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Reed and Rob at Draft Lottery

I love Reed, and he's a very fine player... but heart can't convince my eyes and brain that Reed should be a lottery pick. I know I'll be beaten up for that, but I just don't see it. He's not nearly quick enough to be a great defender on thr NBA level. He has a great shot, yes, but he seemed shy about it a lot. For every great pass, there was a low level Freshman pass attempt. Really not trying to bash the kid. Again, I like Reed, and he's a fine player. I just don't see lottery level. Yeah yeah, I know the rebuttal is; "potential" and "still young". I know. We'll see.

Truth is we don’t have any idea what Reed can be either way, it’s a total tossup. And to me that’s no lottery pick. There are a lot of areas of his game that lean toward “probably not”. With Reed taking more shots he might just not be what he appeared to be in college, and how he’s going to guard 6’6-6’7 NBA guards with incredible quickness around the ball I have no idea. But this is what the NBA does, waste money for the chance he’s something. Thats a real issue that I wish put more pressure on the NBA to change this nonsense. If they’re not proven they don’t need to be in the league. It’s hurting the college game and it’s hurting the NBA. But apparently they haven’t been burned enough to care to change it so the guy outside the arena who can’t afford a bologna sandwich continues to starve while unproven children are given 30 million. America 2024.
 
Truth is we don’t have any idea what Reed can be either way, it’s a total tossup. And to me that’s no lottery pick. There are a lot of areas of his game that lean toward “probably not”. With Reed taking more shots he might just not be what he appeared to be in college, and how he’s going to guard 6’6-6’7 NBA guards with incredible quickness around the ball I have no idea. But this is what the NBA does, waste money for the chance he’s something. Thats a real issue that I wish put more pressure on the NBA to change this nonsense. If they’re not proven they don’t need to be in the league. It’s hurting the college game and it’s hurting the NBA. But apparently they haven’t been burned enough to care to change it so the guy outside the arena who can’t afford a bologna sandwich continues to starve while unproven children are given 30 million. America 2024.
Yes, we do know what he can be "either way". There's a reason kids come back. To get better. His game definitely needs improvement. He needs to learn how to play defense. He needs to learn how to play within an offense. He doesn't do that, he tends to stand around watching the ball mome around and begging for the ball.
 
This was absolutely the best individual decision that Reed could make . Staying four years would have been the worst decision .

This is looking like it could be the worst draft ever in a lot of folks eyes . That alone made it a good decision by Reed to me .

I think the best decision Reed could make was two years then go. I don’t even want to hear the I jury nonsense it’s pure bs and has no weight.

Reed stood to gain a ton by being at UK two years. I’m talking as far as political ambitions statewide and nationally. The overall business decision for the future if basketball doesn’t work would have exploded in potential gains. And Reed could have had a lottery pick in the NBA regardless.

There’s a good chance Reed doesn’t make it to his second contract in the NBA. In that case Kentucky will be where his bread is buttered and there’s no telling how deep that could go. I don’t believe it can happen now to that extent he didn’t win enough or stay long enough. I think the safer route is having both avenues but he went with one. The Sheppards were short sighted on this one that’s just my opinion. Having said that he’s instantly my favorite player in the league day 1, and although me and my sons always root for the Heat, they’ll take a back seat to Reeds team and because of him we’ll probably make the switch over time, unless of course he’s a journeyman and doesn’t really have a team to call his.
 
I mentioned four because what I quoted mentioned a senior Reed .

Sure his game clearly needs work . I didn’t know you stopped working on your game once you entered the NBA.
You can come back to college and "work on your game", would I be correct in that you're pushing guys to the NBA? If so, then I have to ask how you feel about Pope. We already have Elliott approving any post that's anti-UK.
 
You can come back to college and "work on your game", would I be correct in that you're pushing guys to the NBA? If so, then I have to ask how you feel about Pope. We already have Elliott approving any post that's anti-UK.
How am I pushing guys to the NBA ? I’m giving an opinion on a message board . You act like I’m messaging players telling them to go to the NBA .

I just find it funny how some people on here who don’t even watch the NBA apparently is telling Reed what his best decision is regarding declaring for the draft .

And I love Pope what Pope is doing . I’m not sure what that has to do with this conversation.
 
I think the best decision Reed could make was two years then go. I don’t even want to hear the I jury nonsense it’s pure bs and has no weight.

Reed stood to gain a ton by being at UK two years. I’m talking as far as political ambitions statewide and nationally. The overall business decision for the future if basketball doesn’t work would have exploded in potential gains. And Reed could have had a lottery pick in the NBA regardless.

There’s a good chance Reed doesn’t make it to his second contract in the NBA. In that case Kentucky will be where his bread is buttered and there’s no telling how deep that could go. I don’t believe it can happen now to that extent he didn’t win enough or stay long enough. I think the safer route is having both avenues but he went with one. The Sheppards were short sighted on this one that’s just my opinion. Having said that he’s instantly my favorite player in the league day 1, and although me and my sons always root for the Heat, they’ll take a back seat to Reeds team and because of him we’ll probably make the switch over time, unless of course he’s a journeyman and doesn’t really have a team to call his.
I respect this but I won’t use the injury excuse . It rarely happens . I thought it was a smart decision because this class is super weak and I don’t think that will be the case next season . The more you stay the more scouts and nba gms point out more flaws in your game . Some of the flaws people have pointed out on Reed won’t even get better in year 2 like his height and his speed.

Now if Reed came back for his sophomore season I would have understood it and I definitely wouldn’t have said it was as dumb decision . I guess the difference between me and some on this board is I was going to talk positive about his decision either way .
 
How am I pushing guys to the NBA ? I’m giving an opinion on a message board . You act like I’m messaging players telling them to go to the NBA .

I just find it funny how some people on here who don’t even watch the NBA apparently is telling Reed what his best decision is regarding declaring for the draft .

And I love Pope what Pope is doing . I’m not sure what that has to do with this conversation.
We're all giving opinions. Strike one. No one suggested you were messaging players. Strike two. Most people here don't care about the NBA, it's a "Kentucky basketball board". Strike three. Since you love arguing semantics, and throwing red herrings around, let me rephrase it in saying that you seem to be "supportive of kids leaving early for the NBA". Most people are NOT supportive of these kids leaving early for the NBA. These kids haven't done squat. The only thing I agree with you on is that Pope is doing a fantastic job.
 
We're all giving opinions. Strike one. No one suggested you were messaging players. Strike two. Most people here don't care about the NBA, it's a "Kentucky basketball board". Strike three. Since you love arguing semantics, and throwing red herrings around, let me rephrase it in saying that you seem to be "supportive of kids leaving early for the NBA". Most people are NOT supportive of these kids leaving early for the NBA. These kids haven't done squat. The only thing I agree with you on is that Pope is doing a fantastic job.
I’m supportive of kids leaving or staying that’s the difference between me and you .

If you can find a post of a kid staying and me bashing that decision then kudos to you .
 
Hell I don’t even know why I’m having this back and forth your first response in thread was who .

So apparently you don’t even know Reed now that he is no longer a Kentucky Wildcat player
 
I think the best decision Reed could make was two years then go. I don’t even want to hear the I jury nonsense it’s pure bs and has no weight.

Reed stood to gain a ton by being at UK two years. I’m talking as far as political ambitions statewide and nationally. The overall business decision for the future if basketball doesn’t work would have exploded in potential gains. And Reed could have had a lottery pick in the NBA regardless.

There’s a good chance Reed doesn’t make it to his second contract in the NBA. In that case Kentucky will be where his bread is buttered and there’s no telling how deep that could go. I don’t believe it can happen now to that extent he didn’t win enough or stay long enough. I think the safer route is having both avenues but he went with one. The Sheppards were short sighted on this one that’s just my opinion. Having said that he’s instantly my favorite player in the league day 1, and although me and my sons always root for the Heat, they’ll take a back seat to Reeds team and because of him we’ll probably make the switch over time, unless of course he’s a journeyman and doesn’t really have a team to call his.

I respect this but I won’t use the injury excuse . It rarely happens . I thought it was a smart decision because this class is super weak and I don’t think that will be the case next season . The more you stay the more scouts and nba gms point out more flaws in your game . Some of the flaws people have pointed out on Reed won’t even get better in year 2 like his height and his speed.

Now if Reed came back for his sophomore season I would have understood it and I definitely wouldn’t have said it was as dumb decision . I guess the difference between me and some on this board is I was going to talk positive about his decision either way .

Yea that was my fear was seeing how weak this draft was compared to next season. Reverse that. He would have been much more likely to return.

At the end of the day, as much as I hate that he left, it is what it is. As a die hard St. Louis Cardinal fan from birth, I learned something years ago that some obviously haven’t yet. Albert Pujols was ingrained in St. Louis, from his early childhood in the United States, to his deep connection to the cardinals and in between. His family, friends, life, work outside of baseball, all St. Louis. His statue was going up next to Stan Musial, his child has developmental issues and the best care for him was in St. Louis. Restaurants, charities, his life was in St. Louis. It was a dream situation most top athletes only dream of. He had also taken less money just to stay there because of the connection. There has never been an athlete more connected to a franchise or program than Albert is to St. Louis. And he LEFT.

I was never the same after that, it killed something in me that has never repaired. It was the day that I realized the sports and players I grew up loving became purely about money.

So I guess my point is because of that Reed leaving doesn’t affect me in the same ways it might be others. I say all the time to people, if Albert would leave his spot in St. Louis and all of the history he was going to make, then no athlete anywhere is safe. None. That is especially true for an 18 year old college kid looking at 30 million lol.
 
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Yes, we do know what he can be "either way". There's a reason kids come back. To get better. His game definitely needs improvement. He needs to learn how to play defense. He needs to learn how to play within an offense. He doesn't do that, he tends to stand around watching the ball mome around and begging for the ball.
Well now he will get to work on those things full time and get paid a lot more than he would have at UK. Not exactly hard to see why this is a great decision for Reed.
 
Last four seasons:

3 lottery picks (Sheppard, Dillingham, Wallace).
5 to 7 first round picks (counting Reeves and possibly Edwards).
1 National Player of the Year (Oscar).
8 to 9 NBA draft picks.
12 to 14 future or current NBA players.


One tournament win.

Anything Pope does will be an instant upgrade, given the level of talent we've had with the absence of substantial payoff.
To Cal that is success. To everybody else it's frustrating as hell!
 
Yea that was my fear was seeing how weak this draft was compared to next season. Reverse that. He would have been much more likely to return.

At the end of the day, as much as I hate that he left, it is what it is. As a die hard St. Louis Cardinal fan from birth, I learned something years ago that some obviously haven’t yet. Albert Pujols was ingrained in St. Louis, from his early childhood in the United States, to his deep connection to the cardinals and in between. His family, friends, life, work outside of baseball, all St. Louis. His statue was going up next to Stan Musial, his child has developmental issues and the best care for him was in St. Louis. Restaurants, charities, his life was in St. Louis. It was a dream situation. He had also taken less money just to stay there because of the connection. There has never been an athlete more connected to a franchise or program than Albert is to St. Louis. And he LEFT.

I was never the same after that, it killed something in me that has never repaired. It was the day that I realized the sports and players I grew up loving became purely about money.

So I guess my point is because of that Reed leaving doesn’t affect me in the same ways it might be others. I say all the time to people, if Albert would leave his spot in St. Louis and all of the history he was going to make, then no athlete anywhere is safe. None. That is especially true for an 18 year old college kid looking at 30 million lol.
Yeah I think if this was a strong draft and Reed was projected at the back end of the lottery then he would have returned especially if the following draft was expected to be weak .


It was weird to see Pujols in another jersey . It’s up there with Brady in a Bucs jersey , Emmitt Smith in a Cardinals and A Rod in a jets jersey Peyton Manning in a broncos jersey .

Just goes to show much of a business sports is .
 
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Yes, we do know what he can be "either way". There's a reason kids come back. To get better. His game definitely needs improvement. He needs to learn how to play defense. He needs to learn how to play within an offense. He doesn't do that, he tends to stand around watching the ball mome around and begging for the ball.
I thought we looked pretty good this year when we put the ball in Reed’s hands. Seemed to know what he was doing within the context of the offense we were running.
 
Well now he will get to work on those things full time and get paid a lot more than he would have at UK. Not exactly hard to see why this is a great decision for Reed.
Not hard to see why UK fans are generally not excited about players leaving for the NBA. Yip yip.
 
Yeah I think if this was a strong draft and Reed was projected at the back end of the lottery then he would have returned especially if the following draft was expected to be weak .


It was weird to see Pujols in another jersey . It’s up there with Brady in a Bucs jersey , Emmitt Smith in a Cardinals and A Rod in a jets jersey Peyton Manning in a broncos jersey .

Just goes to show much of a business sports is .

Yea I think so too. Yea Albert leaving, I just can’t put my finger on it. It was during my youth to adulthood transition and I still wanted to believe there’s no way something like that could happen. It felt like an actual death in my family when he left. I burned several autographed jerseys and threw it on YouTube, cried, pulled a few of the jerseys out of the fire and wrapped them up. That day I woke up and saw that my entire world turned upside down. I made sure when he came back I was in St. Louis with my sons to see him and Yadi off one last time on opening day.

I can’t handle the shit I just wish these guys would understand when the money is enough it’s enough. But in this world it never will be.

A friend who frequents this board has Reds home plate tickets and he was nice enough to send me to Pujols and Yadi’s last season with the kids to see them up close. Me and the boys watched him hit 694 in a cardinals uniform. Pretty embarrassing too I started crying, had to go get a drink. It’s just too much for me.

I can’t hate Reed or Albert but I can hate the system and I do. And I hope whoever started this mess pays long and hard in the afterlife for it.
 
I love Reed, and he's a very fine player... but heart can't convince my eyes and brain that Reed should be a lottery pick. I know I'll be beaten up for that, but I just don't see it. He's not nearly quick enough to be a great defender on thr NBA level. He has a great shot, yes, but he seemed shy about it a lot. For every great pass, there was a low level Freshman pass attempt. Really not trying to bash the kid. Again, I like Reed, and he's a fine player. I just don't see lottery level. Yeah yeah, I know the rebuttal is; "potential" and "still young". I know. We'll see.
No, the actual rebuttal is the field in this specific draft.

This is also why he had to strike while the iron was hot.

The kid could actually improve significantly and lose ten spots or more and any regression would be very costly.

It makes no difference for this situation how he compares to Tracy McGrady, Steve Nash, or Shai because they aren't in THIS draft.
 
No, the actual rebuttal is the field in this specific draft.

This is also why he had to strike while the iron was hot.

The kid could actually improve significantly and lose ten spots or more and any regression would be very costly.

It makes no difference for this situation how he compares to Tracy McGrady, Steve Nash, or Shai because they aren't in THIS draft.
And I couldn't possibly care less what a kid does after he leaves here. There's always some excuse about why it's good for someone leave for the draft. What I care about is what they do HERE, how they help MY program. That's one of the reasons I'm glad we have Pope.
 
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Reeds deficiencies are really just strength and confidence. He has all the skills and IQ to be in the NBA for 20 years. But he's probably not physically ready for an 82 game season with guys a lot stronger and athletically ready than he is. Good news is, that will change with time. He's young.

The problem is going to be the confidence. Knowing he can hang with these guys, demand the ball, not get complacent. I still think back to an SEC game where a team had a 3 on 1 breakaway and he was the unfortunate guy who was defending. But he just kind of looked scared, almost lost a bit. And I think that probably goes hand in hand with him not demanding the ball or (probably) demanding to start. From that perspective, the NBA could chew him up pretty fast. That's gonna be his biggest hurdle to overcome.
 
LOL, Reed has more deficiencies than just strength and confidence, lol. He plays terrible defense, ball-watches on both ends of the court. That one season of stats, and observation of games, doesn't lie.
 
Reeds deficiencies are really just strength and confidence. He has all the skills and IQ to be in the NBA for 20 years. But he's probably not physically ready for an 82 game season with guys a lot stronger and athletically ready than he is. Good news is, that will change with time. He's young.

The problem is going to be the confidence. Knowing he can hang with these guys, demand the ball, not get complacent. I still think back to an SEC game where a team had a 3 on 1 breakaway and he was the unfortunate guy who was defending. But he just kind of looked scared, almost lost a bit. And I think that probably goes hand in hand with him not demanding the ball or (probably) demanding to start. From that perspective, the NBA could chew him up pretty fast. That's gonna be his biggest hurdle to overcome.
Good point on confidence . He definitely has to get more aggressive.

Speaking of confidence hurting a career . MKG. I always felt like it wasn’t just his jumper that hurt him but I think his confidence was low also when he was in the league .
 
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LOL, Reed has more deficiencies than just strength and confidence, lol. He plays terrible defense, ball-watches on both ends of the court. That one season of stats, and observation of games, doesn't lie.

The ball watching is likely related to confidence and just that general "lost" feeling we saw in him, numerous times this season. I compare him to Herro. Right? Similarly ranked players. But Herro had that confidence day 1. He wanted the final shot. You could tell he was ready for the NBA, from a mental standpoint, after just a few games. Reed doesn't have that right now.

But, other than that.. he has no other real areas of concern. Not worried about defense from a freshman, on a team that didn't seem to play any defense at all. He's got NBA range, he has a sky-high IQ. He can pass. He can play the point or off the ball. He's crafty. There's a reason he's a top5 lottery pick right now.
 
Has there ever been a team in the history of college basketball that had top top 5 picks but still lost in the first round?
To be fair, if those 2 shoot their season average, we move on to the second round. They tightened up, like freshmen will do.
 
Yall are missing a good game that’s in extra innings by the Bat Cats!!
Game shouldn’t have never went to extras. We were winning 3-0 into the 7th and Nick left the starter in there way too long. Just glad we were able to get out of Gainesville with a win today and winning 2 out of 3 of the series.
 
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Game shouldn’t have never went to extras. We were winning 3-0 into the 7th and Nick left the starter in there way too long. Just glad we were able to get out of Gainesville with a win today and winning 2 out of 3 of the series.

I agree, he should have been pulled sooner!

I just knew when Florida scored those 2 runs in the 10th that they were going to go on a rally.
 
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The ball watching is likely related to confidence and just that general "lost" feeling we saw in him, numerous times this season. I compare him to Herro. Right? Similarly ranked players. But Herro had that confidence day 1. He wanted the final shot. You could tell he was ready for the NBA, from a mental standpoint, after just a few games. Reed doesn't have that right now.

But, other than that.. he has no other real areas of concern. Not worried about defense from a freshman, on a team that didn't seem to play any defense at all. He's got NBA range, he has a sky-high IQ. He can pass. He can play the point or off the ball. He's crafty. There's a reason he's a top5 lottery pick right now.
Ball-watching is because of inexperience, not having learned (or grasped) to play within a system. He needs another year in college, and no college basketball fan should be pushing for the NBA experience over the college experience. Just go to the NBA right out of high school, if the NBA allowed that again. I hate what college basketball has become.
 
What do you mean who? You think we stopped being fans of these guys?
To be honest, once they leave UK I don't care or follow what they do anymore. That used to not be the case, but I got burnt out on all of the NBA nonsense under Cal. So now when they have a foot out the door before they even get here, I lose all connection with them as our players. You can't give us more than 1 half @$$ed season before bailing (at least some of them), then I got no interest in what you do when you leave. I get no enjoyment watching players play great in the NBA while being mediocre here (at least with team results).
 
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Not hard to see why UK fans are generally not excited about players leaving for the NBA. Yip yip.
What the hell does my comment have to do with wanting or not wanting anyone to leave? Looking at it from a business decision, which it is for Reed or any of these guys, leaving when he’s universally considered a lottery pick is the right move. He then has three or four years to prove why he should get that second contract, all while being able to dedicate far more hours into getting better/stronger.
 
Ball-watching is because of inexperience, not having learned (or grasped) to play within a system. He needs another year in college, and no college basketball fan should be pushing for the NBA experience over the college experience. Just go to the NBA right out of high school, if the NBA allowed that again. I hate what college basketball has become.

Yeah I agree. He should have come back for 1 more year to work on these things.

The problem is this draft is so awful that he'll be drafted higher this year, than if he improved and went to the draft next year.
 
First I'm a big fan of shep. I've been a fan almost 60 years and he could be my favorite. At least top ten. I think he left at the best time for him. What he did here and NBA potential are two different things. I watch a lot of NBA. He's not big enough strong enough or fast enough. If your not big enough. If your not big or strong you better be fast. He's not. A lot of guards in the NBA he can't and will never guard. If you think defensa is not important as I hear a lot here. We heard mock drafts based on the college game. Wait until he goes through the try outs. I think he drops a lot. I hope not. I hope he gets a big contract. I doubt he gets another. Again I hope I'm wrong on every count. But I see a short not strong enough slower than most guards great college player. Not pro. This will make a lot mad because your a fan. I doubt he's draft stock is ever higher than now. If you think Im wrong watch the Oakland game. He got exposed by players that won't be drafted. Dilly will have the far better carrer. No I'm not a troll. Born and raised in Kentucky.
 
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