Hall of fame head coach Larry Brown believes that Kentucky’s 2014-15 squad could make the NBA’s Eastern Conference playoffs.
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Larry Brown has a very unique perspective on the game of basketball. He is the only man to ever coach both an NCAA and NBA championship-winning team. Thus, he knows what it takes to compete at the highest level in both realms. So when the hall of famer proclaims that this year’s Kentucky Wildcats squad could make the NBA playoffs, people take notice.
From the quote posted below, it would appear that Brown is solid in his conviction. However, he does provide a bit of a qualifier in stating that it would be the Eastern Conference, which in recent years has been the significantly weaker of the two.
Still, the feat is impressive enough, considering that conventional wisdom states that even the worst professional team would still crush the best college squad. For instance, in football, many people had debated whether some of those Alabama Crimson Tide BCS Championship football teams could beat the winless 2008 Detroit Lions. Yet talent wise, the latter squad would likely wipe the floor with the former.
Larry Brown just said "I honestly believe Kentucky would make the NBA Playoffs in the East"
— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) March 18, 2015
Nevertheless, this is a different sport. And, in all fairness, John Calipari could very well be coaching a starting lineup comprised of five of the first 15 picks of the 2015 NBA Draft. His team has won by sizable margins in all but three contests this season. The Wildcats look like a professional basketball team among a see of amateurs.
And yet, there is still an understandable amount of skepticism. Bench depth comes into play when talking about a hypothetical match up of any two teams. Are we really to believe that Kentucky, as talented as they may be, has nearly the amount of firepower on the sideline as Miami, Boston, Charlotte, or Brooklyn?
You could make an argument for the starting five against any one of those teams. As far as total rosters are concerned though, top to bottom, there is zero chance that UK stacks up to any NBA team, especially one with playoff aspirations this late in the season.
H/T Matt Jones via Twitter
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