I get that some folks like college sports more because of this myth that college students play harder. I don't know where it came from, but it had to have been started by someone who doesn't understand football. It's a really stupid argument that NFL players aren't playing hard all the time, because you will be killed if you play football at half-speed while everyone else isn't. You could try to argue that teams collectively decide to slack off, but we've seen that before, too. It's called the Pro Bowl, and the Pro Bowl sucks.
People really push this idea when it comes to basketball, though. Personally, I don't buy the fact that pro players don't play hard, because there is no other sensible reason for Kobe Bryant to sweat that much. If Kobe is sweating like that and not playing hard, I suggest that he see a doctor. I mean, besides the one about to cut open his shoulder.
Now, if you told me that pro players didn't play hard every night, you might have an argument, and even then, I don't blame the players. The players aren't slacking off because they're overpaid fat-cats that can't be bothered to entertain the fans. The players are slacking off because they have to play the Knicks six times.
The NBA season is already an 82 game grind, and you expect these players to bring the same fire that they'd give to Chicago to the Philadelphia 76ers? The good teams get more of a challenge playing themselves in practice. Playing the Sixers multiple times is like the morning conference call of basketball games. It has to be done to make the boss happy, but you're not about to pretend like it's truly necessary.
It's only an expectation because it's believed that Michael Jordan did it. Oh, Jordan never took a game off. And he probably didn't, because Michael Jordan is a lunatic. You saw from his Hall of Fame speech how much trouble he's having adjusting to civilized society, where every perceived slight isn't grounds for some form of revenge. When regular people do that, they usually need to seek some form of counseling, because making the other person keep shooting half-court shots for two hours until you win (this actually happened) isn't a realistic option. But let's make Michael Jordan's rare psychosis the standard for NBA players. Kobe shares this affliction, but you hate Kobe, and right now, he's trying to figure out how to tape up his rotator cuff so he can play next week. This isn't healthy behavior.
Besides, the NBA season is four times as long as a college season. Who can't bring it for twenty games? True, being browbeaten by some redass college coach could be exhausting, but if you're any good, you're only gonna be there for a year or two, anyway. When you're a 19 year old college player who has agents secretly telling him that he's going in the lottery, and girls sneaking in and out of your dorm room, you're not listening to the coach, anyway. Play defense? Defense is for suckers. Carmelo didn't play defense at Syracuse (and it was a zone defense, at that), and he has a $124 million dollar deal.
And that's what it's all about, anyway. They're not doing this for some mythical love of the game. This is their audition for the same millions that Carmelo gets. They don't love the game any more than the pros do. They just don't have to keep up the illusion as long.
But let these kids have to go on a six game road trip in the middle of a forty game season, through flyover country, against a bunch of schools that even Digger Phelps would struggle to recognize, and see how much effort you get. John Calipari could offer his players cash bribes on top of their secret signing bonuses and Kentucky still wouldn't show up against Kennesaw State. Hell, if they did show up against Kennesaw State and beat them by 70, these same folks would complain that Kentucky ran up the score.
So I don't mind if players take a few games off because who cares, they're playing Charlotte. If Golden State really brought it for four quarters against Charlotte, Charlotte would lose by 200 points and Michael Jordan's anger would make him try to suit up again.
And you shouldn't care, either, because it's not like those games get aired by anyone except NBA TV.
No comments:
Post a Comment