College basketball has issues, but Monday’s national championship game showed everything that is right with the sport.
Louisville’s win against Michigan was one of those crazy games in which nearly every moment was packed with tension. The outcome was in doubt until the final 12 seconds. We saw Trey Burke prove why he’s player of the year, we saw freshman Spike Albrecht grow up before our eyes, and we saw Most Outstanding Player Luke Hancock hit big shot after big shot. With the exception of the standard officiating blunders, the game was perfect.
And now it’s time for us to be moving on. Back to the slow, monotonous grind that so many have learned to hate.
Monday’s game won’t change the trajectory of college basketball, but it at least showed that the game can still be a lot of fun in its current incarnation.
Coming into the season, many fans felt like the sport was slowing down and becoming boring. The proof is in the numbers: Games averaged 67.7 possessions in 2004. That number has steadily dropped all the way down to 65.9 this season — the lowest it’s been in 11 years of KenPom data.
Fans hate to see the game break. They long for the days when it was fun and free-flowing. Now, coaches want to micromanage each possession, squeezing every last bit of efficiency out of every spot they can.
Bo Ryan’s Wisconsin teams have become emblematic of this style of play. Whine all you want, but it works. The Badgers have reached the NCAA Tournament in each of Ryan’s 11 seasons.
The slowing tempo is also a contributor to the increased parity in college basketball. A team facing a supreme talent disadvantage — which will inevitably exist in a league with 347 rosters — is best off keeping the possession count low. That increases the team’s chance of an upset in the same way a single elimination playoff will lead to more upsets than a series. Slower tempos give those pesky, small-school ankle biters an opening.
When Louisville and Michigan — the teams with the NCAA’s two best backcourts — take the same floor, those issues don’t exist. Both teams believe in their talent, and both want to play their up-and-down style. The result is a game as great as Monday’s. But most teams don’t have a Trey Burke, Russ Smith, Peyton Siva or Tim Hardaway Jr., so they have to do things differently.
People want to view former Florida Gulf Coast coach Andy Enfield as a counterpoint to this argument — some kind of last hope for reviving the game.
Ain’t it fun to watch point guard Brett Comer throw alley oops all over the court? Aren’t we all guilty of daydreaming about those thunderous slams? People will remember how well that up-tempo attack worked in upset wins against Georgetown and San Diego State, but Part II of the story is equally important. Florida grounded FGCU and forced 20 turnovers, including nine from Comer. The lobs didn’t connect. What was once labeled “free-flowing” was labeled “reckless.” The Eagles lost by 12.
Before long, Enfield will be alone. The slowing trend will probably continue far into the future. Whether it’s realistic or not, coaches will chase their dream of removing their players’ personalities, making them all cogs in an efficient, well-oiled machine.
For a time, I hated the change. But I’ve learned to appreciate it, and I’m not angry anymore.
Think of it like NASCAR. Watching the drivers go extremely fast in their cars at the Daytona 500 is awesome, but the short-track races can be just as entertaining. The speed isn’t the same, but slowing things down gives viewers a greater opportunity to enjoy all the nuances, as long as they’re willing to look.
Monday was a holiday — an occasion and a game worthy of celebration. But even when next season rolls around and the pace grinds to a halt, there’s plenty of reasons to still be into college basketball. At the very least, fans can be on the lookout for those rare occasions when supreme talents clash to produce the type of game we saw on Monday.
Contact Greg Luca at gluca@alligator.org.
Guard Trey Burke (3) celebrates with his teammates during Michigan’s 87-85 overtime win against Kansas on March 29 in Arlington, Texas.
