Would a team of Ex-Calipari KY players win the NBA?

[SilliSooner]

Would a team of all ex-Calipari Kentucky players win the NBA?

Starters:
DeMarcus Cousins
Anthony Davis
Terrance Jones
John Wall
Eric Bledsoe

Bench:
Enos Kanter
Nerlens Noel
Julius Randle
Brandon Knight
Michael Kidd Gilcrest

Further off bench
Doron Lamb
Josh Harrelson

 

[sperry]

Would a team of all ex-Calipari Kentucky players win the NBA?

Starters:
DeMarcus Cousins
Anthony Davis
Terrance Jones
John Wall
Eric Bledsoe

Bench:
Enos Kanter
Nerlens Noel
Julius Randle
Brandon Knight
Michael Kidd Gilcrest

Further off bench
Doron Lamb
Josh Harrelson

That would be far and away the best team in the NBA.

 

[thebigabd]

PG: Derrick Rose
SG: Tyreke Evans
SF: Chris Douglas-Roberts
PF: Joey Dorsey
C: Marcus Camby

His "other schools" team wouldnt be bad in their prime, either.

 

[SoonerBounce13]

Would a team of all ex-Calipari Kentucky players win the NBA?

Starters:
DeMarcus Cousins
Anthony Davis
Terrance Jones
John Wall
Eric Bledsoe

Bench:
Enos Kanter
Nerlens Noel
Julius Randle
Brandon Knight
Michael Kidd Gilcrest

Further off bench
Doron Lamb
Josh Harrelson

It is absolutely insane the kind of talent that has passed through Kentucky in such a short amount of time

 

[Smash Williams]

That would be far and away the best team in the NBA.

Most talented? Sure. Best? Probably not.

Which player is sacrificing touches and numbers to be the third option on that team? Throw in the marginalization of Bledsoe's offensive role (he's not even getting 10 shots a game on the same roster as Boogie, AD, and Wall), and you're asking a bunch of under-25 guys to sacrifice for the greater good at a point in their careers when most players are more concerned about proving themselves in larger roles than they are about winning championships.

On paper, it's terrific. In reality, the chemistry would be disastrous.

 

[sperry]

Most talented? Sure. Best? Probably not.

Which player is sacrificing touches and numbers to be the third option on that team? Throw in the marginalization of Bledsoe's offensive role (he's not even getting 10 shots a game on the same roster as Boogie, AD, and Wall), and you're asking a bunch of under-25 guys to sacrifice for the greater good at a point in their careers when most players are more concerned about proving themselves in larger roles than they are about winning championships.

On paper, it's terrific. In reality, the chemistry would be disastrous.

Get a coach like Cal, who can make it work. That team would destroy everyone in the league. Davis (who doesn't need shots) and Cousins would be the best front court in NBA history. Wall is a pass first PG, and you'd start MKG at the three, who also doesn't need shots.

 

[playmakr]

Get a coach like Cal, who can make it work. That team would destroy everyone in the league. Davis (who doesn't need shots) and Cousins would be the best front court in NBA history. Wall is a pass first PG, and you'd start MKG at the three, who also doesn't need shots.

Robinson and Duncan

 

[sperry]

Robinson and Duncan

Their primes missed each other. Both in their prime, yes, but that's not how that played out.

 

[Smash Williams]

Get a coach like Cal, who can make it work. That team would destroy everyone in the league. Davis (who doesn't need shots) and Cousins would be the best front court in NBA history. Wall is a pass first PG, and you'd start MKG at the three, who also doesn't need shots.

Regardless of whether or not Davis demands shots, he needs them. If he's not the focal point of the offense, that's a huge waste of his talent. Sure, AD can spot up for open jumpers and anchor a defense, but why turn one of the most efficient high-volume scorers in the league into Serge Ibaka?

Regardless of what Wall does with the ball, he dominates it. He runs pick-and-rolls and uses his blazing speed to get into the paint and create opportunities, both for himself and his teammates. That doesn't mesh with Cousins' game at all. One of the reasons the Kings let Thomas go and replaced him with Collison was that Collison is much more comfortable and better suited to playing off the ball, dumping it into Cousins, and catching and shooting off the double-teams drawn by Cousins. Wall could do that, but that's the waste of the skills that make him a top PG.

Making Cousins the offensive focus of this team is a waste of most of AD's and Wall's skills. Maybe you go that direction if Cousins were prime Shaq, but he ain't. On the other hand, an offense built around the Wall-AD two-man game would be more optimal, but no one--including Calipari--is selling Boogie on being a third option at this point in his career.

Winning a championship requires a lot more than just talent. The 2011 Heat had more talent than this Kentucky team (LeBron, Wade, and Bosh in their primes vs. a bunch of kids who haven't entered their primes), but they didn't win a title, let alone "destroy everyone in the league." That Miami trio eventually won titles because they were all really good defensively, and offensively they had a clear-cut #3 guy who was willing to take a backseat at that point in his career.

Right now that UK trio isn't any better than Cleveland's Big 3. The UK supporting cast is a bit better, but the point is that you can't simply through a bunch of talented yet incongruous pieces together and expect them to dominate. Cleveland has one veteran with a sense of perspective and two young alpha dogs trying to prove themselves as individual stars (not to mention Waiters, who probably thinks he's the best player on the team); that UK team consists of a bunch of guys who fit into the latter category. The UK stars haven't had enough years of coming up short and enough years of max money to make huge individual sacrifices.

That UK team could win an NBA championship in three or four years, but not right now.

 

[Smash Williams]

Their primes missed each other. Both in their prime, yes, but that's not how that played out.

Duncan and Robinson in 1999 didn't have the gaudy numbers that Cousins and AD have right now, but they were a better all-around duo. Duncan and Robinson were far more dominant defensively. If there is any question to just how good Duncan and Robinson were in 1999, look at the rest of that San Antonio roster. They won a title with Duncan, Robinson, and a bunch of garbage.

Barkley/Malone (Malone still in his prime) and Olajuwon/Sampson (not in their primes, but they dusted the Lakers in 86) were both nasty post duos in the mid-80s.

 

[sperry]

Regardless of whether or not Davis demands shots, he needs them. If he's not the focal point of the offense, that's a huge waste of his talent. Sure, AD can spot up for open jumpers and anchor a defense, but why turn one of the most efficient high-volume scorers in the league into Serge Ibaka?

Regardless of what Wall does with the ball, he dominates it. He runs pick-and-rolls and uses his blazing speed to get into the paint and create opportunities, both for himself and his teammates. That doesn't mesh with Cousins' game at all. One of the reasons the Kings let Thomas go and replaced him with Collison was that Collison is much more comfortable and better suited to playing off the ball, dumping it into Cousins, and catching and shooting off the double-teams drawn by Cousins. Wall could do that, but that's the waste of the skills that make him a top PG.

Making Cousins the offensive focus of this team is a waste of most of AD's and Wall's skills. Maybe you go that direction if Cousins were prime Shaq, but he ain't. On the other hand, an offense built around the Wall-AD two-man game would be more optimal, but no one--including Calipari--is selling Boogie on being a third option at this point in his career.

Winning a championship requires a lot more than just talent. The 2011 Heat had more talent than this Kentucky team (LeBron, Wade, and Bosh in their primes vs. a bunch of kids who haven't entered their primes), but they didn't win a title, let alone "destroy everyone in the league." That Miami trio eventually won titles because they were all really good defensively, and offensively they had a clear-cut #3 guy who was willing to take a backseat at that point in his career.

Right now that UK trio isn't any better than Cleveland's Big 3. The UK supporting cast is a bit better, but the point is that you can't simply through a bunch of talented yet incongruous pieces together and expect them to dominate. Cleveland has one veteran with a sense of perspective and two young alpha dogs trying to prove themselves as individual stars (not to mention Waiters, who probably thinks he's the best player on the team); that UK team consists of a bunch of guys who fit into the latter category. The UK stars haven't had enough years of coming up short and enough years of max money to make huge individual sacrifices.

That UK team could win an NBA championship in three or four years, but not right now.

Wall and Cousins coexisted just fine on that Kentucky team, and Anthony Davis is a much better player than Serge Ibaka, even when he's not shooting the ball.


That big three is better than Cleveland's, and that roster is better than Miami's, even though Miami had the better big three (Miami's roster was hot garbage past those three, whereas this Kentucky team would go 10 deep).

 

[sperry]

Duncan and Robinson in 1999 didn't have the gaudy numbers that Cousins and AD have right now, but they were a better all-around duo. Duncan and Robinson were far more dominant defensively. If there is any question to just how good Duncan and Robinson were in 1999, look at the rest of that San Antonio roster. They won a title with Duncan, Robinson, and a bunch of garbage.

Barkley/Malone (Malone still in his prime) and Olajuwon/Sampson (not in their primes, but they dusted the Lakers in 86) were both nasty post duos in the mid-80s.

Davis and Duncan are a wash at that point in their careers, as both were dominant two way players. Robinson was still a great defender, but was offensively limited by that point. Cousins lacks effort at times on the defensive end (although he's a capable defender when he tries), but he is a dominant offensive player.