What if Calipari and Coach K left for the NBA? Who would ya take?

       With another Final Four coming to its end in the next several days, a lot of questions will be answered. Will Kentucky go undefeated? Can Coach K win number five? How much magic does Tom Izzo have left? What partnership will Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker start up after basketball? My guess: Homeowners Insurance Salesmen or Kosher Butchers.

Odds are that Kentucky and Duke, two of college basketball’s most legendary programs will match up in what could only hope to be a fantastic contest. They will also be matching the top lottery picks, both star studded big man, Karl-Anthony Towns and Jahlil Okafor, in next year’s draft. They have the best supporting casts, best benches, coolest uniforms, and most enthusiastic fan-bases in the sport. And the reason why these two “Hate Us Because We Are Everything You Are Not” programs, is because they have demigods at the reigns.
       John Calipari and Mike Krzyzewski are the two best college basketball coaches since John Wooden. Whether you like the shadiness of Calipari or whether you are ignorant of the goodness that is Coach K, they are the most successful at their craft. Both have the top recruiting classes every season, are frequent participants in the final four, and since 1990 only six coaches Rick Pitino, Billy Donovan, Jim Calhoun, Roy Williams, Calipari and Coach K have won multiple championships. Out of those six coaches, one has since retired, and despite the success of the others, the other three coaches Donovan, Pitino and Roy Williams have two final four appearances combined to Calipari’s & Coach K’s six appearances combined in the past 5 seasons.

 

       Simply put, they are the best in the business. But after all of this dominance in the past several seasons, what if they decided they wanted a new challenge. Imagine if after they met in this year’s final, they both held press conferences that they were going to depart for the NBA. Now while all infrastructures in Lexington and Durham would seemingly collapse upon hearing the news, it would be great for the rest of the basketball world to also embark on this new era of their basketball legacies.

       They would have virtually no problem recruiting players to come play for them. Kobe has lobbied for Coach K to come to Los Angeles for the past several seasons. Calapari would have no problems considering most of the number one picks in the draft played for him in college. And LeBron would presumably welcome either to Cleveland considering he and some guy name “Tyron Lue” are calling plays now (tell me David Blatt doesn’t look like a Russian Spy? Would that mean LeBron works for the C.I.A. and he is keeping tabs on him! Makes as much sense as Tyron Lue!)

       But what would be even more interesting is if they did enter the NBA ranks, they could only coach players that they coached in college. If that was the case, what would those teams look like? Who would have the better team? Let’s discuss…

*Calipari can only use players he has coached at Kentucky. Therefore Derrick Rose and Marcus Camby are eliminated. Rose can't play anyway because he is having his knees amputated, and Marcus Camby I think is on the town council in Lee, Massachusetts. He is voting to keep the commons, and he is also upset because he wanted to be in that "Stuffed Crust" commercial over David Robinson.

	Duke	Kentucky
PG	Kyrie Irving	John Wall
SG	J.J. Reddick	Brandon Knight
SF	Luol Deng	Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
PF	Carlos Boozer	DeMarcus Cousins
C	Jahlil Okafor	Anthony Davis
B	Jabari Parker	Nerlens Noel
B	Mason Plumlee	Enes Kantor
B	Mike Dunleavy	James Young
B	Elton Brand	Eric Bledsoe
B	Austin Rivers	Julius Randle

Why Coach K’s team is better…

        For starters they have the best player on the court in Kyrie Irving. And he is just not the best player on the court…he is by farrrrrr the best player. In Irving, Coach K would have the most dynamic offensive threat that can score inside and out, score from a set position and on the dribble, while also being the best clutch player on the court.

        Aside from Kyrie, this post grad team of Dukies lacks superstar power. However there are a number of players who could fill complimentary roles very nicely. J.J. Reddick is one of the better off the ball shooters in the game, Dunleavy is a threat on the perimeter, while Boozer, Deng, Plumlee would bring energy, defense, and an on the court I.Q. like most other cannot. There is a reason why they all went to do Duke you know.

        Everything that Kentucky has in terms of strength, such as height, strength and athleticism would be undone by the efficiency, intelligence and execution of the Blue Devils, and Kyrie Irving.

Why Calapari’s team is better…

        Here is a piece of breaking news, John Calapari just named his GM for the NBA’s Wildcats….. his name is Scott Clough!

        Hello everyone I am so glad to be a part of this blossoming franchise. First things first, I need to make some roster moves before explaining to the world why we would easily dismantle this Duke team. I would like to add two players to my bench (since I placed Julius Randle on the DL, and sent James Young to the D-League, he has thus played extremely well for the Westchester Knicks), Terrence Jones and Jodie Meeks.

        I would also suggest to John, we have a very friendly working relationship, that he moves Brandon Knight out of the starting lineup and replaces him with Eric Bledsoe. While Kyrie might be the best player on the court(Anthony Davis would have something to say about that), this teams defense is undeniable. John Wall, Bledsoe, and Kidd-Gilchrist all will take their turns guarding Kyrie, while taking defensive breaks on Luol Deng (and his corpse). If the Duke teams plans on driving to the basket, there will be Cousins and Anthony Davis around the rim blocking shots left and right.

        Offensively, Calapari’s team has many different options. Bledsoe will have a field day driving to the basket against Reddick. Wall will drive and kick to either Cousins or Davis when Kyrie can not keep him out of the lane. Cousins and Davis will rotate on the block against an old and broken down Boozer or a young and inexperienced Okafor. The bench contains another very good PG in Brandon Knight, shooters in Meeks and Jones, as well as two more solid big men in Kantor and Noel. This Kentucky team would not only take care of another typical overrated Duke team, but could potentially challenge for an NBA title.

        So while we watch another Kentucky and Duke centered Final Four, give yourself a moment to ponder (a good time to take that moment is when you watch any one of the 342 free throws that will be attempted this weekend, I’m thinking about starting up a fantasy College Basketball Referee league next year if anyone is interested?) what it would be like to see Calipari and Coach K performing their magic in the NBA. Then take another moment (again you will be able to find it after the fourth T.V. timeout before the ten minute mark in the first half. You can afford to miss another Buffalo Wild Wings commercial) to wonder if these teams were to ever come to fruition. The only question that would remain after this final four would be “Who would ya take?”