NBA Playoffs 2014: Why the NBA Playoffs are better than March Madness
By Phil DeMeo
The NCAA Tournament is overrated.
You read that right.
The NCAA Tournament is the most hyped up sports event and is the most overrated spectacle in sports.
Apr 20, 2014; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Heat forward LeBron James (6) reacts against the Charlotte Bobcats during the second half in game one during the first round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs at American Airlines Arena. The Heat won 99-88. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Got that?
The NBA is better than college basketball. I’d rather watch a NBA playoff game 10 times out of 10 over a college game.
Ok now let me explain myself before you curse me out.
There’s nothing like the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. I’m not saying it’s the best time of the year in sports, because if you can’t tell already I think it’s all bogus.
Now that we are fully engaged in the digital era, I, like most people, get my impressions of people on Twitter. Days before the tournament begins, millions of people, most of who can’t tell you which state Mercer College is in, fill out brackets because it’s the cool thing to do, not because they love or know college basketball.
Everyone claims they love the upsets, love the no name teams, and love the big teams going down. People were excited when Duke and Jabari Parker lost and the same with Andrew Wiggins and Kansas. It just blew my mind that the best players and the best teams were knocked out and people were happy. As a sports fan, I want to watch the best players play, not a team I never heard of.
People love upsets because they think teams are going to make a run. Everyone loves their Cinderella story. Well I hate it. If I’m watching a playoff tournament, I want to see the best teams, the best coaches, and the best players on the court. Sorry but Mercer College doesn’t make me want to watch.
For all the praise that any team can make the Final Four, I’m pretty sure three of the most successful basketball programs in last 10 years made it this year: U Conn, Kentucky, and Florida, but hey people were supposed to be surprised by that because of seeding. The power programs are most likely the ones who are in at the end, the rest is a dog and pony show of fake fans trying to fit in because they filled in a bracket. I’m sick of it.
On the other hand, it’s hard for me to take people serious when they like college better than the NBA. The NBA gives you storylines, the best players in the world, legacies on the line, legacies trying to begin, history being made, and personalities.
My Knicks didn’t even make the playoffs and I’m more excited than I have ever been. Let’s go through some storylines:
Can the Pacers turn it around and play like the team in the beginning of the year or has that ship sailed?
Can Kevin Durant take his MVP season and make it into a championship season?
Can the Spurs do it…AGAIN?
Can LeBron James and Heat go for the three-peat and make it to their fourth straight Finals?
Are the Rockets sleepers in the West? Can they take down the Spurs in Round 2?
Derrick who? The Bulls won’t accept losing?
New Kids on the Block – John Wall, Kemba Walker, Damian Lillard, and DeMar DeRozan all make their playoff debuts – everyone but DeRozan on the road and the underdog.
Can Chris Paul finally get over the hump and make L.A. a Clippers town?
Blake Griffin has took his game to the next level but can he translate that into a championship run for the Clippers?
Stephen Curry heat check. Need I say more?
LaMarcus Aldridge finally gets the national stage to shine, will he breakthrough?
Can the NBA’s highest payroll ever, the Brooklyn Nets, get past the Raptors and challenge the Heat in Round 2?
Does Dirk Nowitzki have it in him to out play Tim Duncan and pull off the 8-1 upset?
Can someone please tell me any NCAA storyline that has this much depth in it? Can we just imagine a Thunder-Heat Finals? Durant is on a mission to be No. 1 and finally get people to say his name when they say who the best player in the world is. He will be going up against LeBron, who is chasing history by going for the symbolic three-peat. The two best players in the world going at it for possibly seven games, and you guys get excited over Mercer College?
We are sure to get some amazing performances, memorable games, and fantastic finishes for the next month and a half. Our favorite players will be giving it their all, genius coaches will try to stop them, and we get to see some of the best athletes perform every night.
You still want to see some college kids run a zone defense? Oh I know, they show so much heart. Give me a break. Give me the best players in the world over the commercialized “Madness.”