I know what you’re thinking.  No, I’m not omniscient, but almost everyone I know finds college basketball much more entertaining than the NBA, and it’s simply not true.  The most exciting highlights of the year come from the NBA, where every player is a dominant athlete, and every team a well-oiled machine.  The level of play is simply unmatched at any level of college basketball.

What bothers me most about college basketball is the extreme lack of parity in recruiting.  There is so much that goes unnoticed in the dark backrooms of recruiting, and it is so rarely punished.

John Calipari is the master of greeze, and he consistently lures top recruits with promises of low academic standards.  On his ex-Memphis team, he brought Robert Dozier in, someone whose academic eligibility was extremely questionable.  His PSAT score was in the second percentile nationally.  His SAT score was in the 87th percentile.  That doesn’t just happen.  Calipari also orchestrated the Derrick Rose debacle, costing that team every one of its wins that year.

Plus, does anyone pay attention to the regular season of college basketball?  It seems like nobody actually cares until March Madness rolls around.  Now, I won’t deny how great March Madness is.  It’s freakin’ awesome.  But if one month is the only time people pay attention to college basketball, it’s a major problem.

The complaints about the NBA are quite common:  “The season is too long,” “Everyone is just a thug,” “Referees cater to the stars,” yada yada yada.  Basketball is the most entertaining spectator sport, period.  There are too many playing gaps in football, too much inactivity in baseball, and too little excitement in soccer.  Basketball represents constant action, and every play has the potential to be in Sportscenter’s Top 10.

The NBA is by far the highest level of basketball.  There are no flubbed fastbreaks.  There are no missed lay-ins.  Everything runs as a well-oiled machine.  NBA games are rarely blowouts (unless the New Jersey Nets are involved), and are entertaining from start to finish.

There is variety in the NBA.  Some teams win by building their team around one superduperstar (see Cavaliers, Cleveland).  Others create extraordinarily deep, talented teams with no holes, like the Portland Trail Blazers.  Others are extremely young, extremely skilled, and extremely athletic, like the Oklahoma City Team-Snatchers.

Every team is different, and that’s why every game is so entertaining.  That’s true to some degree in college basketball, but not completely.  How many lame teams are filled to the brim with white dudes who can wax threes, and have one lightning-quick point guard who can distribute the ball to them.  I can think of about four off the top of my head.  The NBA doesn’t have that.
You simply cannot play in the NBA without one exceptional trait.  Be it size (Shawn Bradley), shooting (Kyle Korver, et all), ball handling (Rafer Alston), or ridiculous athleticism (hella people), you can’t make it without something.  However, having one exceptional trait doesn’t mean you’re going to make it.

NBA basketball requires a knowledge of the game infinitely more in-depth than in college.  James White is perhaps the best dunker in the world.  Do you see him in the NBA?  Gerald Green has everything basketball executives want physically, including a 42-inch vertical and a gossamer jump shot.  Yet he currently plays in Eastern Europe, probably earning a pittance.  Why?  Because his basketball IQ is 0, everyone else’s 30.

While college basketball is entertaining for a month, the NBA is more so for almost half the year.  Plus, there is no college basketball equivalent of a team dumping all their players in a desperate attempt to lure the best player in the world to their squad.  Let’s hope it all works for the Knicks.  At least for Mr. Miranda’s sake.