Jack Givens still believes that freshman Justin Edwards can be a “great player” this season. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Former UK All-American Jack Givens takes his work as analyst on the UK Radio Network seriously and regularly attends practices to give him a complete perspective on players to share with fans during games when he’s working with Tom Leach.
One player who has impressed Givens from the start this season has been senior guard Antonio Reeves.
“Antonio is just a good dude. He is determined that this is going to be a great year for him and he’s playing that way,” Givens said. “He is not a vocal leader but is a guy younger guys look at because he works hard every day.
“The big difference now compared to last year is that last year if he wasn’t making shots he would stay on the perimeter and shoot whether he was making shots or not. Now he puts it on the floor and doesn’t just stand out there waiting.”
Freshman Justin Edwards probably has been the most perplexing player to this point. He was projected as a top 10 NBA draft pick before the season started but has struggled on both ends of the court.
“Justin is going to be a great player. He is going to be really, really good but sometimes players get a false understanding of what being good is,” Givens said. “He was trying to prove to everybody that being good is making 3-point shots and scoring.
“Now he is figuring out I am not shooting a high percentage and what am I going to do to score and rebound. That means he can’t just stand around the perimeter. At 6-8, he is long. He has to take advantage of all his assets, knock down a 3 every now and then if he is open but don’t just stand and wait. He will get there but it is going to take him some time.”
5 Responses
Thanks Goose for the golden nuggets of insight – much appreciated!
Goose is golden indeed
Agree, but Justin is playing soft. He should be vicious when
he attacks the basket sending the massage that he’s trying
bring the basket down along with anyone that’s in his orbit.
Justin played better tonight
I wonder how Reeves got that scare under his right eye. Probably did it playing basketball. Jack "Goose" Givens will always hold that NCAA scoring record against dUKe. Got his autograph a long time ago and he’s in my social media feed. Definitely one of my favorite players. Sorry he beat you out of a title Magic Johnson. Not.