{"id":73909,"date":"2024-10-28T21:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-29T02:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/as-kerr-kriisa-awaits-kentucky-debut-lamont-butler-shares-reminder-hes-a-very-dangerous-player\/"},"modified":"2024-10-28T21:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-10-29T02:00:00","slug":"as-kerr-kriisa-awaits-kentucky-debut-lamont-butler-shares-reminder-hes-a-very-dangerous-player","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/as-kerr-kriisa-awaits-kentucky-debut-lamont-butler-shares-reminder-hes-a-very-dangerous-player\/","title":{"rendered":"As Kerr Kriisa awaits Kentucky debut, Lamont Butler shares reminder: \u201cHe\u2019s a very dangerous player.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Remember that feel-good night last week inside Rupp Arena, the Wildcats scoring 123 points with 21 3-pointers on 42 attempts against Kentucky Wesleyan \u2014 ridiculous efficiency and balance across the board? Don\u2019t forget that Kentucky <\/a>entered that matchup shorthanded and there is more firepower to come.<\/p>\n

Kerr Kriisa<\/a><\/strong> is dealing with a nagging hamstring issue, one that popped up in practice a few weeks back. Mark Pope joked that the fifth-year senior from Estonia was holding out due to \u201ccontract renegotiations\u201d with NIL \u2014 again, a joke \u2014 before confirming it was a minor \u201ctweak\u201d the team was monitoring.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not even a strain. It was just a precaution tonight,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He missed the Blue-White Preseason Event, then the matchup vs. KWC. His status for Tuesday\u2019s exhibition game vs. Minnesota State remains in question \u2014 better safe than sorry, if you ask me. No reason to push it in a game that doesn\u2019t count.<\/p>\n

When the games do count, though, Kentucky\u2019s starting point guard wants you to know opponents have a problem on their hands in the West Virginia transfer. In fact, the player who averaged 11.0 points and 4.7 assists on 42.4 percent from three has only gotten better since arriving in Lexington this offseason.<\/p>\n

Lamont Butler<\/a><\/strong>, the two-time reigning Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year, is a big reason for that. As we saw in his <\/em>debut for the Wildcats, the San Diego State transfer can get after it, racking up 11 points, six rebounds, six assists, six steals and two blocks against KWC. He may just be the best perimeter defender in college basketball \u2014 Coach Pope certainly feels he is<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With Butler pushing him in must-see battles at the Joe Craft Center all offseason, he feels Kentucky is getting the best version of Kerr Kriisa in his final season of eligibility. <\/p>\n

And that\u2019s a problem for the rest of the college basketball world.<\/p>\n

\u201cProbably Kerr,\u201d Butler told KSR of the player he\u2019s seen develop the most since joining the program. <\/a>\u201cI have to guard Kerr a lot in some form because it\u2019s point guard to point guard. I\u2019ve seen him grow a lot. He\u2019s a tough guard anyway, he\u2019s a good player. He\u2019s been able to continue to grow his game and he\u2019s going to be great for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

What does the best version of Kriisa look like? Well, he\u2019s always been a dynamic shot-maker with touch and feel as a facilitator. Clean up the shot selection and turnovers? There\u2019s a lot to love there.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what Butler expects when Kriisa makes his Kentucky debut, the Wildcats adding a \u201cdangerous\u201d piece to a lineup that doesn\u2019t appear to need one at this stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cKerr is a great shooter. You can\u2019t give him no space, but also the pace that he plays with \u2014 he cuts hard, he pushes the ball up the floor,\u201d Butler said. \u201cHim off the pick-and-roll is very dangerous because he can either come off and shoot, but he\u2019s also a great passer. He finds guys on the perimeter, he hits the roll well. He\u2019s a very dangerous player.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kentucky looks good as is, but Lamont Butler doesn\u2019t want you to forget about Kerr Kriisa. <\/p>\n

The post As Kerr Kriisa awaits Kentucky debut, Lamont Butler shares reminder: \u201cHe\u2019s a very dangerous player.\u201d<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Remember that feel-good night last week inside Rupp Arena, the Wildcats scoring 123 points with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73909"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73909\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}