It all comes down to Edwards at this point.

[Son_Of_Saul]

Every one of our guys has either met (Wagner, Reeves, Bradshaw) or surpassed (Sheppard, Mitchell, Dillingham, Thiero) expectations.

Edwards is the last man to take the necessary step. His improvement this season will come. Give him time. It's just a question of how far his growth progresses this year.

If he makes it to top 5 pick level, we will win at least 30 games. I guarantee it. Every Cal team over a 7 year sample size that had a top 5 pick won at least 32 games, dating back to 1996. If he makes it to top 5-14 pick level, we will still compete beyond the Sweet Sixteen if Bradshaw stays healthy.

Get both of these guys fully going this year, and we'll be the title favorites by March.

I'm looking for Edwards to breakout in January.

 

[catben]

He just needs to be more AGGRESSIVE with the basketball instead of settling for 3 pt'ers and use his athleticism and height to get rebounds, putbacks and get to the rim.

He is playing too timidly.

 

[Wildcats1st]

Don’t fool yourself he can be a top 5 pick with a flameout. Things change when these guys hit eval period post season. I also think it’s too soon to declare who is or isn’t meeting expectations. We’ve had guys start strong out the gate and struggle down the stretch and guys like edwards who don’t hit their stride until mid way through the season. It took a while for shai to run away with the starting pg position. We definitely need edwards to live to the hype but don’t under estimate Cals ability to screw any growth up come tournament time. Individual success doesn’t always = team success.

 

[kyboy1998]

I agree. He will get his minutes regardless of his production, so we need him to produce .

 

[UKWildcats1987]

I agree. He will get his minutes regardless of his production, so we need him to produce .

He played 14 last game. So your point is already incorrect.

 

[Boyd94]

He played 14 last game. So your point is already incorrect.

Mostly because of foul trouble.

 

[CrazyCat74]

He will be alright. He's probably just putting too much pressure on himself to try and live up to his ranking.

He's been pretty good around the rim and hasn't been turning the ball over much.

Some guys take a little longer than others to get comfortable.

 

[ukfan1622]

I kind of think Bradshaw, Sheppard, and Dillingham all have more chance of getting picked as high as 5th than Edwards.

 

[The_Answer1313]

Thing is sometimes it just takes some guys longer to figure it out than others.

Hopefully the light will go on for Edwards soon.

 

[MrHotDice]

I agree. He will get his minutes regardless of his production, so we need him to produce .

Z is the difference maker if he ever plays. He can hit 3s , play defense, and score in side. He has always played against men. The college game will suit him IMHO.

 

[Ky_Bred_Cat]

He just needs to be more AGGRESSIVE with the basketball instead of settling for 3 pt'ers and use his athleticism and height to get rebounds, putbacks and get to the rim.

He is playing too timidly.

Good take and I agree. He needs to embrace and even seek contact, not avoid it all the time.

 

[bballcat4]

Z is the difference maker if he ever plays. He can hit 3s , play defense, and score in side. He has always played against men. The college game will suit him IMHO.

At this point I don’t think Z will get more than 5-7 mins a game unless we have injuries or foul trouble. Those that have watched practice have repeatedly said fans need to temper expectations from him for this year.

Regarding Edwards, I’m guessing a breakout game comes from offensive putbacks, etc … If Cal plays him on wing with Bradshaw and Mitchell then I’d like to see him post up his man a few times each half. I’m not talking about clogging the paint, but some quick post ups like NBA wings do. I just think his game will be better around the rim, then work in the perimeter and off the dribble.

I still think he’ll be a solid player by year’s end.

 

[the nail at the foul line]

No it doesn't. Bad take.

 

[TheDude73]

Every one of our guys has either met (Wagner, Reeves, Bradshaw) or surpassed (Sheppard, Mitchell, Dillingham, Thiero) expectations.

Edwards is the last man to take the necessary step. His improvement this season will come. Give him time. It's just a question of how far his growth progresses this year.

If he makes it to top 5 pick level, we will win at least 30 games. I guarantee it. Every Cal team over a 7 year sample size that had a top 5 pick won at least 32 games, dating back to 1996. If he makes it to top 5-14 pick level, we will still compete beyond the Sweet Sixteen if Bradshaw stays healthy.

Get both of these guys fully going this year, and we'll be the title favorites by March.

I'm looking for Edwards to breakout in January.

I'd rather him have his ultimate breakout in 6 days in Atlanta...

 

[NociHTTP]

I'd rather him have his ultimate breakout in 6 days in Atlanta...

That's normally when they pull back some, too much risk.

 

[bnewt]

Z is the difference maker if he ever plays. He can hit 3s , play defense, and score in side. He has always played against men. The college game will suit him IMHO.

Watched UCLA last night to see their big foreign guy. He is not very good. Very mechanical and slow. Sure hope z isn't like that.

 

[Fox2monk]

Every one of our guys has either met (Wagner, Reeves, Bradshaw) or surpassed (Sheppard, Mitchell, Dillingham, Thiero) expectations.

Edwards is the last man to take the necessary step. His improvement this season will come. Give him time. It's just a question of how far his growth progresses this year.

If he makes it to top 5 pick level, we will win at least 30 games. I guarantee it. Every Cal team over a 7 year sample size that had a top 5 pick won at least 32 games, dating back to 1996. If he makes it to top 5-14 pick level, we will still compete beyond the Sweet Sixteen if Bradshaw stays healthy.

Get both of these guys fully going this year, and we'll be the title favorites by March.

I'm looking for Edwards to breakout in January.

Me too, at some point in SEC play I hope that he gets to the point where we could get 20/10 a night from him if needed. Obviously not averages or every night, but in this game he could be the man to lead us type of play.

 

[UKBB4Ever]

I agree. He will get his minutes regardless of his production, so we need him to produce .

No he won’t. Cal won’t play a guy just to play him. That is just an outright lie from Cal haters.

Cal has never promised playing time to any player.

You can’t find even one player that will say he was promised any position or playing time.

You have complete idiots that cry about Klutch and everything else.

It’s simply not true.

 

[MidseasonTweak]

I think Edwards can get there. He's been making a few more plays as games wear on.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

I'm still not too worried about Edwards. He's got 5-star PGs now who can and will score on their own, with the ball in their hands.

I think SF is a uniquely tough position for college. You don't have the ball in your hand and you're relying on a new "quarterback" to work with, but you're also not a big who can affect the game with rebounds and blocking. Justin Edwards entire game is predicated on the PGs that he plays with.

 

[UKortho]

Every one of our guys has either met (Wagner, Reeves, Bradshaw) or surpassed (Sheppard, Mitchell, Dillingham, Thiero) expectations.

Edwards is the last man to take the necessary step. His improvement this season will come. Give him time. It's just a question of how far his growth progresses this year.

If he makes it to top 5 pick level, we will win at least 30 games. I guarantee it. Every Cal team over a 7 year sample size that had a top 5 pick won at least 32 games, dating back to 1996. If he makes it to top 5-14 pick level, we will still compete beyond the Sweet Sixteen if Bradshaw stays healthy.

Get both of these guys fully going this year, and we'll be the title favorites by March.

I'm looking for Edwards to breakout in January.

Edwards doesn’t have to do that much better. He is shooting a little better than Wagner (51% to 45%) but only shooting 18% of the time- while Wagner is 26%. A little improvement from both of them offensively, and Edwards rebounding a little better and we should be good.

 

[bigbluedon]

Give Burks little bit more of Edwards playing time. I like Burks’ game. Would like to see more of what he can do.

 

[Boyd94]

Give Burks little bit more of Edwards playing time. I like Burks’ game. Would like to see more of what he can do.

Never happen. Can't take Edward's heart.

 

[Dontworryboutit23]

Edwards does need to get going but honestly if our guards are hitting shots and making plays, I would be fine with theiro playing more

 

[bucsrule8872]

Edwards will be fine. He might not come on until later in the season, but I have faith that he will. Some guys just take a little longer than others to hit their stride. I hope he busts out toward the end of the season.

I am a firm believer in “peaking too early.” I don’t think this team will. I am hoping we are hitting on all cylinders in March. We are due a deep run.

 

[JonathanW]

I somewhat agree with the OP. I said before the season started we will be as good as 1) Edwards, and 2) as good as our defense is. Edwards being our best chance at an "elite" player.
But at this point he is giving us next to nothing, around Toppin or Brooks type numbers when considering minutes played and not much defense.

 

[DreadLox]

It all comes down to having the right person to blame.

 

[yes_takeaside]

I’d say the odds of JE being a top 5 pick next year are at least 100-1 against. That being said he’s important.

 

[Gus Polinski]

Every one of our guys has either met (Wagner, Reeves, Bradshaw) or surpassed (Sheppard, Mitchell, Dillingham, Thiero) expectations.

Edwards is the last man to take the necessary step. His improvement this season will come. Give him time. It's just a question of how far his growth progresses this year.

If he makes it to top 5 pick level, we will win at least 30 games. I guarantee it. Every Cal team over a 7 year sample size that had a top 5 pick won at least 32 games, dating back to 1996. If he makes it to top 5-14 pick level, we will still compete beyond the Sweet Sixteen if Bradshaw stays healthy.

Get both of these guys fully going this year, and we'll be the title favorites by March.

I'm looking for Edwards to breakout in January.

If UK is depending on Edwards in any way, they are doomed!

 

[YardCat]

I hope he breaks out, but we need to stop pushing the ball to him to get going. He is a flow player on this team, he will get better as the year progresses. He is only a 10pt a game player on this team with a few 20pt games mixed in.

 

[Sparkaces1]

If Bradshaw keeps hitting threes, there is your top 5 pick on this team. Edwards will get going, as others have said, don’t worry about threes, rebound, play good D, get out on the break, good things will happen!

 

[Mike-McD]

No he won’t. Cal won’t play a guy just to play him. That is just an outright lie from Cal haters.

Cal has never promised playing time to any player.

You can’t find even one player that will say he was promised any position or playing time.

You have complete idiots that cry about Klutch and everything else.

It’s simply not true.

WTF

He DEFINITELY promised playing time to Boston. And he played Askew and Boston "not to take their hearts."

 

[UKortho]

I hope he breaks out, but we need to stop pushing the ball to him to get going. He is a flow player on this team, he will get better as the year progresses. He is only a 10pt a game player on this team with a few 20pt games mixed in.

As a college freshman he really isn’t playing bad. It’s just the hype related to his ranking that he is not living up to. That is what sucks since we are probably only going to see him get better after he leaves this year (or next)..

 

[CatsFanIL]

I hope he breaks out, but we need to stop pushing the ball to him to get going. He is a flow player on this team, he will get better as the year progresses. He is only a 10pt a game player on this team with a few 20pt games mixed in.

Honestly, he doesn't need to "break out". If he's not shooting it well, just don't turn the ball over, don't be such a defensive liability, and commit to grabbing rebs.

The problem is he's young, and when he struggles offensively, he lets it impact him on the defensive end. UNCW went right at him every chance they got, and they succeeded. If he can use his length and athleticism to give us defense/rebs then he's still vital.

But if not....get Adou on the floor

 

[track42]

As a college freshman he really isn’t playing bad. It’s just the hype related to his ranking that he is not living up to. That is what sucks since we are probably only going to see him get better after he leaves this year (or next)..

True.People are acting like he's been as bad as Whitney.It's crazy.

 

[Walt_McCartys_Attorney]

No it doesn't. Bad take.

We can survive Edwards current state just with the potential that Wagner, Bradshaw, Sheppard, and Dillingham currently have. If those four hit their stride together late in the season, then we have a legit final four contender.

With that said, Edwards figuring it all out AND the other four hitting their stride puts us in the national title conversation.

Basically a lot of hinging on a lot. As others have said, what if Adou gets better? What if Ugonna is a limited minute game changer type?

It’s not all on Edwards.

 

[NorfolkNWaypal]

True.People are acting like he's been as bad as Whitney.It's crazy.

Yeah he's fine, but fine shouldn't be good enough for him. It's disappointing, he could be so much more if he pushed himself. And we would be so much better.

 

[Runnin'Ramel]

Yeah he's fine, but fine shouldn't be good enough for him. It's disappointing, he could be so much more if he pushed himself. And we would be so much better.

He was a top 5 recruit and labeled by some as a potential #1 NBA draft pick because of his skill set. By that standard, you'd expect someone with the impact of Kidd-Gilchrist or Julius Randle. I won't name guards like Wall because he doesn't have the ball in his hands like a point guard does, not even close.

By comparison, he's been a LOT closer to Boston/Whitney than the aforementioned studs at UK. How much longer does he get to show he just needed some time, that's the honest question? Or, is he going to be another Alex Poythress - a guy expected to be one and done lottery but needed 3-4 years and never materialized as "experts" projected based on potential and skills shown in HS against lesser competition? (And it doesn't matter in that sense, because he will be in the draft no matter what happens this season.)

 

[Rockfly78]

No he won’t. Cal won’t play a guy just to play him. That is just an outright lie from Cal haters.

Cal has never promised playing time to any player.

You can’t find even one player that will say he was promised any position or playing time.

You have complete idiots that cry about Klutch and everything else.

It’s simply not true.

I agree with this. This isn’t middle school sports where the coach plays his buddies kids. This is a business and people’s livelihoods are on the line. Not to mention Cal’s massive ego. If a kid isn’t playing enough it isn’t because the coach doesn’t like him. I mean after 12 years it’s like you said, someone would have spoken up.

These whiners have conjured this notion up. Cal deserves a ton of scrutiny for a lot of things. But to be fair this isn’t one of them.

 

[ukfan1622]

I thought about starting a separate thread about this but does anybody else think Edwards may have
a flaw in his stroke preventing him from being a better shooter(the main thing holding him back)?

His release and follow through are nice and he seems to center the ball with his body but I've noticed in watching video of him that, at least in practice, his left index finger is point at 3 o'clock at the start of the stroke and only starts pointing towards the basket during the last half of the shooting stroke. I know I could never aim properly that way and I can't recall any other great shooters doing that. I'm wondering if that right to left turning of the ball during the shot is negatively affecting his accuracy.

So...real or imagined observation? If real, is it easily correctable(I'd guess no)?