OT: Hypothetical: kentucky vs. 76ers
To those that don't want to click, the 76ers would only beat kentucky 74% of the time at home and only 56% on the road. http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/kentucky-would-lose-to-the-76ers-at-…
December 12th, 2014 at 11:27 PM ^
Thanks, man.
December 12th, 2014 at 11:29 PM ^
This is pretty cool but I still want the Pistons to choke a for for Okafor.
December 12th, 2014 at 11:34 PM ^
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December 12th, 2014 at 11:54 PM ^
December 13th, 2014 at 12:33 AM ^
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December 13th, 2014 at 2:52 AM ^
GMs in the NBA are notorious for making asinine trades and signings. Not saying one will in this instance, just saying.
December 13th, 2014 at 8:23 AM ^
December 13th, 2014 at 1:47 PM ^
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December 12th, 2014 at 11:31 PM ^
December 12th, 2014 at 11:35 PM ^
I just have no idea how this is possible. 100% of the 76ers are NBA players, best case, 50% to maybe 60% of Kentucky kids will get there. At least in baskeball it could remain somewhat competitive, especially if Kentucky rains threes (something they're not particularly adept at anyway) but this question gets more absurd when talking about college football vs. NFL.
December 13th, 2014 at 12:18 AM ^
Football is much more predictable because every play is essentially a reset of the wider game. It isn't a very fluky (sp?) sport. But basketball, absolutely this Kentucky team would win some games against the Sixers. It's hard to translate and predict how many, though.
December 13th, 2014 at 10:26 AM ^
From 1934 to 1976, there was an exhibition game in Chicago during the summers in which a rookie team called the "College All-Stars" would play against the defending NFL Champions. The "All-Stars" were draft picks from that year's draft.
The games were fairly even until Vince Lombardi became the first NFL football coach to have mandatory weight training. Ironically, it would be Lombardi's 1963 Packers who would sustain the NFL's last loss, 20-17. The NFL team would win the last twelve games of the series, which ended in 1976. If the math doesn't work, it's because a players' strike caused 1974 to be cancelled.
The idea of college players against an NFL team is absurd now, but from 1934-1963, it was possible for a pre-season rookie all-star team with no NFL experience to beat the defending champions in an exhibition game.
December 13th, 2014 at 2:46 PM ^
Even today no pro would take the exhibition seriously, until it was close late, like an All-Star game.
December 12th, 2014 at 11:36 PM ^
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December 12th, 2014 at 11:37 PM ^
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December 13th, 2014 at 2:43 AM ^
I'm not sure how many of the UK guys are lottery picks - though most of them are draft picks.
Remember - all of the 76ers are NBA draft picks, and have gotten better since then. And many were lottery picks, plus you've weeded out who is a bust.
December 13th, 2014 at 3:18 AM ^
December 13th, 2014 at 7:45 AM ^
If you are in the NBA, you are in the NBA....does it matter at this point where they were drafted?
Points people miss in this discussion:
1) Even if all the UK players are projected first round picks, on average half will bust out of the NBA http://sportsnstats.com/nba-draft-euro-bust/ . Half of the UK team won't even get drafted.
2) Being in the NBA matters. You can see the difference in size between college players and non-college players.
3) Longer you are in college, the better your fundamentals. UK couldn't just dribble and drive or post up (things they can do with ease now) in the NBA. Passing to find the open shooter or easy shot would be necessary.
4) The Sixers still own two players who were considered one of the top two or three players in college when they played (Embiid and Noel). They have been in the NBA for years.
In summary, the numbers put forward by Silver's blog are greatly exagerated.
December 13th, 2014 at 9:56 AM ^
UK has one lottery lock, Towns, and one somewhat sure thing, Cauley-Stein. Beyond that, guys who are likely 1st round picks at some point: Johnson and Booker, maybe Lee. I'd say it's too early to say on Ulis and Lyles, and the Harrison twins are a maybe, but I probably would say no at this point. So they go in the 2nd round pool with Poythress, who is undersized, can't really shoot and will be damaged goods with a torn ACL. Poythress will probably have to have a stud senior year to even get picked.
The Sixers have two lottery picks (Noel, MCW), not counting Saric or Embiid, who won't see the floor this year. Beyond that, Wroten is the only first round pick on the roster, when you consider that Jason Richardson is fat, old and eternally injured, They have at least five guys who went undrafted. I think Kentucky would give Philly a run for their money with no Embiid or Saric, but I still think a team of NBA players wins 9 times out of 10.
December 12th, 2014 at 11:36 PM ^
The same question came up a few years ago, Alabama vs Jacksonville. It's dumb.
Half the Kentucky team won't sniff pro basketball, but you're telling me they can beat an entire team of profesional players?
December 12th, 2014 at 11:49 PM ^
December 12th, 2014 at 11:51 PM ^
December 12th, 2014 at 11:55 PM ^
UK does not have 10 players who will be drafted, on their best team ever they had 5.
And yes, Drew Gordon plays pro basketball. I think that's better than the entire UK bench who will never play a minute of pro basketball.
December 13th, 2014 at 3:21 AM ^
December 13th, 2014 at 7:40 PM ^
December 12th, 2014 at 11:50 PM ^
December 12th, 2014 at 11:52 PM ^
December 12th, 2014 at 11:50 PM ^
The problem is that when people envision these scenarios they look at Kentucky like they have 5 All-Star caliber players and we know that's not true.
We know that half of these lottery picks don't pan out, because if they did the Sixers wouldn't be so bad. They do after all have 3 on their roster right now.
December 12th, 2014 at 11:57 PM ^
I like being more realistic than hypothetical....
December 13th, 2014 at 12:01 AM ^
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December 13th, 2014 at 12:07 AM ^
Well is that so....
December 13th, 2014 at 12:06 AM ^
December 13th, 2014 at 12:34 AM ^
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December 13th, 2014 at 12:10 AM ^
December 13th, 2014 at 12:11 AM ^
December 13th, 2014 at 12:22 AM ^
It's basketball, people. The 76ers aren't going 82-0 against UK. At some point they won't hit jack shit from the field (not that hard to imagine, really).
December 13th, 2014 at 12:22 AM ^
December 13th, 2014 at 12:25 AM ^
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December 13th, 2014 at 10:10 AM ^
Noel right now, and early indications are that he's not anything special.
December 13th, 2014 at 12:45 AM ^
December 13th, 2014 at 1:48 AM ^
I wonder if UK's focus on defense, which is certainly not an NBA trend, might reshape this matchup considerably.
December 13th, 2014 at 7:43 AM ^
December 13th, 2014 at 12:38 PM ^
December 13th, 2014 at 12:55 AM ^
For a usual basketball team, this is a no-brainer edge of the 6ers. But the 76ers are not a normal NBA team. They purposely signed horrible players.
Look at their frontcourt. The main guys they've had start is the 2011-12 Georgetown frontcourt (both average starters in college) and the 5th best player on St. John's NIT team last year.
December 13th, 2014 at 2:00 AM ^
They drafted Embiid with the 3rd pick, it's not their fault he hasn't played a game yet. Noel is starting at forward now, and he hasn't been bad at all.
December 13th, 2014 at 2:15 AM ^
December 13th, 2014 at 6:52 AM ^
Both those guys were the right pick. If you would have to be a complete idiot to suggest passing on at 3.
December 13th, 2014 at 8:23 AM ^
December 13th, 2014 at 1:06 AM ^
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