John Welch: DJ Wagner's confidence mirrors NBA's Patrick Beverley
Even if you don’t follow the NBA, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of Patrick Beverley before. Hell, college basketball fans might remember him from his time at Arkansas over a decade ago. But if this is a brand new name for you, let me quickly describe all you need to know.
Beverley is the player you love to hate. He’s a 6-foot-2 guard who has never been know for offense. His entire career in the NBA — now in year 11 at 35 years old — has been built on being a pest and annoying the opposing team relentlessly. He’s an infuriating defender. If Beverley is on your team, you love all of his extra circular nonsense. You absolutely hate it if he’s not. He stood on the scorer’s table after the Minnesota Timberwolves won a Play-In game last season and once used a camera to show a referee they got a call wrong during a game.
Beverley was never supposed to be a guy that built a long NBA career. He spent three years in Greece and Russia before even making the leap to the league. But he carved out a role that is invaluable to championship contenders. He’s played in 65 career playoff games. His leadership and confidence have never been lacking. He was drawing up plays on the whiteboard during his first game as a member of the Milwaukee Bucks. All of this is why he’s always getting scooped up on small contracts to play for teams with hopes of competing in the NBA Finals.
At this point, you might be asking: why the hell are you talking about Patrick Beverley this much? Good question, and one I asked myself as I was halfway through the previous paragraph, but there’s a good reason why.
There’s a bit of Beverley in Kentucky freshman guard DJ Wagner, but not exactly for basketball reasons. Allow assistant coach John Welch to explain…
“I think DJ is a natural leader and I think that’s what we miss the most when DJ is not out (there),” Welch said during Tuesday’s pre-LSU press conference. “It’s one of those things that’s hard to define, but when you see it, you know it. It’s just who he is. He not only has a confidence, but I think he gives other players confidence. And that’s what the special players do. It’s a little bit like Pat Beverley. He not only has confidence but he makes everyone around him more confident. And I think DJ has that effect on our team.”
Some might consider that as a demeaning comparison to Wagner. After all, Beverley is portrayed online as more of a walking meme than an impactful basketball player. That’s obviously not reality though. Again, there’s a very good reason he’s still playing winning basketball.
The comparison makes more sense when you consider that Welch actually had the chance to coach Beverley when they were both on the Los Angeles Clippers from 2017-20. He knows firsthand how important a player like Beverley can be without just looking at the basketball part of the equation.
There is tremendous value in being able to lead and coach your teammates, especially as a freshman. Wagner is always communicating in some way. Even when he was sidelined with an injury, Wagner was never quiet on the bench. His teammates feed off of that constant energy in a way similar to Beverley. The same energy that Welch believes has helped Kentucky’s defense improve as of late.
“When DJ is on the ball, I think we can pressure the ball more,” Welch added. “We can pick the ball up further from the basket and I think it just energizes us.”
Sounds a bit like Patrick Beverley.
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