Speaking of following college basketball now, NIU has quietly gone 16-3 to start the season. Considering they were winning 5 games a year a few years ago, quite a turnaround. They had a weak OOC schedule and are only 12-3 against Division 1, but still. 5-1 so far in the MAC, which is the #11 or #12 conference. 3 losses were @Missouri, @Ohio State and @WMU (after 4 players were ejected early in the game). No big wins though, admittedly. Looking at the RPI listings, I notice Monmouth is having a good season too, with a pretty high RPI.

(01-13-2016 04:58 PM)oliveandblue Wrote:  You know, I'll never understand why DePaul is bad. They have decent basketball history. It's their #1 focus. They have a good TV deal and conference situation. They are in freaking Chicago (talent and fans are EVERYWHERE).

Everything points to DePaul being a top three team in the Big East, but they seem to hire the worst types of coaches and then never deliver. They shouldn't look like Tulane.

Not everyone can be good all the time. The inverse is how I can't understand how Boise State can be so good.

(01-21-2016 07:13 PM)High Plains Drifter Wrote:  After being a basketball-aholic for over 35 years, it started slipping. Trying to watch an Prison League (nba) became sickening so it no longer plays on my TV. I watch some of the March Madness of college basketball but not with the enthusiasm I used to have.

The big turning point (other than the talent level has dipped so much) is when far, FAR too many players started jumping straight to the nba or playing one and done. Through most of the 90s players stuck around longer, honing their skills against top level competition under great coaches. Patrick Ewing played 4 years. Michael Jordan played 3. David Robinson played 4. Charles Barkley played 3. Almost all of the all time greats played at least 3.

Allowing fans to follow them through their college careers as they grow into well-trained stars, thru the draft and into their pro careers. NBA draft in those days were a big deal. The last one I watched a little of was high school players I'd never heard of and foreign players I had never heard of therefore I had no interest in watching their sloppy play in the nba.

Of course the biggest reason I don't watch the nba is because almost every game started looking like cell block A vs cell block B. Bunch self-mutilated cons playing bad basketball. I still love the classic games on the NBA Network. Jordan, Bird, Magic, Stockton and Malone, the Dream, Robinson, Ewing, Mullin, Clyde the Glide, McHale, Thomas, Gervin, King, Pistol Pete, The Human Highlight Reel, Barkley, Dr J, Worthy etc.

The NBA is not as bad as it used to be, the owners and the league itself has cracked down on the amount of thugs or wanna-be's on NBA rosters.