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Time to say on Edwards

Edwards is a good kid. You can see him cheering on the team. He’s having a hard time finding his niche, but we need him to improve and be solid by the end of the year. Might even be better for him to come off the bench once he sees the flow of the game. Either way, I’m rooting for him.
I am too. Starting is not working for him it appears to me.
 
Are you able to cite specific examples of this in ncaa?


Do you remember the coury flurry days? When Billy G got us in a hole basically every single game because he worked hard in practice?

Also I remember the sweet 16 game where freshman Nick Richards had to start and we got off to a 10-1 deficit to never recover from.

I don’t know how many examples you will find overall in the NCAA though because generally most coaches and teams try to start their best players that help them to win the game.
 
Come on man. Criticism is ok, bust and soft are not Criticism.


1. He's a bust in comparion to his pre-season hype and HS rank. And because players don't stay longer than 1 year with Cal 95 percent of the time. He's a bust when compared to his hype and rank

2. He is soft. I don't see how that's not criticism. He avoids contact and openly shys away from it at times.
 
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Do you remember the coury flurry days? When Billy G got us in a hole basically every single game because he worked hard in practice?

Also I remember the sweet 16 game where freshman Nick Richards had to start and we got off to a 10-1 deficit to never recover from.

I don’t know how many examples you will find overall in the NCAA though because generally most coaches and teams try to start their best players that help them to win the game.

I'm asking about UK under Cal in ncaa tourney. I'm not looking it up because I'm not the guy throwing a random ass stat with no facts out there.

Idc about Billy g and coury.

And that game was 2018 kstate and UK literally led by 1 with 90 seconds to play. I dont think richards 8 minutes is the reason they lost and he wasnt the sole reason they got down 13 to 1 to start that game. And it looks like he started because we had no other options at center that season and that's on the coach 100%.
 
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The "if" is starting to be worrisome.
If he doesn’t return, this team cant make a deep run, imo.

His play against KU was so critical to us having any chance in that game. There are times where you can only win when you have a guy that relentlessly attacks the rim, makes follow slams that no one else on the court can make, and is happy to be the last option on offense, while playing lockdown defense.

We can advance in the tournament without him, but I don’t think we can advance very far.
 
I'm asking about UK under Cal in ncaa tourney. I'm not looking it up because I'm not the guy throwing a random ass stat with no facts out there.

Idc about Billy g and coury.

And that game was 2018 kstate and UK literally led by 1 with 90 seconds to play. I dont think richards 8 minutes is the reason they lost and he wasnt the sole reason they got down 13 to 1 to start that game. And it looks like he started because we had no other options at center that season and that's on the coach 100%.

Well there is an example and yes I was at the game and richards was absolutely the reason they started off down 13-1 or whatever it was to 1 if you go rewatch the game.

Yes if a player plays 8 minutes and in that 8 minutes the team is -12 and they lose the game by 3 that makes a difference.

Whether you like cal or love him or hate him that has nothing to do with it, that is common sense.
 
He kinda has to play ar least some as long as we don't have Z or Adou.
At this point, he should be coming in mostly before media timeouts to give guys extended rest, like other teams do and Cal used to do when he had a shorter bench, or when UK has a lead they aren't nervous about losing.

It's on Edwards to commit and develop into a better player, which might mean a second year of college, or throw away what could have been a promising professional career.

There's zero doubt for me that rumors of him never being in the weight room, not putting in voluntary time in the gym working on his game, etc., are true at this point. He is slow, looks like he doesn't lift weights, and has terrible body language. Doesn't carry himself like a player dedicated to his craft or all that emotionally engaged in success.
 
If he doesn’t return, this team cant make a deep run, imo.

His play against KU was so critical to us having any chance in that game. There are times where you can only win when you have a guy that relentlessly attacks the rim, makes follow slams that no one else on the court can make, and is happy to be the last option on offense, while playing lockdown defense.

We can advance in the tournament without him, but I don’t think we can advance very far.
I'm a Thiero fan too, but the potential season implications of a back issue that's caused him to be out this long are starting to be concerning to me. I agree Thiero is needed.
 
At this point, he should be coming in mostly before media timeouts to give guys extended rest, like other teams do and Cal used to do when he had a shorter bench, or when UK has a lead they aren't nervous about losing.

It's on Edwards to commit and develop into a better player, which might mean a second year of college, or throw away what could have been a promising professional career.

There's zero doubt for me that rumors of him never being in the weight room, not putting in voluntary time in the gym working on his game, etc., are true at this point. He is slow, looks like he doesn't lift weights, and has terrible body language. Doesn't carry himself like a player dedicated to his craft or all that emotionally engaged in success.
Hard to disagree. The guy is a 20 year old high D-1 level athlete and has no muscle definition in his arms or shoulders. I was shredded in college and I just did it for the girls (sorry that’s a douche thing to say but it’s accurate). I lifted my ass off without any money on the line.
 
I'll tell you this.. Edwards is not getting drafted if the NBA draft was tomorrow. If he did, it would be SOLELY because some contending team would say "screw it, why not?" with the 52nd pick or something.

If his play doesn't DRASTICALLY improve, he's either going to be back for next year, or he'll transfer.

The NBA is not an option for him right now.
The only NBA team that drafts him is the one that owes Rich Paul a favor.

Or, one that doesn't spend any time reviewing his actual film from UK ... instead, relying solely on his HS highlight reels and ranking (NBA teams aren't this lazy).

If he played anywhere else this season, he would almost certainly be a college sophomore next season.
 
The only NBA team that drafts him is the one that owes Rich Paul a favor.

Or, one that doesn't spend any time reviewing his actual film from UK ... instead, relying solely on his HS highlight reels and ranking (NBA teams aren't this lazy).

If he played anywhere else this season, he would almost certainly be a college sophomore next season.
I remember saying Tyty Washington did exactly 0 things at an NBA level, clearly was not working hard in the weight room, and I didn’t see how he was worth a 1st round pick at the end of his freshman year.

It was miraculous he got picked in the 1st round. And he was a MUCH better college player than Edwards. Someone want to tell me how his NBA career is going?
 
Individually starting Edwards hasn’t worked so why not bring him off of the bench to see if that could maybe improve his play .

Cal has clearly cut his overall minutes so if you can do that and not worry about his confidence why not have him come off of the bench to see if they helps him mentally ?
That's where I'm at now. It's worth trying a different approach with him at this point. Only question would be if bringing him off the bench messes with the flow of the rest of the team.
 
Every time Burks is out there, I think to myself, "This is the guy who led OTE in scoring?? The league that had Dillingham and several lottery picks throughout???" I mean, he literally air-balled an alley-oop against Texas A&M.
I was going to reply that he air balled an alley oop and then you got it in there. That was wild 😂
 
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That's where I'm at now. It's worth trying a different approach with him at this point. Only question would be if bringing him off the bench messes with the flow of the rest of the team.
I don’t think it would. I think you replace him with Reed. Rob had the perfect game to give a spark off the bench and hopefully the change will light a fire under Edwards .

There have been a few post saying his work ethic is bad which if that’s true that’s very disappointing.
 
There are more guaranteed contracts in the 2nd round than ever before ... becoming expected. Livingston's deal was silly, but that's what Klutch can do.
I’m at the point where I don’t even see him as a 2nd rounder. I’d take Livingston over him. I just mean if I’m looking at them both based on what I see from them as freshmen in college at least.
 
Edwards just isn't getting drafted in his current format. He's going to have to be a sophomore next year, but I bet it will be somewhere else. A lesser program near home is my guess.

I mean, there's always a chance he comes back. Because the only other option right now is to try his hand at another school.
 
Do you remember the coury flurry days? When Billy G got us in a hole basically every single game because he worked hard in practice?

Also I remember the sweet 16 game where freshman Nick Richards had to start and we got off to a 10-1 deficit to never recover from.

I don’t know how many examples you will find overall in the NCAA though because generally most coaches and teams try to start their best players that help them to win the game.
Yep. Hard to find examples of other coaches bringing guys who will be lottery picks off the bench. I don't know if there is another example! And I get starting DJ and Edwards for a time - but good grief, their stock has fallen as a direct result of their play and Dilly and Reed's stock has risen as a direct result of their play. Commentators don't even know what to do with it now while announcing the game. Weird stuff.
 
Edwards just isn't getting drafted in his current format. He's going to have to be a sophomore next year, but I bet it will be somewhere else. A lesser program near home is my guess.

I mean, there's always a chance he comes back. Because the only other option right now is to try his hand at another school.
He's already 20 though. That's a problem.
 
I don’t agree with this. I think Edwards tries as hard as he can when he’s out there, but he seems to be burdened by expectations put on him by others. He’s supposed to be bidding for the #1 pick and he knows that, but I also think he knows that being a 2 or 3 year player would be best for his career/future. Tough spot for a young guy that seems to be a good kid.
Cal has created the culture that if you're ranked high and you don't go to the draft, you must have somehow "failed", and he immediately recruits over said player making things even worse. Cal does not feel his purpose is to build around guys coming back, his legacy is how many of his guys go onto pro ball. I think this year there HAS been a change in Cal, but I can't tell if he's letting Welch run things, or if he's just getting old.
 
At this point, he should be coming in mostly before media timeouts to give guys extended rest, like other teams do and Cal used to do when he had a shorter bench, or when UK has a lead they aren't nervous about losing.

It's on Edwards to commit and develop into a better player, which might mean a second year of college, or throw away what could have been a promising professional career.

There's zero doubt for me that rumors of him never being in the weight room, not putting in voluntary time in the gym working on his game, etc., are true at this point. He is slow, looks like he doesn't lift weights, and has terrible body language. Doesn't carry himself like a player dedicated to his craft or all that emotionally engaged in success.
I wonder if he's worried that over-working or hitting the weights will lead to injury and thus maybe not getting drafted. Seems counter-productive, but not everyone's perspectives are the same :)
 
Yep, agreed. I posted that before we saw how little second half minutes he was going to get. I can live with 10-12 when Thiero comes back. But we know that isn't happening. Cal was experimenting with the bigs tonight. Edwards will get his start and reg min next time.

But I agree with Know1. We shouldn't take this out on Edwards.
He’s only been getting 16-19 minutes for awhile now tho. He’s seeing if he gets going first half, if not he sits him.
 
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At this point, he should be coming in mostly before media timeouts to give guys extended rest, like other teams do and Cal used to do when he had a shorter bench, or when UK has a lead they aren't nervous about losing.

It's on Edwards to commit and develop into a better player, which might mean a second year of college, or throw away what could have been a promising professional career.

There's zero doubt for me that rumors of him never being in the weight room, not putting in voluntary time in the gym working on his game, etc., are true at this point. He is slow, looks like he doesn't lift weights, and has terrible body language. Doesn't carry himself like a player dedicated to his craft or all that emotionally engaged in success.
Maybe this will be a wake up call that he won’t coast to a pro deal. Maybe he will start working harder now.
 
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He's a solid freshman college basketball player at this point. I'm not sure if he gets drafted high enough to go or not. I don't think the NBA drafts on performance as much as potential.

I am fairly certain that if he can't go to the NBA, he's going somewhere else after this season to get the development he needs.
 
we all assume Edwards is gone at the end of this year, right? But at this point I think there’s about a 0% chance he gets drafted in the 1st round.
His NIL exceeds $400,000. Not bad for a guy struggling on the court. He makes what I make in about 5 years, and I have a grad degree and over 10 years experience in my field.

If he came back, he still could be a lottery pick, but I think he pushes through. The pressure will be enormous to get drafted at the end of this year. Even so, a second year from this kid could extend his NBA playing career by a half-decade if he puts it all together.
 
Just toying with the thought for a moment..

G - Sheppard - Fland - Perry
G - Johnson - Fland - Perry - Hart
F - Edwards - Richmond - Thiero - Burks
F - Thiero - Big Z - Burks
C - Quaintance - Onyenso - Cyril
 
Go look at minutes from the first five or so games of the year vs. minutes now. Things have absolutely changed. Edwards has seen his minutes get cut significantly. When Thiero returns they'll probably get cut even more. Edwards is only averaging around 18 minutes a game over the last eight games. Sheppard is averaging 26 and has played 33 and 30 the last two games.

I think some of us just said people need to be patient and see how the rotation settled out and see how players progressed as the year went on. The way this board talks about Edwards you'd think he was getting 35 minutes a game. He needs to play some, if for no other reason then to give guys a rest. We'll see how minutes and the starting lineup look when Thiero returns, but I struggle to see how Edwards is really getting minutes at the expense of other guys right now.
All the "wait and see" people were wrong, AS USUAL, and all the "Edwards shouldn't be starting and playing meaningful minutes" people were right, AS USUAL. So maybe all you "wait and see" people should shut up and listen next time smarter people try to educate you about basketball.
 
I remember saying Tyty Washington did exactly 0 things at an NBA level, clearly was not working hard in the weight room, and I didn’t see how he was worth a 1st round pick at the end of his freshman year.

It was miraculous he got picked in the 1st round. And he was a MUCH better college player than Edwards. Someone want to tell me how his NBA career is going?
LOL Edwards is TyTy Washington now...hahahahahaha
 
LOL Edwards is TyTy Washington now...hahahahahaha
I'm not sure we're on the same page here. I said Edwards wasn't nearly as good as Tyty was, just made a comparison in their soft bodies and the fact that I think neither showed NBA ability in their freshman year.
 
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