Getting Healthy

[bucsrule8872]

This is the key.

Yes, we have looked bad against good teams, but getting Lowe and Dioubate back obviously helps a lot.

We sometimes forget that we have been missing three guys that were penciled in as starters. They were penciled in there for a reason. They are three of our top five guys on paper.

Our depth is good, but no one has enough depth to replace that much.

Take away three starters from any top 25 team and see what happens.

And also, keep in mind our best player has been hampered by a toe injury as well.

Not making excuses, but trying to be positive.

Get healthy and I think the best is still ahead.

Hopefully it will be the reverse of last season where we started strong and limped into March.

[blueheretic]

It'll be nice to have a complete team. Good lord!

I'm tired of Pope's injuries.

[bucsrule8872]

It'll be nice to have a complete team. Good lord!

I'm tired of Pope's injuries.

It’s not Pope, we have been cursed with injury bad luck since 2012. It’s been pretty much every season since the championship.

[WeWant9]

I think there's a contract written in brimstone that kept the 12 team healthy, and we're still paying for it today.

I got rid of all of my preseason expectations and just letting this season play out. Hopefully we can get healthy going into SEC play and see where we stand from there.

[bucsrule8872]

I think there's a contract written in brimstone that kept the 12 team healthy, and we're still paying for it today.

I got rid of all of my preseason expectations and just letting this season play out. Hopefully we can get healthy going into SEC play and see where we stand from there.

It almost seems like someone cursed us after that title.

[KentuckyWild2020]

Through all the good bad and the ugly, this team can still be alright. Who really knows what identity it may take and who' playing who's not, what sets we run, we attacking or are we shooting threes?, who really knows??

Still a great opportunity for Pope to coach the greatest season of his life..

[EKYCat]

Through all the good bad and the ugly, this team can still be alright. Who really knows what identity it may take and who' playing who's not, what sets we run, we attacking or are we shooting threes?, who really knows??

Still a great opportunity for Pope to coach the greatest season of his life..

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad the Cats won Saturday night. It felt good to watch that. But, I didn't see anything that made me think they'd turned a corner, so to speak. They played hard. I liked that. But they still shot 38% and 3-15 from deep. That's not going to get it done, night in and night out. They were outrebounded and missed 13 free throws as well. And no, I'm not doom and gloom all the time!!

[Pete Hogwallop]

It almost seems like someone cursed us after that title.

Someone did. He left 2 years ago.

[blueheretic]

Someone did. He left 2 years ago.

BWAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

I would argue that it was Barnhart and his contracts that cursed us.

[bucsrule8872]

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad the Cats won Saturday night. It felt good to watch that. But, I didn't see anything that made me think they'd turned a corner, so to speak. They played hard. I liked that. But they still shot 38% and 3-15 from deep. That's not going to get it done, night in and night out. They were outrebounded and missed 13 free throws as well. And no, I'm not doom and gloom all the time!!

What we have to understand is that this isn’t the NBA, where a player can miss half the season and then come right in and put up 30 and 12 in their first game back.

This is college and practice really matters and when these guys do not practice together, it is difficult to play games together, especially against teams that are really good and have been playing together since October.

Expecting them to jump right in and the team play like they have been together for a while is unrealistic.

Our rotation has been totally off kilter. Guys have been playing different positions and different roles than what they were brought into play. Pope has been playing combinations that he normally wouldn’t play.

Guys like Chandler are having to do more than anyone expected him to do. Aberdeen is playing as the primary PG, when he’s really a combo guard. Guys are taking more shots than they should be because they have had to shoot. Moreno and Johnson are normal Freshmen. They are playing way more than they should be.

Give the injured guys a chance to get back in game shape and give the whole team a chance get use to playing together.

It isn’t going to happen overnight. That’s not how this works. It takes time and patience. Unfortunately, we are running out of time. The SEC season is just a week or so away. It is what it is, though. Hopefully, the holiday break will help.

And JQ is not going to come in and dominate like some think he should. It’s going to take time for him to get readjusted to the speed of the game and the physicality. We need to understand that it’s going to take time. Probably time that we don’t have.

[KentuckyWild2020]

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad the Cats won Saturday night. It felt good to watch that. But, I didn't see anything that made me think they'd turned a corner, so to speak. They played hard. I liked that. But they still shot 38% and 3-15 from deep. That's not going to get it done, night in and night out. They were outrebounded and missed 13 free throws as well. And no, I'm not doom and gloom all the time!!

I didn't either brother, just trying to be positive and a good fan lol lol lol. I sincerely hope class isn't in session when we play mentor Rick Pitino. They way its been going, Rick may get more pre game ovation and cheers than Pope.

[bucsrule8872]

I am really pleased to see JQ play so well today. He didn’t look rusty at all.

In this thread, I predicted he would need time to shake the rust off, I guess not.

Dude is looking like the real deal.

Just one game, but it was against an All-Big East big man.

Defensively, this dude looked as good as advertised.

[KentuckyWild2020]

I am really pleased to see JQ play so well today. He didn’t look rusty at all.

In this thread, I predicted he would need time to shake the rust off, I guess not.

Dude is looking like the real deal.

Just one game, but it was against an All-Big East big man.

Defensively, this dude looked as good as advertised.

I think he's the real deal, way better than i thought. From the first time he announced he was coming to Kentucky to this time around, totally different.

Duke has Boozer, Tennessee Ament, BYU AJ. Louisville Brown, Michigan Lendeborg, NC Wilson, Arkansas Thomas Acuff, Houston, star talent,that concerned me a little. With JQ, we have a real game changing star as well.

In the end, it's still 5 on 5 and match-ups. If we get this version of Lowe moving forward with JQ and Oweh playing at a high level, we can make noise..

[dencat]

JQ will be great when he gets back into playing regularly. It will take time. The key for this team is to keep Lowe on the court. We are a completely different team when he is playing.

[KentuckyWild2020]

JQ will be great when he gets back into playing regularly. It will take time. The key for this team is to keep Lowe on the court. We are a completely different team when he is playing.

He was great yesterday, best player on the court both teams.