Former sportscaster Billy Packer appeared on Tony Kornheiser’s radio show Friday to discuss the NCAA tournament.
Kornheiser asked Packer how the undefeated 2015 Kentucky Wildcats compare to the best college teams he ever covered.
Here’s what Packer said, as transcribed by The Big Lead, about how Kentucky compares to Bob Knight’s undefeated Indiana basketball team in 1976:
I’m not demeaning this team at all, because I think it’s an entirely different era of basketball. But, let’s put something in perspective. The team Bob Knight had in 1976 — in those two years they went 63-1. Scott May was the second guy drafted in the NBA, Quinn Buckner was the seventh, Bobby Wilkinson was the 11th, and Kent Benson the next year was the number one guy drafted. They were juniors and seniors. They had played for Knight for four years. Now, there is no way possible that a team that experienced, that mature, that outstanding athletically in any way, shape, or form would’ve had a problem with this Kentucky team. Being coached by Knight for four years, when John Calipari basically has assembled a group of kids in four months. I don’t think you want to compare, and I don’t even want to get into the UCLA situations where Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, as a senior, would’ve been going up against freshmen. That would’ve been uncalled for.
Packer also reflected on previous great Kentucky teams and how the nature of the game has changed in the one-and-done era. Check out more of his comments over at TBL.
