OT: hypothetical question that I heard on a podcast

[Eric15]

How many NBA players are good enough where if you added them to a 16-seed team's roster (someone like Grambling) it would immediately make them the favorite to win the tournament? Like if Stetson or Grambling suddenly had someone like Luka/Joker/Giannis, they would probably be the overall #1 seed. How many other NBA players (is it 10, 50, 100?) could pull off that immediate transformation of a college team?

Obviously this is purely subjective.

 

[Brooky03]

Hello, fellow AWL.

I think half of NBA starters would be able to pull it off. 15x5= 75. To give myself some cushion, I’ll go with 60. Final answer.

I think Caruso landed on 30 as his guess.

 

[HyattsCuse]

Zero.

I’m thinking of UConn’s strategy. Let Edey get his and shut out everyone else. Even if Luka/Giannis/etc put up 60-65, I can’t see a 16 seed + 1 NBA superstar winning 6 games in a row.

 

[Charbroil]

I think this number is actually pretty small. You can stack the paint and play more physical in college to help negate some of the NBA player’s advantage. A handful could probably pull it off but I don’t think it’s many.

 

[MikeSU02]

I'm not sure what the number is, but Luka and Jokic would either score, get fouled, or get another player a wide open bucket at the rim or at the three line every single possession.

Their points per possession would be outrageous.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

How many NBA players are good enough where if you added them to a 16-seed team's roster (someone like Grambling) it would immediately make them the favorite to win the tournament? Like if Stetson or Grambling suddenly had someone like Luka/Joker/Giannis, they would probably be the overall #1 seed. How many other NBA players (is it 10, 50, 100?) could pull off that immediate transformation of a college team?

Obviously this is purely subjective.

Don’t need them. Just play UVa

 

[Brooky03]

Zero.

I’m thinking of UConn’s strategy. Let Edey get his and shut out everyone else. Even if Luka/Giannis/etc put up 60-65, I can’t see a 16 seed + 1 NBA superstar winning 6 games in a row.

Giannis would dominate the defensive end, too. Like, guard 2 or 3 guys level dominate. He’d also be creating easy opportunities for the whole offense. You can’t just ‘let him get his,’ you’d have to double team him if you don’t want him scoring every single trip down the court.

For context, Edey probably won’t play much in the NBA and won’t stick around for long there.

 

[Brooky03]

I think this number is actually pretty small. You can stack the paint and play more physical in college to help negate some of the NBA player’s advantage. A handful could probably pull it off but I don’t think it’s many.

The problem is the 3 point line. NBA guys would go bananas from behind the college arc.

 

[Cusefannotindc]

i think there are 11 guys most people would agree would probably fulfill this, Jokic, Luka, SGA, Giannis, Lebron, Kawhi, Tatum, AD, Curry, Butler and Durant.

The gap is big UConn's starting lineup had a box plus minus of 53 and stetson had -5. there is another round of players, mostly guards and centers who you wonder if they have the ability to get it done with essentially no supporting cast.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I actually go the other way. I feel like it's a pretty small number.

Luka and Jokic for sure. Probably Giannis. I'd already consider Victor there. KD could do it.

Then there's a group that has such a dominant skill that I think they could do it. LeBron I wouldn't bet against even now, and the idea of his basketball IQ on the court against an opponent of college kids is hilarious. Curry might not be a lock now but prime Curry would absolutely rip through the tournament. I'm a Jimmy Butler stan and could buy him willing a team to win at the college level. Rudy Gobert during his peak prime years would control the defensive end of the floor to such absurdity I think that could work. I could maybe buy Ant Edwards just as a force of nature that's more refined than he was in college a few years ago. I'll throw in Dame Time just cuz and Halliburton because he's the best creator in the NBA at the moment and that's lethal in college. Sabonis has such a well rounded game now at such a high level I could talk myself into that. Maybe SGA.

So that's 13 for me.

 

[Brooky03]

My guess of 60 was probably too high but I’m very confident at 30.

In the top 30, you have these three truths: They’d be the smartest player on the court, they’d be the best defender on the court, they’d be another PG on the court regardless of their position.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

You know what, I'd throw Kyrie Irving's crazy ass in too. Of course he could go unconscious for 6 games and have the ball on a string and be completely unstoppable to college players. Of course he could.

He might convince his teammates and coaching staff that the refs are lizard people, but a championship is a championship.

 

[Brooky03]

I actually go the other way. I feel like it's a pretty small number.

Luka and Jokic for sure. Probably Giannis. I'd already consider Victor there. KD could do it.

Then there's a group that has such a dominant skill that I think they could do it. LeBron I wouldn't bet against even now, and the idea of his basketball IQ on the court against an opponent of college kids is hilarious. Curry might not be a lock now but prime Curry would absolutely rip through the tournament. I'm a Jimmy Butler stan and could buy him willing a team to win at the college level. Rudy Gobert during his peak prime years would control the defensive end of the floor to such absurdity I think that could work. I could maybe buy Ant Edwards just as a force of nature that's more refined than he was in college a few years ago. I'll throw in Dame Time just cuz and Halliburton because he's the best creator in the NBA at the moment and that's lethal in college. Sabonis has such a well rounded game now at such a high level I could talk myself into that. Maybe SGA.

So that's 13 for me.

Healthy Embiid would have to be there.

As a Knicks fan, I’m including Randle and Brunson.

Then there are guys who aren’t necessarily NBA superstars but idk who would stop them or how. How do you stop Kristaps Porzingis?

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Healthy Embiid would have to be there.

As a Knicks fan, I’m including Randle and Brunson.

Then there are guys who aren’t necessarily NBA superstars but idk who would stop them or how. How do you stop Kristaps Porzingis?

Embiid doesn't have to be there because I don't like him, he's a loser, and I'm petty like that.

I did think about Kristaps under the same logic you mentioned. I could see it. Wasn't confident enough to make my list tho.

 

[Forza Azzurri]

How many NBA players are good enough where if you added them to a 16-seed team's roster (someone like Grambling) it would immediately make them the favorite to win the tournament? Like if Stetson or Grambling suddenly had someone like Luka/Joker/Giannis, they would probably be the overall #1 seed. How many other NBA players (is it 10, 50, 100?) could pull off that immediate transformation of a college team?

Obviously this is purely subjective.

Steph Curry got Davidson to elite eight.

Would Steph, in his prime at GS, have been able to take them farther?

 

[Cusefan0307]

Steph Curry got Davidson to elite eight.

Would Steph, in his prime at GS, have been able to take them farther?

I just came here to point that out. Davidson was a 10 seed and gave 37-3 National Champion Kansas their closest game of the tournament 59-57. The rest of that team was a bunch of average to below average college players so at the very least any power 5 school with a player of that caliber is definitely winning the title.

 

[kcsu]

How many NBA players are good enough where if you added them to a 16-seed team's roster (someone like Grambling) it would immediately make them the favorite to win the tournament? Like if Stetson or Grambling suddenly had someone like Luka/Joker/Giannis, they would probably be the overall #1 seed. How many other NBA players (is it 10, 50, 100?) could pull off that immediate transformation of a college team?

Obviously this is purely subjective.

One.

 

[SFCUSE GURU]

All of them. Are you serious with that question. take them all off the end of roster and they would blow all the college teams away. There’s a reason they are in the NBA even at the end of a roster. They are quicker, stronger, faster and more skilled than 90 percent of the players on any college roster.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Malachi Flynn just had 50 points in an nba game.

 

[Forza Azzurri]

All of them. Are you serious with that question. take them all off the end of roster and they would blow all the college teams away. There’s a reason they are in the NBA even at the end of a roster. They are quicker, stronger, faster and more skilled than 90 percent of the players on any college roster.

Pretty arrogant and condescending response.

Buddy Boeheim and Andy Rautins are end of the roster players.

Neither is leading a 16 seed to the national championship.

 

[donniesyracuse]

 

[tbonezone]

i listened to something on the radio (?) last night and supposedly the host asked a noted vegas oddsmaker about UCONN's chances playing the worst NBA team . maybe it was minnesota. don't remember. but he asked the guy what the probable line on that game would be and was told that spread would be about 40 points.

 

[Newhouser]

i listened to something on the radio (?) last night and supposedly the host asked a noted vegas oddsmaker about UCONN's chances playing the worst NBA team . maybe it was minnesota. don't remember. but he asked the guy what the probable line on that game would be and was told that spread would be about 40 points.

I think the more interesting game would be how would UCONN do against a G-League team? I still think it would be a blow out.

The NBA stuff was started by Mike Greenberg who is the biggest dope in sports talk alive.

 

[CuseBBall]

I think the number would be close 100 where if you put them on Stetson they would be a 1 seed. I think we have seen similar situations in the past with this. 19 year old Marcus Camby made Umass a 1 seed. 19 year old Kenyon Martin made Cinci a 1 seed. I understand Cinci probably had more overall talent then Stetson but I am not sure Umass did. I would think if 19 year old Marcus Camby could do it then 30 year old Joker, Giannis or even as far down as Sabonis, Siakam, Morant or Zion could do it too.


Also St Joes was a 1 seed with essentially 20 year old Jameer Nelson and 20 year old Delonte West… and a bunch of other players Stetson’s caliber. If give the choice of Nelson, West and the rest of the team for Stetson or 29 year old Karl Anthony Towns and the rest of Stetson’s team I would take Town’s team.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Elite college players often don’t carry teams to titles because at college level you are still reliant on the rest of your team, and we often see a huge improvement from college to even just the first couple of years as a pro. Yeah, other players might have plenty of open shots based on the attention that player gets but that doesn’t mean they make them especially on a team like a 16 seed with lesser talent usually. And 18/19 in college vs inserting them now at 24/25+ is a big difference.

I don’t know what the number is but if you took some of the current top NBA 2 way players, without a doubt they win every game. Giannis, Anthony Davis, LeBron, Kawhi, George for instance.

These are big players that would quite literally get fouled or score essentially every possession and be able to guard the other team’s best player regardless of position.