Mark Pope’s Comments on Kriisa, Garrison and Williams

Kerr Kriisa is getting better but the injured Kentucky guard is not ready to play yet because of his foot injury that required surgery after UK’s win over Gonzaga.

“Kerr is doing great. He was in rehab today,” Kentucky coach Mark Pope said Monday night on his radio show. “I actually walked in after practice, and he was working hard in rehab, so I hit (trainer) Brandon Wells pretty hard about this Saturday, just seeing if I could get him. That was a hard no.

“So I don’t know when or if he’s coming back, but apparently, he’s definitely not coming back by Saturday (when UK opens SEC play against Florida).”

Kerr was injured Dec. 7th and Pope said then he likely would be out anywhere from three to six weeks.

Pope also noted that sophomore center Brandon Garrison also has a minor injury but does not expect him to miss any games.

“Nothing serious, but he’s dealing with a few things,”  Pope said without offering any further explanation.  “Brandon Garrison is incredibly talented. He’s growing really fast. His ceiling is so high, so it’s been fun for him to kind of learn us and learn how we’re playing and learning how he fits into all of this.”

Pope is also happy with what center Amari Williams is doing and praised him on the radio show.

“His defensive rebounding percentage is off the charts. He’s one of the best in the country,” Pope said. “His full rim protection numbers, when you evaluate all the things together, have been really good. And he still has so much more in the tank to offer.

“We’re learning from each other. We’re learning how we function together. But certainly, he has a lot more in the tank.”

For Kentucky to have a successful season in conference play this year, Williams will have to be a huge key. It’s encouraging to hear he and Coach Pope have plenty left in the tank.”