ESPN LIVE: Mark Pope brutal injury update Gets Spotlight” in Reset calls as UK BBN fans gear up in a terrific prayer rally” as they seeks for quick recovery of Kentucky outstanding point guards” who brings nothing but winning mentality while on the pitch” here’s the ongoing recovery status as it stands for today….
In his initial remarks regarding point guard Kerr Kriisa’s injury on Monday night, Kentucky head coach Mark Pope stated that he anticipates his seasoned backcourt player to be sidelined for a comparatively little period of time.
Pope praised Kriisa’s competitive drive and added, “We’ll be excited to get him back.” “We anticipate his return as soon as possible because he is working with the best physicians and performance team in the nation.
After suffering a foot injury during the previous night’s 90-89 overtime victory over Gonzaga, UK declared on Sunday that Kriisa would be out indefinitely. Kriisa’s injury is “not considered to be season-ending,” according to the UK’s official notification, and he will soon have surgery.
Midway through the second half of Saturday night’s game, Kriisa sustained the injury. When Kriisa was backpedaling with the ball close to midcourt, he took an uncomfortable step, lost control of the ball, and was obviously having trouble getting back into transition defense because of foot pain.
Kriisa had to be assisted off the court after falling to the ground close to the baseline a few seconds after Gonzaga scored on the fast break, giving them a 65-59 lead with 8:41 remaining in regulation. Later, he left the UK bench to go to the locker room, but he came back to the court area to watch the Wildcats defeat the Zags in overtime.
On his weekly radio appearance Monday night, Pope recapped that play and stated that the squad repeatedly saw the video of Kriisa’s sustained effort in spite of the injury during a post-game film session.
“One of the great things about athletics — it kind of rips you open and shows the whole world your heart, right? It just does,” Pope said. “And for so many things in our life, we get to prepare for (them), and we get to script them, and we get to think through them and find the ideal response and the correct answer and all the things you want to do. And in this moment — we watched it on film together as a team — but in this moment, Kerr, you know, lands, breaks his foot … and immediately jumps up, hobbles back as fast as he can, and goes straight vertical, trying to save a transition defensive possession.
And you saw Kerr Kriisa right then and there. You have to witness him stripped bare, unscripted, and simply his physique, composition, and the extent to which he cares about his team, winning, and competition. He didn’t have time to consider it, prepare for it, or do anything else. Only his intestines were involved. We watched it repeatedly, and it was a very, very memorable moment for all of us on the team. It was also a little bit sad.
As soon as Kriisa was hurt, 6-foot-6 guard Jaxson Robinson took over as the starting point guard. Robinson continued to play the remainder of the second half and overtime without leaving the game.
After Saturday’s shootaround, Pope decided that Lamont Butler, the Wildcats’ starting point guard, would not play against Gonzaga since he injured his right ankle in last week’s loss to Clemson.
“We kind of tried to just push it a little bit, and it just wasn’t working,” Pope said of Butler’s activity at that shootaround. “… I do think Lamont is making good progress.” Pope offered a little more on Butler’s status on his Monday night radio show. “He’s doing great. He’s dying to get back on the floor,” he said. “He still was not in anything in practice today. But we’re hoping he’s back soon.
Tom Leach, the host of the show, started to move on to another topic when the coach reached out and grabbed his arm. “Because we’re running out of point guards right now,” Pope added with a chuckle. “So I’d really like him to be back soon.” A little later in the show, he referred to Butler’s status as “day to day” and said he was hoping to see him on the court for some basketball activities Tuesday.
“It will only take a few days,” Pope stated. “I would like to add a Wednesday game to those days. Let’s see how it turns out.
Following the Gonzaga game, Pope hinted that he was sure Robinson could play point guard until the Cats’ backcourt was fully healthy. Kentucky will play Colgate, the lowest-rated team on the remaining schedule, in Rupp Arena on Wednesday night before hosting Louisville on Saturday.
With everyone used as a passer and multiple players able to bring the ball up the court, Pope’s offense frequently blurs the lines between positions, making Kentucky a dangerous scoring team even without a true point guard on the court. Freshman guard Travis Perry also saw some unexpected playing time against the Zags.
Coaches and players have praised Kriisa’s selfless approach thus far this season. Despite receiving fewer shots and minutes than he was accustomed to, Kriisa, who played for Arizona and West Virginia before starting 93 of 99 games in college, accepted his backup role behind Butler and demonstrated a team-first mentality.
Despite playing the seventh-most minutes on the team, Kriisa leads the Wildcats in assists with 34 in nine games. This season, he has only committed nine turnovers.
Kriisa played a season-high 27 minutes in his first start as a Wildcat on Saturday night before suffering the injury. During that period, he had three rebounds, four assists, and eight points. He got hurt on the play that resulted in his lone turnover against the zags.
