One issue where the critics were wrong about John Calipari
ESPN analysts Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo are out with their post-NBA Draft Combine mock draft for next month’s annual selection show at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
With the No. 3 overall pick, the ESPN duo has the Houston Rockets selecting former Kentucky guard Reed Sheppard.
“Sheppard’s unselfishness, feel for the game and sharp defensive instincts could make him a strong fit alongside the Rockets’ core moving forward,” wrote Givony.
With the No. 4 overall pick, the ESPN duo has the San Antonio Spurs selecting former Kentucky guard Rob Dillingham.
“His shot-creation ability and offensive upside — as well as the level of defensive cover he’d have with (Victor) Wembanyama behind him — makes him an intriguing upside bet for the Spurs specifically,” wrote Woo.
Post-NBA combine mock draft: Two rounds, 58 picks and predictions at every spothttps://t.co/RoI3fx9BBv
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) May 22, 2024
Here’s the catch: Neither Sheppard nor Dillingham was an every-game starter for John Calipari’s Wildcats last season. Sheppard started five games. Dillingham started one.
It’s a point of contention among both UK fans and the national college basketball media that Calipari did not start arguably his two best players.
“Kentucky is winning despite John Calipari holding back Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham, his two best players,” read the headline on a story by Kyle Boone of CBS Sports.
On this particular issue, I’m going to take up for the departed Coach Cal.
Starts matter less than minutes played. Sheppard averaged the third most minutes on the team at 28.9 per game, behind only senior guard Antonio Reeves at 31.4 and senior forward Tre Mitchell at 30.3.
In fact, Sheppard averaged more minutes than did D.J. Wagner, UK’s point guard who started 28 of the 29 games he played. Wagner averaged 25.8 minutes per game.
Meanwhile, Dillingham averaged 23.3 minutes. That ranked fifth behind Reeves, Mitchell, Sheppard and Wagner. It ranked ahead of freshman forward Justin Edwards, who made 30 starts and averaged 21.4 minutes played. It ranked ahead of sophomore forward Adou Thiero, who started 19 games and averaged 21.4 minutes.
Neither Sheppard nor Dillingham was going to start ahead of Reeves, who led UK in scoring at 20.2 points per game. Wagner began the year as a starter and stayed there, primarily because he was considered UK’s best on-the-ball defender, but also because Calipari liked bringing Sheppard and Dillingham off the bench early, sometimes before even the first under-16-minute media timeout.
Consider that in UK’s 80-76 loss to No. 14 seed Oakland in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Wagner played 17 minutes, Edwards 16. Dillingham played 28 minutes, Sheppard 26. Alas, Dillingham made just two of his nine shots against the Golden Grizzlies. Sheppard was 1-of-5.
We’ve heard this before from Calipari critics. Many point to the 38-0 Kentucky team of 2015 that finished 38-1 after that 71-64 loss to Wisconsin in the Final Four in Indianapolis. Andrew Harrison played 31 minutes and Aaron Harrison 27, while Devin Booker logged just 19 minutes and Tyler Ulis 17.
Booker is now one of the NBA’s brightest stars, of course. He’s averaged 25-or-more points per game for six consecutive seasons. Meanwhile, Andrew Harrison played 145 games in the NBA; twin brother Aaron played 35. Both have played overseas since 2019.
But as freshman starters in 2013-14, the Harrison twins helped UK reach the national title game before the 60-54 loss to UConn in Dallas. In fact, without Aaron Harrison’s late-game heroics, Kentucky doesn’t even make the 2014 Final Four, much less the title game.
Something else to consider: Kentucky fans hope that if BYU star Jaxson Robinson withdraws from the 2024 NBA draft, he will follow new UK head coach Mark Pope from Provo to Lexington. How many games did Robinson start last season for the Cougars? Six. He still averaged 26.4 minutes per game and was named the Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year.
Who starts the game doesn’t matter nearly as much as who finishes the game. And Kentucky basketball’s downfall in 2023-24 had more to do with bad defense and poor rebounding than with John Calipari not starting Reed Sheppard or Rob Dillingham.
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