No score

As I sit here watching the first round of the NCAA basketball tournament (shhh - don't tell my boss), I am alarmed by the extreme inability of anyone to score in college basketball anymore. ND v. ODU is 28-22 at halftime. Halftime!! Villanova (once thought to be a national title contender) has 19 points with 2:18 left in the first half. And they trail by 6. Where did all the scoring go?

During Championship Week, there were several teams in their conference semi-finals and finals who failed to make 20 points at halftime. This is getting ridiculous. No wonder there is so much parity in basketball if every team seems capable of having a game where they simply don't score, anyone can put up 45 and win a game. That used to be a night for Michael Jordan.

Is the talent pool getting diluted from too many D-I programs? Is it that so many kids (mistakenly in many cases and foolishly in others - but that's a topic for another time) declaring early for the NBA draft diluting the talent pool? Is it the need to only shoot 3-pointers or make slam dunks (sometimes known as the "where did the mid-range jumper go?" debate)? Maybe a combination of all of the above? I don't know but I think the ineptitude of teams' scoring ability may be near an all-time post-shot clock era low. I've been watching NCAA basketball for many years now and I don't remember seeing so many 20's on scoring sheets at halftime. It's taking some of the excitement out of the game because the teams just look so terrible constantly missing what used be considered makable shots.