things like intensity, team play, lower scores, closer games, different tempo. All of these stem from the basic cause of offensive players not yet being skilled enough to overcome a strong team defence.

03-29-2011, 05:09 PM	#35
driveway A Fiddler Crab Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Chicago Exp:	What makes the single biggest difference between the NCAA game and the NBA game is the skill level of the players. This may seem obvious, but it's what has the most impact on the game. Because of the rules of Basketball, a highly-skilled offensive player will, more often than not, score - regardless of how talented or complex the defence is that's being played against that player. At the NBA level what this means is that skilled players can 'take over the game' in a way that's simply not possible in any other sport. Kobe, playing slightly above his average level of play, can drop 35 points on ANY player, ANY team in the league. This has a huge impact on how defences are set up. For example, the zone is a legal defence in the NBA, but no one plays it consistently because the shooters in the league are too good, and the big men too good at running the pick-and-roll. A zone defence would be cut to ribbons. So you see almost exclusively man-to-man coverage. This promotes one-on-one matchups of skilled players. Team-defense does not have the same ability to control the pace and outcome of a game as it does in the NCAA, unless you're dealing with a very talented and deep defensive team. See 96-98 Chicago Bulls. In the NCAA the players aren't skilled enough to dominate defences the way they are in the NBA so you find a much greater emphasis on team-play. You'll see way more zone defence in college ball and significantly more passing plays. Players swinging the ball around the court trying to penetrate an effective defence. Florida State, for example, plays an extremely strong defence which carried them to the Sweet Sixteen and within a point of the Elite Eight, despite being a #10 seed. From this ability for defence to stand-up to the skill-set of the players you find most of the other things that people love about NCAA ball flowing out of. Things like intensity, team play, lower scores, closer games, different tempo. All of these stem from the basic cause of offensive players not yet being skilled enough to overcome a strong team defence.