Perfect Wheeler Comparison

Whatsup

All-American
Feb 15, 2011
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This random thought has been posted several times already. Come on Man keep up.
 

GuyFromKY

All-Conference
Dec 22, 2020
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Nope, I'm still sticking with Briscoe. Uses his thick body to leverage position in the lane, has nice touch from 15 feet in, shoots the 3 well enough to keep defenses honest, focuses on setting his teammates up, and dribbles the ball on the baseline periodically. ;)
I would take Wheeler 100-1 over Briscoe. He is probably my least favorite Cal-era player.
 

GuyFromKY

All-Conference
Dec 22, 2020
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Wow, that's some venom for a kid that played hard for the program, averaging 12.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game as a sophomore. Granted, he should have come back his Jr. year, but I don't hate what he did for UK.

Just could not stand the way he played. I feel like my only memories of him are turnovers and bricks. I don't hate the kid, just didn't like his time here.
 
May 31, 2018
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Cliff Hawkins! Both ball hawks and super quick... Sorry just a random thought! GBB!
On the perimeter yes I can see the similarity but Cliff didn't get posted up by other PG's often because at 6'1" he could hold his own on the block. That is where Wheeler is at a disadvantage.
 
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*Fox2Monk*

Heisman
Jun 10, 2009
46,383
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Nope, I'm still sticking with Briscoe. Uses his thick body to leverage position in the lane, has nice touch from 15 feet in, shoots the 3 well enough to keep defenses honest, focuses on setting his teammates up, and dribbles the ball on the baseline periodically. ;)
Briscoe but a better passer.
 
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Tim Higgins

All-Conference
Jul 28, 2010
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Briscoe was a bull in the lane. Him and Wheeler both use their bodies similarly when going for a guarded layup. It’s automatic. However Wheelers vision is superior and is one of the best pure passers we have had in a long while. Hawkins was a better defender than both of them. But he did not have Wheeler’s passing creativity neither. I like all 3 of them
 
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revcort

Heisman
Feb 20, 2003
32,522
30,904
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Nope, I'm still sticking with Briscoe. Uses his thick body to leverage position in the lane, has nice touch from 15 feet in, shoots the 3 well enough to keep defenses honest, focuses on setting his teammates up, and dribbles the ball on the baseline periodically. ;)
I can see some of the comparison there, but Wheeler is MUCH better than Briscoe ever was. Briscoe was a big, strong guy who had very little speed and quickness. He bullied his way to the bucket and finished through people. He wasn't a big assist guy at all. He was more the "lead guard" type who wanted to lead the team in scoring more than lead them in assists. In his 2nd season, at his peak, he averaged 4.2 assists. He also averaged 2.4 turnovers.

I would say the OP's comparison to Hawkins is better. Hawkins as a senior would be similar- both very quick, both good (not great) shooters, both pests on defense (Hawkins is one of the best on-ball defenders I can remember) and both score as needed. I think Wheeler is a better assist guy, though.

I think when we look back at Wheeler, we may be saying he's one of the best we've ever had at the position. His quickness is elite and his court vision is also elite. I've never seen anyone who always goes left on drives be able to get to the goal as often as Wheeler does. Guys just can't stay in front of him. I think he could score 20+ per game if he wanted to, but he prefers to set up his teammates. He would be averaging over 10 assists per game right now if our guys had been making the open shots he gets them.
 

cats#1again

All-Conference
Nov 27, 2011
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Wheeler is a blur compared to Briscoe. He may be closer to Epps than either of those. I still don't like that comparison either.
With wheeler at the point you won't hear cal yelling go!!!!! For sure
He gets it.

If he stays healthy he will demolish the single season assists record.
 

GuyFromKY

All-Conference
Dec 22, 2020
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Wow over a guy like The Dragon? Or the worst PG we had in Askew, or even Harrow. I’d even put Vanderbilt for his non play, Boston for his head scratching play, Camron Fletcher(!).

Nobody on your list is very high in my favorite Cats rankings 😆
 
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wccat

All-American
Apr 8, 2009
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Nope, I'm still sticking with Briscoe. Uses his thick body to leverage position in the lane, has nice touch from 15 feet in, shoots the 3 well enough to keep defenses honest, focuses on setting his teammates up, and dribbles the ball on the baseline periodically. ;)
Briscoe would fit in with this team. He probably averaged stepping out of bounds at least once a game. Just like this team.
 

Bluefaithful

All-American
Mar 30, 2009
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On the perimeter yes I can see the similarity but Cliff didn't get posted up by other PG's often because at 6'1" he could hold his own on the block. That is where Wheeler is at a disadvantage.
I know that would look good on paper. I just can't recall. Did we help defense at all? Can you give me the players name. The only game we lost was Duke, 1st game of year, he was matched up with Roach. Roach was 3 out of 8 with 6 points.
Elaborate?
 

revcort

Heisman
Feb 20, 2003
32,522
30,904
113
Think it’s funny when people compare players that aren’t even close to being the same. Somebody on here compared Hopkins to Chuck Hayes.
People are funny in what they remember about players. Sometimes the comparison is as simple as players being the same ethnicity. Sometimes it's as simple as playing the same position, being the same height, having a similar looking shot or being similarly athletic. The majority of comparisons usually fall short in multiple ways.
 

G-PIP

All-American
Mar 14, 2014
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Nope, I'm still sticking with Briscoe. Uses his thick body to leverage position in the lane, has nice touch from 15 feet in, shoots the 3 well enough to keep defenses honest, focuses on setting his teammates up, and dribbles the ball on the baseline periodically. ;)
I think Briscoe could have been a good solid college PG. He had everything you need for that, but I think his perimeter shooting made that by far his best use on the court. Once you move him off the ball his perimeter shooting issues probably got magnified.
 

fatguy87

All-American
Oct 8, 2004
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Wheeler is a mediocre shooting, pass first point guard and a thief on defense.

Former Cats one could credibly apply those qualities:

Hawkins
Rondo
Hagans
Turner

Obviously, none of them assist as well as Wheeler. None of them have the exact same shooting stats. This is a superficial, qualitative assessment with categories based on general notions of skill.