NBA lacks true intensity
By Gabe Taylor
Now that the NBA playoffs are in full swing, the players, alongside their million dollar contracts, have finally decided to come out and play.
Throughout the regular season every team's level of intensity wavers.
By intensity, I am not referring to how many points Lebron James or Kevin Durant can rack up on any given night. Intensity, as I see it, is "in-your-face" defense on every possession, sacrificing your body for a loose ball and moving with determination on all offensive sets.
During the regular season, individual players may perform at their highest level on a fairly consistent basis, but teams as a whole do not.
Take, for instance, the defending champion, the Los Angeles Lakers. After proving to be a powerhouse once again, the Lakers either became overconfident or no longer felt the need to play with intensity as the regular season reached its end. In the Lakers last 10 games they went 4-6, igniting reactions of skepticism and doubt from the media.
The response, however, was similar: the Laker's are just waiting for the playoffs to show their worth, and after the first two games against the Thunder, this belief holds true.
But why should intensity occur only during the playoffs? People pay money to see their team perform to their full potential, whether it is the playoffs or not.
Most players earn millions of dollars to play at the level they are capable of; it is only fair to the fans, and to the franchise, to take each game seriously.
Sadly, this is not always the case. In the regular season, players walk back on fast breaks, play loose defense and struggle to play team basketball through most of the contests.
And finally, in the last quarter, if the game is close, the intensity turns up a notch.
If one thing is certain, NBA players can learn from their years in college, if they had any. In the NCAA, teams battle as if every game results in elimination.
They sprint from end to end, grind it out on defense and swing the ball to their teammates. By the time March Madness comes around, each team is so familiar with this intense style of play that the fans are able to tune in and watch great basketball.
If NBA players regained this sense of urgency, then they would be more than prepared for the playoffs, because every game prior to April would be similar to a playoff setting.
The NBA playoffs are here, and the intensity is more than present in the first round. But why settle for just the playoffs when there's a whole season of basketball to play?