Quaintance Update

Zero chance IMO "We tried but just not there yet"

BankerCat12 said:

Zero chance IMO "We tried but just not there yet"

I lean this way but I do believe Kyrie came back from an injury for the tournament when he couldve sat out. Maybe JQ decides to play.

Is there a point at this moment

PaintitBlueKY said:

Is there a point at this moment

Wdym?

Damage control to make things appear different than they really are.

Would be a great story if he could play in the NCAAT and help the team. The easy thing to do is to be cynical and skeptical he'll play. I'm probably more skeptical but certainly not going to take the cynical route.

That sounds to me like a player who wants to use the tourney solely to demonstrate to scouts that he's healthy after missing 15 or 20 games with "swelling." Might be unfair, but that's the way it feels. If I'm Pope, I'm telling him we'd love to have him back next year (which we know won't happen), but we aren't a vehicle for you to show NBA teams you're healthy for the upcoming draft.

DTAJR14 said:

That sounds to me like a player who wants to use the tourney solely to demonstrate to scouts that he's healthy after missing 15 or 20 games with "swelling." Might be unfair, but that's the way it feels. If I'm Pope, I'm telling him we'd love to have him back next year (which we know won't happen), but we aren't a vehicle for you to show NBA teams you're healthy for the upcoming draft.

If he looks good and healthy in practice why on earth wouldn’t we want him to play?

Nathtoy98 said:

If he looks good and healthy in practice why on earth wouldn’t we want him to play?

He certainly couldn't do any worse than Garrison.

Nathtoy98 said:

If he looks good and healthy in practice why on earth wouldn’t we want him to play?

We are kinda set in a rotation now. MM and BG would be the most impacted. I am all for playing him if he can be a benefit.

BankerCat12 said:

We are kinda set in a rotation now. MM and BG would be the most impacted. I am all for playing him if he can be a benefit.

eliminating mins that BG has to play would be a big benefit.

LCI5 said:

eliminating mins that BG has to play would be a big benefit.

Yeah because he has no right to take Moreno minutes

drew_123 said:

He certainly couldn't do any worse than Garrison.

If and it's a huge IF this turns out to be true then he takes Garrison's minutes at least for the tough rebounding he would bring to the table.

DTAJR14 said:

That sounds to me like a player who wants to use the tourney solely to demonstrate to scouts that he's healthy after missing 15 or 20 games with "swelling." Might be unfair, but that's the way it feels. If I'm Pope, I'm telling him we'd love to have him back next year (which we know won't happen), but we aren't a vehicle for you to show NBA teams you're healthy for the upcoming draft.

There is already speculation that Pope having no history of putting players in the NBA is harming his ability to recruit high profile recruits and NBA projected players. If it is leaked that Pope told his top NBA talent that "UK is not a vehicle to show NBA teams that he's healthy and draft ready," then that would likely absolutely wreck his ability to recruit top NBA level talent. I am sure tons of coaches would use that as a negative recruiting tactic against him and agents would likely steer their players away from UK because they would view it as Pope not putting them in the position to succeed and make money.

DTAJR14 said:

That sounds to me like a player who wants to use the tourney solely to demonstrate to scouts that he's healthy after missing 15 or 20 games with "swelling." Might be unfair, but that's the way it feels. If I'm Pope, I'm telling him we'd love to have him back next year (which we know won't happen), but we aren't a vehicle for you to show NBA teams you're healthy for the upcoming draft.

Spot On IMO it would be more a disruption than a plus

This has been in the works for a while. They don’t know how it will play out, but people on here who have been repeatedly saying “he’s done” or “he’s shut it down” have not been basing that on anything that was actually happening. The kid has taken a beating for no reason under his control, simply for what Calipari allowed Sharpe to do.

Jeff Drummond said:

This has been in the works for a while. They don’t know how it will play out, but people on here who have been repeatedly saying “he’s done” or “he’s shut it down” have not been basing that on anything that was actually having. The kid has taken a beating for no reason under his control, simply for what Calipari allowed Sharpe to do.

Popes not exactly helped the case. The stuff he said in the offseason about a miraculous recovery pace and all that BS hurt the situation. And when hes been asked about him he hasnt exactly gave you the best quotes to demonstrate how hard hes working to get back out there. Feel bad for the kid if he truly has been trying his hardest and had the setbacks he has.

Jeff Drummond said:

This has been in the works for a while. They don’t know how it will play out, but people on here who have been repeatedly saying “he’s done” or “he’s shut it down” have not been basing that on anything that was actually having. The kid has taken a beating for no reason under his control, simply for what Calipari allowed Sharpe to do.

His father making an ass of himself on Twitter made it 10x worse

Yeah, apparently we don’t get these kinda updates over here

I’ve had no doubt from the beginning that he wants to play. He tried to come back too soon, had a setback. It makes complete sense that he would try again. Will it work? I have no idea.

NorthNVCat said:

His father making an *** of himself on Twitter made it 10x worse

Or maybe his dad was sick and tired of idiots who don't know they're a** from a hole in the ground running their mouth and bad mouthing his kid. I know I sure as Hell wouldn't like it. And don't fall back on the "he shouldn't be looking on social media anyway" crap. I don't guess many of them could possibly imagine that maybe he was working as hard as he could and wanted to come back and that all he wants to do is play the game he loves.

Jeff Drummond said:

This has been in the works for a while. They don’t know how it will play out, but people on here who have been repeatedly saying “he’s done” or “he’s shut it down” have not been basing that on anything that was actually having. The kid has taken a beating for no reason under his control, simply for what Calipari allowed Sharpe to do.

100% correct. Thanks Jeff. It's a shame what some people on this board have said about JQ.

BillyJoeCatFan said:

Or maybe his dad was sick and tired of idiots who don't know they're a** from a hole in the ground running their mouth and bad mouthing his kid. I know I sure as Hell wouldn't like it. And don't fall back on the "he shouldn't be looking on social media anyway" crap. I don't guess many of them could possibly imagine that maybe he was working as hard as he could and wanted to come back and that all he wants to do is play the game he loves.

No. You dont go on Twitter, couch coach and complain about the staff, argue with fans, etc. Should people go at his kid like they have? Probably not. JQ seems like a great kid. His father made it worse by arguing with burner accounts when his son is representing that same university. Thats when you sit out and STFU instead of making it worse. The dad was bitching when JQ was back for like 3 games. He said, "blah,blah attacking an 18 year old kid", meanwhile he is arguing with literal 15 and 16 year olds on Twitter. No self awareness. And no, I dont condone what people are saying, but the reality is thats just fandom online. If you or your family wants to be associated with big boy sports, thats what you get to deal with - like it or not.

I mean it’s been reported that he hasn’t yet been cleared by the UK medical staff because of the swelling. It has also been reported that JQ was begging to debut earlier than the St. John’s game. He looked great in one game and then looked like he could barely jump after that. We also found out that he didn’t just tear his ACL but completely shredded his knee including a fracture. His draft stock has been tanking because of this. He also seems like a very good kid. IDK, but doesn’t seem like he’s been sitting out just to sit out to me.