ATLANTA -- Some people believe I am insane for even suggesting it. They are measuring me for a rubber room. They are laughing hysterically. They are all wrong. They are so wrong and stupid. They could not be more wrong and stupid.
I'm right. I'm right in thinking that the Florida Gators could probably beat five lower echelon NBA teams on a neutral court.
"I don't know, it would be a lot of fun," said Florida's Corey Brewer. "We'd be competitive. I don't know if we'd win, but we'd be competitive."
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| With stars like Joakim Noah and Corey Brewer, the talented Gators would ... (AP) |
"We'd get after it pretty good," said Al Horford. "We'd give them a run for their money."
Brilliant, that Horford.
"I think we'd do pretty well," said Taurean Green. "It's hard to say. These guys are the NBA."
You'd do just fine, Mr. Green.
"I don't know," said Lee Humphrey. "That's hard to say. All these guys are already in the NBA so you know they're talented. You don't know how many of our guys will be in the NBA. I think three definitely. I don't want to say we'd beat them."
The Gators would certainly defeat three NBA teams, most likely four and probably five. Rubber room you are calling out to me. I can hear you.
Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, is one person who thinks I have been sniffing large amounts of narcotics. It is unlikely this is the first time he thought I was a dope. Or smoking some.
"The best college team of the last 10 years," Cuban told me in an e-mail, "would lose by 50 to any team at the bottom of the NBA."
That Cuban is so shy with his opinions.
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These are the teams Florida would definitely whup: Memphis, Boston and Milwaukee. No-brainers. Memphis might be one of the top 10 worst teams in the history of the sport. Boston is not far behind. Milwaukee is just awful.
After those teams, the Gators would give just about any of the lower-ranked Eastern Conference franchises a fight -- including the New York Knicks.
Go ahead and tell me about the gap in ability and athleticism between the NBA and college. Spout the tripe and nonsense about how great the NBA is. The league is not great; it's top heavy. It is the Mavericks, Detroit, Phoenix and San Antonio. Maybe Cleveland because they have LeBron James. Just about the rest of the league these days is middling, average ball at best.
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| ... pull out a win against Pau Gasol and the hapless Memphis Grizzlies. (Getty Images) |
When you are done laughing at me, just remember this. The Gators have three lottery picks in Joakim Noah, Horford and Brewer. That is a lot of ability, and unlike some past draft picks on good teams, it's unlikely any of them will be sitting in perpetuity on some team's bench.
You must also understand that this Florida team, basically, is a pro team. They are an old, experienced group. They play fundamental basketball as well as any team in college history. Basic passing and defense is something few NBA teams do well, but this group is expert at it.
While the Gators do not have the benefit of being hardened by a lengthy and brutal NBA schedule, they have the next best thing -- they have been strengthened and tested by being one step away from repeating as champions.
Where the NBA players have the distinct advantage is pure physical strength. They have been weightlifting for years; some have been doing performance enhancing drugs for years.
They get that edge, but still, take a close look at this Florida team. Noah is 6-feet-11. He's a skinny 6-11, but he's a solid athlete. Horford is 6-10. He's almost 250 pounds. Then off the bench is 6-9 Chris Richard, who is over 250 pounds. Horford and Richard are bruisers.
In other words, the Gators could throw some bodies and muscle at NBA teams. That is what makes them unique from other great college teams. They have the bulk to make the games competitive. Few great college teams in history can say that.
Just look closely at some of the bad teams in the NBA. Memphis has 19 wins and is 1-14 in the division. I could take Noah and Horford with Richard off the bench and match them against Gasol and one of the Grizzlies' big man stiffs and feel pretty good.
Boston's Paul Pierce would kill the Gators, but Al Jefferson, Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West, the next three leading scorers for the Celtics, well, let's just say that is not exactly Michael, Larry and Magic.
Milwaukee has won a single division game. They have a 6-9 guy playing center. They are a mess.
On a neutral court: The Gators beat Memphis by eight, Boston by five and Milwaukee by a dozen.
And somewhere Cuban is reading this and chortling.
