Just a collection of observations from an RU supporter and arm's-length college basketball fan...
- The state (quality) of play in college bball is absolutely terrible. I suppose I could just point to yesterday's NCAA tournament display by UVa and leave it at that, but my anecdotal evidence is that in surfing games on TV over the past couple of years, I must've seen a half-dozen times when players put up shots that hit the BOTTOM of the rim. I don't have any recollection of ever seeing that when I followed the sport more closely during it's 'golden age' -- mid 70s-mid-80's.
- Speaking of which -- and generalizing of course -- I'm thinking the best teams of that era are 20 points better than the best teams of this era. The first game I recall seeing on TV was the 1974 masterpiece when ND ended UCLA and Bill Walton's 88 game winning streak. That was followed by the 76 RU team (when we were only the second best undefeated team), then the Magic vs Bird NCAA final in 79, then sitting in MSG a few years later watching RU get demolished by a UNC team that had Michael Jordan, James Worthy and Sam Perkins in it's starting lineup, then watching Valvano's NCSt team beat Houston's PhiSlammaJamma led by Hakeen Olajuwan and Clyde Drexler, and then the 85 Final Four where Nova snuck up on a Patrick Ewing-led Georgetown and Chris Mullen-led SJU. Unbelievable, upper-class talent that would shred today's best teams.
- Basketball (including college) is the only sport I can recall where rules of the game have been completely ignored. Not changed, ignored. The failure to enforce travelling and palming have to have contributed to the overall decline in fundamentals.
- The 3-point line is a gimmick that should've died with the ABA (I'd rather have seen the red, white and blue basketball survive). The 3-pointer has made many games nothing more than 37 minute 3-point shooting contests followed by 3-minute (an interminably long 3 minutes) foul shooting contests. It's also allowed lots and lots of 'one skill' players, who would've played for schools like St Bonnies during the golden age, play at the highest level now. So instead of Walton, Olajuwan, Ewing, we have a game full of slow, unathletic, suburban sharp shooters.
- Rather than expand the NCAA tournament and let more lousy (see UVa) teams in, it should be reduced to 32 in order to try to raise the overall quality of the games; more bad teams = more bad games.
- Pike seems to be somewhat detached from reality. I don't mean that as a clinical, mental health diagnosis, but as it pertains to his players, his team and the overall college bball landscape. Whether his unfounded pre-season optimism, his overly flowery praise of not-yet-accomplished players, or his failure to recognize the risk of the transfer portal, he just doesn't seem to have a feel for the reality of life in the big leagues.
- Continuing that thought, were it not for the compensation I think Pike would be just as happy coaching the Bridgeport High boys basketball team as he is coaching in the B1G. I guess we'll find out if he's as comfortable coaching thoroughbreds as he is coaching scrappy over-achievers.
- Regardless of your specific opinion of Pike, is it reasonable to think he's the third best college bball coach in the state of NJ?
