Kam Williams has 2nd surgery

PastorofMuppets82

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Article said it was healing and got to about 90% and stalled, then started regressing (ie getting worse). He obviously wasn't 100% when he came back to finish out the season. It's a really hard bone break to fully recover from because of lack of blood flow to assist with healing. I would imagine him coming back early and managing the pain lengthened and ultimately stalled the healing process verses had he shut it down completely initially. It's July though, November is still pretty far away and with him shut down now, it's less concerning.
 

Son_Of_Saul

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Article said it was healing and got to about 90% and stalled, then started regressing (ie getting worse). He obviously wasn't 100% when he came back to finish out the season. It's a really hard bone break to fully recover from because of lack of blood flow to assist with healing. I would imagine him coming back early and managing the pain lengthened and ultimately stalled the healing process verses had he shut it down completely initially. It's July though, November is still pretty far away and with him shut down now, it's less concerning.
It's a bad look for this program. JQ came back and it didn't work. Same for Lowe. Lowe probably should have had surgery immediately last season. Doing so might have cleared him for March Madness.

I know it's all circumstantial, but most of our guys don't get fully healthy. Robinson, Butler, Kerr, Carr, Lowe, JQ, Kam, etc.

Knowing Pope is fully willing to weaponize the injury excuse like he did last spring makes it all the more frustrating.
 

Artlaibesghost

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Foot injuries can be extremely hard to recover from. Sam Bowie never fully recovered from his, nor did Penny Hardaway just to name a couple. Coach Pope should have taken this possibility in account and planned accordingly. Hope ain't a plan. I HOPE Cam makes a full recovery and plays but I wouldn't bet my career on it.
 

MidseasonTweak

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jim carrey attorney GIF
 

Skyguyb27

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I don’t care if 9 of the players spontaneous catch fire and break their legs. Pope has insider info into all this and should have planned accordingly. Make or break no more crying excuses about injuries. It can’t be a crutch until he learns to win. Go back to UVSC and coach at a level that allows that.
 

Son_Of_Saul

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Foot injuries can be extremely hard to recover from. Sam Bowie never fully recovered from his, nor did Penny Hardaway just to name a couple. Coach Pope should have taken this possibility in account and planned accordingly. Hope ain't a plan. I HOPE Cam makes a full recovery and plays but I wouldn't bet my career on it.
In the NIL world, when you can turn a roster overnight, I don't see the upside in counting on guys with lingering injuries, particularly when you can find their replacement in the portal. If anything, if you bring back a role player (which is what Kam is and likely always will be here), you let him know you're recruiting over him due to the injury situation. I'm not sure Hampton is the answer either at this stage of his development.

Now we see why Kusturica wasn't the "luxury" some of our naive fans were making him out to be. He was indeed a must-get.
 

Runt#1969

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Fielding a healthy team from the start is a non negotiable issue at this point for Coach Pope. Unsustainable, if this third season ends up with multiple injuries derailing yet another season.

That is the very definition of unsustainable. It simply cannot be acceptable here, or anywhere else, to put together a roster with already injured players, hoping they are good to go.

Get them all healthy and be ready from the start for the best possible result, coach. Anything less than that, and realize this is make or break for you.

All I can say at this point is : Good luck. We're going to need every bit of it this year.
 

JPFisher

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Well, clearly, we all need to panic and call the season. No need to play a game. I've heard enough.

Seriously, though, him still being in a boot to start July made this a foregone conclusion. For bone surgeries in areas that have poor blood flow, the doc will often try less intrusive means of repair like a screw or wire. If that doesn't work, bone grafts and other, more extreme measures are the next step. It's so common that they usually tell you before the first surgery that if it doesn't get better, they will need to have corrective surgery so the bone doesn't atrophy.

But, y'all go on ahead with the panicking. I'm just here watching the show with my popcorn.
 

Skyguyb27

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Well, clearly, we all need to panic and call the season. No need to play a game. I've heard enough.

Seriously, though, him still being in a boot to start July made this a foregone conclusion. For bone surgeries in areas that have poor blood flow, the doc will often try less intrusive means of repair like a screw or wire. If that doesn't work, bone grafts and other, more extreme measures are the next step. It's so common that they usually tell you before the first surgery that if it doesn't get better, they will need to have corrective surgery so the bone doesn't atrophy.

But, y'all go on ahead with the panicking. I'm just here watching the show with my popcorn.
I’m personally not panicking. We still gonna play the games and it’ll still be fun some days. All I’m saying is that the concept of injuries are a win/win for Pope isn’t acceptable. He recruits or retains injury prone or not healthy players. If they heal he has a great team if they don’t he has an excuse. That mentality isn’t acceptable to me and this is year 3 of it. Injured players that change the trajectory of the season should be a 1 in a rare occasion not a yearly excuse.
 

UKCowboys

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It's a bad look for this program. JQ came back and it didn't work. Same for Lowe. Lowe probably should have had surgery immediately last season. Doing so might have cleared him for March Madness.

I know it's all circumstantial, but most of our guys don't get fully healthy. Robinson, Butler, Kerr, Carr, Lowe, JQ, Kam, etc.

Knowing Pope is fully willing to weaponize the injury excuse like he did last spring makes it all the more frustrating.
Bad look? I thought this would be common knowledge for the greatest fanbase in America, but here's a hint....it's sports....kids get hurt....all the time....
 
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JPFisher

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Fielding a healthy team from the start is a non negotiable issue at this point for Coach Pope. Unsustainable, if this third season ends up with multiple injuries derailing yet another season.

That is the very definition of unsustainable. It simply cannot be acceptable here, or anywhere else, to put together a roster with already injured players, hoping they are good to go.

Get them all healthy and be ready from the start for the best possible result, coach. Anything less than that, and realize this is make or break for you.

All I can say at this point is : Good luck. We're going to need every bit of it this year.
Cal should've jumped between Nerlens Noel and the hoop post before he obliterated his ACL, Man. Would've had a perfect season this millennia if Cal had padded Poythress' leg, too.

Kam wasn't the whole team. We've got guys who can fill in. Plus, Kam has 3+ months to rehab before we start the season against the Winchester School for the Athletically Challenged.
 

JPFisher

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I’m personally not panicking. We still gonna play the games and it’ll still be fun some days. All I’m saying is that the concept of injuries are a win/win for Pope isn’t acceptable. He recruits or retains injury prone or not healthy players.
I may be mistaken, but I wasn't aware of anyone on that first team having a history of injury. Pope took a gamble on JQ and it but him in the ***, but I'm not familiar with anyone else from last year's team who had a history of injury. I might just have a crappy memory, which is a definite possibility....

This year, we have Franck the Tank, and he'll probably be injured at some point, but he's our co-backup center next to Uzi and Potter. Kam is worth retaining despite the surgery. I really, really like his game and his length at the 3 or as a stretch 4.

If they heal he has a great team if they don’t he has an excuse. That mentality isn’t acceptable to me and this is year 3 of it. Injured players that change the trajectory of the season should be a 1 in a rare occasion not a yearly excuse.
I dunno what to tell ya. I feel the same way about injuries, but we were absolutely blessed in Cal's first 6-ish years with our injury bug luck. It's one thing if a player is allegedly injured but a coach hasn't seen em. It's another if you have dudes breaking bones, dislocating joints, or tearing labrums. Those aren't things you can predict.
 

TheResistance

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Mark Pope announces Kam Williams underwent a second surgery on the foot he broke in January. “Healing stalled when he was about 90% healed, started to regress. He had another surgery, and he’s progressing great. We have high, high, high confidence we’ll have him for the season.”
 

Skyguyb27

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I may be mistaken, but I wasn't aware of anyone on that first team having a history of injury. Pope took a gamble on JQ and it but him in the ***, but I'm not familiar with anyone else from last year's team who had a history of injury. I might just have a crappy memory, which is a definite possibility....

This year, we have Franck the Tank, and he'll probably be injured at some point, but he's our co-backup center next to Uzi and Potter. Kam is worth retaining despite the surgery. I really, really like his game and his length at the 3 or as a stretch 4.


I dunno what to tell ya. I feel the same way about injuries, but we were absolutely blessed in Cal's first 6-ish years with our injury bug luck. It's one thing if a player is allegedly injured but a coach hasn't seen em. It's another if you have dudes breaking bones, dislocating joints, or tearing labrums. Those aren't things you can predict.
He has been in the recruiting for a few more but at 745am it’s hard for me to recall. Wasn’t both Butler and Kriisa both injury prone? Maybe my memory is worse than I thought. Age sucks.
 

Beatle Bum

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Bad look? I thought this would be common knowledge for the greatest fanbase in America, but here's a hint....it's sports....kids get hurt....all the time....
Everything is couched through the same filter for him. Guaranteed to blame the staff or university for any sniff of bad news. It’s his MO. He wants to create any narrative he can to be negative and critical. Having Mark Pope perform the previous surgery was, however, probably a mistake.

I feel bad for Kam. I respect how he came back and played. I wish we had a timetable but I understand why they don’t want to set expectations for the Nancies that may not be met. Get well Kam. We want to see you shine.
 

*Fox2Monk*

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Just as I suspected in another thread. It was either they are casting it to fully heal it up during the summer or else he needed another procedure. I hope and pray it heals enough for the season. That’s a tough injury to heal.
 
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*Fox2Monk*

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So why did they wait until late July when the season ended about 100 days ago?

Did he hurt it again this summer?

Maybe this is why the Hampton family is sniffing around about a reclass.

No excuses this season, even if there's a zombie apocalypse during the SEC Tourney.
That Annabell doll really did a number on us. Did Calipari burn a witch at Rupp or something? Was that why he fell off after 2015, he lost part of his bargain lol? These injuries man are crazy.
 

SenseMaker_Cats

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He has been in the recruiting for a few more but at 745am it’s hard for me to recall. Wasn’t both Butler and Kriisa both injury prone? Maybe my memory is worse than I thought. Age sucks.
To answer your question, no. Butler played 39 & 37 games his Jr and Sr year respectively. Krissa played 33 and 35 games his first and second year at Arizona and played every game he was eligible to the year before he came to UK.

The reason you may have thought that is because there are morons on here that claimed as much. Some even claimed Lowe was injury prone because he had broken a freaking finger. lol
 

*Fox2Monk*

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Article said it was healing and got to about 90% and stalled, then started regressing (ie getting worse). He obviously wasn't 100% when he came back to finish out the season. It's a really hard bone break to fully recover from because of lack of blood flow to assist with healing. I would imagine him coming back early and managing the pain lengthened and ultimately stalled the healing process verses had he shut it down completely initially. It's July though, November is still pretty far away and with him shut down now, it's less concerning.
He’s still got a good 4 months he can let that heal and rest in a cast. Take it slow and let it heal all the way. I don’t care if he waits until December. We need him 100% when the big games come around.
 
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NociHTTP

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Fielding a healthy team from the start is a non negotiable issue at this point for Coach Pope. Unsustainable, if this third season ends up with multiple injuries derailing yet another season.

That is the very definition of unsustainable. It simply cannot be acceptable here, or anywhere else, to put together a roster with already injured players, hoping they are good to go.

Get them all healthy and be ready from the start for the best possible result, coach. Anything less than that, and realize this is make or break for you.

All I can say at this point is : Good luck. We're going to need every bit of it this year.
I'm wondering if this is tied to his inability to recruit.
 
Jun 11, 2012
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It's a bad look for this program. JQ came back and it didn't work. Same for Lowe. Lowe probably should have had surgery immediately last season. Doing so might have cleared him for March Madness.

I know it's all circumstantial, but most of our guys don't get fully healthy. Robinson, Butler, Kerr, Carr, Lowe, JQ, Kam, etc.

Knowing Pope is fully willing to weaponize the injury excuse like he did last spring makes it all the more frustrating.

"Weaponize" ? Seriously?
 

seccats04

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Dec 6, 2004
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I think at this point it's safe to say that we have a major issue with our S&C and medical staff. I know a broken foot doesn't have anything to do with S&C but after he's well enough to get around and put weight on it, there are programs and exercises to help strengthen it. Instead, our guy goes in reverse. Then we have the JQ mess. Was he rushed back too soon which set up another setback? Or did he not get the proper care to let it heal properly and now needs a second surgery? Butler's shoulder was jacked all season. Jaxson's wrist was a mess and then finally had to have surgery. Andrew Carr had on and off again back issues that never went away. Kriisa's injury was initially said to be a 3-6 week injury. he never came back. Sorry but, I'm seeing a pattern here.

And this doesn't even include our guys sucking wind after three to four minutes on the court. Our S&C program sucks.
 
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