Freshman DJ Wagner with NBA star Damian Lillard. (Instagram/@coach_em)
ESPN basketball analyst Seth Greenberg has already seen enough of coach John Calipari’s team to feel good about the 2023-24 season for Kentucky.
“The biggest things with this team are that it has great versatility, more shotmakers, more floor gamers. They have guys who can break you down off the dribble because they put it on the ground with purpose and that is important,” Greenberg said.
He knows the lack of NCAA Tournament — or even SEC Tournament — success UK has had the last three years. He thinks that might be changing.
“This team has a totally different DNA. Look at the bench (during UK’s games in Canada) and how they reacted to each other. This team looks like it has a real joy for each other,” Greenberg said.
He thinks Kentucky’s perimeter players led by freshman DJ Wagner are going to be extra special.
“Wagner is an explosive guard. He has got to develop a better runner or pull-up midrange game and be shot ready,” Greenberg said. “He is a competitive defender and an explosive on-ball creator with a high basketball IQ. He loves being in the gym.
“I think all those perimeter guys’ ceilings are really high and that has a chance to make John’s team really special this year.”
Wagner’s trainer and former coach Ernest McGill shared on social media recently that Wagner had been training with NBA superstar Damian Lillard, who has scored almost 20,000 points in the NBA, in Portland where they worked on weight distribution, balance, space and shot creation.
Wagner has been in Portland at the Nike Academy skills camp in August that featured some of the best NBA prospects in the high school and college ranks.
7 Responses
6th in the SEC.
Will get in the big dance
Will falter, followed by a litany of excuses from the fraud and his devotees.
Professor, with the staff change and finally a deep team that we have lack last few years will be the difference . Of course that depends how our big men plays out. I totally liked what this team can do.
I love our guards! I think Theiro will be a huge surprise this year and our other forwards will be great! But, if we don’t have any rebounding, and shot blocking, we’re not going to beat the good teams. And, if we have any 7footers playing this year I hope he can defend the pick and roll. Maybe Cal can finally teach it or we have somebody that can understand what he’s teaching.
Wagner could average 10+ assists a game if he were so inclined and our team would be better if he did, but I think he will go for 20 ppg instead. Calipari wants him to be a lottery pick.
Thiero will be a solid backup for Edwards. Shepherd will be a solid backup for Reeves. Will we have backups for Miller and Onyenso? Dillingham will be an adequate backup for Wagner, but I don’t see him getting significant minutes unless Wagner gets in foul trouble or gets hurt. Wagner will be Calipari’s pet and it will hurt the team.
Miller should be a 4. We don’t even know if Onyenso will play at all. And we don’t know about Bradshaw or Zorro. It’s possible we don’t have a 5 at all which will make us have a disastrous season.
Mitchell not Miller