Mark Pope says Kentucky is a ‘brand-new’ team without Lamont Butler, Jaxson Robinson

Kentucky basketball has been hit with some adversity with injuries this season. Kerr Kriisa has been out with a foot injury since December 7, then Andrew Carr injured his back and suffered a setback in January. Now, Carr has returned, but Lamont Butler has been dealing with a shoulder injury in recent weeks, which was reaggrevated recently, causing him to miss the last week after going out of the game against Tennessee last Tuesday. Not just that, but Jaxson Robinson injured his wrist against South Carolina, and has been out ever since.

The Wildcats have only played seven games with a fully-healthy roster this season. Now, Kentucky is without both of their starting guards, and have been for two-straight games, which has forced some others to step up, like freshmen Travis Perry and Travis Perry, who have done well in their place. It’s worth noting though, that the other freshman, Collin Chandler, had his emergence in Kentucky’s win against Vanderbilt, playing 15 minutes and having a well-rounded game. Not only have the freshmen been asked to play bigger roles, others have been forced to step up, too. Ansley Almonor, for example, has shown some real improvement as Carr has been getting back to himself, which he looked to be in Wednesday’s win.

Mark Pope is seeing some real strides with what he is calling a ‘brand-new’ Kentucky squad without Lamont Butler and Jaxson Robinson. In their first game without both, the Wildcats played a very solid 36 minutes on the road at Texas, but collapsed down the stretch, falling 82-78 after a 14-1 run in the final minutes by the Longhorns. But Wednesday against Vanderbilt, Kentucky made adjustments, coming into halftime with a one-point lead, then ultimately earning a 21-point win after a terrific second half.

“I think (the win) should give our guys a lot of confidence. …I’m happy for our guys that they get this little injection of energy, positive energy. …We’ve got a brand-new
team. Game one. We played well but we didn’t finish the way we wanted to. Game two we played really well. Now we’ve got the epic challenge of all challenges going to Alabama and seeing if we can deal with that insanity down there and it’s going to be fun and it’s fun to grow this group.”Pope on growing with ‘brand-new’ team.

Obviously, Kentucky would want Butler, Robinson, and even Kriisa, who could possibly get a medical redshirt, back as soon as possible, but fans have to love seeing a group grow through adversity without two of their best players. Not just with that, but the injuries they have dealt with throughout the season.