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a ****ing women's coach talking about how the men's counterpart is bad. there are few things worse in life then watching women play basketball.

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Geno has probably forgotten more men's basketball or things applicable to men's basketball than you'll ever know.

Terrible cop-out response, Sloan.

If he's wrong about the men's game, then tell us why he is wrong.

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To me he's always seemed to have an agenda against the men's college bball, mainly built upon his animosity towards Jim Calhoun (from what I've read in the papers). In fact, I think if you put him in charge of a men's program, he'd be terrible and fired in 2-3 years. I don't think his coaching style would mix well in the men's game.

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Or maybe he'd adjust how he handles his team?

In either event, that road goes both ways. Plenty of men's coaches would have to change their style if they coached women.

Women can't dunk so every men's coach would need to change their coaching in women's basketball.

I guess I'm definitely in the minority here. Yes there are changes that I think need to be made like a 30 second shot clock, but college basketball is my second to favorite sport behind college football. I'm a fan of effort for great defense and different styles (such as zone and pressing), you don't really get that in the NBA (and yes I do understand it's because the players are so much better and more skilled).

Coming from somebody who goes to all 13 Aggie football games, every home basketball game and 3 or 4 road/neutral games a year, but only 2 or 3 Rockets games a year, I enjoy the college game to the pro game and it's for reasons like this... Last year during Spring Break, a couple of my Houston buds and me drove up to OKC to go to the Rockets-Thunder game (my first NBA road game) and dropped $80 on tickets. I don't remember what quarter it was in but it was a single digit game and we were definitely in striking distance when Harden made a bad interior pass to Howard and the Thunder threw it way ahead for a 2 on 1 fast break. Pat made it back in time and caused a missed layup, which SHOULD have given the team enough time to get back on defense. However, after the missed layup and a fight for the rebound, the OKC guy got the ball passed it out to somebody, who then went ahead and just made an extra pass to Durant and he drained the 3 and McHale called a timeout. I looked over at the other side of the court, and Serge, Howard and Harden literally hadn't moved, and Parsons and I wanna say Francisco Garcia, were jogging back and had made it a couple of steps passed half court. What was a 2 on 1 turned into a 4 on 1 half court set. The Rockets never made it close again after that. I have never been more pissed as a fan of one of my teams, all because of the lack of effort. I spent $80 on a ticket and tons of money on gas all to see my team just stop trying... (And also don't even get me started on Papovich resting starters).

So maybe it's just because I love going to the games instead of watching at home, I prefer the college atmosphere and defensive effort in college basketball wayyyy more than the NBA. I will watch the Rockets over a college basketball game (not including the Aggies) 9 times out of 10, but will watch those "pointless" Big Monday games. I like seeing teams go on 8-0 runs and having the student section go nuts more than seeing businessmen in their work clothes just sitting holding a beer the entire time.

Your experience has been completely different than mine. Spurs games are much louder and more exciting than A&M games, at least since the BCG/Law/Sloan '06 to '08 time frame.

The defense in the NBA is also light years ahead of defense in college. OK, there are a few teams and players that don't put forth the effort, but by and large the pro defenses are much smarter and faster. The level of play is so much higher on both ends that it's almost a different sport.

So two guys didn't sprint back on defense for what seemed to be an easy bucket in the 3rd quarter of one regular-season game out of 82? That's what upset you?

The missed lay-up after lay-up after lay-up at an A&M game didn't upset you more? Or the passing the ball around the perimeter for 30 seconds and then getting a wide open shot that's missed?

College kids might play "harder" than their NBA counterparts, but it mainly just looks that way since they are usually way less of an athlete or skilled than a professional player. The best players/athletes in the world make it look incredibly easy.

I will admit that if you save up money to go to a Spurs game and then Pop rests certain players, that can be upsetting/frustrating.

Yeah, but we still get to watch our team in June while just about everyone else is done, so it evens out.

Very true

I would rather watch the Spurs when they are resting their players, then watch 95% of Major college games in November and December when teams like Texas A&M face off against A&M-Commerce. I know it is fashionable right now to rip college basketball, but it deserves it.


People who prefer NCAA DI basketball over NBA might as well start watching DIII. You don't have the "hired assassins", guys really just love to play, and they give even greater defensive effort. Or maybe the women's game.


The defensive effort argument is so full of crap. Adam Morrison couldn't stay on the floor because he couldn't stop anybody, nor could he consistently make buckets, but he was the best that college basketball had to offer. It's a whole lot easier to give "defensive effort" when you don't have to guard the whole floor.

Just to the OP's original point, you couldn't pay me to watch college baseball.

What the college basketball game needs more than anything is to remove the discontinuity of the 1-and-done phenomenon.

Make it like MLB. If a high schooler wants to skip college and go to NBA/D-league, let him. If he goes the college basketball route, he's gotta play 2 seasons of NCAA. The more you have junior and senior laden teams (more likely in this scenario), the better that college basketball will be. It wasn't always like it is now. The 1-and-dones are really hurting the quality of teamwork and offensive precision/execution.

I agree. Though make it 3 years of college. I think that's how the MLB does it