Is this the NBA or the NCAA?

You have to wonder how much the NBA players care about their game. After the World Championships this summer, there was the usual talk about why the Europeans, the rest of the world for that matter, was catching up to the good old US of A and why their fundamentals were so much better than ours. Oh there were all the usual suspects rolled out... you know the drill: ESPN, the shoe companies summer camps, the AAU scene, the NBA's supposed emphasis on individual skills.

What no one talked about was the NBA restrictions on practice time. NBA teams have restrictions that are not all that different from college teams. Teams are allowed precisely three hours of court time daily. Now, we know why colleges have practice restrictions, to protect students study time, but the for the pros this is their job and they only have to be there three hours a day? OK, I know they have to be on the job more than the three hours on the court but you get my drift.

Anyway, I'm not the only one who thinks this is ridiculous. Mavs owner Mark Cuban apparently doesn't feel like forking over another $100,000 fine this early in the preseason so he only obliquely referred to this rule in his blog today. How are teams supposed to mesh new players in such limited time? How are players supposed to improve their fundamentals with direct coaching in such limited time? Why did the players association demand these rules in the last collective bargaining agreement - didn't the players care about getting better?

Note this line from the Star article - "Many Raptors spent September playing pick-up games on the Air Canada Centre 's practice court, but the coaching staff was barred from instructing during those workouts." Is this the NCAA? Is there are any other professional league in the world in any sport that has such restrictions in the off-season? What sense do they make?