He was not ready for the pros, was too erratic in college.
Edwards in Summer League
- Thread starter FurdTerguson
- Start date
Edwards was misused here, shouldn't have started, and clearly isn't ready for the NBA - and may never be. But it seems like some people are gloating over it and eagerly anticipating his failure, and that's a really bad look...
Agree 100%. SOME (not saying all) of the same people throw up their hands and wonder why everything doesn;t work out for them as far as final fours, etc. Pathetic to act like jerks and expect others to chop chop for you.
I agree. Unfortunately there a lot of people laughing at him and taking joy in this which reinforces my believe that this fanbase has way too many douchebags in it.
We had posters saying he would turn out to be one of the better players from this draft class when all is said and done. I just don’t see it.
I'm sure I'll get ROASTED for this because JR is now a Cat...BUT...JR was somewhere around 8-10 most productive player on BYU's roster, per the metrics. Those were the same metrics that had Reed, Antonio, and Rob 1, 2, and 3 on last years teams. JR is good, but he's not THAT good. At the end of the day he was a volume scorer on a decent team.
No, what is stupid is not playing Reed, Antonio, and Rob together very much at all. What is stupid is, per the metrics, playing your best lineup together for like 4 mins per game (27th most minutes of any lineup construction, IIRC). And what is also stupid, is calling other people stupid for understanding that. It's not just "Reed and Rob" (which, btw, was INSANELY stupid for not starting them), it's the entire effed up nature of which Cal tried to roll lineups out. Just backwards thinking old man crap. And his lazy assed staff perpetuated it. You'd be hard-pressed to find a worse mis-managed team than the 23-24 Cats.
A player like Edwards is most likely leaving no matter what Cal said . He had one foot out of the door once he committed .
If we were playing pickup playground ball, and I were one of the players picking, I’d pick any player on UK’s current squad before I’d pick Edwards. That’s how out of place he is in the league!
I absolutely 1,000% love Dillingham for saying Welch was the reason his shot was so good!!! Totally calling out Calipari for his fraudulent sales pitch and offense. We all knew after the blue and white game Dillingham was by far our best player, and Calipari promptly benches him for the glory of Wagner and Edwards.
The battered wife syndrome is just so strong in some of these submissive types Cal dominated. Starting to look like it will be permanent for some of them.
“He only hit me because I deserved it. I miss him so much. What does Arkansas got that I haven’t got? 😭 ”
Eh, so you don't think the assistant coaches should coach? Why they getting paid? I'm not defending Cal but assistant coaches all over America teach kids things the head coach doesnt
The kid just isn't that good. Slow, not a great athlete, average shooter at best, showed very little emotion during games, didn't seem to catch on to the plays if any were called.
Sorry but he will be very lucky to make it in the NBA.
Man better get in the gym and start trying to rebrand as a sniper. Poor handle, 32 inch vertical guys aren't making it in the nba unless they are snipers.
They should throw everyone out of the business. They evald him as a top 5 guy when he was a literal grown man playing vs boys.
They should throw everyone out of the business. They evald him as a top 5 guy when he was a literal grown man playing vs boys.
All animus directed towards Edwards flows through the Calipari conduit. Cal’s system set everyone up to have negative feelings regarding his situation.
Edwards could have come off the bench and had the same exact results on draft night. There might have even been a narrative that because he played behind 3 star guards that he had some ability that was overshadowed waiting to be unlocked.
Instead, he became the personification of the corruption of the Calipari era.
Edwards could have come off the bench and had the same exact results on draft night. There might have even been a narrative that because he played behind 3 star guards that he had some ability that was overshadowed waiting to be unlocked.
Instead, he became the personification of the corruption of the Calipari era.
Other than the beginning of almost every half of basketball we played this past season?
Everyone here is a grown adult who should be perfectly capable of separating their thoughts for Edwards from their thoughts about Calipari and his system. By every account Justin was a great kid, worked hard, and never created a problem for the team. It's disappointing seeing so many people take pleasure in the fact that he didn't get drafted and has not yet performed well in Summer League.
At the end of the day he's a former Cat whose worst sin is not living up to the ranking a group of nameless experts gave him coming out of high school. He should be supported by our fans in the same way a guy like John Wall is and was.
Your post brought back memories of my feelings about Saul Smith.
Would have been a fan favorite with his hustle and play off the bench like his first year. However Tubby shoved him into a starter spot and it hurt both of them
If people sound like they are enjoying Edwards situation, you’re probably misreading it because it’s enjoying Calipari looking like a fool. Again many here that Calipari hoodwinked still try and find something they can hit back with because their favorite defense is gone. Even the national media is laughing at Calipari for THE SAME THINGS many here tried to tell you but you refused to allow common sense come through. The salesman sold you that’s all this is.
Again, and again, no coach would start Edwards or Wagner. Yes it was a problem because basketball is a game of momentum and swings, and that type of crap is why Kentucky would go stagnant after many swings. We built a lead oh look, Wagner is shooting. Edwards is driving. The fact is the 3 R’s, under ANY OTHER COACH would have been on the floor. He threw the season over playing favorites and screwing around with agents. He gave horrible excuses like “getting Edwards ready for March” and “Reed doesn’t mind he’s not selfish”. He sold it as some kind of team effort as to why his best players weren’t on the floor at the right time and his 3 best rarely played together. It was simply he DIDNT want Reed Dilly and Reeves to show up his favorites. And if you still can’t get this there’s no helping you. If you still can’t understand the problems with starting Edwards and Wagner can’t help ya. If you still don’t understand momentum and swings in the game of basketball you’re so far gone there’s nothing that will show you.
If anything most of us are sad for Edwards because what many of us saw in real time was a coach tanking his stock as he was too stupid and ignorant to understand what everyone including the national media does. And someone chime in, are some of you actually confused when you turn on a game and see the coach starting his BEST PLAYERS? Are you wondering why every coach out here isn’t benching his best during quarters and starts / halftimes? Are you confused as to why he’s playing his 3 best players the majority of minutes? Because if you’re still not getting this with Calipari then I assume you’re confused a lot watching basketball?
Get off this crap It’s stupid. There’s no defending it and the more you do the worse you look.
Again, and again, no coach would start Edwards or Wagner. Yes it was a problem because basketball is a game of momentum and swings, and that type of crap is why Kentucky would go stagnant after many swings. We built a lead oh look, Wagner is shooting. Edwards is driving. The fact is the 3 R’s, under ANY OTHER COACH would have been on the floor. He threw the season over playing favorites and screwing around with agents. He gave horrible excuses like “getting Edwards ready for March” and “Reed doesn’t mind he’s not selfish”. He sold it as some kind of team effort as to why his best players weren’t on the floor at the right time and his 3 best rarely played together. It was simply he DIDNT want Reed Dilly and Reeves to show up his favorites. And if you still can’t get this there’s no helping you. If you still can’t understand the problems with starting Edwards and Wagner can’t help ya. If you still don’t understand momentum and swings in the game of basketball you’re so far gone there’s nothing that will show you.
If anything most of us are sad for Edwards because what many of us saw in real time was a coach tanking his stock as he was too stupid and ignorant to understand what everyone including the national media does. And someone chime in, are some of you actually confused when you turn on a game and see the coach starting his BEST PLAYERS? Are you wondering why every coach out here isn’t benching his best during quarters and starts / halftimes? Are you confused as to why he’s playing his 3 best players the majority of minutes? Because if you’re still not getting this with Calipari then I assume you’re confused a lot watching basketball?
Get off this crap It’s stupid. There’s no defending it and the more you do the worse you look.
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To be fair, he's doing much better tonight. At least he was until I started watching. He missed a layup after hitting three trees.
Sadly not ready for the NBA- hopefully players under Pope will use that opportunity to spend the extra year of college and embrace the Kentucky experience.
Edwards could have transferred anywhere he wanted too for college ball, he was not forced into the nba. I’m in no way taking up for cal here, he misused Edwards all year long but Edwards going and staying in the draft is not on cal but edwards himself. Bradshaw had enough sense to stay in college and to get away from cal.
To be fair, a few of them deserve to be slapped around a little.
And it’s not like it’s just Edwards. EJ, Livingston, Juzang, Hopkins, Matthews, Wagner… Big Z next man up.
Just shows how little basketball knowledge some people have. It's crazy to watch Edward's all year and come to that conclusion l. It blows my mind.
Yea it goes beyond Edwards, the issue he’s got is we had guys like Reed and Dilly being exploited to cover for him and they’re 2 that you can’t do that with. I’ll always believe 100% that Calipari knew his time at Kentucky was probably going to end, he knew he wouldn’t survive it and this was his send off as a big FU to the fans and boosters. He didn’t want that team going anywhere. He was losing to teams that can’t beat UK teams like that. Calipari pre 2017 would have never lost to teams like this team did unless he wanted to or didn’t care (R Morris)
Calipari didn’t lose to crap teams before a certain time. He was clearly making a point just like he did Memphis vs. Missouri on his way out there. And that’s why I say no he doesn’t care about Edwards, he doesn’t care about anybody. This was all to send shots to the people making his life harder. I said it for years here that we will eventually get a front row seat to why he’s hated everywhere and Arkansas has a really big problem too. His legacy is UK he does not care one bit about Arkansas. They will get a front row seat similar to Memphis and Umass.
The big problem with bringing Reed and Rob off the bench was because Cal waited too long to bring them in. How many times were the Cats down by 8-10 points before he brought them in?
I just don't understand how so many rankings had him so highly ranked going to college and then having him as pre-season #1 draft pick. How could all those "experts" have missed so badly on him? Do they not scout these kids very much and just go on what they hear?
I too feel sorry for Edwards. He has no business in the NBA. He and his posse bought into ccc's nba speech and was going to the nba regardless. He was way over rated, as was Bradshaw. Bradshaw was at least smart eough to get away from ccc and continue his college career. I really don't understand Big Z. He was jerked around like a yo yo by ccc & follows him for a repeat. He would have been much better served to stay at UK and actually learn to play the game and improve, all while getting playing time.
"In the gym" doesn't mean anything. Just because you enter the box and leave the box doesn't mean anything meaningful happens inside. His body didn't change an OUNCE from day 1 through the end of the season. Results are what matter, and gaslighting us won't work.
People forget that many 19/20 year old kids are still developing. Don't let your hate for Cal result in hating and/or rooting against some of these kids that played for him. Edwards still has some time to develop into the player that many think he can turn into. Personally, I hope he proves the naysayers wrong.
It seems that Edwards is his own worst enemy. 50% of the battle is in your head, and seemed that he got in his own head. Also, the kid's confidence was crushed during the first part of the season that he has clearly not overcome. Thankfully, this can all be fixed and hoping that he will.
He’s an undersized 4 with limited defensive fundamentals.
He’s going to have to develop an NBA 3 range at a 35+% clip to even have a chance…. And he didn’t even have consistent college 3 range.
Doesn’t have 2 guard handles or even 3 guard handles.
I hope he improves and makes a life for himself but he should have been a 2-4 year college player
He’s going to have to develop an NBA 3 range at a 35+% clip to even have a chance…. And he didn’t even have consistent college 3 range.
Doesn’t have 2 guard handles or even 3 guard handles.
I hope he improves and makes a life for himself but he should have been a 2-4 year college player
