Prop Man
01-29-2009, 06:19 PM
I've been dabbling in NBA and CBB lately, not betting that much, but fun to think about. While thinking about the two sports, I started to wonder if there's a fundamental difference in the NBA and CBB with regards to blowouts.
There are 82 games in the NBA, before the long playoff season. Without proof to back it up, it seems to me that when a big favorite is up by a lot at the half, most coaches will do the same thing - rest their starters, give the bench guys some garbage time...and not worry about winning by 15 or by 25.
In college basketball, there are fewer games - probably in the low 30s for each team. The conference schedule is even shorter, and the playoff schedule can be really short or nonexistent for some teams. So I wondered if there were situations where different coaches would treat blowouts differently. Is it possible in college basketball that there is a wider variety of how coaches treat a blowout than in the NBA? Maybe there are some college coaches that are willing to rest their starters in blowouts because they are used to winning by wide margins so another big win is no big deal. On the other hand, maybe there are other coaches that like to pile it on (especially for the home crowd) and will play their starters through the end of the game. Again, I don't have proof, but this seems like a higher possibility in college than in the NBA.
If this is the case, then it seems the key to CBB 2H when one team is leading by a lot at the half, is to figure out the coaches mentality. Does he pile it on? Or does he play subs? In the NBA, this doesn't seem like an issue - it seems like all NBA coaches will play subs in blowouts.
There are 82 games in the NBA, before the long playoff season. Without proof to back it up, it seems to me that when a big favorite is up by a lot at the half, most coaches will do the same thing - rest their starters, give the bench guys some garbage time...and not worry about winning by 15 or by 25.
In college basketball, there are fewer games - probably in the low 30s for each team. The conference schedule is even shorter, and the playoff schedule can be really short or nonexistent for some teams. So I wondered if there were situations where different coaches would treat blowouts differently. Is it possible in college basketball that there is a wider variety of how coaches treat a blowout than in the NBA? Maybe there are some college coaches that are willing to rest their starters in blowouts because they are used to winning by wide margins so another big win is no big deal. On the other hand, maybe there are other coaches that like to pile it on (especially for the home crowd) and will play their starters through the end of the game. Again, I don't have proof, but this seems like a higher possibility in college than in the NBA.
If this is the case, then it seems the key to CBB 2H when one team is leading by a lot at the half, is to figure out the coaches mentality. Does he pile it on? Or does he play subs? In the NBA, this doesn't seem like an issue - it seems like all NBA coaches will play subs in blowouts.