Phoenix Suns guard Eric Bledsoe is one of the NBA’s brightest young stars. On off-days, though, he serves as a basketball analyst.
According to Bledsoe, the Kentucky Wildcats would beat the Philadelphia 76ers in a 7-game series. No, that’s not a bad typo. Bledsoe certainly meant it.
The Wildcats, college basketball’s #1 team, are sitting at 3-0 through three games. On Tuesday night, they defeated the #5 Kansas Jayhawks by a score of 72-40. And, although the season just began on Friday, the Wildcats already look unstoppable.
The 76ers, the NBA’s worst team, is currently sitting at 0-11. To this point in the season there is nothing good to be said about the hopeless Sixers. The league’s top teams, including the Mavs, have already put them out of their misery.
With that said, what if college basketball’s finest team faced the NBA’s worst squad? What would be the outcome?
To answer this question, I’ll judge each team based on three criteria: talent, experience, and coaching.
Talent
In terms of talent, no college basketball team can compare to John Calipari’s Wildcats. Of Kentucky’s 12 active players, 9 of them were once McDonald’s All-Americans. That list includes the Harrison twins (Aaron and Andrew), Willie Cauley-Stein, and Dakari Johnson.
Also, we must consider Kentucky’s height advantage. 6-10 forward Julius Randle may have left for the NBA after the 2013 season, but they added freshman Karl Towns, who is 6-11. Kentucky also has two 7-footers in Cauley-Stein and Johnson. Because of their unfair size advantage, the Wildcats can control both the paint and the glass.
Philly, on the other hand, is one of the NBA’s poorest teams in terms of talent. Like the Wildcats, they do have some size in the low post. Nerlens Noel, who was once a Wildcat, stands at 6-11. Since returning from a knee injury, Noel hasn’t lived up to expectations. However, he has had an impact on the defensive end, averaging 1.5 blocks per game and 1.5 steals per game.
Every good team has a good point guard. The Sixers are an awful team, but they do have a gifted point guard in Michael Carter-Williams. Like Noel, Carter-Williams has been banged up. But he has been a key contributor on both ends of the floor when healthy. MCW has been a valuable asset, but not even he can save the league’s worst offense (88.5 PPG and 40.3 field goal percentage).
Although the Wildcats are the most talented team in college basketball, you can’t compare a group of stud under-classmen to a group of professional players.
Edge: 76ers
Coaching
I challenge you to name the head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers.
No, it’s not Doc Rivers. And no, it is not Phil Jackson either. The correct answer is Brett Bowen.
Bowen has just over 25 years of coaching experience, much of which was spent in the National Basketball League in Australia. As an assistant coach with the Spurs, Bowen won an NBA title back in 2007. In just over a year with the Sixers, Bowen has guided them to a dreadful 19-74. Bowen hasn’t been successful in turning around the Sixers franchise……..yet.
Meanwhile, in the college ranks, John Calipari has worked his magic. Calipari is best known for being a recruiting mastermind. With Calipari, Kentucky fans can always count on a steady influx of talent. He certainly hasn’t let them down over the past two seasons.
As a college coach, Calipari has been remarkable (his overall record in 558-174). Calipari did not excel in the NBA though. After leading the New Jersey Nets to a 69-95 record in two full seasons with the team, Calipari was fired halfway through the strike-shortened 1999 season. He then moved on to (how ironic) Philly, where he served as an assistant during the Allen Iverson era.
Brown has accomplished many things in his coaching career, but Calipari has been fairly consistent at nearly every level. Also, I have to give him credit for steering his team into the right direction during last year’s NCAA tourney.
Edge: Kentucky
Experience
There isn’t much I can say about this because we are comparing college freshmen to NBA veterans. So, I think the answer is pretty obvious.
Edge: Sixers
Let’s end this debate once and for all. Kentucky is unstoppable at the college level, but the Sixers have more experience and more talent. That’s why the Sixers would have an edge if they were to play in a seven-game series.
It certainly would be refreshing to see the NBA’s worst team face the best that college basketball has to offer, but I think we all know who would prevail in the end.
All stats courtesy of CBSSports.com and NBA.com
