Iowa State’s Joshua Jefferson on his ankle injury
- Thread starter gtown965
- Start date
I do feel bad for him. Players spend the whole season looking forward to March Madness and getting hurt in the first game is a bad break. If they beat us tomorrow, I hope he is able to play next weekend.
Sucks for him but I still think they advance.. Too deep…
I’m glad they have an excuse when they lose. He will recover quickly and have a good professional career but he opened the door for the Cats to steal a victory.
They have only 3 guys who average over 10 a game and 6 guys who play 20 minutes or more. They are no deeper than us. The 2-3 guys who get 3-8 minutes a game and average 2-3 points isn’t depth, that’s their version of Trent Noah.
We have a pretty decent list of games we lost we should have won in these same exact scenarios. I wouldn’t count this UK team as a sure win against any team at the moment but on the flip side I wouldn’t count a loss to anyone either.
Maybe I used the wrong term? Ok, they’re just a better team
I’ll eat crow if I’m wrong.. They have multiple guys that contribute on the regular ( consistency ) and we’ve got 1 guy that has to score 35 for us to beat Santa Clara. It’s march and anything goes but I don’t have a great feeling about that game. EVERYBODY would have to play outta their minds and I just don’t see that with our inconsistency 
Sometimes stars align for a team to get through the field to the FF. I believe UK is that team 
ISU essentially becomes Tennessee without Jefferson. Milan-Ament, Lipsey-Gillespie, a great defense but no one else that truly scares you.
We’ve been overwhelmed and overwhelming when playing Tennessee this year, so who knows what will happen!
We’ve been overwhelmed and overwhelming when playing Tennessee this year, so who knows what will happen!
It very well may give Kentucky the opening It needs to pull off the upset, and they would in fact have an excuse.
But no one ever cared the Kentucky had injuries. Id glady take having to play Jefferson tomorrow if it means having healthy TyTy and Grady.. or having Alex Poythress.. or a healthy Jrob.
I picked us even before the injury. This is a team of destiny. Not confident we win it all but confident we get there. That will turn out to be the biggest **** in Uk history. Bigger than Vern Hatton half court heave to beat Temple in '58.Sometimes stars align for a team to get through the field to the FF. I believe UK is that team
Don't forget this game, when Auburn's best player was injured and sat out. We still have to come with our A+ game ... !!
Kentucky vs. Auburn (March 31, 2019)
www.bigbluehistory.com
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Probably so but they are a severely different team without him. We do have the players to compete with them, we just need our best version to show up. If we could play defense like the first halves, yet run and play offense like the second half we have something. Maybe that shot is the catalyst to something good.
Or a healthy Lowe, and JQ.
I can't wait to read all the "they lost because Jefferson got injured" excuses after we win tomorrow.
Seems like I remember Popes last year at BYU, They won at Iowa St. in an upset win, then Iowa St. returned the favor and won at BYU so they have a history playing against each other in the Big 12
Any different then you and others whining about our "injured" players this year?
They will run us off the floor with or without Jefferson. Anyone thinking UK is advancing is setting themselves up for more disappointment.
Mark Pope has a 1-1 record against Iowa State as a head coach, with both meetings occurring during the 2023-24 season when he was at BYU. He secured a 72-64 victory over the No. 24 Cyclones on January 13, 2024, after a loss in their first matchup.
The Cats can defeat the Cyclones, as they are 3-0 against them, as KY was ranked in TOP TEN for all three (3) games.
Iowa State offers UK the biggest threat this side of Michigan. Get past them, and UK can beat UVA or TN.
All cool ... please know I was not correcting you, only sharing information in follow-up to your post. GO CATS !!
Soooo you didn't get it.
We have fans in here that make injury excuses for other teams, but turn around and say ours don't count.
Truth is, both count, but you guys hate Pope so much, that you crap on our players and try to say they aren't any good.
Us not having Lowe and JQ, completely neutered this team, but we have dudes saying it doesn’t matter, because somehow a 17ppg 5.5apg and a lottery pick athletic freak, suck.
Go cheer for ISU, as if you aren't already.
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Give me UVA, I don't want a repeat of last year. We won't beat UT a 3rd time. You can only make so many miraculous comebacks against 1 team.
If we play UVA ... Moreno and Garrison will be going up against Ugonna Oyenso ... which would be kinda cool to see.
Ohh, it's too elementary not to get. Seems odd you would think otherwise.
Except, one is a 2nd team all American who has proven extreme value to his teams success.
We are without one guy who no one knew if he would play or not this year, and many even expected not. He certainly wasn't a game changer for AZ St., nor was he really even good at UK except for his first game back against St. John's. After that he was a non factor. We got way more than most expected out of Moreno and aside from blocks, he is likely better than JQ.
Another guy we are without is a small, weaker, ball dominant guard with a history as a horrible shooter and bad defender. We replaced him with a bigger, stronger and better shooting combo guard that was critical to winning a title with UF last year who is a decent defender.
We are no longer without Kam, but he wasn't exactly critical to us winning much most of the season.
Can those guys help? Maybe! Are they game changer or even in the same conversation with Jefferson? Hell no!
See...context matters.
In truth, we are likely better without Lowe and JQ playing major roles.
"Lottery pick" athletic freak that refuses to play?
Also, where is he currently a Lottery pick?
As long as Pope is HC, I will happily hope for whatever result gets him out of here the quickest. I want UK to be the gold standard of CBB again, like most real fans should, and we will never be that with Pope.
We have a shot. Definitely need CC to go lights out from 3. 8-12….9-14 would work.
Play solid defense and we will absolutely have a chance.
I’d argue hoping Kentucky loses games for any reason places you outside of what I’d consider a fan whatsoever. Normally, I’m pretty subdued about putting it this bluntly but I’ll fill you in on something since you are new here. This board has harped about how, just as you’re saying it, anyone who doesn’t want Pope immediately fired are not “real fans.” How about this? No, anyone who places their agenda above Kentucky winning are definitely not fans. I’m not backing down from that stance an inch, either. If you’re *thinking* about cheering for Kentucky losses because you don’t like the coach, you are by definition in my eyes absolutely NOT a Kentucky fan whatsoever. You might buy shirts, you might go to games, but you are a fan of yourself more than you are a fan of Kentucky basketball. Period.
A real fan wants what is best for the program. The best thing for our program is getting an adequate HC.
You're nothing more than a casual if you're good with the current status quo. So that tells me all I need to know about you.
Another disgruntled person telling us what a, "real fan" is.....just because someone doesn't get on here and cry like a little boy that has dropped his ice-cream cone..........doesn't gauge their fandom.........I like Pope and hope he stays for a long time.....
I think we win the game for sure if we play B+ or better ball. Jefferson is a Naismith Award semifinalist. He is their second leading scorer and best overall player. I know they crushed yesterday without him but it was to a TN state team, so that doesn’t say much. I’m extremely familiar with Iowa State as a team, I have worked with them all year. I’m hoping the cats make a miracle run like 2014 and it’s somewhat lining up as a possibility. I could see us losing tomorrow or I can see us in the Elite Eight. We just have to execute at this point.
I don't have to tell anyone of your fandom. Your last line tells us all.
I agree. I'd rather see UVA. I've seen UVA 4 or 5 times this season, and they don't strike me as a team that we can't beat. I would say I think we beat them, but this team has a way of making the simple look hard.
UT for a 3rd time would be crazy stressful. They would be out for revenge, again. And my god the talking points for them if we lose.
That being said, Ament is banged up and Barnes says he won't be healthy again until the off-season. If our road ends up being a 3rd round with UT to get to the Elite 8, there are certainly harder paths.
Super serious UK fan:
“I’m a real Wildcat fan……..YES!!! Another three by Iowa St……….seriously though. I love my Cats”
“I’m a real Wildcat fan……..YES!!! Another three by Iowa St……….seriously though. I love my Cats”
Holy crap, you are the definition of what I was talking about. Look how far you are willing to go to discredit our guys, yet you celebrate ISU's Jefferson, like he's your son.
Lowe and JQ never got the chance to show what they could do here. Moreno and DA made massive strides in their development, but in your mind, JQ and Lowe were just going to stay the same and play like they were injured all year.
Like I said, go be an Iowa State fan. Wait, you already are an Iowa State fan.
The line was 5.5 prior to the injury. Now it's 4.5 with us being the underdog?
It's like Vegas has been watching us all year and not knowing how we will come out.
But I like our chances being the underdog blue blood and we need 2 good halves, not 1 + overtime this time out.
It's like Vegas has been watching us all year and not knowing how we will come out.
But I like our chances being the underdog blue blood and we need 2 good halves, not 1 + overtime this time out.