I'm just a basketball fan. I'll watch NBA, NCAA, Euro league, Aussie NBL, Chinese, Philippines, G League... anything. Rarely does a day go by when I don't watch some basketball.
What I notice:
Professional basketball at the highest level - NBA, High level Euro, NBL - is well coached, and elite coaching makes a difference.
NCAA basketball is fun to watch, but some of the teams are just horrible. I think the general skill level has eroded due to AAU getting more of the kids attention than high school ball. I think there are a few very good game coaches in the NCAA but the good game coaches end up in the professional ranks. A good game coach is a guy who finds a way to get his team 8-10 totally open looks (usually at the rim) per game which creates an instant advantage over a coach who doesn't know how to do that.
In the NCAA game, a great recruiter who couldn't organize a group of 10 year old girls to go to the same basket at the same time can some how succeed (see Calipari, John) because the skill gap is so large. In the NBA game, every single player is great so the coaching makes a difference. (Brad Stevens???)
Guys like Wojo who can recruit very well will get 20 wins per year regularly but will always lose to the random well-coached team. (south carolina) .
My solution? Quit with the one-and-dones. Let the guys go straight to the pros. The top 20 go to NBA, the next 20 to G league, the next 40 to NBL and Europe. Everyone else plays NCAA. The talent will be more even and the coaching will be more important. Recruiting will be less of an issue. In a case like this, Wojo will be out, and great game coaches will be in high demand. NCAA basketball will be even more fun to watch. We will still enjoy greatly the Eric Paschalls and Wesley Matthews who play for 4 years and then have professional careers and we will never care if the Henry Ellensons left too early because they would never come.
Either way... status quo or with changes... I'm still watching.
By the way, I'm not slamming Wojo... anyone with evidence of his great game coaching is welcome to refute... AND his recruiting skill gets MU more wins than his coaching anyway, due to the current state of things in the NCAA.
