joe greenwald

THE PROBLEM WITH THE NBA Every year around this time, excitement and hope of fans of the NBA grows that it will be their year. that this is it. their chance. but usually, some team like detroit, san antonio, los angeles, or somebody like that ends up winning the title. is it because they are so freakishly better then everyone else? their championship "EXPERIENCE" is just too much for everyone else to hanlde? i dont buy that. these are professional athletes making millions of dollars. they're in the NBA because they are the best at what they do. but yet the same teams, coaches, and players get the the championship year after year. if it was their experience, how could college teams like Memphis get past three in a row final four team UCLA? the bruins obviously had more final four EXPERIENCE. how do teams to amazing things that make MARCH MADNESS the greatest time of the year? college basketball is exactly what basketball should be. i being a fan of basketball, and of the utah jazz have been frustrated watching the NBA forever. teams, players, coaches, are all so pampered and protected by the league. michael jordon doesn't get called at the end of game six against the jazz after pushing off bryon russel cause well, he's michael jordon. phil jackson will never get a technical foul because well he's one like what eight championships give or take a couple? you'll never see kobe bryant get pushed around a little bit and not get a foul. it just doesn't happen. the NBA loses fans year after year because nothing ever changes. and doesn't seem to be changing anytime soon. how on earth did john stockton and karl malone not win a championship? how have the phoenix suns not succeeded more in the playoffs? they're a great team. i could go on and on about the numerous examples of the NBA hurting themselves about protecting their stars and losing fans. watch this year. the los angeles lakers and the detroit pistons or the detroit pistons or the san antonio spurs will meet in the finals. where's the drama in that. i can see it now, commercials on ESPN for the finals saying, "can phil jackson win championship number 9?" or "can tim duncan add another ring to the collection?" would anyone really care about a series like that? of course not. we've seen too many of those and will continue to see them. how many titles can a team win and still really care? something needs to change with this league. but i dont see it happening. i love basketball. and its exciting to see the best players in the game going at it. but to the NBA, let the players win the games. don't do it for them. i see these great college players leaving early to enter the nba draft, but if it were me, i'd cling to all four years of college. right now with the way the NBA is, i would much rather be in a competitive league that people actually care about than a national popularity contest.