Lebron

[NUThump]

Attempting a diversion from the endless Carmody/Collins debates:
There was one of those "what if" threads some months back where the argument was: if you take current day Lebron and put him on last year's NU squad, would they have been favorites to win the NCAA tourney? There was debate back and forth, but given what he is doing without Love and Irving, this matter should be settled. We would have won it all, no doubt.

 

[NUCat320]

The Cavs versus the Hawks looked like NU versus Michigan State, circa 1999. (I'm sure that time has dulled the pain of watching those games, and they were way worse than I remember, but, sheesh, it was the second straight game of multimillionaire men v multimillionaire boys.)

 

[Styre]

Attempting a diversion from the endless Carmody/Collins debates:
There was one of those "what if" threads some months back where the argument was: if you take current day Lebron and put him on last year's NU squad, would they have been favorites to win the NCAA tourney? There was debate back and forth, but given what he is doing without Love and Irving, this matter should be settled. We would have won it all, no doubt.

My god, were people actually arguing otherwise?

 

[beetlemania74]

My god, were people actually arguing otherwise?

I'll argue otherwise. We're talking about being the favorite to WIN the national championship. Lebron is one guy. I don't think a NU team with Lebron would be the favorite in a seven game series against either 2013-14 Kentucky or Duke. Either would still be better top to bottom. Lebron can't play defense against five guys at once, and Kentucky or Duke would simply double team him all game and force our other guys to beat them. We'd still get beaten in the low post and on the boards. There are four guys from that Kentucky squad expected to go in the first round of next month's NBA draft (and that doesn't include the Harrison twins), and three guys from Duke. Those were very good teams with highly talented players.

 

[willycat]

I'll argue otherwise. We're talking about being the favorite to WIN the national championship. Lebron is one guy. I don't think a NU team with Lebron would be the favorite in a seven game series against either 2013-14 Kentucky or Duke. Either would still be better top to bottom. Lebron can't play defense against five guys at once, and Kentucky or Duke would simply double team him all game and force our other guys to beat them. We'd still get beaten in the low post and on the boards. There are four guys from that Kentucky squad expected to go in the first round of next month's NBA draft (and that doesn't include the Harrison twins), and three guys from Duke. Those were very good teams with highly talented players.

NU with Lebron would only have to beat those teams one game and even double teaming him in the NBA doesn't shut him down.

 

[Styre]

I'll argue otherwise. We're talking about being the favorite to WIN the national championship. Lebron is one guy. I don't think a NU team with Lebron would be the favorite in a seven game series against either 2013-14 Kentucky or Duke. Either would still be better top to bottom. Lebron can't play defense against five guys at once, and Kentucky or Duke would simply double team him all game and force our other guys to beat them. We'd still get beaten in the low post and on the boards. There are four guys from that Kentucky squad expected to go in the first round of next month's NBA draft (and that doesn't include the Harrison twins), and three guys from Duke. Those were very good teams with highly talented players.

We'd still be favored. You're talking about one of the greatest NBA players of all time (and the best player currently in the league) lining up against college players. Kentucky could double team him all night and he would still embarrass them, and he'd take away half the court on defense.

 

[NJCat83588]

We'd still be favored. You're talking about one of the greatest NBA players of all time (and the best player currently in the league) lining up against college players. Kentucky could double team him all night and he would still embarrass them, and he'd take away half the court on defense.

Absolutely correct. A grown man would absolutely kill 19 or 20 year old college kids. Cats win.

 

[NUThump]

Absolutely correct. A grown man would absolutely kill 19 or 20 year old college kids. Cats win.

I don't think it would work with the majority of pros. I don't think it would work with Steph Curry, for instance, even though he was the MVP. Lebron just has the all around game and is so good at making his teammates better.

 

[NJCat83588]

I don't think it would work with the majority of pros. I don't think it would work with Steph Curry, for instance, even though he was the MVP. Lebron just has the all around game and is so good at making his teammates better.

Completely agree. And FWIW, Curry wasn't the MVP, LBJ was. Just look at what he is doing in the playoffs. Curry is a great shooter, but LBJ has just taken his game to a different level from the rest of the NBA.

 

[beetlemania74]

We'd still be favored. You're talking about one of the greatest NBA players of all time (and the best player currently in the league) lining up against college players. Kentucky could double team him all night and he would still embarrass them, and he'd take away half the court on defense.

I don't see how Lebron could "take away half the court on defense" against this past season's Kentucky team. Three talented guys nearly 7' tall, two of whom will be lottery picks in the NBA draft. Excellent guards and perimeter players, with a quick point guard who's looking to distribute the ball. They'd create great ball movement on offense and could keep Lebron and the other four 'Cats on their heals.

I love this hypothetical. Would be great fun to see such a game. I know most NBA players come into the league with a steep learning curve and are definitely better players after 2-3 seasons in the league, but there are multiple guys on this Kentucky team who are going to be solid NBA players, and a few will be stars.

 

[beetlemania74]

Completely agree. And FWIW, Curry wasn't the MVP, LBJ was. Just look at what he is doing in the playoffs. Curry is a great shooter, but LBJ has just taken his game to a different level from the rest of the NBA.

You must not have watched last night's Warriors - Rockets game (or the previous two games). As a shooter, Curry is on a different level from the rest of the NBA. Dude scored 40 points last night, 7 of 9 from behind the arc, with many of those three pointers being off-balance shots with a guy right in his face. Guys in the know are saying he's the best shooter in the history of the game. He also distributes the ball well, and can create amazing shots taking the ball to the basket against bigger guys. And oh yeah, he's a pretty decent defender as well. The Warriors are simply awesome right now (particularly when they're not turning the ball over), and Curry is the driving (and shooting) force behind that team. I don't really like the Warriors, but Curry is undeniably amazing and is definitely well deserving of the MVP award this season. They're going to win the NBA championship this year. I don't see how they can be beat in a seven game series.

 

[CPVT]

in general this is kind of a useless argument, like if kentucky could have beaten the knicks, but for what its worth, curry did go to college and did show that as a college player he could carry an unknown team deep in the tourney. i assume that as a 27yo who is likely to win the nba title, he would have better success on a team with big ten players than he did as a sophomore with his supporting cast at davidson.

 

[NJCat83588]

in general this is kind of a useless argument, like if kentucky could have beaten .....

True, but it beats the heck out of the Carmody - Collins debates!

 

[Styre]

in general this is kind of a useless argument, like if kentucky could have beaten the knicks

That argument is useless because the answer is that the Knicks would win by 50 every single time they played. This LeBron argument holds a little water because he's one player out of five; a full team of NBA players would massacre a college team, even one with a bunch of future NBA players.

 

[Palindrome]

If Coach Ditka in purple and white took the field in The Horseshoe along with 10 random NU Dean’s List freshmen and all 11 of them played both ways, final score: Wildcats 73, The Ohio State University .... zeeeeerrro.