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Name: Jeff Sheppard
College: Kentucky
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 190
Class: Senior
Position: Point Guard
Other Position: Shooting Guard
BULLET_BALL2_SKY.GIF (264 bytes)WWW.NBA.COM profile on Jeff Sheppard
BULLET_BALL2_SKY.GIF (264 bytes)ESPN.COM profile on Jeff Sheppard
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Stats (Provided by JazzyJ)
                  G  MIN  FG  FGA  3P 3PA  FT FTA  REB  PF AST  TO BLK STL  PTS
93-94 Kentucky   29  258  40   72   7  19  20  31   24  38  30  22   3  17  107
94-95 Kentucky   33  748  99  225  28  78  49  65   75  83  89  40   9  45  275
95-96 Kentucky   34  434  65  125  22  44  36  58   70  54  65  32   5  16  188
96-97 Kentucky                    Did Not Play - Redshirted
97-98 Kentucky   38 1064 186  419  71 189  78 111  151  63 104  59   7  47  521
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TOTALS          134 2504 390  841 128 330 183 265  320 238 288 153  24 125 1091
                  MIN   FG%   3P%   FT%  RPG  APG  TPG  BPG  SPG   PPG
93-94 Kentucky    8.9  55.6  36.8  64.5  0.8  1.0  0.8  0.1  0.6   3.7
94-95 Kentucky   22.7  44.0  35.9  75.4  2.3  2.7  1.2  0.3  1.4   8.3
95-96 Kentucky   12.8  52.0  50.0  62.1  2.1  1.9  0.9  0.1  0.5   5.5
96-97 Kentucky              Did Not Play - Redshirted
97-98 Kentucky   28.0  44.4  37.6  70.3  4.0  2.7  1.6  0.2  1.2  13.7
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TOTALS           18.7  46.4  38.8  69.1  2.4  2.1  1.1  0.2  0.9   8.1


Scouting Report: JazzyJ [JazzyJDT@aol.com]
It must have been the biggest dream -- from growing up a die-hard UK fan in Georgia to winning Tournament MVP and a national championship in their senior season -- that was the dream Jeff Sheppard had -- and lived out. The next dream is the NBA. Can it come true? First, and perhaps foremost, Sheppard is a fantastic athlete. All those comparisons you heard between Sheppard and former Wildcat Rex Chapman were absolutely true. He can simply jump out of the gym. In fact, it was reported at the Desert Classic pre-draft camp, Sheppard measured with the highest vertical of anyone there. But Sheppard's game is more than simply jumping, he can actually play the game of basketball. Sheppard is a talented offensive player who burn you different ways. While he's not a pure outside shooter, he has a good knack of coming off of screens or off the dribble to nail a 3. He has decent range that should extend out to the NBA 3-pt line. Sheppard can also create his shot off the dribble, and his hang-time allows him to get some good looks to the basket. Defensively, Sheppard is solid -- anyone who can play the Pitino system for 3 years and the Tubby system for 1 should be able to play some decent defense.

Questions regarding Sheppard's game: most important may be size and position. Sheppard is at most 6'3", which is short by NBA standards for a shooting guard, even with the athletic leaping ability. Does Sheppard have what it takes to play point guard in the NBA? He does have 1 full year of experience at the position (having started there as a sophomore in the 1994-95 season), but he more than showed he wasn't a true PG. In addition, Sheppard's ball-handling, while solid, isn't the caliber of a starting PG in the NBA. Has he dribbled extensively or gone to his left yet? He likely could fill in at that position, but not for long periods of time. Sheppard isn't a pure shooter, and some even wonder if his high vertical leap affects his shot in that it makes him drift in the air (sure wish I had that problem).

Outlook: looking like a 2nd round selection -- could be late 1st round if he has a good Chicago showing. While he is short for a shooting guard, NBA teams will like his athleticsm and may see him as a 3rd/combo guard type off of the bench. Sheppard plays hard and knows the game, so that is certainly a plus. His having played on 2 national championship teams, being an MVP on one certainly doesn't hurt either.



Craig Simpson - Usenet Draft Commissioner


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