Ex-Mav hilariously shuts down 'dumb' claim of top NCAA team could make NBA play-in tournament
When it comes to the NBA Play-In Tournament, former Dallas Mavericks forward Chandler Parsons wanted to make sure that there is no notion that a college team could beat a professional team. This was his strong reaction to ESPN's Mike Greenberg feeling good about the UConn Huskies, considering how good they have been playing in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
However, Parsons and fellow analyst Lou Williams were not too fond of the "Get Up" host's comments. Parsons spoke on FanDuel TV's "Run It Back":
"The best player on UConn wouldn't play on the Detroit Pistons right now, so how the hell would this college basketball team defeat any of these teams that are in contention to make the NBA Playoffs. This is stupid."
Moreover, Chandler Parsons added to his comments by tweeting about how far the competition is between a professional basketball team and a collegiate unit.
"No college team is beating an NBA team," Parsons posted. "This is dumb."
With the NBA nearing the end of the 2023-24 regular season, inching close to the start of the postseason, there are still teams who are working to secure a spot in the Play-In Tournament.
Be not mistaken with how teams such as the Atlanta Hawks or the Dallas Mavericks have looked this season, they are still more than capable enough to handle their business against collegiate-level basketball units.
NBA star point guard is not the biggest fan of college basketball
Speaking with ABC10's Matt George, Sacramento Kings star De'Aaron Fox did not mince words when he criticized the level of play in college basketball and how he easily loses interest in watching the games.
"I kind of flip through college games," Fox said. "I can't watch a full college game. It's hard. The shotmaking is obviously not at the pro level, the refs are bad, a lot of coaching is really bad. I can't stand it."
Originally, De'Aaron Fox was the fifth pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, coming from one season with the Kentucky Wildcats. He criticized the qualities of the shotmaking and the coaching as subpar compared to what he has been accustomed to in the professional league.
Be that as it may, it's already a given that the level of competition between the two teams vastly differs, from the pool of talent alone.
During the one season that he played with the Kentucky Wildcats back in the 2016-17 NCAA season, he averaged 16.7 points (47.9% shooting, including 24.6% from 3-point range), 4.6 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game.