Reed Sheppard explains why he looks up to Chris Paul's game

Kentucky’s 2023-24 basketball team has looked tremendous through a couple of games in the GLOBL JAM event they’re participating in up in Canada. Particularly, the freshmen have all shined in one way or another, perhaps none more than home-state hero Reed Sheppard.

Sheppard’s chipped in as the ideal guard off the bench for Kentucky, possessing a versatile skill set and maturity beyond his true freshman status, which has been important for a team full of youngsters. He says his demeanor is partially credited to Chris Paul, who is a big role model for him.

When asked why the NBA star is an example for him, Sheppard answered:

“Yeah, just how he plays and how he gets others involved. He plays at his pace and you can’t you never steal it. He just controls the game and he always is looking to make the right play. And then he can score when he needs to and I think he’s… I think he’s a really good point guard.”

Sheppard doesn’t necessarily view himself as a shooting specialist like he was often billed as in high school. Instead, he models his game after a selfless point guard like Chris Paul who is willing to score, but more importantly, can help the team as a passer and defender.

Through a couple of games in Canada, Reed Sheppard has showcased that variety of skills and contributed heavily on both sides of the ball. He looked terrific defensively in the first two contests and had six assists but zero points in the first before following that up with 14 points and two threes in the second game. CP3 would be proud.

John Calipari also has a former great point guard in mind as a model for this team, a former ‘Cat that you could compare to Chris Paul: Tyler Ulis. Calipari shared this week that he wants this current team to play the freed-up and player-led style of offense that the 2016 group did.

“I’ve told this team, I want this team to play like his team played,” said Calipari of Ulis and the’16 team. “Which was he basically coached the team.” He says he’s trying a more hands-off approach this time around.

“You’re seeing, I’m trying to do less and less when I’m coaching. And the reason is I want these kids to feel empowered to go make mistakes go do stuff. Call what you want. I don’t really care long as you’re fighting. With him, he would walk over and say, ‘let’s do this.’ That’s fine. ‘Let’s do this.’ Let’s do it.'”