Kadin Shedrick is getting hosed by the refs: It’s time for Tony Bennett to intervene

Kadin Shedrick seems to start each game with two fouls in the ledger against him, and it’s time for Tony Bennett to do something about it.

A reader named Russell Marks raised this idea to me this week in an email, that it’s going to be up to Bennett to defend his guy, by working the refs, by raising the issue in the media, whatever he needs to do.

You can see the frustration on Shedrick’s face when he gets called for a touch foul on a hard hedge 30 feet from the hoop or a supposed “moving” screen after getting tackled in the post on the other end the previous trip down the floor without a whistle.

Or when he gets popped in the mouth or on the side of the head – no broken bones, no foul.

Shed bleeds more than Jon Moxley on AEW “Dynamite,” but he’s the one who’s in foul trouble every night.

Per sports-reference.com, Shedrick is averaging 5.1 fouls per 40 minutes, a key reason why he’s only getting 22.6 minutes per game this season.

And what does this mean to Virginia? Well, again, per sport-reference.com, Shedrick leads the ACC in box plus/minus, defensive box plus/minus and defensive rating, ranks second in block percentage and fourth in player efficiency rating.

In his 22.6 minutes per game, Shedrick averages 9.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.9 blocks, and is shooting 69.7 percent from the floor.

Give him 30 minutes a game, and his counting numbers are: 12.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.5 blocks.

Shedrick, to this point in his UVA career, has played 30 minutes in a game four times – scoring 17 points and pulling down four rebounds in the 86-79 win over Baylor earlier this season, and then last season, going for 12 points and 11 rebounds in 31 minutes in a 74-69 win at Syracuse, 13 points and eight rebounds in a 67-55 win at Boston College, and 13 points and 13 rebounds in a win at Miami.

His career numbers in his 30+-minute games: 13.8 points and 9.0 rebounds per game, on 69.2 percent shooting.

That’s what might surprise you, his offense. The defense, you know about, but according to the analytics site EvanMiya.com, he’s also a member of the top four offensive lineups that Bennett has used this season.

Get him on the floor more – Shedrick has fouled out of two games this season, and had four in three others – and you have to think Virginia will see better results.

So, my message to Coach Bennett, courtesy Russell Marks: call ‘em out.

I guess I’m helping here, but nobody knows who I am; I’m just a rando yelling at the clouds on the interwebs.

A little pressure from Tony Bennett, though, through the media, then working the sidelines, as need be, that will go a long way to getting Shedrick more minutes, and the results, well, I’ve laid those out already.