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Shep has GOT to run point rest of the year

shaudyshaud said:
Wouldn’t shock me if DJ came back . Even when he was ranked 1-3 in interviews he never mentioned the NBA . Plus he one of the youngest in his class . There were guys in the Junior class older than him his senior year lol
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Blisterpac said:
I too faced criticism from several fans of Cal a few days ago for making that point. It all began with one poster, and by the end of it, I found myself engaging with 5 or 6. Some resorted to ad hominem attacks, labeling me an "idiot" and "obtuse". While I've been called worse to my face, such keyboard warriors don't bother me much. I responded in kind every time, always ready for a debate. It wasn't until JR posted about the issue of name-calling that I realized I needed to take a step back. I apologized to him in the post and that was that.
Now, to the point that I'd like to make so I can get my 10 dollars worth for this month. There was a time when I played pickup ball at the Seton Center almost daily. However, I decided to sit out a game when James Lee showed up to play. I'm 6'5" tall but as Clint Eastwood was movie quoted, "A man has to know his limitations". I enjoyed watching James roll down that lane and leave the rim vibrating. That's how old I am.
That's the extent of my participation in the game. John Calipari has made a career of the game and I have just observed it being played over the years. I loved the dunkers like Kenny "Sky" Walker and the best shooters, like lefty Kevin Grevey and Kyle Macy. I loved going to Memorial Coliseum with my buddies, showing up a 5 pm for a 7 o'clock game with some great seats to cheer the Cats to victory.
Cal has forgotten more about the game than I know. I was happy to get Cal after the BG experiment, and it was obvious he was going to be tailor-made for the challenge. He had a big personality, he could work the crowds and the camera, and he was a great recruiter and ambassador for the program and Kentucky. He still has many of those traits.
My problem with his coaching skills began in 2010 when he didn't win it all with that NBA team he fielded with Wall, Boogie, Bledsoe, Patterson, etc. As a few of my detractors pointed out, other coaches have had loaded teams and didn't win it all. Coach K was mentioned and they were right. My position was, "I don't care what other coaches do, I care what ours does.
Cal has enough of a resume that demonstrates his inability to always maintain his train of thought during a game and a tendency to go on "Full Tilt", to use a poker player's parlance. I thought he did that during the South Carolina game and has done it many times in the past.
Cal's inability to get to the right starting lineup over the years has caused me to go on "Full Tilt". I'm not a psychologist, but my best guess is he starts and plays the players with high * ratings based on what HE wants to happen on the court and the amount of work he put into recruiting those players to the University of Kentucky.
A kid like Reed Sheppard, who showed up outside the top 20 of the best players in the country, was not that difficult to get to go to Kentucky since he lived and played here. Cal has little consideration for our homegrown talent, in my opinion, even when we have one that is good enough to start for this storied university. We have a kid now that is that good. They certainly don't come along every year. John Calipari kept a kid named Devin Booker coming off the bench all year who went 13th in the NBA draft and is averaging over 27 pts per game this year. The kid Devin came off the bench for, shooting guard, Aaron Harrison, who went undrafted the same year. I guess the pros know who can play. Oh, that was the year we lost to Wisconsin in the tourney and we had another pretty good point guard coming off the bench named Tyler Ulis.
If you start a kid who is a team player, like Reed Sheppard, don't you think it lessens the chances of getting off to a terrible start like we have in the last two games? I do. I know Reed is a freshman and makes those mistakes that a freshman makes, but you see how the team responds when he is in the game. You saw that last night when Cal took BJ off the point and on the bench after he drove into the clogged lane multiple times and turned the ball over.
Once Cal put Reed in the game at the point, the team steadied and went on to win the game. Eventually, he put BJ back in the game, off the ball where he should be, and things still rolled on smoothly.
After the game, Cal mentioned that we couldn't win without, "Ugo", but didn't offer any praise for Reed until ask the question and his response was tepid, "He was making some better decisions and all those things". That's not exactly effusive praise for the kid or yourself for making the move. Perhaps, he didn't want to answer more questions about why he had not done that all year, consistently. That's our coach and my 10 dollars worth.
Click to expand...
Will never give a home grown kid the same praise as others. He knows that is what the fans want.
 
Blisterpac said:
I too faced criticism from several fans of Cal a few days ago for making that point. It all began with one poster, and by the end of it, I found myself engaging with 5 or 6. Some resorted to ad hominem attacks, labeling me an "idiot" and "obtuse". While I've been called worse to my face, such keyboard warriors don't bother me much. I responded in kind every time, always ready for a debate. It wasn't until JR posted about the issue of name-calling that I realized I needed to take a step back. I apologized to him in the post and that was that.
Now, to the point that I'd like to make so I can get my 10 dollars worth for this month. There was a time when I played pickup ball at the Seton Center almost daily. However, I decided to sit out a game when James Lee showed up to play. I'm 6'5" tall but as Clint Eastwood was movie quoted, "A man has to know his limitations". I enjoyed watching James roll down that lane and leave the rim vibrating. That's how old I am.
That's the extent of my participation in the game. John Calipari has made a career of the game and I have just observed it being played over the years. I loved the dunkers like Kenny "Sky" Walker and the best shooters, like lefty Kevin Grevey and Kyle Macy. I loved going to Memorial Coliseum with my buddies, showing up a 5 pm for a 7 o'clock game with some great seats to cheer the Cats to victory.
Cal has forgotten more about the game than I know. I was happy to get Cal after the BG experiment, and it was obvious he was going to be tailor-made for the challenge. He had a big personality, he could work the crowds and the camera, and he was a great recruiter and ambassador for the program and Kentucky. He still has many of those traits.
My problem with his coaching skills began in 2010 when he didn't win it all with that NBA team he fielded with Wall, Boogie, Bledsoe, Patterson, etc. As a few of my detractors pointed out, other coaches have had loaded teams and didn't win it all. Coach K was mentioned and they were right. My position was, "I don't care what other coaches do, I care what ours does.
Cal has enough of a resume that demonstrates his inability to always maintain his train of thought during a game and a tendency to go on "Full Tilt", to use a poker player's parlance. I thought he did that during the South Carolina game and has done it many times in the past.
Cal's inability to get to the right starting lineup over the years has caused me to go on "Full Tilt". I'm not a psychologist, but my best guess is he starts and plays the players with high * ratings based on what HE wants to happen on the court and the amount of work he put into recruiting those players to the University of Kentucky.
A kid like Reed Sheppard, who showed up outside the top 20 of the best players in the country, was not that difficult to get to go to Kentucky since he lived and played here. Cal has little consideration for our homegrown talent, in my opinion, even when we have one that is good enough to start for this storied university. We have a kid now that is that good. They certainly don't come along every year. John Calipari kept a kid named Devin Booker coming off the bench all year who went 13th in the NBA draft and is averaging over 27 pts per game this year. The kid Devin came off the bench for, shooting guard, Aaron Harrison, who went undrafted the same year. I guess the pros know who can play. Oh, that was the year we lost to Wisconsin in the tourney and we had another pretty good point guard coming off the bench named Tyler Ulis.
If you start a kid who is a team player, like Reed Sheppard, don't you think it lessens the chances of getting off to a terrible start like we have in the last two games? I do. I know Reed is a freshman and makes those mistakes that a freshman makes, but you see how the team responds when he is in the game. You saw that last night when Cal took BJ off the point and on the bench after he drove into the clogged lane multiple times and turned the ball over.
Once Cal put Reed in the game at the point, the team steadied and went on to win the game. Eventually, he put BJ back in the game, off the ball where he should be, and things still rolled on smoothly.
After the game, Cal mentioned that we couldn't win without, "Ugo", but didn't offer any praise for Reed until ask the question and his response was tepid, "He was making some better decisions and all those things". That's not exactly effusive praise for the kid or yourself for making the move. Perhaps, he didn't want to answer more questions about why he had not done that all year, consistently. That's our coach and my 10 dollars worth.
Click to expand...
thanks for putting that post together, some really well thought out points there. I concur wholeheartedly
 
$Z71$ said:
I think Shep and Dilly should share the majority of the PG minutes. DJ is a 2 guard trying to learn to play PG, it would benefit the team in multiple ways to allow him to play off the ball.
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OJT in high level basketball games you’re trying to win isn’t ideal
 
The sad thing is the one player(Dillingham) that most people on this board and in this thread think is a for sure one and done player, with the highest draft stock is second guy off the bench. Why? And spare me the “he gives us a spark” crap.
Start the best players and go from there.
 
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Cold Stout Beer said:
This is nothing but a fan chat board hoss. If people making conversation bothers you, there's probably a Barbie Movie chat board.
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Barbie Movie Love GIF by Warner Bros. Deutschland
 
Cold Stout Beer said:
That means he needs to start and run it from the get go.

He knows how to run and offense, knows where everybody is and puts a ton of pressure on the defense each possession.
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I'm not saying he has to start, but all of his minutes (at least 25) should be at the one. Regardless of who's on the floor with him. Shifting DJ to the wing makes us better in that he's stronger than reed in driving to the hole, leaving reed on the perimeter for the kick-out 3. Maybe the better line-up when reed's on the bench, too. Leave DJ on the wing w/ Reeves and put the ball in Rob's hands
 
nickhorvathsuxazz said:
I'm not saying he has to start, but all of his minutes (at least 25) should be at the one. Regardless of who's on the floor with him. Shifting DJ to the wing makes us better in that he's stronger than reed in driving to the hole, leaving reed on the perimeter for the kick-out 3. Maybe the better line-up when reed's on the bench, too. Leave DJ on the wing w/ Reeves and put the ball in Rob's hands
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That's fair and about as good as we'll get. I don't expect him to start, either, but he needs to be the PG the majority of the game and I think he eventually will be and soon.
 
Last edited:
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ukfan1622 said:
I think DJ and Shep return. And I'll be okay with that starting backcourt next year.
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Might be the best backcourt in the country next season. Fland and Perry should be solid backups.

But I still have my doubts that Wagner will return.
 
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