The potential of Alex Poythress

[Rhavicc]

I don't know about you guys, but I couldn't be happier to get Poythress back. When he was a freshman (and was the man at the PF position), he was great for us. Stepped up with high energy. It was when he fell back in the rotation that his energy was a big issue with us.
In 2014, he was stuck behind Randle for the most part.
In 2015, he was playing the 3 with platoon minutes, and despite that, he still carved out a big role for us. Before his injury, he was our best defender (Held his man to 12.8% from the field, as many of you know), and he made athletic plays, and big rebounds that we needed desperately against Wisconsin. Not only last season, but in 2014 as well.
He provides a real Draymond Green-like presence for us, which is huge for any team. His freak athleticism provides a bit more than that though.
I just wanted to do a little throwback to a terrific game for Alex Poythress, and hoping we see a long, healthy season from this Alex Poythress in the video.

 

[coolcat9lives]

Even though they lost it was great to watch Alex and Nerlens taking turns abusing the rim that game.

 

[Rhavicc]

Agreed. I also think Skal is quite a bit better than Nerlens at the same stage. So much more to his game. With the players that we have, Poythress will be able to make plays that Poy has always made. Plenty of space to work around, lot of good passers to get the ball to him, rebounding opportunities will always be there for him.

 

[Bombur]

Huge question mark as to whether Poy regains 100% of his athleticism after the injury.

 

[Rhavicc]

Huge question mark as to whether Poy regains 100% of his athleticism after the injury.

As long as he follows the procedures of his therapy, he most likely will.

 

[Bombur]

As long as he follows the procedures of his therapy, he most likely will.

That isnt how this works. There is no "most likely" in this situation. Every human body is different. People with exceptional athleticism like Alex have a far tougher time getting back to 100% than your average person does. My step sister is a physical therapist who graduated from UK and has worked with a number of athletes. These guys can do everything that is asked of them... damn near kill themselves with their rehab routines... use cutting edge technology to speed up recovery... And in the end many still never regain all of what they had prior to the injury. It is an absolute shame when someone so young, and with such a promising future, can be robbed of it by a freak injury.

My bigger concern with Poythress (something my stepsis pointed out) is the odds of suffering a repeat injury. like most who have suffered this injury, the odds of suffering the injury again are higher. If he was some non-athletic jump shooter or a bulky bruiser, he wouldn't be at that much risk. But he has always been an elite athlete. At some point he is going to go out and try to compete on the court the way he used to. It will be a risk and all we can do is hope that he can avoid hurting it again.

 

[Rhavicc]

That isnt how this works. There is no "most likely" in this situation. Every human body is different. People with exceptional athleticism like Alex have a far tougher time getting back to 100% than your average person does. My step sister is a physical therapist who graduated from UK and has worked with a number of athletes. These guys can do everything that is asked of them... damn near kill themselves with their rehab routines... use cutting edge technology to speed up recovery... And in the end many still never regain all of what they had prior to the injury. It is an absolute shame when someone so young, and with such a promising future, can be robbed of it by a freak injury.

My bigger concern with Poythress (something my stepsis pointed out) is the odds of suffering a repeat injury. like most who have suffered this injury, the odds of suffering the injury again are higher. If he was some non-athletic jump shooter or a bulky bruiser, he wouldn't be at that much risk. But he has always been an elite athlete. At some point he is going to go out and try to compete on the court the way he used to. It will be a risk and all we can do is hope that he can avoid hurting it again.

All fair points, but that said, physical therapists, especially the ones who work for UK's basketball team, know their patients' bodies about as well as anybody could. If you're guaranteed nothing else concerning an ACL injury for one of our players, you can guarantee that he's received the best possible care and has been under constant supervision since the injury.
I tend to believe his athleticism will be just as explosive when he returns. Remember the big debate back in late January, about him possibly returning for the tournament? That all came from a video posted on his instagram of him dunking the ball again, only 2 and a half, maybe 3 months after his injury. I tend to think that 9 months after that dunk, he would look just like the same, athletic Poythress that we've always had.

 

[JBnTN]

His experience alone is a huge plus. I, too, worry about the pace and success of his recovery. His game may have to change some, at least in the beginning. He and Ulis will bring leadership, experience and toughness to a very young team. I'm sure I'll cringe every time he gets hammered around the basket.

 

[weused2luvhim2]

8ppg 5 reb

 

[Rhavicc]

His experience alone is a huge plus. I, too, worry about the pace and success of his recovery. His game may have to change some, at least in the beginning. He and Ulis will bring leadership, experience and toughness to a very young team. I'm sure I'll cringe every time he gets hammered around the basket.

I anticipate this will be very often.

 

[StubbornPenny]

I'll never understand what happened to that Alex from the Duke game. He moved constantly without the ball, crashed the boards, has a soft touch on his shot, and most of all, was fiery as all hell.

If we get 75% of that Alex this year, we'll be doing great.

 

[qwesley]

Murray coming would be huge for AP and here is why. Without him, we will be zoned a ton. Against mtm, the perimeter guys will attack and Alex can work the baseline and make reaction plays where he can use his athleticism.

 

[brianpoe]

I was at this game with DA, Dale Brown, and Ron Mercer. We all talked about how good Poy was going to be.

Hope he puts it all together.

 

[UK-chulo]

Plus we don't know the extent of Alex's injury. It could have been a small tear that they wanted to take care of or something crippling at the time. Didn't happen during a game so we didn't get to see.

 

[5iveStarRecruit]

ACL injuries in this day & age are healing faster and better than ever. I'm not too worried about a loss of athleticism, especially since his injury happened very early in the season.

He was so great during the tourney run in the Randle year. He almost literally finished everything around the rim, missing 1 shot, and just defended his ass off.

Its obvious he's not a SF, and he shouldn't play a second there. Just let him stay around the rim and let his elite strength and athleticism take over.

STAT LINE PREDICTION : 13PPG, 7 RPG, 1.8 BPG, FG % : 54

 

[bucsrule8872]

My concern is re-injury.

I think he'll be fine athletically, especially with him moving back to PF. Even if he has lost a little bit of quickness and explosiveness, he won't need as much as he did at SF.

As long as he doesn't hurt it again, I think he will be fine.

 

[bucsrule8872]

ACL injuries in this day & age are healing faster and better than ever. I'm not too worried about a loss of athleticism, especially since his injury happened very early in the season.

He was so great during the tourney run in the Randle year. He almost literally finished everything around the rim, missing 1 shot, and just defended his ass off.

Its obvious he's not a SF, and he shouldn't play a second there. Just let him stay around the rim and let his elite strength and athleticism take over.

STAT LINE PREDICTION : 13PPG, 7 RPG, 1.8 BPG, FG % : 54

I'm a little more conservative on the scoring and rebounding: 10-11ppg, 5-6rpg, 1-2bpg, 50-55% FG%.

 

[Catzman]

Alex vs Duke as a freshman is a top 10 NBA pick. The Alex we get over the course of the season 2.25 years in is barely a first round player outside of athleticism and length. If he can give me 75% of the time I'll be as happy as possible

 

[EnglandWildcat]

Alex is an interesting one. I think that his confidence got absolutely drained from him during that NIT year. I remember him being the whipping boy for some on here. Coming off a championship year, I think that season was demoralizing for several on that squad.

I think Alex's sophomore year was spent regaining that lost confidence. I believe that last year he was ready to lead. His stat line may not have been that impressive even had he not been injured just because of the platoons. But I think we would have seen more consistent play from him.

Obviously the injury put a halt to everything. It will be interesting to see what transpires this year. If he's healthy and avoids reinjury, I think we could see very good things from him this year. I hope so, because he is a great kid and I wish the best for him.