At first look, it seems that NBA and NCAA are pretty much the same after all. The court appears to be the same, both leagues have hoops and the entire game seems to be exactly the same. On the other hand, there are key differences in these games. Let us try to how each league is unique to the other.
Number 1. Talent Gap
College basketball, it has players who are at the very beginning of their careers. Some might not even pursue a professional career in this sport. Unlike in NCAA, NBA is a full professional league that features the best basketball players. The standards for NCAA basketball is high but, it is taken on another level when it comes to NBA.
Number 2. Shot Clock
In Basketball, shot clock is used in order to increase the pace of the game and its scoring too. The offensive team should try to make a shot before their shot clock expires. While 24 seconds is the standard shot clock for NBA, it is pushed to 35 seconds in NCAA. It is not surprising that NBA has higher-scoring compared to NCAA games. In most instances, NBA scoring is ranging around 80 to 100.
Number 3. Fouls
Also, there are differences in fouls between NCAA and NBA. In the latter, a player is only allowed to have 6 personal fouls before they are fouled out. With NCAA, players are only given 5 fouls per game.
Number 4. Distances and Dimensions
While it looks as if the dimensions in basketball court both for NCAA and NBA are almost identical, they are not. For example, take a closer look and you’ll notice that the 3-pointer line is somewhat closer to the basket in NCAA. To be exact, college basketball has it 19.9 inches than 23.9 inches in the NBA.
Also, you are going to notice some differences in the lane width or also called as the “paint”. In college basketball, the lane is at 12ft while in NBA, it’s 16ft.
Number 5. Defense
In NBA, defense is quite complicated and the league is a man-to-man game with zone defense being occasionally played. This is a result of the complex rules that are surrounding it. With college basketball, on the other hand, there are no implications and you may notice varieties of zone defense with some even becomes a trademark for some teams.
If you are feeling a bit overwhelmed with these pieces of information for college and professional basketball and think that betting on this sport is not for you, then why not try other gambling options? For one, there is ไฮโล which is a pretty straightforward game.