Paolo Banchero Responds to Greenberg, Doubts UConn or Any CBB Team Could Win NBA Game
ESPN's Mike Greenberg said on Monday's edition of Get Up! that he believes UConn's men's basketball team would make the NBA's Eastern Conference playoffs.
Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero was asked about that take in an interview with Zion Olojede of Complex and politely disagreed with Greenberg's assessment.
"So he said UConn could make the playoffs in the East?" Banchero asked. "No, I don't think any college team could. I don't know if any college team would win a game in the NBA, honestly."
The 33-3 Huskies, the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament, are coming off dominant wins to open their March Madness run courtesy of a 91-52 victory against Stetson and a 74-57 result versus Northwestern. The defending national champions have accomplished that feat despite losing last year's top two scorers in Adama Sanogo and Jordan Hawkins.
This isn't the first time that a sports commentator has posited whether a college basketball or football team could fare well against a pro side, and it won't be the last. This question was often raised in the 2010s when Alabama was dominating college football and whether it could beat whomever the worst NFL team was at the time.
The bottom line is that it would be incredibly difficult for college teams to compete with even the worst pro ones. Pro teams feature players who excelled on the college level and were often the best (or close to the best) on their teams. College teams feature numerous players who will never set foot on an NBA court.
Could UConn maybe steal a game right now from, say, the last-place 12-60 Detroit Pistons, who are depleted with injuries and playing very shorthanded? Perhaps.
But when healthy, this team also features plenty of good-to-great college basketball players who are excelling in the NBA, including Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren. If a healthy Detroit and UConn played 10 times, the guess here is the Pistons win nine or 10. Saying UConn would make the playoffs is far-fetched, as that would mean winning around 40 games, give or take, just to make the play-in.
As good as UConn is, the Huskies aren't historically dominant, nor do they feature a host of future NBA stars. But they are a great college team that could very well win back-to-back national championships. They'll continue that pursuit Thursday in a national championship rematch with San Diego State.
