Travis Perry likely will be UK's only point guard available to play tonight. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Wonder how many teams have ever beat a top 10 team with its top three point guards out with injuries?
That’s what Kentucky had to do against Tennessee Tuesday night when starting point guard Lamont Butler went down with a shoulder injury with about nine minutes to play and Kerr Kriisa and Jaxson Robinson already out with injuries.
Pope certainly seemed to confirm Thursday that UK would be without all three players again Saturday night when the Cats play at Texas hoping to improve their 6-5 SEC mark.
“There are so many variables as you consider all. You get to know your team. You get to understand your team, and then you get to know your team in different environments, against different styles of play, against different opponents, against different matchups, and all those things,” Pope said about having to juggle his lineup due to injuries.
“The most unsettling thing for a coach, I think, is when you’re having roster turnover, is you kind of have to reinvent and you’re not even sure exactly which parts you have to reinvent. You’re making your best guess, but you don’t have any data points and sometimes you get surprised. Like of all things, I thought I was gonna have to reinvent, I didn’t think it was gonna be this little space.
“That’s the beauty of a season. Over the course of a season, you’re just gathering more information about your guys, about how they function together, about how they are in different environments … against a team that’s heavy pressure, against a team with a ton of size, against a team that’s super skilled or shoots it well. So you’re taking in all this information, and then it just adds to the variables, which is fun. Also it’s getting new guys in new situations.”
Pope said the biggest challenge is that losing a player at one position can make everyone’s role change.
“You have a chance out of necessity to be super creative while also discovering the guys that have growing responsibilities and kind of helping them through the process of the new responsibilities that they’re going to carry,” the Kentucky coach said Thursday.
“We spent a lot of time today whittling down our playbook, re-evaluating, for example, how we can enter offense different ways, where we’re not demanding too much new information, and where our guys are not having to think too much on the court, because that’s never great for the way we play, but also where they can be successful in a really limited kind of game plan, play call sheet.”
With three point guards out, that leaves freshman Travis Perry as the only true point guard healthy and available to play against Texas tonight but Pope like will use Otega Oweh, Koby Brea and even Amari Williams at point also tonight.
Both Trent Noah and Travis Perry set career highs in UK’s win over Tennessee as Noah scored 11 points on 3-for-4 shooting from 3 and grabbed two rebounds. Perry scored eight points and went 2-for-3 from long range.
Even Collin Chandler was productive with an assist that led to a Brandon Garrison dunk.
“Those three (freshmen) guys, it’s just time for them to step up and be great,” Pope said. “We’re relying heavily on them, and that’s what they want, and it’s what we want, and it’s awesome. I have a lot of confidence in those guys, and it’s just time for us to be better. I thought they were all spectacular on Tuesday and we expect them to be great this weekend also.”
Kentucky will also hopefully rely on an improved defense. After being shredded by Ole Miss, UK held South Carolina to 57 points, its second-lowest total of any game this season, and then held Tennessee to 64 points. The Vols were just 3-for-18 (16.7 percent) from 3. Of course, those two games were with Butler — UK’s best defensive player — back in the lineup.
“He [Butler] has a huge impact on the game. But the part that we’re hanging our hat on right now is that our focus is a little bit better and that we have guys stepping up around him,” Pope said. “Koby Brea the last couple weeks, he’s made a massive, massive jump defensively. Our bigs have had much, much better presence defensively. Our on ball, not pressure, because it’s not overkill, but presence, our on ball presence having a little bit of a disruptive nature.”
4 Responses
The FR are needed in a big way and will produce terrific results. The KY natives are 2 of the 3 or 4 best long range shooters in the team. Shaking off some rust from the 2 year absence from BB will produce 3 FR with impressive long range shooters. Ot can open the inside all 4 bigs.
The more experienced players all need to elevate their game to be ready to help on D and move without the ball to get open on offense.
UK needs to pass the ball and move without it to get the most out of FR as well as the regulars.
Very game is BIG!
It’s time for everyone who is healthy to step up and keeping us winning these games down the stretch. There is no point in winning the next game if we don’t win the game we are in now.
One at a time, Barry. And any win is always better than a loss no matter what happens the next game
Larry, we are what we are. Too much hero ball from Oweh and Brea who was practically a no show along with Carr. We can’t guard quick guards. I will not be surprised if Vandy completes the sweep on Wednesday. Without Butler and Robinson, we will be a sub 500 team in the SEC.