So the best player on the team should get the third most minutes?
Last edited:
Reed has to start.
- Thread starter GLR5555
- Start date
I’m not sure why starting is overrated. That chunk of a game has as much of an impact as any other. Most importantly, however, is the minutes. Dilly and Shep should be playing 30 mins together.
Adou needs to start in place of Edwards.
Because Cal thinks our best shot to win in march is to get Wagner and Edwards going. Lol, I said the same thing a few weeks ago. About being down 16-2 to purdue in the tourney. When someone said that “doesn’t matter who starts” BS. Basically then got told a more elongated version of: “shut up, you’re stupid”.
Fun fact guys. If Sheppard and Dillingham started they would instantly begin averaging 4ppg and shoot 25 percent from the field.
Sheppard is playing 26, more than Edwards. Dillingham is less, but mainly because he keeps getting in foul trouble.
Our best chance to win in the NCAA-T is to have SEVERAL OPTIONS! So yes, get those 2 going. Actually Wagner has been solid.
None of those guys have a chance at defending SEC forwards for extended minutes.
Thought I was replying to post saying the guards should start over Edwards.
Last edited:
I think Cal should wear brown dress shoes when wears a blue suit and black shoes with the grey suit.
Don’t get me started on the undershirt color…..
I will lose my fu€&ing mind if I have to bring up what color neck tie I prefer My GaWwwDddd
Don’t get me started on the undershirt color…..
I will lose my fu€&ing mind if I have to bring up what color neck tie I prefer My GaWwwDddd
I guarantee that if you asked them both they don’t care one bit about starting, they both get plenty of minutes and will be in the game when it matters. That’s what most players want. If you have confidence that you are as good as anyone, starting don’t matter.
Adou can, he’s so strong and athletic. He will do a fine job.
I’ll admit, I love having firepower coming off the bench. However, we are consistently behind the first 5 or so minutes of the game. Hell, we were last night. I also absolutely would be starting Sheppard and/or Dilly both over Edwards. Without question!
Starting is not nearly as big of a deal as people think. Minutes played and who plays in crunch time means alot more. I don't think it would apply to Reed, but some guys are actually better coming off the bench in that they benefit from getting a feel for the game before they actually check in.
I agree with this and I was saying that’s why Cal is doing it. But if it’s february and these guys still aren’t up to expectations? Cut bait and start Reed and Dillingham.
This is laughably dumb and out of touch with what has actually been happening in college basketball in this era.
Most of the teams that have reached the final four or won national titles over the last dozen or so years have done so with dudes playing the three spot who were far more like guards than traditional forwards. And defending at the three is now far more about the ability to get out and cover the perimeter than size.
The notion that dudes like Reeves or Thiero aren’t equipped to defend the three is a comical level of clueless.
I am one of Theiro’s biggest supporters. I think he has to play at least 20mpg.
What is laughably dumb (not fact based) is your response. So, I went and looked at the 12 F4 teams since the missed COVID tourney.
Out of 12 teams, only 3 played with small lineups. While only 1 played primarily with a 6'7+ SF (UNC) most of them went 6'5-6'6 at both the 2 & 3 spots, with guys 200+ lbs. They did NOT go with 6'2-6'3 180 lb guys. So, they almost all had guys a bit taller and especially more bulk to not get manhandled at the 3.
2023:
UConn: 1-3 guys were all 6’5-6’6, not 6’2-6’3
SD St: 2-3 guys were 6’5-6’6
Miami: did go with smaller guys but still the 3 was 6’5
FAU: did go with smaller guys
2022:
Kansas: went w/ 6’5 210 at 3 and 6’6 205 at 2
UNC: 6’8 no-offense at the 3
Duke: went 6’5-6’6 (215-220) at the 2-3 spots
Nova: went 6’4 210 at the 2-3 spots
2021:
Baylor: did go with smaller guys
Gonzaga: 6’4 (205) & 6’5 at the 2-3 spots
Houston: 6’5 at 2-3 spots
UCLA: 6’6 (205+) at the 2-3 spots
Dillingham 6’2 170
Sheppard 6’3 185
Wagner 6’3 175
Reeves 6’5 185
Not sure why you have to infest every thread complaining about "Cal supporters". Can't we all just cheer for our team and hope they win. Everyone has to determine what team everyone else is on. In politics its "oh you're a liberal, or conservative, either way." On here, you are doing the same thing. Any one that is happy about what is going on is a "Cal supporter". Do you not support our head coach?
The fact that you don't speaks volumes about your basketball ignorance. You like starting games in the hole all the time? Remember when we used to build early leads? Nah, let's continue to spot our opponents leads in every game and see how that works out for us.
Mister "Can't we all just get along" - you're one of the worst haters on this board. Your hypocrisy is only surpassed by your lack of self awareness.
As a statistician I know what cherry-picking is. So no I did not cherry-pick. UK90 was talking about teams “in this era”, so obviously that would be the most recent teams. Prior to looking it up I did pre-specify last 5 years (thus not cherry-picking), but simply got tired of looking up the teams one at a time (after 12). And am also quite confident the further back you go the more it would support what I’m saying and the less considered as “this era”.
Let's just be clear, this exchange began with your post suggesting a starting lineup with Thiero (6'8") or Reeves (6'6") at the three spot would be too small to defend SEC forwards. I now see that you have since edited and changed that post to try to cover your ass ...so I just want to clarify what the original basis was. And that claim, my friend, was patently absurd (especially since our other two frontline starters go 7'1" and 6'9").
As for the historical stuff, I haven't the time to go into that in depth. But, suffice to say, smaller lineups have plainly done better than the huge ones in the NCAA tourney over the last decade plus. Let's just look at the starting forwards on a few of the recent NCAA champs. 2013 UL won it with starting forwards who were 6'5" and 6'6", 2015 Duke won it with starting forwards who were 6'5" and 6"6", 2016 Villanova won it with starting forwards who were 6'5" and 6'6", 2018 Villanova won it with starting forwards who were both 6'6", 2019 Virginia won it with starting forwards who were 6'5" and 6'7". 2021 Baylor won it with starting forwards who were only 6'3'" and 6'5" (and against a then undefeated Gonzaga opponent who also had only 6'5" and 6'6" starting forwards), etc.
Yet you think a UK starting frontline of 6'6", 6'9" and 7'1"" would be too small to defend SEC forwards? LOL.
Besides, we ALREADY know the three guard lineup works for us because we've already been using it for vast stretches of games, and it's the lineup that has worked BEST for us this season. So the only real question here is this: why don't we start with the lineup that has worked best?
After all, there has been a clear pattern this season where we start games poorly, but then Cal takes Edwards out, puts Sheppard in, and the team immediately starts playing better. So it hardly takes a leap in logic for one to realize: "hey, maybe we could avoid those poor starts if we just started that lineup..."
It's laughable that you wrongly accuse me of cherry-picking, then you cherry-pick 2 specific statistics; AND you used INCORRECT/old data in doing that. Wagner is shooting 42%/31%/73% (or more precisely 41.7%/30.8%/73.1%). Here is some other cherry-picked information, to give a more full representation of Wagner.
- 1.37 TO/gm (very low for a PG, the best by ANY starting PG under Cal at UK, and only bettered by Ulis off the bench in 2015), Sheppard and Dillingham are both at 1.58 (which is also very good) but in fewer mpg for Dillingham
- 2 SEC FR-of-the-Week awards (same # as Sheppard)
- considered our best guard on defense by many (when defense is what we need to improve, not offense)
- in his last 8 games, Wagner has shot 46.3% overall & 36.7% from 3
Oh, and by the way, Wagner only plays 0.4 more mpg than Sheppard, yes 24 more seconds is what you and others are bitching about.
I love Sheppard and Dillingham. Love seeing them on the court. But I also know Sheppard, won't, can't, keep up those shooting %'s, he won't make a historic % of his 3's as a FR. AND, to be a really good team, you need to have more than 2 "Dudes", so if we have guys who we think can ALSO become "Dudes" then we need to try and get them going too. And I've been hard on Edwards, saying "he is bringing NOTHING to the court". But for us to get to that next step, after Bradshaw, Edwards "getting it figured out" is the next most impactful improvement we could make. And he's not going to figure it out on the bench. That said, as we start SEC play, to me, it is time to "go with your main horses". Pre-conference (mid-major games) was like the NFL pre-season, MLB spring-training.
So, in SEC play, assuming no injuries, and assuming guys play like they have (no improvements), I would go:
Mitchell 28
Bradshaw 18
Onyenso 10
Theiro 24
Edwards 16
Wagner 24
Sheppard 28
Dillingham 24
Reeves 28
As for who starts, I don't really care (minutes matter more), other than I wouldn't mess with something that is working. Except I would start either Bradshaw or Onyenso to get us the opening tip, since that is worth (on average) an extra 1/2 possession per game.
That was a mistake, which I have since explained above. I thought I was replying to someone saying to start 3 guards, but I instead mistakenly replied to someone's reply of that post. Someone would have to be insane to say Theiro is too small to defend an SEC forward. I actually like him at the PF spot, and have said all fall on this board that he is our best defender and rebounder and needs to play at least 20 (if not 25) mpg. I've also said on this board that Edwards is giving us nothing.
And that was not "covering my ass" you closet-Duke-fan.
LOL. Nothing indicates one has lost a message board debate more clearly than when he has no option other than to falsely accuse the other of being a rival fan based on no evidence whatsoever.
That’s essentially the sports message board equivalent of waving the white flag. So I accept your surrender.
Kentucky is blessed this year with an embarrassment of great backcourt talent. The case for RS to start is compelling, but we can say the same about Dillingham. DJ Wagner is a very good player, but RS and Dillingham are every bit as good as DJ and probably even more important for the outcome of our season. All will play. At a certain point, debating which should start goes a little bit over the top. Who should be on the court in the 2nd half becomes more to the point. Barring severe foul trouble, there is no realistic scenario in which RS and Dillingham are not on the floor while SEC games are won or lost in the 2nd half. If DJ plays ahead of RS or Dillingham when it matters most, that won't be because of talent or impact.
FU. No, you calling me a liar is the biggest sign of a lost debate. Nothing pisses me off more than being called a liar. I had already clarified my mistake. Not to mention it was obvious in my other posts.
And a point I forgot to mention, is that those 6'5-6'6 SFs were all bigger than our 6'2-6'3 guys that you are wanting to play at the 3. AND they also all (except for Baylor) were with guys 200+, so guys 15-30 lbs of more muscle than our guards. That is how someone like Briscoe could pull it off (play the 3), he had the bulk/strength to not get manhandled by taller guys (his offense just sucked), but defensively he could do it.
I never called you a liar. You are getting too wound up. I suggest you step away from the board and relax for awhile.
I have never once suggested a scenario where a 6’2”-6’3” guy plays the three.
The three guard lineup I’m talking about … and the one we’ve already been successfully using all season …has 6’6” Reeves at that spot.
I think he needs to start.... the first 5 minutes of the game sets the tone. Too often UK is letting teams think they can hang with them from the jump.
I do get the counter argument of getting Wagner and Edwards playing time and hopefully an improvement by March. It's the risk that Cal is running but he's gotta keep his freshman happy
I do get the counter argument of getting Wagner and Edwards playing time and hopefully an improvement by March. It's the risk that Cal is running but he's gotta keep his freshman happy
Edwards is freshman of the year when it comes to screaming at opponents whenever he actually finishes a play at the rim.
IT DONT MATTER WHO STARTS BRUH JUST LET EDWARDS GO 0-6 AND LET REED SAVE US! IT'S WORKING DONT MESS IT UP!!!1111111
