5 Great College Basketball Teams That Could've Been
1. 2011-12 Kentucky Wildcats
The other four point guards we've gone through were all very good college players, and each has proven to be a valuable NBA floor general. But John Wall was and is one step above the others. At the time of this team, Wall would've been a junior if he had needed more than one year to solidify his spot atop the 2010 NBA draft.
Before being selected as the top pick by the Washington Wizards, Wall averaged 16.6 points, 6.5 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 1.8 steals on his way to .196 win shares per 40 minutes. He was named First Team All-America and was voted the SEC's Player of the Year as a freshman, leading his Wildcats to the NCAA tournament, where they lost in the Elite Eight.
Since that time, Wall has made a name for himself in the NBA, with three All-Star appearances and a per-game output of 18.5, 9.1 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.7 steals over his career. Wall is one of the best point guards in the NBA despite an inefficient jumper and an unreliable supporting cast in Washington.
Eric Bledsoe joined Wall in the Kentucky backcourt in their one year together at the collegiate level. Bledsoe played off of the ball as a two-guard, slashing to the hoop for 11.3 points per game, along with 2.9 assists and 3.1 boards a night. He tallied .126 win shares per 40 minutes in 30.3 minutes per game.
Bledsoe was option three (or maybe even four) on a loaded Wildcats squad, but his talent and promise led the Los Angeles Clippers (via the Thunder) to acquire him with the 18th pick in the draft. In the NBA, Bledsoe has developed over the years into a star point guard, with the ability to do everything. He was nicknamed "Mini-LeBron" and has averaged at least 17.0 points, 5.5 assists and 4.0 rebounds each season since being traded to the Suns in 2013. He and Wall would make for a versatile and extremely fast backcourt -- just like they did in their one season together.
Unlike Wall and Bledsoe, Kidd-Gilchrist was a part of the 2011-12 squad, making him what would be a freshman in this starting five. And that's all MKG ever was at Kentucky, having played one season before leaving in pursuit of greener pastures in the NBA. Before he was picked second overall, Kidd-Gilchrist averaged 11.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game for Calipari's championship team.
After achieving the ultimate goal at Kentucky, MKG has been at least a solid NBA player and a lockdown defender in his time in the league. He's averaged just 9.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, but he has a defensive rating of 106 while struggling with injuries throughout his young career. He doesn't bring offensive firepower, but with the talent around him on this team, Kidd-Gilchrist could focus on his outstanding perimeter defense. He'll leave the scoring to the four others.
One of those four others is Anthony Davis. Davis, who was on that championship team with Kidd-Gilchrist, played one season at Kentucky and averaged 14.2 points, 10.4 rebounds, 4.7 blocks and 1.4 steals in 32 minutes a game. He won AP Player of the Year, among many others awards, and averaged .348 win shares per 40 before becoming a member of the New Orleans Hornets the following season.
After being drafted first overall, at the age of 19, Davis has quickly become one of the best players in the league. For his five-year career, he averages 21.8 points, 10.0 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game -- when healthy. The problem is health as Davis has never played more than 68 games in a season. Nevertheless, he has racked up an excellent nERD of 48.7 in his short career. Pairing him with Wall, Bledsoe and the next guy wouldn't have been fair.
DeMarcus Cousins is the next guy, if you would like to call him that. Cousins -- who was a beast at Kentucky and still plays like one in the NBA today -- was a member of the same team as Wall and Bledsoe, so you can imagine sharing the love was difficult. Albeit, Cousins averaged 15.1 points, 9.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in only 23.5 minutes a game under Calipari. He produced .290 win shares per 40 minutes for a 35-3 Kentucky team before the NBA came calling.
The following summer, the player we've come to know as Boogie was selected fifth overall by the Sacramento Kings, with whom he's resided for his entire career. Over six-plus seasons, Cousins has been one of the most dominant bigs in the game, averaging 20.9 points, 10.7 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game. He has a nERD of 4.6, which doesn't do him justice given the status of the Kings franchise in recent years. He and Davis make up two of the NBA's six or seven most unstoppable players in the league. Playing against both of them at the same time? That's what we'd call unstoppable.
Oh, and as a bonus, with this team you could throw in Terrence Jones as sixth man. He'd be a sophomore this season, which is when he -- as a versatile forward in college -- averaged 12.3 points and 7.2 rebounds a game, posting .212 win shares per 40 minutes. If MKG, Davis or Cousins ever got into foul trouble, replacing them wouldn't be an issue. Jones' career-average of 10.5 points and total of 8.1 nERD in the NBA tells us that he's more than capable.
