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Another clinic by Sheppard

Doesn’t matter what our offensive ranking was. Not starting the best players and playing the combination of the best guys all season sets up a team for eventual failure. The lack of minutes Reed, Rob, & Reeves had together on the court is criminal.

Exactly. Some still miss it. The roster was out of sync and never became cohesive. Thats why we had trouble maintaining momentum constantly, the wrong guys on the court. It was easy to see if they’d watch, we’d lose all momentum constantly because we didn’t play through Reed with leads or he’d be on the bench to come out at half and our leads would shrink. Wagner or Edwards would take shots at times no other coach would allow it. Calipari is a crappy coach and if someone doesn’t get it by now it’s not possible to do anything with them.
 
It’s not possible to watch Reed Sheppard and not realize he’s a symbol of just how bad of a coach Calipari is. I said it last year over and over, the ENTIRE SEASON should have been the Sheppard show. He should have been given the reigns of the team and the rest told to play through him. Calipari absolutely sucks, and it shows now more than ever. What coach worth a damn wouldn’t have made the entire season about the best in state kid maybe in history. Think about that, and this clown convinced thousands he needed to come of the bench for “sparks”. It doesn’t get more ridiculous than this. The entire season should have been played start to finish through Reed and Dilly with Wagner and Edwards on mop up duty.

Remember the game against Mississippi State? Calipari told WAGNER to go make a play LMAO. Even Wagner knew to pass it to Reed. I’m sorry it’s the most pathetic display of coaching in the history of the NCAA for me. I can’t remember a worse coaching job. Reed and 4 scrubs should have at least been in the second round. Calipari really is a complete sht shown of a coach. Said it since 2015 and we just kept on and kept on.

Play through Reed and he would have grown in confidence early on and not been so hesitant either. But Calipari refused to groom him for the lead role in fear he’d over shadow Wagner. I hope Calipari absolutely tanks the rest of his career and is laughed at in history when all look back. We wasted Reed because “we can’t be good until Wagner is elite”. I will never forget this stupid crap.
bUT hE's NoT tALL eNoUgH
 
Everyone who played in that game should have gone up to Reeves and Mitchell after the game and profusely apologized for their lack of contributions. Shep, Dillingham and Wagner combined to shoot 3-19. Z played like he had been eating buttered popcorn and forgot to wipe his hands when he came into the game. Bradshaw and Onyenso weren't any better and Edwards blew at least two gimmies at the rim. If ONE other guy had managed to play an average game, we win and advance. I'm glad Cal is gone, but at some point, guys have to step up and make plays, and none of those guys were up to the moment except for Reeves and Mitchell.
I’m definitely glad Cal is gone, too, but your post is spot on.
 
Everyone who played in that game should have gone up to Reeves and Mitchell after the game and profusely apologized for their lack of contributions. Shep, Dillingham and Wagner combined to shoot 3-19. Z played like he had been eating buttered popcorn and forgot to wipe his hands when he came into the game. Bradshaw and Onyenso weren't any better and Edwards blew at least two gimmies at the rim. If ONE other guy had managed to play an average game, we win and advance. I'm glad Cal is gone, but at some point, guys have to step up and make plays, and none of those guys were up to the moment except for Reeves and Mitchell.
Almost like they were.....freshman......

And freshman collapse under pressure like that.....nah.
 
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Just mind blowing. Cal should have his damn HOF title removed.

Also, this shows why he shouldn't and wasn't coming back. And anyone who said he wasn't ready, should have their heads examined.

I debated whether or not he’d be able to stay in front of bigger guards in the NBA. But never thought it would amount to problems over the career. I still think coming back wouldn’t have hurt, but in this day and age they won’t do that. He’s so smart of a player he’s got HOF written all over him. I might have even undersold how good his impact could be in year 1 of the aNba.
 
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Hard to ever know, for sure, but it sure did seem that way … no question.
That's what happens when "only March matters". That mattering becomes too big and pressure ridden. And then we expect 18 year old kids to turn it on like a light switch.

That was the only Calism I could never argue with- "They aren't machines." He was right about that. They aren't.

The problem was they had iffy leadership going into those big games. And so they had nothing left to fall back on when the "machines" didn't work.
 
I debated whether or not he’d be able to stay in front of bigger guards in the NBA. But never thought it would amount to problems over the career. I still think coming back wouldn’t have hurt, but in this day and age they won’t do that. He’s so smart of a player he’s got HOF written all over him. I might have even undersold how good his impact could be in year 1 of the aNba.

Of course they won't. Dude would've been turning away nearly 30-45M right off the bat. It would've been flat out stupid to come back. If you're a T5 pick, you go, without question.
 
Of course they won't. Dude would've been turning away nearly 30-45M right off the bat. It would've been flat out stupid to come back. If you're a T5 pick, you go, without question.

I honestly believe there situations where a top 5 might gain career wise by coming back but financially they won’t do it.
 
I don't blame them. You have set for life money; get it while you can.

Weeelllll I don’t really subscribe to that way of thinking but like I said when you’re presented with it who knows. But I think there are situations where a player can gain career wise by not leaving earlier even if he can. There’s no telling how many players could have been HOF worthy had they stayed out a little longer and grew into themselves under a college coach. Really theres no telling how many times a players career was cut short by losing confidence early. So I guess if money is all you really care about then make sure to go and don’t worry about anything else. If you’re thinking you need time and aren’t quite ready could be different. It’s really the people around these players there want their money in you never see it. Many of these kids can’t handle the financials anyway.

We’ve done a great disservice to many of these young guys by taking the college coaches out of their lives and placing them into the grips of handlers. College coaches used to protect a lot of these kids from those elements.

Today, we lack in many areas as people so it’s just quick money that matters. So in a sense I agree but I still say it’s not the right way for everyone, regardless. Working the AAU scene years ago I can say what happens is not what many think.
 
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freshmen made freshmen mistakes....
he and dilly looked silly making mistakes they didnt make all season...
shep was passing it to the fans in stands in our last game.
 
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Wow. He was actually starting to flirt with quadruple-double numbers. 22pts, 5 steals, 7 assists, 6 rebounds.. 9 for 15 shooting, only 2tos and 1 foul.

Rockets are 2-0 and will likely be one of the few teams in the mix for the summer league title.

That, to me, means after these two performances from Reed, he's for sure in the running for summer league MVP. And might even in the lead for it now.
He was no where near a quadruple double.
 
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Years from now, folks are gonna look back and marvel at the fact that Sheppard and Dillingham once played on the same college team, yet:

1) NEITHER of them were in the starting lineup; and

2) that team had double digit losses and flamed out in the first round.
 
He was no where near a quadruple double.

That's why I put words like "starting" and "flirt" in front of it.

Obviously he wasn't going to get it, i made that post when there was a minute left lol. But fwiw, he was 28 of the 40 required statistical points needed. Nearly 75% of the way there.
 
I think Cals refusal to start Sheppard and Dilly had nothing to do with either of them. They could have been bad, they could have been Michael Jordan. It was really that Cal was going to ride with DJ and Edwards no matter what. One was his former players kid and the other was the #1 recruit.

Doesn't make that pill any easier to swallow, and still so dumb that he couldn't be a little more fluid with these roster decisions when. The info presented itself that Reed was an incredible player.

I said, probably towards the end if the season, that Cals relationship with the Wagners might wind up being the most detrimental thing for this team. In the end, I think we'd all wish that DJ just went to UofL (which it seemed lile was a possibility), and not have his lineage dictate how this team would be run.

Edwards I'm more or less OK with.. he was starting to show why he was a #1 recruit, but was inconsistent. Still, if you put Reed with Edwards and give Dilly 28min instead of say 22.. that probably makes all the difference. Especially because Reed wouldn't have fumbled the passes to Edwards like DJ did a dozen times last season.
 
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I think Cals refusal to start Sheppard and Dilly had nothing to do with either of them. They could have been bad, they could have been Michael Jordan. It was really that Cal was going to ride with DJ and Edwards no matter what. One was his former players kid and the other was the #1 recruit.

Doesn't make that pill any easier to swallow, and still so dumb that he couldn't be a little more fluid with these roster decisions when. The info presented itself that Reed was an incredible player.

I said, probably towards the end if the season, that Cals relationship with the Wagners might wind up being the most detrimental thing for this team. In the end, I think we'd all wish that DJ just went to UofL (which it seemed lile was a possibility), and not have his lineage dictate how this team would be run.

Edwards I'm more or less OK with.. he was starting to show why he was a #1 recruit, but was inconsistent. Still, if you put Reed with Edwards and give Dilly 28min instead of say 22.. that probably makes all the difference. Especially because Reed wouldn't have fumbled the passes to Edwards like DJ did a dozen times last season.
Had me till you said Edward's was starting to look like the number 1 recruit. In what world? He hit a few shots yes but anyone could tell he was in no way the number 1 recruit.
 
Had me till you said Edward's was starting to look like the number 1 recruit. In what world? He hit a few shots yes but anyone could tell he was in no way the number 1 recruit.

I guess it was really just the Alabama Game.. but he had 28 points on nearly perfect efficiency.. only missed one free throw. That game was when a lot of us said "Ok, there he is!". But we also knew it was baby steps, that he didn't just become Kobe overnight. But if you check his splits, his shooting percentages really started to stabilize in the 2nd semester. For example, in November/December he shot 9/35 (25%) from the 3. From January on he was 22/50 (44%).

I think the other difference is that Edwards' game, like any forward, is greatly impacted by the guys getting them the ball. And that was DJ lol. We saw SO many times that those two weren't on the same page, which was probably both of their faults. But I think forwards, especially offensive ones like Edwards, need a bit more time to get the chemistry down with the ball handler.

I guess another way of saying it is.. No one made DJ better. He proved that he really couldn't work well with anyone. He just kind of sucked. But at least with Edwards, there was a chance he just had the wrong PG feeding him. Take a look at that Alabama game's box score. Reed and Dilly each played MORE minutes than DJ.. And they combined for 10 assists while DJ had 4. They also combined for 60% 3pt shooting and made 24 pts combined... DJ? scored 4 points and was 0 for 4 from the 3. That game SHOULD have been all the proof that we needed, that a combination of Reeves/Dilly/Reed was probably all that was needed to bring Edwards' game out. And with those 4 getting the most minutes, they wound up shelling a Final4 team that was only stopped by Uconn..

I believe DJ (and the family relationship that forced Cal to play him) is the main reason that sunk this team.
 
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how did his favorites Wagner, & Edwards do?

not open for debate, ccc is an idiot to let Wagner & Edwards start over Shep & Dillingham.
any one that defends that has no concept of winning basketball
Just pointing out that he played awful that game. Arguably his worst game of the year. Not open for debate. I’m white by the way. Take your agenda and go cool off. Enjoy the rest of your life as I’ll see none of it.

PS, check your stats on how much Shep played that game. He wasn’t cheeted out of playing time like idiots keep saying.
 
Cal sucks so bad. My god Sheppard, Dilly, and Reeves were amazing.
I won't argue that but at least Cal did recruit him, albeit because he probably felt pressure to do so. However, I know for a fact that a former UT player tried to get Rick Barnes to go after Reed and Barnes said he wasn't athletic enough to play in the SEC. 🤣🤣🤣🤣
 
I think Cal lost confidence in his recruiting and that's why you saw the Shaedon Sharpe and DJ situations. Early on at UK he didn't need handlers. He got everyone he wanted because we were THE brand. To Cal's credit he put us there. But then he lost favorite son status at Nike and now he's flying out to LA just because of the Bradshaw transfer rumors. UK wasn't a players first program any more. It was a handlers first program.
 
Just pointing out that he played awful that game. Arguably his worst game of the year. Not open for debate. I’m white by the way. Take your agenda and go cool off. Enjoy the rest of your life as I’ll see none of it.

PS, check your stats on how much Shep played that game. He wasn’t cheeted out of playing time like idiots keep saying.
What's race got to do with anything?
What agenda?
Did I hurt your feelings talking about your stupid used car salesman of a coach? Glad he is gone. Now if his lovers would just do the same
 
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