Watered Down March Madness?

#1
n_huffhines

n_huffhines

What's it gonna cost?
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#1
NCAA Tournament was better when it included best players - ESPN

I hate commentary like this. There is no objective way for Wilbon to compare players and teams today to players and teams of the past. Research (and common sense*) shows people tend to inaccurately remember things being better than they actually were.

* The "good old days" where there was inferior medicine, no cell phones, internet, there was a lower standard of living, etc.
 
#2
#2
nbakerld said:
NCAA Tournament was better when it included best players - ESPN

I hate commentary like this. There is no objective way for Wilbon to compare players and teams today to players and teams of the past. Research (and common sense*) shows people tend to inaccurately remember things being better than they actually were.

* The "good old days" where there was inferior medicine, no cell phones, internet, there was a lower standard of living, etc.
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Agreed nbakerld. I really don't like wilbon, and never take anything he says seriously (unless it is about pro BB). Man that cat gets under my skin. I happen to like the current format, and think the only changes that need to be made anywhere, is who is on the selection comm.
 
#4
#4
How can you say it isn't watered down? He didn't say it's not as exciting, just not the same quality.
 
#5
#5
JZVOL said:
How can you say it isn't watered down? He didn't say it's not as exciting, just not the same quality.
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I don't think there's any debate about it. Post play is nonexistent and the best PGs are gone.
Posted via VolNation Mobile
 
#9
#9
JZVOL said:
How can you say it isn't watered down? He didn't say it's not as exciting, just not the same quality.
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How do you know it's not the same quality? Watered down? Sure some of the best players went pro but the talent pool is larger than ever. For all we know the teams in the 20-68 range would kick the dog$#!+ out of the 20-64 teams from the past. That could be the reason teams from the top don't look so dominant.

Every time there appears to be more parity in sports people start talking about it being a down year. Maybe the real reason there is parity is because it's an up year.
 
#10
#10
He's right. A) March Madness is getting worse because they are making it like bowl games, trying to include too many teams. B) Wilbon is right.
 
#11
#11
nbakerld said:
How do you know it's not the same quality? Watered down? Sure some of the best players went pro but the talent pool is larger than ever. For all we know the teams in the 20-68 range would kick the dog$#!+ out of the 20-64 teams from the past. That could be the reason teams from the top don't look so dominant.

Every time there appears to be more parity in sports people start talking about it being a down year. Maybe the real reason there is parity is because it's an up year.
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I watch the games and don't see it.

Parity like the SEC this year? Good luck finding anyone with a respected opinion say it's an up year for college basketball.
 
#12
#12
JZVOL said:
I watch the games and don't see it.

Parity like the SEC this year? Good luck finding anyone with a respected opinion say it's an up year for college basketball.
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But that's what I'm saying. It's all opinion and there is nothing concrete to back it up. Opinions that compare observations from different eras are extremely inaccurate.
 
#13
#13
nbakerld said:
But that's what I'm saying. It's all opinion and there is nothing concrete to back it up. Opinions that compare observations from different eras are extremely inaccurate.
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A team with Michael Jordan, Sam Perkins and Brad Daugherty did not win the national title.

Which team today, has three guys on it's roster that come close to matching that?
 
#14
#14
JZVOL said:
A team with Michael Jordan, Sam Perkins and Brad Daugherty did not win the national title.

Which team today, has three guys on it's roster that come close to matching that?
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We'll know in 15 years. You think going into that tourney anybody thought Jordan would be the player he ended up being?
 
#18
#18
No, I was a few months away from being born. Where is the Webber, Rose, Howard trio out there? It didn't take 15 years to see their talent.
 
#19
#19
nbakerld said:
How do you know it's not the same quality? Watered down? Sure some of the best players went pro but the talent pool is larger than ever. For all we know the teams in the 20-68 range would kick the dog$#!+ out of the 20-64 teams from the past. That could be the reason teams from the top don't look so dominant.

Every time there appears to be more parity in sports people start talking about it being a down year. Maybe the real reason there is parity is because it's an up year.
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That's not true. NFL has loads of parity and the product has never been better.
 
#20
#20
JZVOL said:
That's not true. NFL has loads of parity and the product has never been better.
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But that doesn't change from year to year. NFL always has parity. I'm talking about sports where the competitive balance isn't usually very good and it changes from year to year.
 
#21
#21
JZVOL said:
No, I was a few months away from being born. Where is the Webber, Rose, Howard trio out there? It didn't take 15 years to see their talent.
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You're not really getting my point. Just because 3 good players were on 1 team doesn't mean overall the NCAA was more talented, it just means that 3 talented players were on 1 team. I'm saying that we don't know what the talent level is. It could be the same or better, just more equally dispersed.
 
#22
#22
nbakerld said:
You're not really getting my point. Just because 3 good players were on 1 team doesn't mean overall the NCAA was more talented, it just means that 3 talented players were on 1 team. I'm saying that we don't know what the talent level is. It could be the same or better, just more equally dispersed.
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Or watered down.
 
#23
#23
Of course he's right. The best players used to stay the full four years. They'd get three years better and their bodies would get three years more mature. Now the best players are raw, scrawny 18 year olds who are gone before they even figure out what they're doing. It used to be that almost every team in the Final Four was stocked with highly talented senior leadership; now it's either/or. The guys now who stick around until their senior years are by definition not that talented.

This isn't an old man argument; it's common sense. What would happen to college football if players could go after a year? Eric Berry, gone after a year. Julio Jones, gone after a year. A.J. Green, gone after a year. Marcus Lattimore, gone after a year. If all the best players are gone, how does that not lower the overall quality of play?
 
#24
#24
Vercingetorix said:
Of course he's right. The best players used to stay the full four years. They'd get three years better and their bodies would get three years more mature. Now the best players are raw, scrawny 18 year olds who are gone before they even figure out what they're doing. It used to be that almost every team in the Final Four was stocked with highly talented senior leadership; now it's either/or. The guys now who stick around until their senior years are by definition not that talented.

This isn't an old man argument; it's common sense. What would happen to college football if players could go after a year? Eric Berry, gone after a year. Julio Jones, gone after a year. A.J. Green, gone after a year. Marcus Lattimore, gone after a year. If all the best players are gone, how does that not lower the overall quality of play?
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Which is why the , does or doesn't "develop nba players" argument hasn't meant much to me, regardless of the coach. 90% of today's nba players are "ready" for the nba game before they are finished with their freshman years. AAU develops players for the nba game better than college coaches, imo. College coaches are trying to build a team and the nba is trying to find the most skilled individual player available. Jmo, of course.
 
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