College basketball is broken

Roy Williams, the head coach of #7 North Carolina, enjoying his team’s game against Ohio State

Today's college basketball players are bigger, stronger, faster, and more athletic than those of 20 years ago. So why can't they play the game as well as it was played then?

My friend Jeff LeVee, a devoted Duke basketball fan, can tell you that for years I’ve been complaining to him that men’s college basketball has become so bad that it’s no longer watchable.

Here’s the latest proof of my point:

On December 4, there were six games played in something called the Big Ten-ACC Challenge – a dazzling showcase of the two very best college basketball conferences in the country. Here are the results of those six games:

In losing to Georgia Tech, Nebraska shot 32.3% from the field and scored only 56 points

In losing to NC State, Wisconsin shot 37.5% from the field and scored only 54 points

In losing to Penn State, Wake Forest shot 29.3% from the field and scored only 54 points

In losing to Maryland, Notre Dame shot 29.0% from the field and scored only 51 points

In losing to Ohio State, North Carolina shot 27.4% from the field and scored only 49 points

In losing to Purdue, Virginia shot 37.2% from the field and scored only 40 points

Four of the six losers were ACC teams, and North Carolina shot 27.4% and scored only 49 points playing at home. Half these teams (all ACC teams) couldn’t shoot 30%, and two of them (also ACC teams) couldn’t score 50 points – in 40 minutes of play. And those two – North Carolina and Virginia – are the #7 and #5 teams in the country, respectively. Although people paid real money to see them, not one of these six games was entertaining, close, or exciting. They were perfect examples of what has become of what once was a great sport – college basketball.

The object of the game is to score points by making baskets. Teams no longer know how to do that.

South: A path of my own

Author: John Morris

With our friends’ warnings of impending civil war, certain death, and worse echoing in our heads, Kim and I set off for a place others were leaving on what would be the adventure of our lives: Twenty years in Africa during a tumultuous period of change. 

That adventure is at the heart of “South.”

South: A path of my own By John Morris. Now available at Amazon.com
South: A path of my own By John Morris