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DJ Wagner is not a Good Defender

On ball defense is in reference to keeping your man in front of you. Your post mentions a ball screen, so that’s on the big that got screened, also.
Now, if you wanna get technical, I hate how UK chases on top of ball screens, almost always. They never go under ball screens and that leads to wide open layups. If our bigs hedged harder and bumped the drive, it would give the guards time to recover. Ya dig?
Nope. Don’t dig. Being able to feel the screen and stay with your man and keep him from driving right down the lane is very much in the category of “on ball defense” 🤣
 
At the 11:29 mark in the second half his man dribbled across midcourt, and then used a screen at the top of the key, and went all the way to the rim with no resistance.

I think people just like to say that Wagner can defend because they feel like he must be able to do something right.

He is absolutely terrible and we better hope that he goes to the draft because you do not want this guy back.
One of the keys to winnig this game was Reed Shepperd switched over to guard Hubbard...Of course what else did Reed do!!!!
 
This board complains about players leaving too early but some people also don’t want some freshmen back that didn’t live up to expectations out of the gate .
We are spoiled with freshman because a lot of times they play like normal freshman at other schools, we just expect them to be good right away. Wagner wasn’t terrible tonight, neither was Edwards
 
You can't say the analytics say this .........and then not show one bit of evidence to back that statement up.
 
We are spoiled with freshman because a lot of times they play like normal freshman at other schools, we just expect them to be good right away. Wagner wasn’t terrible tonight, neither was Edwards
Edwards was bad. Awful defense and 2 points in 18 minutes. Like Dilly, got himself into foul trouble. Unlike Dilly, couldn’t make an impact nonetheless. I believe Justin got to play the first 12 minutes of the first half and did virtually nothing.
 
You wanna wager on it? How many players with the reputation of Wagner have stayed under Cal? Honestly I am not expecting more than 2 of our top 10 players back.
The shadyshaud dude has been a DJ fan from the start. I think he just wants the guy to come back. He’s not considering the fact that DJ was one and done from the start.
 
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Is it though? You don’t think there will be much better dudes in the portal? Do you realize he just doesn’t have the physical tools or athleticism or really anything to ever play the NBA or to be a good college player? Apparently you don’t.
Freshman of the week 3 or 4 times in a row. Absolutely terrible basketball player.

Except for all of those other ones.
 
This board complains about players leaving too early but some people also don’t want some freshmen back that didn’t live up to expectations out of the gate .

Yep, as sure as the sun will rise.

It is interesting the amount of fans we have complaining vigorously after a win. It is one thing to defend a loss because you believe in the team, but to complain after a win seems really odd.
 
Edwards was bad. Awful defense and 2 points in 18 minutes. Like Dilly, got himself into foul trouble. Unlike Dilly, couldn’t make an impact nonetheless. I believe Justin got to play the first 12 minutes of the first half and did virtually nothing.
Edwards wasn’t great I agree, but he is atleast giving you something now, as did Wagner
 
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DJ plays good on the ball defense a majority of the time. But his man does blow by him on occasion. Happened at least twice tonight.

But he was the better DJ this game. He should come back and play for 4 years. That’s his talent level.
 
Is it though? You don’t think there will be much better dudes in the portal? Do you realize he just doesn’t have the physical tools or athleticism or really anything to ever play the NBA or to be a good college player? Apparently you don’t.
I disagree with all that. I think he’s a good defender and I definitely think he can be a really good player. He’s quick, tough, decent shooter, decent dribbler, kid can play.
 
DJ played Ok. I can only remember one turnover and made a couple shots. If Cal would stress assist with him he can help this team.
DJ was really good tonight. If he gives us what he did tonight we will win more. 10 points 4 assists 2 turnovers. Only took 5 shots, made both his FT, only fouled once and had a Huge steal that led to us going up 3. The only negative tonight was 1 rebound if he's going to play 28 minutes he needs to get 3 or 4 boards.
 
Wait, you're mad that DJ got screened and then the guy scored? Tell me you don't know ball without telling me.
You should be mad at whoever didn't switch the screen, or the baseline player that didn't stop the ball.
It was a run of the mill and obvious screen at the top of the key that everyone but him saw coming from a mile away.

No matter how much you want him to be good, he has a defensive rating 106.4.
 
You wanna wager on it? How many players with the reputation of Wagner have stayed under Cal? Honestly I am not expecting more than 2 of our top 10 players back.
Maybe more. Who knows at this point? But how is that bad for the players? They don't owe us another year of their lives.
 
DJ plays good on the ball defense a majority of the time. But his man does blow by him on occasion. Happened at least twice tonight.

But he was the better DJ this game. He should come back and play for 4 years. That’s his talent level.
He’s not going to come back and he’s certainly not gonna play four years of college ball.

There will be much better guards in the portal and we need to nab one and let him sail off into the sunset.
 
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It was a run of the mill and obvious screen at the top of the key that everyone but him saw coming from a mile away.

No matter how much you want him to be good, he has a defensive rating 106.4.
Should he teleport through the screen next time?

Or we could hedge, or switch screens. Let me know and I will message him.
 
He's not terrible, when he gets into proper position and takes the right angles. At one point, his man caught the ball on the wing and Wagner ran at him, attacking him like he was gonna take away his left. Problem was, in that position, he should have taken away the baseline since he had help high but no help to low side. The player fakes left, dribbles right and has a wide-open layup. That's just dumb play. It's not inability to defend, it's just not smart defense.

Having said this, if you put Wagner at the point of your defense and let him get in position, he's pretty good. He has good quickness, good strength, and some tenacity. But he makes some dumb plays at times that are frustrating.
 
He's not terrible, when he gets into proper position and takes the right angles. At one point, his man caught the ball on the wing and Wagner ran at him, attacking him like he was gonna take away his left. Problem was, in that position, he should have taken away the baseline since he had help high but no help to low side. The player fakes left, dribbles right and has a wide-open layup. That's just dumb play. It's not inability to defend, it's just not smart defense.

Having said this, if you put Wagner at the point of your defense and let him get in position, he's pretty good. He has good quickness, good strength, and some tenacity. But he makes some dumb plays at times that are frustrating.
There was a play in which Hubbard overplayed Dilly’s left hand, and Dilly went in for an easy right-handed layup. That defense is reminiscent of something I see Wagner do a lot.
 
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And he did that after how many terrible defensive plays? His man scores on him at will both on the perimeter and on the drive. It’s embarrassingly bad.
BS. Thats not true. He is not a great defender but he is the best we have at the guard position.
 
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