This article is part of our Charlie's NBAngle series.
I occasionally shoot hoops with my nine-year-old nephew. In a game of knockout or HORSE, he'll even beat me occasionally. But if it becomes a one-on-one, he has no chance.
He's a competitive kid, and that frustrates him sometimes. So I'll tell him, "Look... I'm a foot taller than you. I've got more than 100 pounds on you. And I've been playing this game for longer than you've been alive. You're not SUPPOSED to beat me. Not yet, anyway."
His day will come soon enough. I'm old and slow, and I'm just getting older and slower. By the time he hits sixth or seventh grade, I'm toast.
Which brings us to the Philadelphia 76ers, the Kentucky Wildcats and the Dumbest NBA Argument of the Week. (Seems like that's becoming a regular theme in this column, huh?) Eric Bledsoe jump-started the silliness after Kentucky's drubbing of Kansas, when he told Brian Geltzeiler and Malik Rose that the Wildcats would beat the Sixers in a seven-game series.
We see a version of this whenever there's an historically bad NBA team or an historically good college team... and my reaction is always the same.
No.
NO.
A thousand times no.
The reason is simple. Even the best NCAA teams feature maybe five or six NBA players. An NBA team, by definition, has twelve. Even if the Sixers' frontcourt is nothing special - and when Nerlens Noel isn't in the game, that group has a decidedly "Fort Wayne Mad Ants" look - they are older and more experienced than anyone playing for Coach Cal. And the Sixer backcourt - Michael Carter-Williams, Tony Wroten, K.J. McDaniels - would absolutely smoke the Wildcats'.
Don't believe me? Ask Calipari himself. He assessed his team's chances in this matchup on Twitter, saying, "Let me be clear: If we played ANY NBA team, we would get buried. ANY." And a Las Vegas sports book made Philly a 17-point favorite in the theoretical matchup.
The last Philly team to be a 17-point favorite over anyone featured Dr. J and Moses Malone.
The Many Flavors of Bad Basketball
The Sixers are horrible, but intentionally so. As such, they aren't that interesting. The Knicks and the Lakers, on the other hand, are dreadful in very unique ways.
We've already covered Byron Scott's somewhat unique attitude towards the three-point shot in this space. He doesn't believe teams can win in the NBA by relying the three-point shot. He's taken a pretty fair amount of abuse for that position, but it seems at least one coach - New York's Derek Fisher - agrees. But Fisher's position is manifesting itself differently. The Lakers don't take three-pointers. The Knicks don't defend the three-point line.
At all.
New York is giving up a scandalous number of threes this season; opponents average 9.5 makes per game, and shooting a league-best .433 from beyond the arc. Combine that with the snail's pace the Knicks run at - they're dead last in pace on the season - and you've got a very solid explanation for their 3-10 start.
Now, Fisher's defensive philosophy - clog the middle, force opponents away from the basket - is a big factor, but it's not the only reason the Knicks are struggling to defend the perimeter. Realistically, any team that features Tim Hardaway Jr., JR Smith, Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire for extended stretches isn't going to defend like the '85 Bears. Or even the 2014 Indiana Pacers.
Jose Calderon - who could make his season debut this weekend - might actually help the situation a bit. Calderon isn't much of a defender either, but his presence should help the Knicks score more efficiently, which could give Fisher to give his defensive specialists a bit more run.
He has to do something. The Knicks allowed Kevin Martin to score 37 points in their last outing... and he did at least some portion of that damage after suffering a fractured wrist.
Goes without saying fantasy players should continue to load up on any guards slated to face the Knicks.
Picks for the Week
This isn't really a waiver picks column any more, as Rotowire has writers making waiver suggestions throughout the week. That said, several readers have asked for suggestions, so I'll start adding a few to the bottom of this column every Friday.
We'll try to make a couple of suggestions for shallow and deep leagues. Percent owned stats are from ESPN.
Jose Calderon (37.9%) - Expected to make his season debut on Saturday against the Sixers. He may not start right away, but expect him in the lineup before very long. Shane Larkin will probably be dropped to the third string.
Ben McLemore (10.7%) - There was some worry that he'd lose the starting job to rookie Nik Stauskas, but McLemore - like the Kings in general - has been surprisingly effective to date and continues to get starter's minutes.
Gorgui Dieng (21.8%) - Nikola Pekovic is dealing with foot and wrist injuries, which makes everyone's favorite "per-minute" superstar a viable fantasy play in all formats for the time being.
Mo Williams (9.6%) - With Martin out and Ricky Rubio hurting, Williams becomes Minnesota's primary scoring threat from the backcourt. Flip Saunders may be forced to make a trade and bring in some help - Corey Brewer's name is popping up in a lot of rumors - but until that happens, Williams should produce numbers. Zach LaVine (3.6%) will also move up on the depth chart.
J.J. Barea (2.2%) - It's like he never left Dallas, isn't it? Barea seems very comfortable in the same "instant offense from the bench" role he played there before signing with Minnesota, and with the ever-brittle Devin Harris in the mix, Barea is a good bet to get significant fill-in minutes during the season.
