Lost And Grief:Mark Pope had promising and not promising updates on Lamont Butler, Jaxson Robinson
The fact that Kentucky defeated Tennessee without Lamont Butler was impressive enough.They repeated the feat tonight, but Butler and Jaxson Robinson missed the last 8:40 due to Kentucky’s starting point guard’s shoulder injury getting worse.When will Butler and Robinson return to Kentucky?Following the game, Mark Pope provided updates on both.
Let us start with Robinson, who wore a brace for today’s game after suffering a right wrist injury during practice last Friday, missing his first game of the season. Pope’s update on Robinson was the least encouraging of the two.
During his postgame press conference, Pope stated, “Jax is, you know, I am not sure we are going to get him back anytime soon, but I am hoping, I am praying that we get him back sooner.”
“And that was the biggest thing. I do trust that we will find a way to get those guys healthy as soon as possible.” “My heart is broken for Jax right now because, you know, he deserves to be out there on the court and be a part of this. He is a super senior and he is helped build this identity that we have right now.”
Lamont was simply terrifying.It was literally in front of me.He slid down, and as he extended out, you could see that it somewhat tore his shoulder, which is precisely what we did not want to happen.
He was amazing.He also showed courage tonight.We will work things out together because, really, he is just working for his team and acting like a one-arm bandit out there.We will continue to figure it out.
From the very start, it was clear that Butler was dialed in for his first go at the Vols. Right after tipoff, he stole the ball and scored, bringing Rupp Arena to its feet.
“I thought he was brilliant tonight,” Pope said of Butler. “I thought he was great. He got the first steal on the first possession. Talk about a statement of like, ‘Hey, we’re going to guard.’ And what was really fun was I didn’t even see him race down the floor and score the layup because my eyes were drawn to Otega Oweh. I thought he was going to run up in the crowd and body surf he was so excited about the defensive play and that sets a good tone for our team. So, I’m hopeful that you can get that healthy as soon as possible.
The injury bug has refused to leave Lexington this season. While Robinson’s wrist may keep him out longer than we’d like, Pope is hopeful Butler can return to the court soon.
