I think his freshman year he started PG but after that as Smash said he played off the ball in HS and AAU
Shep has GOT to run point rest of the year
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Would be THRILLED to have him and Reed back! Rob, too, but that’s a pipe dream, I’m afraid.
Yeah Rob is a goner. A lot of mocks have him top 10
He has struggled passing the ball this season. He does need to work on that and his strength to finish stronger at the rim against a defender. He doesn't draw enough fouls in the paint. Another year at UK and he could also improve his outside shot and his floater.
His defense is decent, but he has the skill to become much better. Would LOVE to see him return!!!!
We actually used it quite a bit early in the season when Thiero was starting at the 4 and Mitchell the 5. For example, the game when we destroyed a top 10 ranked Miami team by 22 points.
We stopped using it after Bradshaw came back, but not because it wasn’t working.
Yeah his High School had a PG for sure he played with all his years there. Not sure about AAU I think he played PG a little more there.
Cal won’t let him for sure but I like the Idea of him playing PG when him and DJ play together. Obviously Dilly will play PG the majoirty of the time together. I’m surprised we haven’t tried an ultra small lineup of DJ/Reed/Rob/Reeves/Mitchell .
Laurel County should always be starting. Over all counties!
East Bernstadt !!
East Bernstadt !!
Cal won’t go with a four guard lineup, but I would like to see it. I’d love to see some of those big SEC 4’s try to guard Reeves.
Because now Calipari is afraid we can't outscore everybody. Slowing the game down helps the defense.
We can't slow the game down. Shepherd is a half court PG...not an up and down PG.
It was good to see him finally start asserting himself offensively from the point. He hasn’t had the chance to run point much and even when he did he was too passive not willing to create stuff.
He was still a little passive in the first half getting rid of the ball way too early but later finally decided to start breaking down his man and creating and when he did most of the time he either scored or got some body else a good look.
He was still a little passive in the first half getting rid of the ball way too early but later finally decided to start breaking down his man and creating and when he did most of the time he either scored or got some body else a good look.
Not going to happen in a million years, don't waste the effort even discussing it. DJ is the guy.
my thoughts too
UK fans should consider it a win that Edwards is seeing a reduced role
You are one dog shit poster. You think last nights slim win over a cellar dweller missing one of their best players was a thing of beauty. Cal sucks, it’s that simple. You can quote all your HOF BS you want but it doesn’t change the fact that cal royally sucks at coaching. Your CHC should be changed to BCHC. I finally figured out on my own what the hell your CHC BS stands for, now you can do the same for my new abbreviation.
I think he’s a bit angry and fueled by anger and that works for me! He’s been stewing over there on the bench.
Yep. Easy to forget but we played our best basketball before we had even 1 Big available. Since UGO and Bradshaw became ready cal has had one of them on the floor at all times and now at times has both out there. We just aren’t the same club with them. I would give Z about 20 minutes/game because I don’t think he would disrupt the offensive firepower and likely add to it and play ugo maybe 10/game and the other 10 minutes we are playing small ball as we did the beginning of the year, minus Edwards. Edwards/bradshaw should only be playing spot minutes for foul trouble reasons at this stage and not sure burks doesn’t move ahead of Edwards. Solid 8 man rotation here:
Starters: Z/mitchell/reeves/dilly/shep
Bench: Theiro/wagner/Ugo
Edwards and Bradshaw need another year at UK. They're both pulling half a million. Would it be the end of the world if they came back to work on their games instead of driving off the inevitable g-league cliff?
Both could jump 20 to 40 draft spots with another season of real development.
Both could jump 20 to 40 draft spots with another season of real development.
Mitchell is too small to play the 5. Hunter Dickinson has been getting punked lately by teams. He went for 30+ and double digit rebounds against Mitchell. He is NOT a 5.
Shep has got to be more selfish. He is passing up shots. Kid has got to get 10+ shots a game.
Hell yeah I’d love to see a class like this that is full of talent but weaker physically return to see what they can become with another year.
He played a hell of a second half. I love having him run point and DJ off ball. It worked well. I love that second half lineup when Ugo plays like that. Wouldn’t mind that being the starting lineup for a little bit.
It obvious that Reed should have the ball in his hands. After the Arkansas game Cal should know it too.
He will also slow down the offense. Dilly and Reed coming off the bench works. Play better defense, get one or all the 7 footers to play hard for 15 to 20 minutes and UK beats everyone. The secret to this season is not the guards but it’s the 7 footers
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.
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This is so true.
It is a shame that they won’t even consider returning. It’s almost as if being OAD is more important than actually having a long career.
Ugo is currently giving us 15-20 good minutes. Yes they all need to play better defense.
When your two best guards come off the bench of course it works. No matter what you do with your best players it should work. It worked when he did it with Ulis and Booker to.
If you are saying Reed slows down the offense I completely disagree.
Why would Reed running the point slow down the offense? I completely disagree with this. Reed is always looking up the floor and pushing the tempo when he can. Just because DJ might beat him in a footrace (not 100% sure this is true either) it doesn’t mean he runs a faster offense.
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I'd put "2." before "3." but that's the only part I can disagree with at the moment.
I completely disagree too. I would argue it actually speeds the offense up. Reed has a real knack for outlet passes and advancing the ball up the floor off of a rebound. Plus when Reed has the ball he comes up the floor looking to pass it. Dj dribbles too much and he's almost always hunting a shot which causes everyone else to stand and watch him.
That is his biggest asset. He sees the play ahead, whether it is an outlet pass or his pass to an open shooter. The kid is just a very good basketball player. UK should hire his parents as assistant coaches.
