Himmelsbach: Could UK beat an NBA team?
It has almost become a rite of autumn, along with changing leaves and pumpkin-spice everything everywhere. Invariably, a coach from a lower-level college basketball team watches his squad get pummeled by a major Division I team, and then he stands at a lectern and pours out the praise.
This team will be tough to beat. This team could win its conference. This team could win it all.
We've heard it all before, and we usually just sigh and wish the real season would start so we can see real games.
But late Sunday night, after Georgetown College had been annihilated by Kentucky, 121-52, Tigers coach Chris Briggs took the gushing one step further—and, really, one step too far.
"If they play like they did tonight," Briggs said, "they're an NBA playoff team."
Right about here, you might insert the sound effects of tires screeching to a halt, music stopping and jaws dropping. Before we go any further, let's squash this one.
No, Coach Briggs, UK is not an NBA playoff team. Not now, not ever, not even close. But Briggs' assessment did raise a general, potentially more plausible question: Could this immensely talented Wildcats group win an NBA game? That idea, at least, cannot be instantly dismissed.
The best way to continue this is to start with the worst. And the worst, unequivocally, is the Philadelphia 76ers.
If you haven't seen the 76ers play this year, it's probably better that way. All you need to know is that they're 0-7 and are being outscored by 12.8 points per game. Guard Tony Wroten is their only player averaging more than 11 points per contest. (Although reigning rookie of the year Michael Carter-Williams is scheduled to make his season debut on Thursday.)
Kentucky, meanwhile, is historically deep and talented. In the most recent 2015 mock draft released by Draftexpress.com, six of the top 32 picks are Wildcats. The obvious concern is that UK Is too young and too inexperienced, but we're not saying they have to beat the San Antonio Spurs. They just have to beat the 76ers, who have nine players 23 years old or younger.
I sent text messages to two NBA front office members on Monday afternoon, asking them how many times UK could defeat the 76ers in a 10-game series. Their responses essentially just confirmed that there is no consensus in this debate.
"[Kentucky would win] maybe five times," one said. "They are deep!"
"Odds are the Sixers would beat [UK] every time," the other said.
And so we were back at the start. I called ESPN college basketball analyst Seth Greenberg, who is allowed to speak on the record, and got a view from the college side.
"No, they couldn't beat an NBA team," Greenberg said of UK. "They have a collection of NBA players, but they couldn't beat an NBA team at this point. It's a different game. There's a lack of understanding of just how good those [NBA] guys are."
I tend to side with Greenberg. Remember, three months ago UK lost to a Dominican Republic team whose rotation included former UK forward Eloy Vargas and former UofL guard Edgar Sosa. That Dominican team was not an NBA-level team by any stretch.
UK coach John Calipari took to Twitter on Monday and said his team would get 'buried' by an NBA opponent. And Wildcats sophomores Aaron Harrison and Dakari Johnson dismissed the notion that they could topple an NBA squad.
"The NBA is another level," Johnson said.
Here's one way to approach the argument. Imagine, for a minute, that the 76ers roster was a college roster. Imagine that Wroten (Washington), Brandon Davies (BYU), Nerlens Noel (Kentucky), Carter-Williams (Syracuse) and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (UCLA) formed the core, bringing their pro experience with them.
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Or look at is this way: Yes, Kentucky has 10 potential NBA players. Well, the 76ers have 15 current NBA players. They would be the top-ranked team in college basketball.
Although the 76ers are an awful NBA team, their flaws are magnified because they are playing against the best in the world. And over the past week, UK's strengths have been magnified because they've played against NAIA competition.
Still, basketball is a fickle game, and upsets happen. If Kentucky and the 76ers played today, I think Philadelphia would win by 15 points. But if they played 10 times, I think the Wildcats would grab one win.
Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at 502-582-4372 by emailahimmelsbach@courier-journal.com and on Twitter @adamhimmelsbach