After North Carolina and UCLA fumbled and bumbled their way through 40 turnovers, 66 missed shots, 21 missed free throws and 46 personal fouls in the CBS Sports (Non) Classic on Saturday, a media friend offered the perfect summation.
"I'm just glad Dean Smith and John Wooden were not alive to see that," he said.
The same would hold true for this entire college basketball season, so far.
It's a bad product right now, people. I know we love our college basketball around here. I know we love the competition and the tradition and the athleticism and all that. I know we still watch _ or at least I do _ and will continue to do so. But through a convergence of unfortunate factors, the game itself has deteriorated to the point where in many cases it's darn near unwatchable.
And I'm not just talking about the 40 minutes of blue blood bad basketball that was North Carolina and UCLA in Las Vegas. Both programs have hit the skids. After its 74-64 win, Carolina is all of 7-6. Under new coach Mick Cronin, UCLA is 7-5. And at one point UNC Coach Roy Williams called timeout to ask his struggling players, "If they wanted me to go get their mama." And the Heels won.
Before that, we had defending NCAA champ Virginia lose 69-40 at Purdue. Arizona State had just three players score in a 96-56 loss to St. Mary's. Top 25 team Seton Hall lost 68-48 at Rutgers. Syracuse lost by 21 to Penn State, then turned around and beat Georgia Tech by 34 in Atlanta. Villanova lost 76-51 to Ohio State, then knocked off No. 1 Kansas, the fifth time the top-ranked team has lost this season, the Jayhawks joining Michigan State, Kentucky, Duke and Louisville.
As we know, Kentucky lost at home to Evansville, a team now sitting at No. 204 in Ken Pomeroy's analytics rankings. Duke lost at home to Stephen F. Austin, a team now ranked No. 150 by Pomeroy. "It just shows the little teams are coming to play," said UK guard Ashton Hagans after the Duke loss.
The bigger story is who's not playing. Potential NBA Draft lottery picks LaMelo Ball and R.J. Hampton decided to skip the college game altogether. Both are playing professionally in Australia. Then news came last week that Memphis' suspended freshman star James Wiseman had decided to hire an agent and prepare for the pros rather than wait around for his Jan. 12 return.
Who could blame him? Look at Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, considered the No. 1 pick in next year's NFL Draft until he suffered a hip fracture. Or how about Western Kentucky star center Charles Bassey, who returned to school for his sophomore year only to suffer a season-ending knee injury. Or North Carolina freshman guard Cole Anthony, out with a knee injury, who according to the rumor mill may skip the rest of the season.
Not that we should be surprised by any of this. College basketball's reliance on one-and-done stars was always a tenuous undertaking that is soon to end now that the NBA is expected to lower the age limit to 18 in time for the 2022 draft. Many college stars don't really want to play college basketball, as proven by the record 175 underclassmen who declared for last year's draft. Many of those are now playing in the G League.
Those left behind are not as skilled as in past years. Fundamentals have hit rock bottom. Consider that last year, 38 college basketball teams turned the ball over more than 20% of the time. This year, that number is 98. Moving the three-point line back hasn't helped. Last year, only 14 teams shot less than 30% from three. Right now, that number is 69. (Including Kentucky at 27.8.)
Can the college game be fixed? Let's hope, but something's got to give. Once the NBA announces its new entry requirements, it will be interesting to see how it all shakes out for college basketball _ right now, more interesting than the games.
