Boy oh boy, has Mike Greenberg got into trouble for his latest comments! The broadcaster suggested this week that the University of Connecticut, who is currently playing in the NCAA Tournament, could compete in the NBA and even make it to the playoffs. His ridiculous statement hasn’t gone well in the basketball world, as fans, experts and former players have dedicated their share of responses to the broadcaster.
Yes, the reigning NCAA national champions have been on a roll lately, but no, college basketball is miles away from being compared to the talent and intensity of the professional sport. The Huskies have appeared in prime shape this campaign, and already won their first two games of this March Madness edition by 39 and 27 points.
This is part of the reasons why Greenberg is not only convinced that UConn will earn a second-consecutive title, but that they would thrive in the NBA. On Monday’s episode of Get Up, he started by jokingly ask who would win in a series between the Celtics and the Huskies. But then the conversation turned serious when he mentioned weaker NBA teams.
“So look, I was obviously kidding about the Celtics,” Mike started out. “But let me change the question, Jay [Williams]: if they were in the NBA’s Eastern Conference, would they make the playoffs? I’m looking at teams that are eight games up .500 in the play-in now. They’re better than that.”
Seth Greenberg, college basketball coach and expert simply shook his head in disbelief and shouted, “Come on!” While sitting next to them, Jay Williams simply burst into laughter and said, “I’m not doing that.”
Mike kept at it, and insisted in claiming that the University of Connecticut was an “NBA team.” Williams then put him in his place: “They’re not. They execute like one, but their talent level I would not say would be able to make the play-in.”
One of the most bold reactions was given by analyst and former player Chandler Parsons, who even dared to say that no athlete from the Huskies roster would even make it to an NBA starting lineup. “The best player on UConn wouldn’t play on the Detroit Pistons right now,” he assured.
You’d think that Chandler knows what he’s taking about, as he played 440 games in the NBA throughout nine seasons and retired from the league with averages of 12.7 points per contest.
Greenberg said he was “kidding” about his comments concerning the Huskies and admitted he’s said more stupid things in the past
According to the ESPN broadcaster, he’s said his fair share of stupid things in the past, and his UConn comments were just a joke he extended for too long. After receiving a lot of backlash around his peers, he decided to defend himself.
“I’m more than willing to admit that I’ve said more than a million stupid things. It just bothered me yesterday because I knew I was kidding,” he expressed.
He then furthers his revelation by shutting down any possibility of the Huskies competing against NBA squads. “And maybe — look, I grant, if it wasn’t obvious enough that I was kidding, that’s on me, that’s not on anybody else… for what it was worth, if I need to say this out loud, I do not believe that UConn would make the playoffs in the NBA,” Mike concluded.
The college game has no comparison to the NBA, as the gap is enormous. UConn might be dominating the NCAA Tournament, but it takes time to see how these young player’s skills develops at a professional level.
