The NBA season isn’t even a month old and we’re already sick of a few ongoing storylines. The biggest one surrounds the laughable notion any college team could beat an NBA franchise. Yes, the Philadelphia 76ers are winless at 0-10, and Kentucky stomped Kansas the other day, but to say Kentucky could actually beat the Sixers is crazy talk. Then again, former Kentucky guard and current Suns guard Eric Bledsoe says they “definitely” could.
Kentucky’s fearsome defense — they kept Kansas to 40 points on Sunday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, which is the lowest point total for a Jayhawks team since coach Bill Self took over as coach before the 2003-04 season — can corral whatever another college team throws at them, but even with a lineup dominated by Michael Carter-Williams and Tony Wroten, the Sixers would overcome whatever Kentucky defense throws their way. The divide between the college and pro game is just too large to ever make it a fair analogy.
Even Kentucky coach John Calipari agrees.
I hear Coach Briggs got excited after the game last night. Let me be clear: If we played ANY NBA team, we would get buried. ANY.
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) November 10, 2014
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But that didn’t stop a former Calipari player, Eric Bledsoe, from saying otherwise about the 76ers.
Bledsoe spoke to Brian Geltzeiler & Malik Rose of “The Starting Lineup” on Sirius XM about the current Wildcats and the 76ers doing battle and said Kentucky could “definitely” beat this current Sixers iteration.
Geltzeiler and Rose offered up the hypothetical of a Kentucky-76ers seven-game series, and Bledsoe said,”I’m definitely taking Kentucky, but I think Philly prolly gets maybe one game.”
Probably…maybe gets one game?! Damn.
When the hosts told Bledsoe this was probably going to be bulletin board material for the entire Philadelphia region, Bledsoe didn’t really care, saying he’s “gotta go with his Wildcats” even though the Sixers have Nerlens Noel — a former Wildcat himself.
The only time Bledsoe has played the Sixers since getting dealt to the Suns in the summer of 2013, was in December last year when he scored 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting in a 115-101 Suns win.
The Suns travel to Philly on Friday, and you can be sure Bledsoe’s introduction will be met by a larger-than-usual smattering of boos.
Is Bledsoe actually right?
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