Vanderbilt practices

[DA#23]

Payne said absolutely nothing that is “new news”. I hope that doesn’t sound like a bad attitude but still.

Of course if he doesn’t play or if he does play, there’s no guarantee that he would enter and remain in this year’s draft. If he returns next season, then I would be eating some crow.

[Joneslab]

It's not news, but he did talk about his mentality a little bit and how the injury might be in his head a little bit.

When Cal talks about things he tends to give you a bunch of cryptic information that may or may not even be part of the issue. Payne is much less nuanced: he'll just tell you flat out what the deal is.

I get being worried that you're going to re-injure it. Vanderbilt has a history of injuries, so this isn't a regular situation. If he gets hurt again there are going to be questions about him being too fragile to play.

I've hurt myself in pick-up games and have been worried about it the next time I went out. Extrapolate that a million-fold and you've got JV's situation.

[DA#23]

It was a less “add” regurgitation of what has been said multiple times by Calipari

[George]

When Cal talks about things he tends to give you a bunch of cryptic information that may or may not even be part of the issue. Payne is much less nuanced: he'll just tell you flat out what the deal is.

Not to go all conspiracy theorist, but why are we all so certain that Payne isn't feeding us BS, too? His approach could just as easily be a form of cover.

[Joneslab]

Not to go all conspiracy theorist, but why are we all so certain that Payne isn't feeding us BS, too? His approach could just as easily be a form of cover.

Covering what, exactly?

Not sure what the calculus would be. If he wants to play he'll play; if not then he sits out.

It's really not that difficult and there's no need for the coaches to cover for him. If he wants to come back next year he comes back. If he thinks he's a pro he tests the waters.

No conspiracy theories needed, are there? We're not talking issues of national security.

I buy the mental angle Payne gave because it seems normal and obvious to me. Jarred Vanderbilt is one significant injury away from seeing his career be really hindered at 19 years old. That's huge and I would imagine frightening for him and his family.

I try to put myself in the situation of these families sometimes and I have to admit were it me, I wouldn't give two pisses about the University of Kentucky winning basketball games. This is way bigger than what a college basketball team does for one season.

I tend to think Vanderbilt will play and it'll go fine...but what if it doesn't? That has to be in the back of his head.

[Lighthouse]

Was KP shaming Duke a little when talking about how UK handles injured players? Maybe not but I sure hope so.

I understand your point, and I might do something like that, but I really don't think KP is that type.

[George]

Covering what, exactly?

The possibility that a second player in a calendar year might have found a way to exploit Cal's "player's first" philosophy.

[Joneslab]

The possibility that a second player in a calendar year might have found a way to exploit Cal's "player's first" philosophy.

There's definitely a lot of exploitation going on in college sports. Both ways--from the coach to the players and vice versa. And not just at Kentucky.

But I digress.

Rather than exploitation in this case I think it's a legitimate injury situation. People have used Hami Diallo a lot, but Hami had no injury. This is a kid who's been hurt for a good part of the last two years. He might be fragile, and as I said that's really terrible for him. There has to be some psychological hang-ups about that, and some real uneasiness from his family about what the best way forward is.

[Lighthouse]

There's definitely a lot of exploitation going on in college sports. Both ways--from the coach to the players and vice versa. And not just at Kentucky.

But I digress.

Rather than exploitation in this case I think it's a legitimate injury situation. People have used Hami Diallo a lot, but Hami had no injury. This is a kid who's been hurt for a good part of the last two years. He might be fragile, and as I said that's really terrible for him. There has to be some psychological hang-ups about that, and some real uneasiness from his family about what the best way forward is.

And I agree with this. But I have a question. If he is fragile and emotionally challenged because of multiple injuries, and he plays this year and gets hurt again, or doesn't play and the NBA has no assurance he won't get hurt if he's drafted, wouldn't be in his best interest to play now, not get hurt and they have some idea of how his game has progressed? That may not make any sense, but it sounded good when I thought of it.

[Katmendo]

This whole thing stinks, to me. What you're saying, Will, about his fragility or fear of injury, might absolutely be true. But, if so, then was this not conveyed during recruitment? If not, that's dishonest. Cal would have a right to be cheesed off.

If we knew about it, and wasted the effort on recruiting him, the FANS have a right to resent it, IMO.

Either way, this is quietly becoming a bigger distraction for the fans. Pretty soon, the media is going to start asking harder questions. And I wouldn't be surprised if this doesn't eventually draw some bigger attention, like an espn talk radio or tv segment.

Once the players start getting asked about this in pre or post game interviews, it's going to become a problem for them.

To me, we are quickly approaching the time where we have to consider whether or not he's worth the trouble of trying coax him to play. At some point, I think, Cal is just going to have to devote himself on the team he has, and not the player he doesn't, and move on.

IMO, Cal, who normally brings studs, has brought in a dud. But, like everyone else, I'll check in to see if I'm proven wrong.

[Joneslab]

This whole thing stinks, to me. What you're saying, Will, about his fragility or fear of injury, might absolutely be true. But, if so, then was this not conveyed during recruitment?

It was. He'd been hurt before Kentucky recruited him. Got hurt after Kentucky started recruiting him. Then got hurt again when he got on campus.

May simply be a circumstance of bad luck. Or he may be one of those guys who just gets hurt a lot because of the way he plays. Impossible to say

I hope for the sake of this team that he's capable of going out there and performing at a high level, because God knows we need him.

[George]

This whole thing stinks, to me. What you're saying, Will, about his fragility or fear of injury, might absolutely be true. But, if so, then was this not conveyed during recruitment? If not, that's dishonest. Cal would have a right to be cheesed off.

If we knew about it, and wasted the effort on recruiting him, the FANS have a right to resent it, IMO.

Either way, this is quietly becoming a bigger distraction for the fans. Pretty soon, the media is going to start asking harder questions. And I wouldn't be surprised if this doesn't eventually draw some bigger attention, like an espn talk radio or tv segment.

Once the players start getting asked about this in pre or post game interviews, it's going to become a problem for them.

To me, we are quickly approaching the time where we have to consider whether or not he's worth the trouble of trying coax him to play. At some point, I think, Cal is just going to have to devote himself on the team he has, and not the player he doesn't, and move on.

IMO, Cal, who normally brings studs, has brought in a dud. But, like everyone else, I'll check in to see if I'm proven wrong.

I'm 99.999999999% certain that he injured his foot after committing.

As for national attention, nah. No one outside of Kentucky knows or cares about Jarred Vanderbilt.

And how much time, exactly, do you think Cal's diverting from the team so that he can focus on JV? You really buy what you're selling, there?

[Joneslab]

And I agree with this. But I have a question. If he is fragile and emotionally challenged because of multiple injuries, and he plays this year and gets hurt again, or doesn't play and the NBA has no assurance he won't get hurt if he's drafted, wouldn't be in his best interest to play now, not get hurt and they have some idea of how his game has progressed? That may not make any sense, but it sounded good when I thought of it.

He has to play to be a sure-thing on draft night. He isn't on draft boards right now that I've seen. He doesn't have Hami's explosive athleticism so he can't rely on that. Needs to play.

I don't think the NBA is the reason he hasn't played. It may have been discussed by some in his family at the start that he may be better off not playing, but the whole Harry Giles thing seems to have been a big deal with these families. It's mentioned a lot by people. So it makes sense that that would be something that would've been discussed.

But once you start practicing and putting on the uniform, you're going to play at some point.

[Katmendo]

I'm 99.999999999% certain that he injured his foot after committing.

As for national attention, nah. No one outside of Kentucky knows or cares about Jarred Vanderbilt.

And how much time, exactly, do you think Cal's diverting from the team so that he can focus on JV? You really buy what you're selling, there?

Relax, man. I'm not "selling" anything. I'm opining.

If you're looking for how much time he's devoting to him, just read KSR, or any number of publications that have printed quotes from him.

This thing reeks of drama. I mean, Cal acting like he has no idea what's going on with him. The guy doesn't come see him on game day, so he doesn't play. It's ludicrous.

Cal is the one who constantly reminds us that the practice facility is 25 feet from the lodge. But, when he talks about Jarred, he acts like he's a recruit, in another state, that he only talks with by text. It's absurd.

[Jload]

If this kid is too frightened to play we DONT NEED HIM. If he doesn’t have the heart to compete and committ to his team and try to help them win right now he isn’t a winner. On another front, if this kid is this soft and so frightened of injury how could anyone think he can hold up to a grueling NBA schedule. I could care less about his future NBA career, he is at UK to play college basketball right now . If he can’t or won’t Vaya Con Dios