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It would take a better college team than Kentucky to beat the 76ers

Left: Kentucky freshman Karl-Anthony Towns. Right: 76ers rookie Nerlens Noel. (USA TODAY Sports photos)

Left: Kentucky freshman Karl-Anthony Towns. Right: 76ers rookie Nerlens Noel. (USA TODAY Sports photos)

DeMarcus Cousins and Eric Bledsoe, with all due respect, are wrong. These No. 1-ranked Kentucky Wildcats cannot beat the 0-11 Philadelphia 76ers.

The Sixers have far better playmakers, better shooters on the perimeter and more strength up front, even if the Wildcats might have more long-term talent.

John Calipari has dismissed notions that his team could beat a team of professionals, and Las Vegas is in agreement as well. Pregame.com’s R.J. Bell told USA TODAY Sports that the Sixers would be favored by 16 points under NBA rules and 10 points under college rules, based on a consensus from bettors and bookmakers.

So let’s get that out of the way now: The Sixers would win.

But there are factors at play here beyond the trope that professionals would always beat college players. Sixers coach Brett Brown said last season that most of his roster barely qualified as NBA players, and the team has only gotten worse over the past year.

So why wouldn’t Kentucky have much of a chance? And would any college team?

Kentucky doesn’t match up well.

Kentucky twins Aaron, left, and Andrew Harrison. (Mark Zerof, USA TODAY Sports)

Kentucky twins Aaron, left, and Andrew Harrison. (Mark Zerof, USA TODAY Sports)

This isn’t to say that there’s any team in college basketball better than the Wildcats. They’ve been great so far, dominating Kansas and holding a comfortable edge in Ken Pomeroy’s early-season statistical-based rankings as well as the polls.

But despite its absurd depth, Kentucky doesn’t run. The Wildcats are 295th in the country in adjusted tempo, according to KenPom.com. Meanwhile, the Sixers play at the second-fastest pace in the NBA. They average 98.3 possessions per 48 minutes compared to Kentucky’s 77.8 (adjusted).

The Sixers’ best players this season have been two oversized point guards, 6-6 Michael Carter-Williams and 6-5 Tony Wroten. These are the players that Kentucky’s twins, Andrew and Aaron Harrison, would aspire to be like, and they could run right over them today.

Kentucky’s depth is unprecedented in college, but even the benchwarmers on the Sixers were more proven college players than, say, Kentucky leading scorer and freshman Trey Lyles.

Modern college basketball makes this tougher.

Kentucky center Willie Cauley-Stein. (Mark Zerof, USA TODAY Sports)

Kentucky center Willie Cauley-Stein. (Mark Zerof, USA TODAY Sports)

Kentucky has three seniors. And they’re all walk-ons who only contribute in mop-up duty. Calipari does have two good juniors (Willie Cauley-Stein and Alex Poythress), but most of his rotation is sophomores and freshmen.

Match the Sixers against 1992 Duke or 1982 North Carolina or 1972 UCLA, and this matchup might look a little different. Those teams had players with experience to match their NBA-level talent. (Also, sophomore Grant Hill, freshman Michael Jordan and sophomore Bill Walton probably have slight edges on any of the Kentucky guys in terms of talent, right?)

The chemistry on this Kentucky team is only now being built because of how new the rotations are. And these 19- and 20-year-old prospects are still working their way into elite shape.

How much does depth matter in this scenario?

Sixers guard Michael Carter-Williams. (Eric Hartline, USA TODAY Sports)

Sixers guard Michael Carter-Williams. (Eric Hartline, USA TODAY Sports)

Everyone is rightly making a big deal about how easily Calipari can sub in and out his best players because of his amazing 10-man rotation. He’s got five-star recruits everywhere, and the result should be an amazing run and No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

But in a single game or a best-of-seven, depth doesn’t matter as much as it will over the course of an entire season. The Sixers could consistently keep Carter-Williams and Wroten out there for 35-plus minutes a game because they’d have no reason to hold them back.

This is one reason why many think Arizona or Wisconsin or Louisville or maybe even Gonzaga might win the championship this season. Those teams have enough depth but also might have better best-five lineups than Kentucky. That’s all for naught if the Wildcats can figure out the ideal configurations by March, though, and there’s good reason for them to be the championship favorites. Against the Sixers, though, it would be an issue.

The Sixers probably could beat any college team ever.

NBA: Philadelphia 76ers at Dallas Mavericks

They’re professionals. Not everyone on the team was a star in college, true, but even undrafted rookie Jakarr Sampson was a very good player for St. John’s last season. Henry Sims and Hollis Thompson weren’t stars at Georgetown, but they were good players and now have two years as NBA starters under their belts.

These players are able to work out and practice as much as they want. They eat better and sleep more and handle their business in more efficient ways than college kids (hopefully). They are mostly in their mid-20s, even on a young team. They are professionals. And they have enough talented players at every position to make up for teams with one or two young superstars.

The 2014-15 Philadelphia 76ers might be the worst team in NBA history when all is said and done. But they’re an NBA team filled with NBA players. Let’s not dismiss that.

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