who's play was the most typical for a freshman's debut? Let me say, I think they all ended up playing well but there were some moments, right?
Of all the freshmen who played last night
- Thread starter SmyrnaCatFan
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Idk, I guess Wagner. He came on late but shep, Dilly, edwards anad even Burks played well.
Shep was doing his best SEC Defensive POY impression last night.
Think they all showed flashes... but Wagner and Edwards are going to have to let the game come to them. Tons of talent, but certainly a couple times they each put their head down and said, "I'm going to shoot." That will come with time. Thankfully, there is a lot of unselfishness so far.
Wagner looked out of control at some points and jacked up some unnecessary 3s, but hustled hard, played good defense and started cooking more in the second half.
Sheppard looked the most comfortable out of all the the freshmen who played in my opinion.
Sheppard looked the most comfortable out of all the the freshmen who played in my opinion.
Sheppard needs to get 30 minutes per game. That is if he keeps playing at the current level.
You asked who was most typical of a Freshman debut. I think most Freshman debuts don't live up to the hype, so to me it's obviously Edwards.
There’s going be some moments where they both frustrate fans, but they have some fight and aren’t afraid of the moment. They will need to adapt to having a complete team around them, and not trying to be the hero at all times. If everyone can learn to play to their strengths, this will be a hard to team to beat.
Edwards still looked the most uncomfortable of the big name freshmen.
Wagner was forcing early on but the stuff he was doing in the 2nd half was vintage DJ Wagner. The step back 3 after toying with the defender is the type of stuff he can do regularly when he’s feeling it.
Dillingham was obviously the one I was most impressed with. The fact that they all just go and make a move as soon as they have the ball is what has me most excited.
Wagner was forcing early on but the stuff he was doing in the 2nd half was vintage DJ Wagner. The step back 3 after toying with the defender is the type of stuff he can do regularly when he’s feeling it.
Dillingham was obviously the one I was most impressed with. The fact that they all just go and make a move as soon as they have the ball is what has me most excited.
We've seen freshmen of pretty much all levels at UK, especially under Calipari. We've seen some who were ready to go from day one- guys like John Wall, Brandon Knight, or DeAaron Fox. We've seen guys who had a reputation and were expected to be great but just weren't ready at all. We've seen some forced to play high minutes out of necessity and some who grew quickly and improved because they were thrown into the fire. We've seen some who were forced into early minutes and struggled. We've seen some who never did pan out. I won't name any names but we know who they are.
So, when I see this group of freshmen, I don't see a weak player in the bunch. I expected Burks to struggle and be a bit of a project but even he is better than I expected. I thought Sheppard would be decent but not all that good, but he has exceeded expectations significantly. The guys I thought would be great (Edwards and Wagner) aren't as great as I expected but they're ready to contribute and are already making strides. I thought Dillingham, after the Canada games, was going to struggle, but he took summer by storm and doesn't look like the same person. ( I love his speed- it's very unique) Overall, I am very pleased with the freshman class. And the upperclassmen are all very solid. I'm just wondering what we're gonna get from these 7 footers. If they are even as close to as solid as the rest, this team could be very good.
So far I have loved the freshman play. Most have their moments for a minute or two in each have where they got lost on a play but overall very good. The underwhelming one or two for me are only the 2 that have not played due to issues or injuries. Big Z and Bradshaw. Not a knock just my thoughts. Both are way behind the others and if we got them back by say Nov 15th, it will take them till SEC play to get up to speed. Unless they are doing tons more in the gym than we are led to believe.
Edwards had 3 of the 6 turnovers so that was the only negative " freshman" thing I noticed.
I agree with your overall assessment. It seems like this team could lose 6-8 games, but also this same team will strike fear into anyone who has the misfortune of playing us.
Man I loved me some Ulis, Ulis played hard every minute he was on floor. I personally do not see how Sheppard can be kept off the floor except in spots based on his current level of play.
I think losing 4 in conference, one or two of sounds like a good, optimistic projection right now.
Losing a few more not our of the question at all, considering the schedule and the conference this year.
Got think that the strong conference competition is gonna bring the best out of this group.
All of them have strengths and weaknesses, DJ tried to hard to make something happen in 1st 10-12 mins of game and took some bad shots or hard passes instead of staying under control, after that he let his instincts take over and was very solid the rest of the way.
Edwards was the same way just took longer for him to relax and not try so hard, he moves great without the ball needs to learn to give it up and moving to get it back is his bread and butter.
Reed is super IQ wise and makes the right play almost every time but can get speeded up and be off target with passes and shots occasionally. All 3 of them are pretty solid defensively, stay in position and keep contact with their man for the most part, play good team concept D.
Dilly has super speed and handles and over uses them at times like Wall and Fox but should get better when he learns that 90% of his speed is all he needs sometimes just like they did. My problem with him is on D he will leave his man trying to steal it and put the team in scramble mode, did it 4 or 5 times every game so far giving up 2 or 3 easy buckets a game while forcing very few TO's.
Burks is doing a decent job all around considering he has been a wing mostly and now playing 4-5 exclusively, lots of fight and toughness and should bode well for him down the road when he goes back to 3-4 also.
Edwards was the same way just took longer for him to relax and not try so hard, he moves great without the ball needs to learn to give it up and moving to get it back is his bread and butter.
Reed is super IQ wise and makes the right play almost every time but can get speeded up and be off target with passes and shots occasionally. All 3 of them are pretty solid defensively, stay in position and keep contact with their man for the most part, play good team concept D.
Dilly has super speed and handles and over uses them at times like Wall and Fox but should get better when he learns that 90% of his speed is all he needs sometimes just like they did. My problem with him is on D he will leave his man trying to steal it and put the team in scramble mode, did it 4 or 5 times every game so far giving up 2 or 3 easy buckets a game while forcing very few TO's.
Burks is doing a decent job all around considering he has been a wing mostly and now playing 4-5 exclusively, lots of fight and toughness and should bode well for him down the road when he goes back to 3-4 also.
He just needs to stop with the crazy out of control spins (Cal pointed this out and I agree). I do love his aggression but he has to be smart about it.
And the good think is they will all get better and learn as the season continues, we just need to get our bigs playing.
